"This is the Poor Man's Rose…"
After returning to the military district in Kotaki City, Xiang Nan immediately ordered the army to bring in a "Poor Man's Rose"—a micro "virus nuke" that can be implanted into the human body.
He now stood alone in a sealed basement of the base's ordnance testing grounds.
Given how dangerous this thing was, the entire base staff had already been dismissed and cleared out.
Only he remained.
Channeling Nen, he gripped the "Rose" with white gloves, looking it over from top to bottom.
Then, with great care, he set it down and shifted his gaze to a special vessel on the table.
Inside a vial made of special materials seemed to be a clump of strange gas.
That was the virus carried by the "Rose."
"With the level of cellular activity I have now… I should be able to run a test," Xiang Nan narrowed his eyes.
If he wanted to save Netero, he had to get past this wall called "virus."
Otherwise everything would be for nothing, and his plan would fail.
That was the thought—but actually subjecting himself to this virus's ravaging of vitality made his heart pound.
He didn't know if he could pull it off.
In the original story, even a body as strong as the Ant King couldn't withstand the virus; as for the Royal Guards Youpi and Shaiapouf, they could only sacrifice their own lives to force a bit more time for the King. In terms of raw fleshly toughness, both of them outclassed him.
After all, he wasn't on the same life tier—they were creatures from the Dark Continent.
Let alone the Ant King.
But… while bodily toughness is related to life force, it isn't the same thing in a strict, one-to-one way.
"It should come down to the cells… The reason this virus can't be defended against or controlled is because it erodes biological cells… With my current Nen, can I reach the cellular domain?"
Frowning at the vial of virus, he admitted his ability still couldn't act on something as minute and fine as "cells."
"Even if surgery could extend life… the difficulty wouldn't be ordinary. This virus transmits at the cellular level, spreads at an unpredictable rate, and wrecks the body at its roots. Even Meruem could at best grit his teeth and delay death a little."
"But it's not like there's no way… This vial is at 'Rose' bomb strength, diluted a thousandfold—that's already the maximum breakdown. There's no hope of resisting this virus with Nen. The only way is to obey life's most basic truth: once infected, rely on life itself to 'counterattack' and generate antibodies… but the process and the time… I'm afraid…" Xiang Nan muttered as he thought it through.
He slowly closed his eyes.
"The Rose's virus destroys cells… Altana can serve as the source power to generate cells. If I try it, it becomes a race—whether the virus erodes faster or Altana proliferates cells faster… As long as the virus's rate of destruction doesn't far outpace Altana's rate of generation, then after a period of adaptation—while keeping basic vital functions stable—there's a chance antibodies will form." The thought flashed through him.
Another problem was that he didn't have much Altana left.
He had originally planned to train up his absorption of the Dragon Vein's power.
Now, he would probably have to spend it on the "virus."
If Altana could keep him alive and partially counterbalance the virus… then if the Altana ran out before antibodies formed, the end would still be death.
The sealed room was deathly silent.
Even Xiang Nan wavered for a moment.
He knew that cracking the virus meant saving Netero and Meruem.
Those two were crucial to "Hunter x Hunter conquering the Multiverse," especially the Ant King… Their value was irreplaceable.
Risking himself as a guinea pig looked unwise… but he had no choice. It was the only way to change the plotline.
"Everyone's Nen capacity is limited… Even if your affinity isn't single-typed, at most you can create three abilities. When I created 'Hands of Love,' the Transform/Emission effects I touched aren't the same as Kite's 'Crazy Slots.' His ability isn't as potent or as straightforward as mine. Aside from those two special numbers that embody the extremity of Transmutation, the other forms are basically simple shapes with single functions—nowhere near as complex as mine."
His eyes flickered. He extended the hand wearing the "white surgical gloves" and moved his will.
His external Nen rippled, and his aura shifted.
The white gloves gradually darkened—black spread from the fingers toward the palm.
But the black only covered half the glove before it failed to manifest; his Nen blew out and even forcibly "canceled" the ability.
"What a pity…"
Xiang Nan drew a deep breath.
At his current level, he still couldn't complete the last transformation of "Hands of Love"—the final form remained out of reach.
The further he pushed his ability, the more he was constrained by "Nen capacity," and the harder development became.
To don those "black gloves," he needed greater bodily energy and mental energy to support them; specifically, meticulous, abundant thought and computation… plus Nen control so fine-grained and stable it bordered on absolute.
If he could use the black gloves of "Hands of Love" right now, he wouldn't have to be this "anxious."
The white gloves diagnose.
The red gloves mean stepping into the "operating room."
And black… stands for death or surgical failure—the concept is taken from the "morgue."
The three forms are one set.
Each transformation comes with different effects and capabilities.
For now, he had mastered and could skillfully use only the first two.
Swish!
Suddenly, Xiang Nan drew a scalpel. Silver flashed—and he chopped off a finger on his left hand.
A small spatter of blood hit the floor.
He raised the wounded hand and watched as strands of vivid red muscle quickly sprouted from the stump, twining and knitting together; even the broken finger bone regrew… In under ten seconds, a whole, healthy finger returned.
This was the change his body had undergone from steadily absorbing Altana.
While the self-healing hadn't yet reached Utsuro's level in the world of Gintama, it was already monstrous.
It meant that as long as his body didn't suffer massive destruction or a lethal blow, he could "restore" in short order—he was very hard to kill.
After all, the Altana he'd absorbed was the strongest planetary life force from Gintama; with Nen as an amplifier, he could manifest the Dragon Vein's surging vitality, grow at a rate far beyond Yoshida Shouyou, and compress the time curve.
That was one of the chips that let him stand off against Beyond in the Kakin Empire.
"But the problem is… even this level is still too green to fight the Rose's virus…" Xiang Nan sighed.
Youpi of the Royal Guard had regeneration even more domineering than his…
And still died…
"No matter what… I have to try. There's no way back."
"Judging from how the 'worlds' and the system work, the earlier trials are always the least difficult and most rewarding… As the battleground levels up, it'll only get harder. With a chance like this right in front of me—if I let it pass, I can't accept that! This is a challenge—not just against the outside world, but against myself…"
After a brief silence, his eyes cooled, then steadied.
He reached out toward the container that held the virus.