Black wings like fallen angels formed two chain-like things that grew from the back of Purgatory, one of the Shadow Three Giants, from the other side of the rooftop, flying rapidly toward Netero's location. Purgatory knelt on one knee with a bloodstained dagger piercing his stomach, staring blankly at the ground with lifeless eyes. This was exactly the method Jed used to trap Netero in the original work - Purgatory's forbidden technique at the cost of his own life.
"Damn it, can't dodge." Those two chains weren't fast - not even reaching the speed of sound, even slower than Killua before learning Godspeed. Logically, Netero who had toyed with Killua on the airship should easily dodge, but Netero keenly discovered that he had been completely locked on. No matter which direction he tried to dodge, these two chains would ultimately bind his body.
Sure enough, in that instant Netero leaped several hundred meters from Heaven's Arena. But these two chains bound Netero, who was hundreds of meters away, to the position where Netero had originally been, in an incomprehensible way. This technique seemed somewhat related to causality - not something you could dodge just by wanting to. No wonder Jed used this move as his trump card to subdue Netero. The guaranteed-hit property that broke balance was too overpowered.
"Jed, even if you trap me, even kill me, you can't make the Hunter Association publish the Dark Ledger to the outside world." After struggling a few times and finding he couldn't break free from this black substance, Netero decisively gave up resistance.
"Hmph, Netero, don't you feel heartbroken saying these words? The association you desperately protect abandons you for the sake of those so-called human elite's interests, unwilling to publish the truth. Don't you feel sad?" Jed seemed to have known Netero would say this. Perhaps he knew this would be the result from the beginning, but Jed still did this despite knowing the outcome.
"Sad? No, doing this is right. Sacrificing me alone in exchange for more people's happy lives is worth it. Jed, you've already gone astray. So-called hunters aren't as simple as you think. We can give our lives for our ideals."
"Astray? Exchange for more people's happiness? Netero, the happiness you speak of is exchanging for those human elites' happy lives, right? Ideals? You actually talk to me about ideals? You hunters are all a bunch of bastards who do whatever they want to satisfy personal desires, who can lick the asses of the elite for money and profit! A bunch of selfish guys! I want everyone in the world to know those bloody truths!"
"Jed, you don't understand. Sacrificing a small part of people can exchange for more people's happiness. Sometimes the truth isn't suitable for everyone to know!"
"Stop giving me that kill-one-save-a-hundred theory! Other people's lives are precious! Are our Shadow clan's lives cheap? Should our Shadow clan die? Should we be exterminated? Should we deserve to be imprisoned?"
"You were once a hunter too."
"But I'm not anymore! Now I'm a revenger who crawled out from the abyss! I've come to drag you guys down one by one! I want you to feel our pain!"
The conflict of two ideals - it was just that the two stood in different positions. Since ancient times, might makes right. Only the victor is the final winner.
"I don't want to argue with you anymore, Netero. I'm going to use you to pressure the entire world. I want the Hunter Association to publish the Dark Ledger."
"What you're doing is useless, Jed. You know that yourself."
"Shut up!"
"Shura, broadcast this to the entire world, especially to the Hunter Association!"
"What? Netero was actually captured?" "Impossible! That's the Hunter Association's Chairman! One of the world's strongest Nen users!" "Wasn't the Dark Ledger sealed? Why do people still know about it? How did the Hunter Association handle things? They actually let such top-secret information leak!" "Contact the Hunter Association! We need to convene an alliance meeting!"
With Jed's broadcast, leaders from various countries around the world received the news in the first instance that the Hunter Association Chairman had been captured, and someone was using this to threaten the association to publish the entire Hunter Association and various countries' dark history - the Dark Ledger.
"How did your Hunter Association handle things?"
"Why did such a thing happen? Isn't Netero supposedly the world's strongest? How could he be captured by such a young guy?"
"I don't agree to publish the Dark Ledger to get Netero back! The former is more important compared to Netero!"
"Hmph, actually letting such top-secret information be known by outsiders. This Chairman Netero doesn't seem like much."
"But Netero is the Hunter Association Chairman after all. He has enormous prestige among the people. If we don't use the Dark Ledger to exchange him back, I'm afraid those ordinary citizens..."
"Who cares what those common people think! In any case, I don't agree to using the Dark Ledger to exchange back a derelict Hunter Chairman!"
"How about we just hire assassins to kill them all! They're all useless anyway!" Someone even proposed this absurd suggestion, though this proposal was ignored. Even Netero, supposedly one of the world's strongest, had been captured by others. Who could you find? Even the world's strongest assassin family, the Zoldyck family, couldn't accomplish such a mission.
The national leaders were already arguing irreconcilably in the meeting, while the bean-faced man who served as Chairman Netero's secretary was getting a splitting headache from listening, and he sadly discovered that basically not one of the national leaders agreed to exchange their beloved Chairman back by publishing the Dark Ledger.
At the same time, he thought of the Hunter Association's Vice Chairman - Pariston. That man could still smile. How could such a person exist in the world?
"Gentlemen - Prime Ministers, Kings, Generals, Chancellors, and Presidents. How about letting me help you solve this difficult problem?" Just as a group of normally high-and-mighty big shots were haggling like shrews in a marketplace, a voice interrupted.
"Who's there?"
"..."
"There are still three hours until the deadline. Netero, it seems they really don't care about your life. You're just a chess piece that's been used up and discarded." Jed on Heaven's Arena's rooftop looked at the time on his watch and said to Netero.
"I told you long ago that your idea was too naive and completely impossible to achieve. Moreover, I've long been prepared to sacrifice myself at any time, because I've lived long enough." Netero spoke with the air of a master who had seen through worldly affairs.
"Do you really want to die that much?" Jed looked at Netero with complex emotions.
"Even if you die, my revenge won't be over. Since those selfish guys won't publish the Dark Ledger, then I'll personally take action and kill until they surrender."
"Jed, you can't do it. You should know there are many strong people in this world who aren't much weaker than you and me. They usually don't expose themselves but hide in mountains, cities, and even villages. If you really do such an outrageous thing, they will definitely take action against you! And you absolutely cannot survive." Netero tried to persuade Jed to abandon this extreme approach. Indeed, Jed would definitely die in the end. But it would definitely cause massive civilian casualties. The cost of doing so would be too great. Those ordinary citizens were innocent.
"So what? Even if I die, I'll carry out my revenge to the end. Even if I die, I won't let them have it easy! I'll also take a chunk of their flesh and let them know pain."
"Jed, don't you think this obsession of yours is very much like us hunters? You're actually still a hunter after all!"
"No!"
"Cough cough, sorry to interrupt you two's elegant conversation. Good evening, Shadow leader Jed and Hunter Association Chairman Netero-san." A voice familiar to both Jed and Netero rang out on this rooftop.
"Who's there?" Jed was startled upon hearing the voice, because he hadn't sensed anyone's presence approaching at all. Moreover, there shouldn't be a fourth person here logically - everyone else should have been intercepted inside Heaven's Arena. Although his subordinates weren't too strong, the strength of those three Chimera Ant Squadron Leaders was acknowledged by him.
"It's you! How did you get here?" After seeing who it was, Jed was even more shocked.
"Meruem!" This sentence came from the bound Netero. Like Jed, he was also surprised by Meruem's arrival. Hadn't the Chimera Ants scattered to various places? And shouldn't Ant King Meruem be in the Republic of East Gorteau? How did he get here? And what was his purpose in coming here? But that technique this guy used just now couldn't be...
"Yo, Netero, you guessed right. This is exactly the ability of that little subordinate of yours called Knov." Meruem seemed to see through what Netero was thinking.
"Stay calm!" Meruem said to Jed, then he leaped into the air and came before Netero, looking at Netero's right hand. "What a miraculous Nen ability, actually being able to give you a new arm."
"Hmph, Ant King, are you here to kill me?"
"Found it..." While talking nonsense with Netero, Meruem was actually staring at the area near Netero's heart, as if searching for something. But seeing him suddenly smile, he must have found it.
"I'm here to beat you up." Meruem suddenly attacked Netero without warning, and his fist struck exactly the place Meruem had been searching for.
"Hidden danger removed. Now it's safe." Accompanied by Meruem's inexplicable words, Meruem smiled again.
"You!" Netero was somewhat dazed by Meruem's sudden punch. Meruem's punch wasn't very heavy or painful, but it had an inexplicably dizzying effect. For a moment, Netero felt his brain was a bit dizzy.
"You bastard! What exactly is your purpose in coming here?" Seeing Meruem's series of actions, Jed became inexplicably irritated. His plan shouldn't have any conflict with these Chimera Ants, but for some reason he always had a bad feeling.
"You mean me? Of course I came to kill you both."
(End of Chapter)
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