The initial effect of Starlight Convergence that Morrow had deeply explored was its ability to replicate the physical techniques of targets within its domain.
Back then, he had relied on this very ability to learn the Zoldyck Family's footwork technique, Rhythm Echo, from Kalluto.
At that time, he only had experience in manipulating aura, but lacked the corresponding physical strength.
So, even though he could replicate Rhythm Echo effortlessly, he had to expend more aura to support the practical application of the footwork.
But now, even when facing Netero's 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva, he could easily replicate the dazzling palm strikes amidst the whirlwind of offense and defense, and use them on the spot without any hesitation.
Just like a moment ago, with a mere thought, he had naturally executed an extremely standard Eighth Palm of the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva.
However, this ability to learn and use techniques on the fly was by no means the most terrifying aspect of Starlight Convergence.
In the process of recording and replicating the information of the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva's palm strikes, Morrow, aided by the real-time feedback from Starlight Convergence, could inevitably see through to the single flaw amidst Netero's sky-filling palm shadows.
It might sound incredible, but it was the truth... in this not-so-long exchange, Morrow had merely memorized every palm strike of the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva, then completely analyzed the moves and their trajectories.
Finally, by utilizing Terpsichora, which greatly enhanced his practical combat skills, he naturally sent his attack into the sea of palm shadows at the perfect moment with the perfect palm strike.
Of course.
The premise for all of this was that Morrow could evade the torrential onslaught of the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva.
In fact, he had many other ways to achieve victory.
The reason he chose to retaliate by replicating the palm technique stemmed from the words he had spoken to Netero before their fight.
Have you ever chased after someone?
"..."
As the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva's Eighth Palm, formed from condensed aura, struck Netero's body, that sentence surfaced in his mind.
When martial artists clash, as fists and feet collide, their intentions also flow with their techniques, and they can occasionally read each other's thoughts.
The moment he was sent flying, Netero vaguely read Morrow's intention from this deliberate "combat choice."
He wanted these old bones of his... to henceforth focus his heart and mind on the act of "chasing," and no longer stubbornly obstruct the path of Beyond, or anyone else.
Ho ho...
If Netero were to so easily accept the arrangements of others, he wouldn't be Netero.
Voom–!
The aura, condensed to the point of being tangible, vibrated intensely, rubbing against the air and emitting a low hum.
Immediately after, the solemn and majestic 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva abruptly manifested once more.
Its broad, compassionate golden hands closed like a lotus flower, steadily catching the airborne Netero.
By using this move to stabilize himself, Netero bought himself a faster opportunity to counterattack.
He paid no mind to the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, pressed his hands together, and prayed in silence.
A faint hum sounded again.
The 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva's bamboo-like arms converged from all directions, carrying a terrifying momentum as they transformed into dazzling streaks of golden light, sweeping towards Morrow.
So what if it could be dodged?
So what if it could be countered?
Even if his body was old and his aura was waning, even if he was at a disadvantage, even if his techniques were no longer effective...
Netero still believed in his 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva without a shred of hesitation.
This had long transcended calculations of advantage, disadvantage, victory, or defeat.
This was the purest will and conviction of a martial artist.
He poured everything he had into this wave of attacks.
Facing Netero's palm strikes, which were infused with intense will, Morrow maintained his Starlight Convergence・Cosmic Choreography form, but precisely contracted its effective range to perfectly match the attack range of the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva.
The reduction in range brought about a high-intensity increase in precision.
Immediately after, he began to walk forward as if strolling through a courtyard, heading into the sky full of golden palm shadows, his arms pushing forward time and again.
His posture was like that of someone brushing aside willow branches swaying in a lake breeze.
But the curved Nen waves erupting from the edge of his palms each precisely struck the incoming giant golden palms, diverting them one by one to his sides.
Bang, bang, bang...!
The deflected golden palms slammed heavily onto the ground beside Morrow, instantly cracking the earth.
Amidst the flying sand and gravel, Morrow's pace did not falter as he continued to stride towards Netero.
"..."
Witnessing his attack, into which he had poured his intense will, be neutralized in such a manner, Netero's pupils constricted slightly, a trace of stillness flashing in his eyes.
But he was not discouraged.
The palm shadows that missed their mark dissipated into specks of Nen light in the next moment.
Relying on his supreme speed of retraction and release, the golden Guanyin solidified once more and, with the force of a thunderbolt, rained down a second, even denser wave of palm strikes upon Morrow.
It was meaningless.
Morrow, who had assembled the "final piece of the puzzle," was by no means someone the "current" Netero could contend with.
The strength of his bones, the state of his body, the scale of his aura.
These tangible disparities were also key factors in determining victory or defeat.
Morrow's arms continued to push forward steadily. No matter how tricky the angle of the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva's palm strikes, every push of his palm, and the resulting curved Nen wave, could accurately deflect the incoming attacks.
When the final strike of the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva was also deflected, Morrow smoothly pushed his right hand forward.
A surge of aura erupted from his palm, coalescing into a thick Nen palm that completely enveloped Netero.
Thud!
A dull impact sound reverberated through the surroundings.
Netero was sent flying backward, a trail of blood arcing through the air in a glaring trajectory.
This time, no golden Guanyin appeared to gently catch his flying body.
As his consciousness began to fade, Netero could only let out a long sigh.
He had been waiting.
Waiting for Morrow to use his teleportation ability to attack his weak point, which would trigger the Zero Hand with its counter-attack properties.
That was why he had firmly believed that the ninety-nine forms of the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva's attacks would surely force Morrow to that "juncture" where he had to make a choice.
But he had never expected... that the trajectories of all the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva's attacks had been completely seen through by Morrow.
It had reached a point where he couldn't even force Morrow to make a choice.
In the end... I can't fight old age.
As he flew backward, Netero's face seemed to age even more in that instant.
Chase after him?
But with this decrepit body, what could he possibly use to chase?
Thump!
Netero crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust that shot into the sky.
—--
In front of the wooden house.
Linne pursed her lips slightly.
With her experience, she could already determine that the battle was over.
She silently quickened her pace, walking towards the spot where Netero had fallen.
As she passed by Morrow, she glanced sideways, her tone calm and flat. "Are you hoping... that this will be enough to wake Isaac up?"
The only benefit of living long enough was that one could always see many things more clearly.
As a bystander, she had long seen through Morrow's intentions, but she also knew Netero's stubbornness in her heart.
"It won't wake him up?"
In response to her question, Morrow simply asked one back softly.
Linne shook her head slightly, a hint of helplessness flashing through her cloudy eyes.
"Isaac... is an Enhancer, after all."
With a soft sigh, Linne slowly walked past Morrow and continued forward.
Watching her back as she walked towards Netero, Morrow couldn't help but sigh as well.
The bone-deep stubbornness of an Enhancer... it seemed that persuading Netero to give up his idea of stopping others from going to the Dark Continent was likely an impossible task.
One could only say that everyone has their own path to which they hold fast.
Even so, Morrow still wanted to try one more time.
He didn't leave, but instead stayed at the wooden house, quietly waiting for Netero to wake up.
When Netero awoke from his unconscious state, the first thing he saw was Morrow sitting quietly by his bed.
"Ho... cough cough, did you stay behind just to wait for me to wake up..."
Netero coughed a few times, but his expression was unusually calm. He slowly shook his head and said, "There's no need to persuade me further. I will not change my mind."
"Is such persistence truly meaningful?"
Morrow gazed at Netero's somewhat listless face and said:
"At most, you can only stop them for a time. Back then, you could persuade the V5 to stand down, but what about now? I can tell you clearly, even without Beyond taking the lead, the Kakin Empire, which is outside the V5's system, will sooner or later publicly announce its expedition to the Dark Continent."
"..."
Netero was silent for a moment, finally responding faintly, "I will simply do my best."
"I understand."
Morrow shook his head slightly, stood up from the chair, and said, "I should be setting off for the Dark Continent soon."
Hearing this, a ripple of emotion appeared in Netero's eyes.
He could stop Beyond, and he could stop Ging.
But he could not stop the current Morrow.
Morrow didn't pause, continuing:
"My target is Nitro Rice. If the operation goes smoothly, I might be able to bring back a few extra stalks. If... and I'm just saying if, a single stalk of Nitro Rice could potentially return your life force to its peak, would that be enough to change your decision?"
"Ho, let's not even talk about whether you can find Nitro Rice... Are you confident you can resolve at least 'one of the calamities'?"
Netero's expression suddenly turned serious.
This was the reason for his persistence.
Morrow couldn't answer.
In the entire world, no one would dare claim they could resolve even one of the Dark Continent's calamities.
Morrow suddenly recalled how in the original story, after Netero's sacrifice in the Chimera Ant incident, he had posthumously commissioned the Zodiac Twelve to go to the Dark Continent. He had requested that they beat Beyond to the punch, bring back a form of hope from the Dark Continent, and resolve one of the calamities.
But behind that commission, the deeper intention was perhaps the hope that the Zodiac Twelve could "defeat" Beyond in this manner.
As if achieving this goal would completely crush Beyond's spirit and strip him of everything.
"I will simply do my best."
Morrow returned the same words to him, then turned and left.
Netero silently watched his departing back.
If not for his lack of strength, upon learning that Morrow was determined to go to the Dark Continent, he would have definitely tried to stop him at any cost.
A moment later.
Morrow walked out of the wooden house, only to find Linne standing quietly not far away, as if she had been waiting for him specifically.
Hearing the footsteps, Linne slowly raised her head and looked at Morrow emerging from the house.
"Take this, as a thank you."
She unhurriedly took out a handbook.
Morrow didn't ask what she was thanking him for, his gaze falling directly on the booklet.
Linne explained, "These are some of the things I recorded after my second exploration of the Dark Continent with Isaac and the others back in the day. Perhaps it can be of some help to you on your journey."
A hint of regret tinged her tone as she continued:
"However, most of what I recorded is related to ingredients. As for information on the dangerous existences, Zigg, who had a habit of keeping a diary, probably recorded it in more detail... It's just a pity that on our second return trip from the Dark Continent, his diary was accidentally lost."
"Thank you. Regardless, this handbook is very important to me."
Morrow took the booklet from Linne's hand.
The pages exuded an ancient aura, yet showed almost no signs of wear and tear.
Evidently, this elderly Gourmet Hunter not only flipped through it often, but probably nourished it carefully with her aura every time she touched it.
Only after so many years could this handbook have been maintained in such a perfect state.
After properly stowing the booklet, Morrow said half-jokingly, "I thought you, like the Chairman, didn't want the world to touch that forbidden continent."
"We're different. What Isaac pursues is individual strength, where there is a clear winner and loser. But Zigg and I are different..."
Linne's voice was deep and calm:
"The dangers of the Dark Continent did indeed make us tremble with fear, but it also gave us a kind of shock that is hard to describe. During that thrilling journey, we developed a deep yearning for that land that cannot be described with words."
At this point, Linne paused.
Morrow wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he saw a fleeting trace of unwillingness on her face.
"Unfortunately, our abilities were limited. Not only could we not truly resolve the calamities, but without Netero's help, we couldn't even cross that 'threshold'."
Linne sighed softly and said, "In the end, as Netero lost interest in the matter, no matter how much unwillingness I felt in my heart, I could only let go of the idea. Oh, right, I haven't told you who Zigg is. He's a member of the Zoldyck Family..."
Once the floodgates opened, Linne began to recount many past events.
From beginning to end, Morrow listened quietly, hoping to glean some useful information.
Linne looked at the quietly listening Morrow and remarked softly at the end:
"Before Netero came to find me, I actually hadn't spoken for several years. Although I don't believe in so-called fate, perhaps all the words I haven't spoken over the years were saved for this very moment."
"Thank you."
The only response Morrow could give was his thanks.
He left the lakeside cabin, carrying the handbook and the wisp of spiritual entrustment that Linne had intentionally or unintentionally cast upon him.
When Linne spoke of the Dark Continent, she mentioned various things about Zigg, but she never said where Zigg was now.
She didn't say.
So Morrow didn't ask.
What he found regrettable was that Linne had said Zigg's diary, which might have contained a lot of important information, was lost...
—--
Kukuroo Mountain, deep within the Zoldyck Family estate.
Dim light stretched out distorted shadows in the deathly silence.
The family members, led by Silva, were all gathered here, with the exception of Maha and Kalluto.
Their gazes were all focused on Alluka... or rather, on Nanika.
Her hollow facial features appeared even more eerie in the dim light, yet a vigorous aura was pouring from the hands of this ominous being, slowly infusing into Tsubone's body.
Under everyone's watch, Tsubone's arm, which had been destroyed by Hisoka, was regrowing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Unbelievable... To be able to skip the 'request' phase and have this monster grant a wish directly!
Milluki witnessed this scene, his heart shaking with shock.
He first glanced at Nanika, who was already locked onto by a veiled killing intent, then turned his head to look at the sullen-faced Killua, who was being firmly restrained by their father.
Back then, I almost got beaten to death by Dad just for wishing for a computer... I can't believe Killua can bypass all the risks with just a single command!
He cursed inwardly, That bastard Killua, he was hiding such a privilege!
As his thoughts churned, Milluki suddenly realized.
After this test, the next one would be...
His gaze quietly shifted towards Kikyo.
The next command to be tested is to have big brother Illumi 'return,' right?
But can something like that really be done?