Emerging from the thicket was a woman clad in a black form-fitting dress.
Her skin was dark, her figure slender and delicate, yet her upper body was voluptuous and alluring, exuding a faintly bewitching aura.
Dressed like this while traversing a remote mountain forest was already unusual in itself.
But since she was also a Nen user, it wasn't all that strange.
Morrow tensed as he looked at the woman who had suddenly appeared, his aura surging in response.
However, the moment he took in her attire and the face framed by a broad forehead, with large vertical pupils, his tension eased slightly.
He recognized her identity:
Gel, the Snake of the Hunter Association's Zodiac Twelve.
Morrow guessed she must have been drawn here by the gunshots.
Gel stood on the hillside, arms crossed, calmly scrutinizing Morrow.
Their gazes met in midair—hers assessing, his a mix of surprise and wariness.
Strangely enough...
Morrow's nakedness, in this situation, seemed the least noteworthy detail.
Gel's eyes flickered briefly over the aura swirling around Morrow's body, which had noticeably relaxed compared to before.
But the shift from tension to relaxation had been too abrupt—unnaturally so.
Her gaze then shifted to the open doors of the transport truck and the two corpses on the ground before returning to Morrow.
"Do you consider me less of a threat than the one lying there?" she asked coolly, pointing meaningfully at Zarzan's lifeless body with her index finger.
"Quite the opposite."
Though Morrow remained guarded, his sense of imminent danger had faded somewhat.
He had initially assumed Gel had been drawn by the gunfire, but now it seemed she had arrived even earlier.
The noise she made when appearing must have been deliberate.
"If you meant me harm, you wouldn't have gone out of your way to alert me with that sound."
Morrow looked up calmly at Gel on the hillside.
Even so, he still prepared himself for a potential fight—just in case.
He knew he stood no chance against one of the Zodiac Twelve, but he wouldn't go down without resistance.
Even if it meant dying, he'd make sure to leave a mark.
Hearing Morrow's response, Gel subtly glanced at his aura-wreathed right hand. Her expression remained indifferent, and she said nothing more before leaping gracefully down the slope onto the mountain path.
Without a word, she walked toward the transport truck.
This naturally brought her closer to Morrow.
Having already positioned himself as the underdog, Morrow couldn't help but feel pressure as Gel approached.
As a transmigrator, his impression of the Hunter Association wasn't so lofty as to view them as righteous problem-solvers...
But aside from certain individuals, he didn't believe the Zodiac Twelve were the type to kill indiscriminately.
Still...
Not everyone was as straightforward as Gon.
It was no surprise, then, that Morrow felt the weight of her presence.
Gel seemed to sense the shift in his emotions and slowed her steps, no longer pressing into his psychological space.
She had only exerted slight pressure because she noticed his insincerity. But treating a rookie who was most likely not a criminal this way still felt a bit excessive upon reflection.
Gel shook her head slightly and turned her gaze toward the transport truck.
From her angle, she could already see the rows of cages inside the compartment and the naked children imprisoned within.
Naked—this particular detail...
At this thought, Gel couldn't help but glance at Morrow's body, which more or less confirmed his role in this matter.
Morrow showed no reaction to Gel's glance.
It wasn't because he had some exhibitionist tendencies, but simply because he didn't think such a trivial matter was worth stirring his emotions.
However, Gel's earlier glance and her utterly indifferent expression inadvertently reminded Morrow of something.
Back when Morena had bought him and he woke up on the airship, Morena had also looked over his body in the same way.
"You're lucky—you survived that chaos without losing any limbs, so I spent money to buy you."
Morena's expression at the time had been identical to Gel's now.
The only difference was that Morena had done something that made Morrow deeply uncomfortable back then—she had casually grabbed his most vulnerable part and said in a completely emotionless tone:
"If you were a woman, I'd probably be more satisfied."
Her tone and actions had made it seem like she might twist it off at any moment.
That had been Morrow's first encounter with Morena.
In Morrow's eyes, that woman never hid the scar that stretched across most of her face. Perhaps because of that, she also never seemed to conceal some of her peculiar thoughts in front of him and Dogman.
But even after nearly a year together, Morrow still hadn't figured out what kind of person Morena truly was.
Maybe it was also because...
From the very beginning, he had already unilaterally labeled Morena as a "sociopath."
"You really do trust me quite a bit," came Gel's calm voice by his ear.
Morrow's heart tightened, and as his expression shifted slightly, he couldn't help but reflect on his earlier amateurish mistake.
Seeing the flicker of frustration in Morrow's eyes, Gel suddenly felt a faint spark of interest.
From their brief interaction, she could tell Morrow was someone with exceptionally high self-discipline.
And people like that, once they crossed the threshold of Nen, would undoubtedly develop formidable abilities in the future.
If she hadn't been so indifferent toward the Double-Star Hunter Title, she might have been willing to invest some time and effort in Morrow.
"Gel. Pro Hunter," she said, her gaze fixed directly on Morrow as she introduced herself first.
"Pleasure. You can call me Morrow," he replied, giving his name in turn.
Gel gave a slight nod. "Tell me what happened. I might be able to help."
"…"
Morrow hesitated briefly but soon recounted the entire incident.
However, he made no mention of the mental hospital the transport truck was headed to.
In this matter, his role was merely that of a piglet who hadn't yet been delivered to the slaughterhouse. Saying and doing as little as possible was the wisest approach.
After hearing Morrow's account, Gel roughly understood the situation and immediately categorized it as human trafficking.
At the same time, she showed no curiosity or further questions about Morrow's knowledge of Nen, nor did she pay any mind to his finishing blow against the middle-aged man. She came to this area solely to collect venom from a newly cataloged species of venomous snake.
Running into this situation was nothing more than a trivial accident.
If she could do a good deed in passing, she was certainly willing.
But getting entangled in it? No, thank you.
—--
Gel's indifferent attitude was exactly what Morrow wanted to see.
"Sis Gel, they... are in your hands now."
Seeing that Gel was willing to help settle the piglets in the truck, Morrow felt considerably relieved.
With the changes he had initiated, these piglets...
might actually have a chance at a decent life in the future.
Gel gave a slight nod. For her, this was just a phone call away—hardly any trouble at all.
Morrow smiled faintly, then, under Gel's watchful gaze, proceeded to strip the two corpses of their barely suitable clothes.
He also searched Zarzan and the others' wallets, took out the cash, and didn't forget to pocket the handgun.
Throughout the entire process, Gel neither questioned nor interfered, simply observing from the side.
After securing the gun, Morrow prepared to leave.
"Thank you."
He expressed his gratitude to Gel solemnly.
Without her, he would likely be racking his brains over how to handle the piglets in the truck.
At his words, Gel tilted her chin slightly upward.
Taking the hint, Morrow turned and walked away.
As he left, however, he couldn't help but glance in the direction the truck had originally been heading.
At this very moment, were Morena and Dogman already at the mental hospital?
Morrow didn't know.
Now standing at the crossroads of fate with memories of the future, he had no intention of retreading the old path.
Though their paths had yet to cross, this was farewell...
Morena.
The thought crossed Morrow's mind as he resolutely set off in the opposite direction.
—--
Behind him.
Gel watched Morrow leave until he was completely out of sight, then took out her phone to make a call and arrange for the piglets' settlement.
The call was brief. As she stood by the truck, Gel suddenly noticed the surveillance camera installed in the open cab.
Thinking it would pass the time, she climbed into the cab and, after a few adjustments, began replaying the recorded footage.
Moments later...
Watching the playback of the events inside the truck, Gel's serpentine pupils slowly constricted, reflecting an expression of utter disbelief.