Inside a hotel in the city of the Republic of Rokario, closest to the border.
Gon had already woken from his coma and was discussing something with Killua. After about two or three minutes, he jumped off the bed, bent down in a respectful, deep bow, and shouted with full conviction: "Please, teach us the method to get stronger quickly! We beg of you!"
"And the conditions..." Allen rubbed his chin, watching the little fellow with interest; Gon's mental state seemed a bit off.
"Killua already told me! I must never reveal this secret to anyone! I swear on my life that I will keep it until the day I die."
True to his Enhancer personality, Gon didn't hesitate for a second. He made no attempt to haggle and agreed cleanly. For him, as long as he could obtain the power to defeat the enemy and rescue Kite, no price was too high, let alone a simple matter of keeping a secret.
Allen nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent! Then let's begin. Everyone, come closer."
At his signal, Baise, Bodoro, Killua, and Gon stood tightly together. As for the temporary team members, Illumi, Kalluto, and Hisoka, they had dispersed to do their own things upon entering the city.
Hisoka, in particular, despite having entered a dungeon once to avoid a nuclear blast, had only stayed near the entrance. He had no idea that inside were all sorts of bizarre enemies and Bosses to fight. Since his stamina was largely depleted, he was likely currently resting in bed. Ponzu, who had narrowly escaped death, was left in the care of other Hunters stationed here.
The cold-hearted Allen completely ignored the lingering, reluctant look in the girl's eyes when they parted. In this world, "normal" romances rarely ended well! He didn't want to bring trouble upon himself, nor did he want to waste precious time and energy on meaningless distractions.
With the dungeon teleportation activated…
The two boys felt their vision blur before instantly appearing at the entrance of Blackrock Spire. Looking at the Orc warriors clad in heavy armor and wielding giant axes on the slopes above, as well as the ancient, complex architecture and terrain, Killua couldn't help but ask: "Where is this? And what are those monsters?"
"Think of it as a space created with my Hatsu. Here, the creatures aren't real; they are Conjured puppets of a sort. You can constantly increase your strength by training and fighting with them. Most importantly, the flow of time here is different from the outside world. To put it simply, ten days spent here is only one day in the world outside."
Allen trotted out his usual cover story, but he also explained the basic mechanics of how the dungeon operated. As for why he chose Blackrock Spire, it was because the zone was split into Upper and Lower sections, which could simultaneously satisfy the training needs of people at different power levels.
"A ten-to-one time difference? Meaning... the training speed here is ten times that of the outside! No wonder! No wonder the three of you improved so fast. This is basically cheating!" Killua instantly grasped the key point, his face wearing an expression of utter shock.
The simple-minded Gon, however, showed mostly joy. He clenched his fists and shouted with excitement: "This is great! Ten times more time! And these monsters for real combat training! We'll definitely get strong enough to rescue Kite."
"Hehe, little brother, I advise you not to underestimate those monsters. Though their intelligence isn't high, they possess all sorts of abilities. If you aren't careful, you really could die," Baise reminded them, feigning kindness.
"Thanks, auntie. We'll be careful."
As he spoke, Killua pulled Gon along and charged into the hall, immediately clashing with the green-skinned, tusked Orcs. Though they were a bit clumsy at first, they quickly found the enemies' attack rhythm and even learned how to break line-of-sight to dodge magical attacks.
While the two boys were focused on the fight, Baise was on the verge of an explosion. She muttered to herself with a trembling voice, "A-A-Auntie?!! That brat! Don't hold me back! I'm going to teach him a lesson!"
"Forget it, calm down. It was just a child's careless mistake, don't take it to heart," Bodoro hurriedly pulled her back to soothe her.
"That's exactly why I'm angry! I'm twenty-six! I'm in my prime! Where exactly do I look like an 'auntie'? Say it! Go on, say it!" A spine-chilling light flickered in Baise's eyes.
Undoubtedly, when it comes to age, women tend to be incredibly sensitive. Combined with Killua's natural sharp tongue, it was no wonder Bisky always beat him to a pulp. Looking at it now, she probably went too light on him; he needed a heavier hand to ever learn his lesson.
Ultimately, under Bodoro's persuasion, Baise managed to endure it. Fuming, she headed to the Upper Spire to find some Orcs and Dragonspawn to vent her internal rage. Under her fatal kiss, the two of them soon controlled a squad of Elite NPCs and began methodically clearing monsters along the way, honing their Nen and combat skills.
Since they were veterans of the dungeon and had cleared Upper Blackrock Spire more than thirty times, they were intimately familiar with the route. Allen didn't need to worry about them. Instead, he chose to follow Killua and Gon. On one hand, he wanted to guide them; on the other, he needed to prevent them from running around in a panic and "pulling a train"—accidentally aggroing half the dungeon's monsters at once.
The three of them advanced slowly toward Lower Blackrock Spire along a set route. However, due to their lack of experience and knowledge of the monsters' abilities, by the time the two boys reached the suspension bridge, they had exhausted all their Aura and collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.
"Dammit! These guys are harder to deal with than the monsters in Greed Island. Especially those weird magic attacks; they're almost impossible to guard against," Killua complained in a low voice, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Isn't that perfect! As long as we keep fighting them, we'll keep getting stronger," Gon said, his face brimming with excitement and anticipation.
Killua nodded in agreement. "Yeah! And we have plenty of time! Ten days of training here is only one day outside."
"Let's go! We'll definitely rescue Kite!"
"Yeah!"
As the two boys cheered each other on, Allen suddenly interjected: "Don't get too ahead of yourselves. I should tell you clearly: because time flows faster here, you will also age and grow ten times faster. In other words, your total time hasn't actually increased; you're just drawing an advance on your future."
"Eh? Is that so?" Gon stared at his best friend in surprise.
Killua's mind worked faster, and he immediately explained: "That's right! Think about it, if we stay here for ten years, we'll definitely grow up, right? But what happens when we go back? Only one year has passed out there. It's like spending nine years of your future in advance. Our family and friends might not even recognize us."
"But we really did live through ten years! The time didn't decrease!" Gon scratched the back of his head, unable to grasp the logic.
"Idiot! I'm not saying the time decreased! It's an advance! Do you understand what an advance is?" Killua seemed at a loss for how to explain further and began to act a bit frazzled.
"N-No... I don't get it!" Gon still looked bewildered, completely missing the logical connection.
Seeing this, Allen finally couldn't help but laugh and tease: "Has anyone ever told you two that you're just like a married couple?"
Instantly! The two bickering boys froze in their tracks, and Killua's face turned bright red.