"Wave-particle duality": It emphasizes that microscopic particles making up matter possess both "particle" and "wave" properties. In terms of "string theory," it can also be understood as the basic unit of all matter being segments of "energy strings"...
In other words, everything in this world—and the world itself—is an "entangled state" of "reality" and "illusion," combining "materiality" and "energy." It could exist in integer dimensions like "1D," "2D," or "3D," or it could be the dimensional cracks caught between them, like 1.5, 2.5, or 3.5!
The "rare beast" recorded in the [Monster Encyclopedia]—Feichuo's Parrot—seems to live within these dimensional rifts. One can only wonder which corner of the world Ging unearthed such a rarity... perhaps just like Feichuo back then, it had stumbled onto a "dimensional journey" in a daze...
[REMARK: FEICHUO'S PARROT]
[MANIFESTED AURA: A (4,584,144 / 10,000,000)]
[POTENTIAL AURA: S (74,154,314 / 100,000,000)]
[RATING: S]
[RACIAL NEN ABILITY: PARROT MIMICRY (NOTE: CAN INSTANTLY MIMIC AN OPPONENT'S MOVEMENTS THROUGH SIGHT AND SOUND)... COMPREHENSION ABILITY: S+]
No wonder... No wonder Ging always had to take a hit first. Like after Netero died, when he appeared at the Hunter Association for the Chairman Election, he was sent flying by an uppercut Leorio Paradinight suddenly threw from under a table. Later, while teaming up with Pariston Hill to betray Beyond, he mimicked Leorio's Nen ability, [Telepathic Radar]...
By condensing wavebands similar to a "radar" in his hand and touching the ground, he could probe enemy movements while simultaneously condensing directional Nen bullets to kill his foes... Ging's so-called "strike-type immunity" and "mimicry"...
It was highly likely that he relied entirely on a "phantom parrot" that would suddenly emerge from his shoulder!
"Chirp—" The parrot cried softly, its bead-like green eyes darting around. It clearly replicated the Nen bullet technique Razor had used earlier and transmitted it to Ging through a "mental corridor" built by a "Nen connection."
The man adjusted his hood and looked at Razor. He too curled his finger and flicked. A Nen bullet, nearly identical to Razor's, came whistling through the air. Razor tilted his head to avoid it, and the bullet roared through the [Black Screen], exploding outside!
The sheer vibration traveling through the ground to their feet was enough to feel just how powerful that Nen bullet was!
"Mimicry? Is that your ability?" The energy from the grazing Nen bullet left slight singe marks on Razor's temple. He narrowed his long, thin eyes, a sharp glint flashing from the slit...
Ging gently stroked Feichuo's Parrot, noticing from the corner of his eye that Roy was covered in steam. Roy performed another cross-slash, parrying a punch from Ginta, who had transformed into a [Goat-horned Demon]!
"Bang!" Sword wind clashed with fist pressure, interweaving and exploding as the two simultaneously stepped back, stirring up a whistling gale.
Ging rolled up both sleeves and said to Razor with a smile, "Let's finish this quickly. I'm in a hurry."
"Why the rush?" Razor crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at Feichuo's Parrot. The summoned parrot seemed to have spotted something extraordinary, craning its neck to look toward Roy... A moment later, it actually spread its wings, soared high, and landed right on Roy's head...
A mocking smirk curled on Razor's lips. "So, even you know... you can't control your own Nen beast."
Ging frowned and called out to Feichuo's Parrot through the "mental corridor," "Alatus, come back."
The parrot folded its wings, turned to look at Ging, and chirped downward. "Chirp."
Roy, currently locked in a fierce battle with Ginta as they both searched for each other's openings, felt a shift in his mind. He glanced upward in surprise. Following Alatus, Xiao Jin spread its wings and emerged from within Roy. It huddled next to Feichuo's Parrot, poking its head out curiously to examine the other bird... just as Alatus was examining it.
Ging: "..."
Razor: "..."
Ging's mind wavered as he immediately received a thought from Feichuo's Parrot: "Look what I found, Ging! A kindred spirit!"
"A kindred spirit of the same rank as me!"
[REMARK: XIAO JIN: THREE-LEGGED GOLDEN CROW]
[RATING: S+]
The fat chicken that usually lazed around on the boy's head turned out to be... a kindred spirit to the rare beast that roamed the cracks between "reality and illusion."
Ging gave Xiao Jin, perched on Roy's head, an unexpected look. Then, with a "whoosh," another Nen bullet attacked. Razor had seized the brief opening while Feichuo's Parrot was away to close in and fire!
Simultaneously, Roy unleashed both blades. He felt Ginta's fist, wrapped in [Hardening], smashing toward his head. For a moment... it almost seemed as if Razor and Ginta were working together. It was an unspeakable irony!
"Whoosh!" No time to worry about Ging... Wind pressure slapped his face, blowing Roy's black hair backward. Even the stray feathers on the heads of Xiao Jin and Alatus were ruffled. This time, the boy raised his swords and met Ginta's punch head-on!
For some reason, a stream of information suddenly flooded his mind...
The information stream unfolded, detailing and dissecting Ginta's punch—from the "method of power generation" to "technique," including the [Hardening] covering the fist that was larger than a sandbag...
Every detail, without a single miss, was poured into Roy. A system notification immediately rang in Roy's ears...
[NOTICE: "NEN NATURE TRANSFORMATION" +100... +100... +100...]
[APPLICATION TECHNIQUE [HARDENING] ACTIVATED...]
[REMARK: [HARDENING]: LV1 (15/100)]
In that single instant, Roy felt his understanding of "Nen" deepen significantly!
'My fire isn't hot enough, my magnetism isn't strong enough. My understanding of the sun has always been superficial, stuck in physical imagination. That's why the temperature of my Bankai hasn't been high enough...'
"Chirp—" Feichuo's Parrot nuzzled Xiao Jin affectionately before spreading its wings and flying back to Ging's shoulder. The man threw a punch likewise wrapped in [Hardening], his fist shimmering with a dim light as he smashed away a Nen bullet flying toward his face. He and Razor both seemed to sense something simultaneously. They stopped their hands, tacitly turning their heads to look at the boy, who stood with lowered eyes, deep in thought...
In a moment of divine inspiration, at the same second he activated [Hardening], Roy looked up at the sky. Within his pitch-black pupils, two suns "whooshed" to life, resonating with the great sun above through the [Black Screen]. The [Ren] radiating from his body suddenly retracted, all of it converging into the Short-hilt he had just manifested in his right hand.
Three swords! Three-Sword Style? Everyone was astonished!
Ginta, in his [Goat-horned Demon] form, felt a surge of panic. Looking down at the boy, he saw him holding a sword in each hand and a Staff-Sword in his mouth. Even more striking was the one held tightly in his right hand—it suddenly became restrained and silent, turning from black to red, and then beginning to emit smoke...
Following his panic, Ginta felt an instinctive unease. Steeling his heart, he mustered all his strength, extending his arms and swinging them wide. He clapped his palms together with a series of sonic booms, aimed at crushing Roy!
Suddenly... a soft murmur: "Bankai."
Next came an extremely thin black line that cut through the sound waves, blooming silently in everyone's vision...
"Controlling the entire situation," Elena, who had been monitoring the battlefield through [God's Perspective], suddenly felt a pang of pain in her eyes. Her head dipped instinctively, and the blue-light glasses perched on her high nose bridge fell to the ground with a "clack," catching a layer of dust.
"What was that black line?! And that sword!" The black blade emitted wisps of smoke, reflected in Elena's consciousness. Though seemingly ordinary, it was exceptionally dazzling... Her mind wavered and trembled. Taking a deep breath, she leaned over to retrieve her glasses, just in time to hear the name of this sword.
Roy swung a casual strike, stirring up temperatures of over ten thousand degrees. Aided by [Hardening], this strike was nearly four thousand degrees hotter than before... It collided with Ginta's palms, instantly causing him to withdraw his hands in agony as large splashes of black blood erupted...
"Thud, thud, thud..." The Goat-horned Demon retreated in horror, each step leaving a massive crater and making the earth tremble...
The boy stood like a pine tree amidst the rocks, speaking softly to the Short-hilt: "Sorry, it really was my fault for forgetting to name you two."
He raised the Short-hilt in his right hand: "You are [Solar Eclipse]."
He lowered his eyes to the Staff-Sword in his mouth: "And you are [Lunar Wane]."
The Short-hilt and Staff-Sword vibrated, letting out two sharp "sword cries" that pierced the clouds!
Ging and Razor looked at each other. Surprisingly, they didn't attack again. They simply watched the boy standing silently with his three swords, his heart at one with the blades. A thought occurred to both of them simultaneously... From this day forward, there would be a place for this boy among the world's top powerhouses!
"I know an old man," Ging said, his eyes burning as he looked at the boy. "He said he likes to throw a punch in prayer, heart full of gratitude for the great debt he owes to martial arts. I think..."
"He probably feels the same way right now."
Reaching the pinnacle of mastery, extreme in emotion, extreme in the sword... Razor didn't know who the old man Ging mentioned was, but if someone could have such an epiphany, they were certainly no nameless nobody. Ging added: "His name is Netero."
Razor's eyes shifted. Indeed... Watching Roy now with a trace of contemplation, he thought, 'This teammate of mine... his love for the blade might not be inferior to that of the strongest human...'
Sharing the glory? Ging smiled without correcting Razor, remarking with a sigh of emotion, "To be honest, I think so too."
The man smiled and extended his right hand to Razor: "Welcome to the team."
Razor glanced at him. "Don't flatter yourself. You know full well whose sake I'm doing this for."
"Slap—" Their large hands gripped together. Ging chuckled low under his breath...
Zale, who was hidden within the [Black Screen] and constantly dodging Gotoh, felt his heart go cold at this sight!
"Swish... swish... swish..." [Infinite Pistol] spat out Nen bullets, almost forming a "Nen line" as it relentlessly chased and swept toward him...
Zale fled in a panic, hoping to hold out until Ginta defeated that little jailbreaker and came to support... But when he saw Ginta's hands instantly stripped of two chunks of flesh by a light sweep of the [Zanka no Tachi]... he opened his mouth wordlessly. The words "requesting support" were choked back into his stomach; he couldn't shout them out!
'I can't cause trouble for him... At a time like this, I absolutely cannot interfere with Ginta... If his mind gets disturbed... he'll definitely go crazy... and if he goes crazy...'
Zale, as a member of the security detail, was one of the few who had spent the most time with Ginta and was a trusted close friend. Years ago... he had accompanied him on hunts for "poachers" and had the fortune of witnessing Ginta going berserk. At the time... he didn't know what he had encountered; he only knew his head felt heavy, and when he woke up, he had been lying in the hospital for ten full days...
As for those "poachers," they became his "ward-mates"... "vegetative state ward-mates"!
According to the doctor at the time, they would never wake up for the rest of their lives. It was as if... a piece of their brain had been eaten, causing permanent damage!
"Roar!" Pain... pain... pain... It hurts so much! The sword-light carrying ten-thousand-degree heat acted like an eraser, wiping away a large swath of flesh from Ginta's hands... Transformed into the [Goat-horned Demon], he clearly felt the searing and stabbing pain in his palms erupting like a tide... Ginta's clear, slightly dim-witted black-and-white eyes uncontrollably began to turn red... Then, he let out a roar to the heavens!
A cloud of black smoke billowed from his mouth...
Substantial whispers from the [Goat-horned Demon] followed the black smoke, snaking into every available crack...
Everyone, including Ging, Razor, Gotoh, and Elena, felt their minds shake. For some reason, their hearts grew violent. They wanted to go crazy, to smash things, to destroy everything... Their eyes showed faint signs of turning blood-red!
"Bang!" At that moment, Ging punched through a nearby van and shouted, "Don't let your thoughts wander! Guard your mind! This black smoke... it's negative emotion. It erodes human will and manifests to destroy the central nervous system. Don't be careless... especially..."
Ging squinted toward Roy. The grey mist was heavy, its thickest part directly enveloping the boy...
Standing under the shadow of the [Goat-horned Demon] Ginta had become, the boy looked thin and helpless, like a small boat that had recklessly blundered into the ocean, liable to be overturned by any wave...
But his eyes, turned away from Ging and Razor, remained bright—even taking on some "strange" colors.
'The whispers of a demon, attempting to use negative emotions to erode the will?'
Roy looked up to meet Ginta's massive, blood-red eyes. He didn't know if this was a technique of the other's "Nen ability" or a backlash from [Nature] rooted in his body that could never be cleared. His lips curled as he actively cooperated with the opponent, letting the black smoke flood into his heart, and simply closed his eyes...
In a daze... within Roy's subconscious realm, the black smoke gathered and condensed. Looking closer, a pair of goat horns appeared on Ginta's head, his eyes crimson... He really was like the [Goat-horned Demon], only shrunk down to the size of a normal human. As soon as he entered Roy's subconscious realm, he began searching wildly for his "heart core"—the place that carried all his cognition and the origin of his Nen ability...
"Roar!" The goat horns rampaged... The demon possessed him, driving Ginta to lose all reason as he began an infinite search...
The subconscious realm has no concept of time or space. Searching for a lifetime is the same as searching for a second. And so, gradually... gradually... he found Roy's "heart core"...
That rising sun, overflowing with sunlight, nourishing all things, yet possessing the power of thunder and rain!