"Ding!"
A fist wrapped in [Hard] collided with a flaming longblade infused with [Firm]!
Roy crossed his twin blades to block Ginta's fierce, rigid punch. The moment he felt the raw power vibrating through the opponent's knuckles, his arms were forced downward!
'What incredible strength!'
'Is he an Enhancer?'
In that single moment of contact, Roy was reminded of that "old lady" who liked to act young whom he had met at Heaven's Arena... The difference was that Biscuit's powerful physique was formed through years of diligent training, while the man before him—the Sheep—seemed to have been born different from ordinary people!
"Oh... oh... you can block a punch of mine?" The wind from the punch was sliced apart by the sword's gale, and Ginta was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected this little brat to hold his ground through sheer strength. Refusing to believe it, he increased his power. With a wide-eyed glare, he pressed down until Roy's knee joints creaked under the strain, forcing them to bend!
After Ging, Roy, and Gotoh each found their opponents, Elena—who was responsible for "cutting the signal" and "coordinating the overall situation"—relied on her Nen ability [Control the Overall Situation] to watch the battle across multiple split screens. Just as in the original story where she alone could monitor the entirety of Greed Island, she focused most of her attention on Roy and Gotoh.
The latter had pulled out a handgun and was searching the [Black Screen] for the hidden third Nen user. As for the former... he suddenly vanished. She could only capture a glimpse of a beach through the [God's Perspective] of [Control the Overall Situation]... and in the next blink, she found Roy.
He had already appeared behind the hunter, who was as massive as a small giant, and a suddenly extending [Shinso] thrust toward the man's heart!
'A Nen ability related to [Space]. After that [Forced Sleep] that can make anyone fall into a slumber, has he revealed a new method?'
Elena pushed up the blue-light glasses on the bridge of her nose, rapidly updating her database.
With Roy and Gotoh tying up Ginta and the person within the [Black Screen], Ging was able to cross the battlefield with ease and reach the van.
Like an old friend, he familiarized himself with the interior and climbed into the vehicle, sitting side-by-side with Razor. Watching Roy thrust a blade toward Ginta's back, he praised with genuine admiration, "How about it? My teammate isn't bad, right?"
"He'll do," Razor said, crossing his arms. With that simple movement, the handcuffs on his wrists snapped effortlessly. The man narrowed his eyes. "I don't recall ever meeting you."
Ging smiled faintly. "Aren't you meeting me now?"
"True enough." Razor spread his legs, and his leg irons shattered with a loud crack. He watched intently as the flame-wrapped blade tip was about to pierce Ginta's back. "Pity he's a bit green. That guy has thick skin and meat; he's not that easy to deal with."
"Clang!" The sudden strike hit Ginta's back, but the scene of tearing flesh that Roy expected didn't occur. Instead, it felt like he had stabbed a block of refined steel wrapped in pitch-black Nen. He couldn't move an inch further!
[Flow]: The technique of using "imagination" to direct the flow of [Firm] or [Hard] to other body parts!
Ginta's mastery of Nen was clearly at a more profound level. The moment he realized his punch had missed and his back was exposed due to momentum, this future member of the Zodiacs—one of the few rated over ninety by Hisoka, surpassing even Saiyu and Kanzai of the Defense Division—immediately utilized [Flow]. He directed his [Hard] to his back just in time to block Roy's sudden strike!
"You're quite the devious one!" Ginta was getting angry. When this simple-looking man lost his temper, his Nen became violent as well. He swung his massive, fan-like arm in a wide arc, aiming a slap straight at Roy's face!
That giant hand, wrapped in [Hard], shimmered with a heart-stopping, eerie light. With his back to Ging and Razor, Roy said without turning his head, "I'm buying time for you, not providing a show to watch."
He raised a hand, manifesting a [Magnetic Field Shield] to block Ginta's massive hand. Then, seizing the opening in the opponent's attack, he lunged a blade toward Ginta's chest. In an instant, blade light and eerie glow collided, erupting in a shower of sparks.
The rhythmic clashing of metal echoed out.
Inside the van, Ging flexed his wrists and looked at Razor. "It seems my teammate isn't very happy."
The hood shifted slightly as Nen surged out to wrap around Ging's fists. A powerful [Ren] swept outward with him as the center, causing even the [Black Screen] to tremble on the verge of collapse!
Razor smoothed back his small pompadour and squinted. "I thought you came to break me out because you considered me a teammate."
Ging stood up and laughed. "Yeah, that was the plan. But..."
"If I don't beat you into submission, you won't acknowledge me, will you?"
Razor nodded and stood up with Ging. The steel chains bound around him shattered into pieces. Immediately after, he exploded with his own [Ren], colliding brutally with Ging's!
A thunderous boom shook the air!
The van was like a balloon being over-inflated; unable to withstand the [Ren] of the two men, it exploded!
In an instant, shards of metal, seats, and the steering wheel flew in all directions. Even Roy, who was in the middle of a fierce fight with Ginta, had to deflect a couple of pieces with his blades.
"Such powerful aura. It seems you came prepared!" Ginta swatted away a steering wheel flying toward his face. He glanced toward Ging, who was now confronting Razor. The man's presence was stronger than any poacher he had ever captured—perhaps the strongest of all. A look of gravity finally settled on his simple face.
'He probably hasn't taken the Hunter Exam or officially become a Hunter yet; otherwise, it's impossible for him not to recognize Ging...' With twin blades in hand, Roy's mind raced as he activated [En] to listen to Ginta's heart. The man's soul was so clear and pure that Roy couldn't pry into anything. Instead, he was detected within a second. Ginta released his own [En], shielding out the strand of Nen attempting to intrude upon his mind!
"You're a strange one. How do you have so many bizarre tricks?" Ginta's afro swayed in the wind. His massive body was large enough to fit two Roys inside. Sensing the aura erupting from Ging, anxiety flared in his heart. Looking back at Roy, his eyes—usually revealing a hint of foolishness in their clarity—became uncharacteristically serious!
"What a pain. It looks like I have to finish you off right here!"
Crack, crack, crack! The sound of popping beans suddenly exploded!
Roy, the confronting Ging and Razor, Elena who was watching through [God's Perspective], and Gotoh who was searching for the hidden Nen user with his [Infinite God's Spear]—all of them turned their gaze toward the sound.
Ginta, already larger than a normal human, saw his presence change in an instant!
A "surging" Nen aura swept out from him as the center. To some extent, it was not inferior to Razor's, even standing on equal footing with Ging. His body began to swell—first his feet, then his legs, chest, arms... and finally his head. His afro stretched and curved, outlining a pair of goat horns that lunged menacingly from his temples. Ginta let out a roar toward the sky!
In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a ten-meter-tall horned giant!
Enhancement Type Nen Ability—[Goat-Horned Demon]: Explosive aura transformation. Can change body size in a short time, significantly increasing physical strength and breaking the limits of the human body. Duration: one minute.
"Humph!" Ginta lowered his brow, and the Goat-Horned Demon followed suit. With a breath, two long dragons of steam erupted from his nostrils. Looking down at Roy, who was no larger than an ant, he stamped down casually!
A massive shadow fell over the ground. Gotoh called out with concern, "Young Master!"
Just as he turned his head, a bullet whistled toward his face—fired by the Nen user hidden in the [Black Screen]!
"Distractions in battle will cost you your life." A chilling voice, like a snake's hiss, reached Gotoh's ears. The young butler tilted his head to dodge, pulled the trigger, and fired a Nen bullet toward the source. The moment the Nen bullet entered the black curtain, it was like a stone hitting water—ripples spread, and it vanished.
Gotoh frowned. He could sense that the opponent didn't have a massive amount of Nen, but this [Curtain] draped over the ground like a giant bowl was strangely eerie. It seemed the opponent had set up a "one-way path"—
It only allowed "unconscious entities" like Nen bullets, real bullets, or flying metal shards to pass through, but forbade "conscious entities," including humans and all living beings, from entering or exiting. He wasn't sure if it was a constraint of the [Curtain] itself or a rule specifically set through "Conditions and Vows" to trap humans, magical beasts, or rare creatures.
This "restraint" and "control" was clearly not as flexible as the Zodiac Cow Mizaistom's [Closed Court], which could force an opponent to "appear," "be restrained," or "leave" by showing Red, Yellow, or Blue cards. However, in terms of sheer "confinement"... if he couldn't find the true body hidden in the [Black Screen], getting the user to cancel the ability wouldn't be easy!
"To your upper left, coordinates [41.22 / 541.11]..." Just as Gotoh found the search troublesome, Elena's Nen transmission reached his ears.
As one of the creators of Greed Island built by Ging, Elena's training in the application of [En] had clearly reached a terrifying level!
She pointed out the true body hidden in the [Black Screen], and Gotoh immediately opened fire. Nen bullets rained down incessantly. The [Curtain] trembled visibly, and a dark shadow could be seen fleeing in panic: "Ginta, hurry up and finish him! Support me!"
Those who excel in one path are often lacking in others. Strong control often meant the Nen user's personal combat strength wasn't that high—at least, not high enough to have confidence in a gunfight against Gotoh!
Boom!
"I'm coming!"
The Goat-Horned Demon stamped down. The ground shattered into a spiderweb pattern, instantly collapsing into a massive crater!
This time, Roy did not rashly use [Swamp Space] to dive underground. The shockwave from Ginta's stomp alone would have sent his internal organs into a frenzy. Instead...
The youth didn't dodge or hide. He simply uttered, "Sun Breathing: Total Concentration!"
A ray of sunlight seemed to penetrate the [Black Screen] and fall upon him. As Roy took a deep breath, his skin turned red, and wisps of steam rose from his body. The young man had never felt such a surge of power; he felt as if he had an inexhaustible supply of strength!
Outwardly...
He stubbornly braced his twin blades, holding up Ginta's descending foot. Though trapped in the deep pit, his knees did not bend a single inch, let alone allow him to be crushed into meat paste!
The earth trembled with a massive vibration.
Razor remained as still as a nail driven into the ground. He glanced at the scene, let out a whistle, and said to Ging with some surprise, "This teammate of yours has some skill."
"He's not just mine," Ging laughed lowly, his voice suppressed. "He's your teammate too."
"A pity..."
"A pity what?"
"A pity..." Razor fired a Nen bullet like a cannonball. With a thunderous blast, it struck Ging directly. Only then did Razor blow on his finger and say expressionlessly, "I recall I haven't agreed to join you yet!"
Ging was sent flying like a broken kite, slamming into the curtain. After the curtain trembled, he slid down looking quite pathetic.
'That guy...' Also being an Emitter, Gotoh caught sight of that Nen bullet, and his heart skipped a beat. He remembered his Young Master's evaluation of the man yesterday. A casual Nen bullet from this man named Razor contained a "Qi" so massive it couldn't be ignored. He was indeed strong!
"Ging..." Elena, while tracking the hidden body in the [Black Screen], kept an eye on Ging and Razor. Seeing Ging not fighting back and letting Razor blast him away, she helplessly covered her forehead.
'There's a limit to jokes... why do you have to take an attack head-on every time before you start fighting back?'
Because he had to... imitate!
Because... he was immune to all "Impact Type" Nen abilities. Furthermore, as long as he took an attack once, he could immediately replicate the opponent's combat style perfectly!
Roy's biceps and forearms bulged. After significantly enhancing his physical capabilities with "Total Concentration," he forced back Ginta's "Demonic Trample." He glanced over at Ging, who had been blasted away and was now nonchalantly dusting himself off while standing up. Suddenly, a system prompt rang in Roy's mind.
[Notice... Detected [Rare Beast]... [Monster Encyclopedia] expanding... Commencing recording...]
[[Feichuo's Parrot]: Rare Beast.]
[Note: A type of "Illusory Parrot" living in the "Dual Rift." It can switch dimensional perspectives through "Wave-Particle Duality" to perform "Parroting," spying on and imitating the Nen abilities of others.]
[Initial Discoverer... Feichuo. During a secret realm exploration, he accidentally traveled through a dimensional rift, discovered this miraculous creature, and named it after his own surname.]