Cognition is the foundation and guiding framework that supports human activity.
A wisp of aura naturally drifted out from above Netero's head, taking on a complicated shade of longing...
Netero said nothing. He merely asked himself:
Should this old man be revived?
If, after revival, I'm still this old and decrepit, then living seems... not to have much meaning either. I'd still just be a rotting, ruined body...
Netero could feel his blood and vitality slowly draining away as his life withered. Even though he relied on his powerful body, restrained his essence, locked in his vitality, and trained diligently, he still could not resist the erosion of time.
After a long while, the old man said quietly, "This old man doesn't have your great-grandfather's good fortune. He ate longevity rice, so his aging has almost stopped. Unlike me, who truly is just an old man about to be abandoned by the times..."
Beans stood behind Netero without saying a word. In terms of age, he was far older than Netero, perhaps even not much younger than Maha. But his race was different from humans. They were a naturally long-lived kind of magical beast. To them, a hundred years old was barely the beginning of life.
Roy stayed silent.
It was indeed as Netero said. Fists feared the young and strong; staves feared the old and practiced. The current Netero was already far from his peak. Otherwise, if the Netero who had just descended the mountain after comprehending the Gratitude Punch had met Meruem, who was stronger and who was weaker would still have been unknown.
Aging... youth... longevity rice...
It's true that not everyone can be like Great-Grandfather and eat longevity rice, but—
As Roy listened to Netero's lament, he suddenly froze. A flash of inspiration crossed his mind.
He stared blankly out the window, where a swallow mother was bringing several insects to feed her chicks. The young swallows opened their mouths and cried hungrily.
In Roy's absent eyes, two suns flared to life.
They shone with startling brightness.
Netero was standing close enough that he even felt the light was a bit dazzling. He looked over in surprise.
The boy's silver-gold hair fell around him. The corners of his lips rose, and he smiled.
"That's right. Being young is better... How could I have forgotten that thing?"
What thing?
Beans was completely confused.
Beside the window, Netero frowned slightly. His instincts told him that the boy seemed to be brewing something extraordinary again.
Then he saw—
Roy sit back down at the desk, pull open a drawer, take out a blank sheet of paper, and write down four large words:
Go Go Young Mist.
Note: Go Go Young Mist: ignores natural rules. Once the spray is applied, it immediately changes the user's biological age.
In the original work, Nobita had once used Go Go Young Mist to help his mother, Tamako, return to her younger days.
Manifestation requirement: a longevity-type plant material, plus corresponding space-time talent. Reference material: longevity rice, or lower-grade substitute—
Spider lilies.
Roy sank his mind into the Four-Dimensional Pocket on his chest and, with one thought, found the manifestation formula for Go Go Young Mist.
His focus lingered on the words "spider lilies."
He had collected quite a few of those back then—from the grave of Yoriichi Tsugikuni's wife, and from the little mound behind the Kamado family's mountain home.
Excitement and joy instantly spilled naturally from above the boy's head.
Facing that happiness directly, Netero frowned and looked at Roy.
At one moment, Roy's mind returned. He raised his head and smiled at Netero.
"Thank you, Chairman."
Netero froze slightly, then quietly exchanged a confused look with Beans.
"Ho ho ho... looks like you've gained something incredible again..."
Old foxes like Netero had viciously sharp eyes.
He had guessed right.
Roy didn't waste words. He stretched out a hand and tapped the air before him.
Rip—
A crack suddenly opened in the void. It opened its mouth and spat out a spider lily perfectly preserved in aura.
"What is this?"
"A spider lily."
"That's not what this old man meant... What was that void crack just now?"
"That's not important."
What do you mean, not important?
Any Nen ability related to time and space was incredibly important. In the original story, Knov had been selected by Netero as one of the elite members of the Hunter Association's Chimera Ant extermination team precisely because of his Hide and Seek: Fourth-Dimensional Mansion.
A crack in the void, with a space inside that seems pretty sizable, just like Knov's ability to store things...
Netero narrowed his old eyes and keenly sensed that Sumeru Mustard Seed was extraordinary.
Unfortunately, Roy's attitude was casual and indifferent. His entire mind was now focused on trying to manifest Go Go Young Mist.
A fragile blue spider lily was wrapped in aura. Under the sunlight, it gave off a mysterious aura and fragrance.
By the time Netero and Beans came back to themselves and looked at it, a dark river of death seemed to unfold in the unseen. Corpses floated within it, white bones sank beneath it, and in an instant, both of them felt their hearts tremble as a chill ran through them.
"Chairman, there's something strange about this flower!"
"That isn't strangeness. It's... imagery."
Netero's broad martial robe sleeves spread slightly as he looked at Roy with a solemn expression.
"Don't tell this old man that you picked this flower from the Dark Continent..."
After saying that, the old man glanced toward the dim little room through layer after layer of stone walls.
Inside that dim little room, a certain dried-up old man was still rocking in his chair. His ears twitched, and he rolled over.
"That's not the case."
Roy plucked the spider lily and gently placed it on the desk. It was unclear whether he was answering Netero or someone else.
With the imagination material prepared, he tried to communicate with his aura again, using Yin-Yang Release to display space-time ninjutsu talent, combining the three elements and attempting to directly pull Go Go Young Mist out of the Four-Dimensional Pocket.
Unfortunately, the panel prompt appeared:
[Detected: your current Yin-Yang Release cultivation is insufficient. Stat allocation is recommended.]
Roy: "..."
His expression stiffened, and he froze in place.
His round little eyes spinning, Beans stared in confusion.
Why is this kid frozen again?
Noticing Roy's strange state, Beans quietly looked to Netero, waiting for the Chairman to explain.
But Netero was just as confused. He merely stroked his beard, pretending to be calm, and quietly waited for Roy's next move.
Fortunately, the two did not have to wait long.
Roy came back to himself helplessly and stood up.
"I'm going to the bathroom."
Then, under Netero and Beans' gazes, he walked straight into the bathroom and casually shut the door with a bang.
Beans stared blankly as the boy left, then suddenly said, "Chairman, could he be about to..."
Netero immediately thought of something too, and the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Sure enough, he saw a blood-colored pillar of vitality burst upward, rumbling through the walls and shooting straight into the clouds!
[Detected: the "Life Energy" and "Power of Faith" you have accumulated recently have been emptied...]
[Notice: your Constitution +748...]
[Yin Release +37,000]
[Yang Release +37,000]
Shhh...
The shower water poured down.
Inside the bathroom, Roy removed his clothes, took a deep breath, hardened his resolve, and directly allocated points.
Then that familiar agony came.
The panel seemed to grow wings of light and immediately unfolded.
[Name: Roy Zoldyck]
[Constitution: 3077.9 → 3825.9
(Note: ordinary person = 1. Sun Breathing increases base value by 1 point per day. Flesh Bud parasitizing the Nine-Tails increases 32 points per day.)]
[1. Manifest Aura Quantity: B (380,000 / 1,000,000) → B (530,000 / 1,000,000)
(Note: ratings use Chimera Ants as reference. Reference: Youpi = B (400,000 / 1,000,000))]
[In Hokage-world terms, using the One-Tail—Shukaku of the Sand—as reference, whose chakra quantity is roughly 50 Kakashi-units... the host's current aura quantity is approximately 48 Kakashi-units, close to one Shukaku.]
[2. Latent Aura Quantity: B (990,000 / 1,000,000) → B+ (150,000 / 1,000,000)
(Note: if using Youpi as reference, with Youpi = B (400,000 / 1,000,000), the host has already surpassed Youpi and reached Ant King level.)]
[In Hokage-world terms, using the One-Tail—Shukaku of the Sand—as reference, whose chakra quantity is roughly 50 Kakashi-units... the host's latent aura quantity is approximately 270 Kakashi-units, or 5.4 Shukaku.]
[3. Nen Ability Form Change: Lv4 (80,000 / 100,000) → Lv5 (3,000 / 1,000,000)
(Note: Experience +23,000)]
[4. Nen Ability Nature Change:
Yang: Lv4 (88,000 / 100,000) → Lv5 (2,000 / 1,000,000)
(Note: Experience +14,000)
Yin: Lv5 (20,000 / 1,000,000) → Lv5 (57,000 / 1,000,000)
(Note: still 943,000 away from the host reaching Lv6, entering the next stage, and unlocking the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan...)
Yang: Lv5 (15,000 / 1,000,000) → Lv5 (52,000 / 1,000,000)
(Note: minimum requirement for manifesting Go Go Young Mist has been reached)
Fire: Lv4 (35,000 / 100,000) → Lv4 (55,500 / 100,000)
(Note: Experience +20,000)
Water: Lv4 (15,000 / 100,000) → Lv4 (35,000 / 100,000)
(Note: Experience +20,000)
Wind: Lv4 (9,000 / 100,000) → Lv4 (29,000 / 100,000)
(Note: Experience +20,000)
Earth: Lv3 (9,574 / 10,000) → Lv4 (20,000 / 100,000)
(Note: Experience +20,000)]
[Rating: B
(Already surpasses Neferpitou, Youpi, Shaiapouf, and the others.)]
[Evaluation: As long as peak-level beings do not appear, your life is safe.
(Note: the host already has one foot among peak-level powerhouses and is qualified to compete for world-class Nen user status.)]
Roy let out a muffled groan, forcing himself to brace against the wall so he wouldn't collapse.
Gritting his teeth, he felt his body—from skin to bone, from flesh and tissue to organs, and finally deep into the genetic locks—break through genetic limits and surpass his own ceiling.
It took a full minute and a half before he finally breathed out and recovered from the tide-like pain as it receded.
"Hah... hah..."
His heavy breathing mixed with the shower washing away all the impurities.
As the panel prompt appeared—
[Stat allocation complete.]
The blood-colored pillar piercing the clouds above the Zoldyck family castle gathered and fell back. Right in front of Netero and Beans, it returned to the bathroom and into Roy's body.
Then, a powerful En spread out.
Like the sun releasing ten thousand strands of light, it swept over Netero and Beans in an instant, radiating outward.
In the blink of an eye, its radius expanded from one hundred meters to two hundred, then three hundred—surpassing Zeno—then four hundred... five hundred...
It completely enveloped the Zoldyck castle and the enormous garden nursery beside the forest.
Silva in the study...
Kikyo in the garden...
Zeno in the basement, who was listening to Tsubone report intelligence...
all looked up at once.
Then they slowly lowered their chins again. Some stared into space in silence. Some continued soothing Killua. Some shook their heads and sighed with helpless amusement.
"That brat..."
Their expressions varied.
"Fast... too fast... If I remember right, it hasn't even been a few days since his last breakthrough, has it?"
Inside Roy's bedroom, Beans stared straight at Roy as the boy dried his hair, put on clothes, and walked out of the bathroom. He looked at him as though looking at a monster—
a monster even more absurd than the "angels," "divine beasts," and "calamities" he had once heard of.
Step... step...
Footsteps sounded.
The bathroom door creaked shut behind him.
When Roy walked out with most of his hair now flowing with golden light, Netero laughed. A sharp gleam suddenly burst from his old eyes.
"Kid, want to exchange a few moves?"
As if performing magic, Netero produced a volleyball and spun it on his finger.
The old man was smiling, but the battle intent uncontrollably radiating from him was clear as day.
Unfortunately—
"Now isn't the time."
"I have something more important to do."
Roy stepped barefoot onto the polished wooden floor and quietly glanced at the panel. In the Yang Release column, the required conditions had already been met.
He took one step. When he reappeared, he brushed past Netero's shoulder and arrived beside the desk. He picked up the spider lily and reached out.
"Come."
As points of aura light appeared, linking Yin-Yang Release and the spider lily, they enriched the cognition world and instantly provided an anchor for manifesting Go Go Young Mist.
Then—
a red-and-yellow sofa-shaped spray bottle, with a cat-eared nozzle, slowly appeared.
Roy caught it in one hand.
Pop.
The aura dispersed.
The blue spider lily withered.
Inside the bedroom, beside the window, Netero and Beans stared at Roy's right hand.
The strange Go Go Young Mist, looking like something out of a cartoon, seemed like a toy. Nothing about it looked special.
Only Roy was holding it like a treasure, visibly excited and happy, which left the two of them puzzled.
[Notice: Go Go Young Mist has finished manifesting...]
[Limited by the host's strength, cognition, and the lower-grade substitute nature of the spider lily...]
[Go Go Young Mist's effects are likewise limited...]
[Current item uses: once per person, usable only by each new person once. Repeated use unavailable.]
[Effect: depends on the target's strength and cognition. The stronger the target, the weaker the effect, and vice versa.]
Whoosh.
A breeze stirred the curtains with a rustle.
After a brief silence, Netero was the first to speak.
"Roy—"
Before the old man could finish, Roy played with the cartoon spray bottle in his hand and directly interrupted him.
"I know what you want to ask."
"And I know what you're curious about..."
The boy smiled brightly and met Netero's gaze.
"But I think you should personally experience the answer."
With that, Roy pressed the spray bottle and sprayed it at Netero.
Hiss…
~~~
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