Chapter 185: Individual Progress x Zoldyck's Fourth Son, Killua
The condition Ging proposed was ultimately for... Razor...
Using the entire island as a playground to build a "card collecting" game involving real Nen users required a powerful Emitter who could continuously supply Nen to Greed Island.
Among the famous Emitters Roy knew, including Grandfather Zeno and Father Silva, only Razor could achieve this.
His strength was undeniably top-tier, reaching B-Rank, absolutely no weaker than an average Chimera Ant Squadron Leader.
As for how he compared to Youpi, Neferpitou, or Shaiapouf, he might fall short, but not by much. At the very least... the current, immature Spider, Franklin, was no match for him.
"Mm." Roy nonchalantly forked a piece of crispy bacon into his mouth. With a wave of his hand, he opened the Dark Continent Guide given by Silva, reading without looking up. "Book the tickets."
"Already booked. Airship tomorrow at noon, arriving at 10 AM the day after."
"Is the pistol handy?"
"Yes. If I ran into that Clark now," Gotoh pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses confidently, "I could kill him in minutes."
Clark... the fat guy who followed Pariston during the Hunter Exam...
Roy quietly opened his panel. One point of Faith Power lay quietly in his inventory.
Looking at Gotoh's panel...
[Notification: Your believer's strength has increased, Faith Power +1...]
[Believer: Gotoh (Note: Loyalty Overflowing)]
[Physique: 217 → 224]
[Aura Output: D+ (9754/10000) → C- (420/100,000)]
[Potential Aura: C- (1745/100,000) → C- (2812/100,000)]
[Evaluation: C-]
[Note: Based on Chimera Ant benchmark, your believer "Gotoh" has reached the level of a lower-tier Chimera Ant Squadron Leader.]
Lower-tier Squadron Leader, like the cheetah Silva one-shotted from the sky?
Gotoh's current level was indeed a significant improvement, but compared to Zazan the Scorpion who invaded Meteor City, or Leol the Lion who fought Morel, Gotoh was still far behind. The reason...
His foundation was too poor!
Chimera Ants had genetic inheritance; they grew stronger just by eating, far surpassing humans... As one of only two head butlers of the Zoldycks besides Tsubone, Gotoh's talent was exceptional among humans, one in ten thousand. But "one in ten thousand" is still just that, far behind geniuses who are "one in a hundred thousand, a million, or ten million."
This was talent, directly locking his upper limit. Even if he worked harder, he would likely remain a C- for life, unless... Roy's eyes flickered, thinking of Muzan. Remaking him with his blood, just like...
Muzan with his Twelve Kizuki. The "Sun" might be able to create "Divine Envoys" or... "Angels."
Breakfast ended quickly amidst his churning thoughts. Roy slowly pulled out a silk napkin, wiped his mouth, and said, "Keep up the good work. Also, arrange for our people to enter Meteor City. Source ingredients locally in Yorknew. Chefs on field duty get a pay raise."
"Yes, sir." Gotoh noted it down. Finally, he stole a glance at Roy and asked tentatively, "Young Master, how is Kastro performing?"
Roy looked at him with a half-smile. "Do you hope he performs well, or poorly?"
"Both well and poorly," Gotoh said sincerely. "I hope he performs well enough not to delay the Young Master's important matters, but also not so well that he steals the spotlight."
In short, he cannot threaten my position in the Young Master's heart... the young butler silently added.
Roy laughed despite himself. He opened Kastro's panel...
[Believer: Kastro (Note: Absolute Loyalty)]
[Physique: 187]
[Aura Output: D+ (4157/10000)]
[Potential Aura: C- (31248/100000)]
[Evaluation: D+]
[Note: Based on Chimera Ant benchmark, your believer "Kastro" has reached the level of a standard Chimera Ant Squadron Leader.]
Upper limit... Elite Squadron Leader. Although inferior to Youpi, Neferpitou, and Shaiapouf, he was at least comparable to mature Hisoka, Chrollo, Uvogin, and Nobunaga. Perhaps inferior to Razor, but his potential was significantly higher than Gotoh's.
"Then you need to work hard."
"I will absolutely not disappoint the Young Master," Gotoh said seriously.
Roy nodded, letting the young butler clear the mess and wheel the cart away. Having checked the guide and pinpointed the coordinates of the human settlement for "outcasts"—the "Home of the Lost"—in the Uzuki Great Forest next to the Duchy of Samir on the Dark Continent, he stood up. With a little time before the electrocution training, he turned and entered the shower room to add points.
Bolton: LV41... "Life Energy" +120...
Ilya: LV50... "Life Energy" +150...
Two people comparable to two Upper Moons, likely having killed more people than Akaza or Hantengu had eaten. The filth and darkness hidden deep in their souls were immeasurable. The "backlash" brought by [Nature] through them would likely be fiercer than anything Roy had faced before!
Roy took off his coat, turned on the shower, and let the water wash over his body. He took a deep breath, ready to summon the "Sun" to obliterate the darkness and purge the "pollution." A moment later, he narrowed his eyes and cleared all "Life Energy"... The panel immediately prompted—[Notification: "Life Energy" cleared, "Physique" +240...]
Roy frowned. Why 30 points less for no reason?
Then, as piercing pain surged like a tide—hair falling out, skin shedding, muscles tearing, cells dividing and recombining... especially—
The mitochondria, responsible for regulating "cell metabolism" and "apoptosis," directly influencing the "organism's" aging process and even "lifespan," grew stronger!
Roy grit his teeth, a realization dawning... Not fewer points, but his foundation was solid enough that the same points brought less "Physique" intensity improvement than before... Like the energy needed for an "elephant to grow one centimeter taller" versus an "ant growing one centimeter taller" is incomparable. With his current physical condition, the boost from the same points would decrease over time... In other words, if he wanted to get stronger, he would need more and more Life Energy or Faith Power in the future!
Hah...
Thirty seconds... one minute... one and a half minutes... two minutes...
The pain receded much slower than Roy expected. Until two and a half minutes later, a "dark," "twisted," "insane" negative emotion clawed its way out of his body, attempting to invade and occupy the high ground of his consciousness.
Fwoosh~ Two suns ignited in the boy's ink-black pupils. He immediately summoned the great sun in his heart to shine and kill!
"Wails" emanated from the depths of his soul. Shadows struggled and melted under the sunlight... returning a clean spiritual pure land to him...
Roy unclenched his teeth and exhaled a breath of turbid air. Looking in the mirror, he was taller, his muscles tighter and fuller. A casual clench of his fist exploded with power in his palm, booming like thunder!
Glancing at the panel...
[Name: Roy Zoldyck]
[Physique: 631.8 → 871.8 (Note: Average person is 1)]
[Nen Ability: Gate of Cognition]
[Aura Output: C- (17854/100,000) → C (40517/100,000) (Note: Rating based on Chimera Ant benchmark)]
[Potential Aura: C (68741/100,000) → C+ (27157/100,000)]
[Nen Shape Transformation: Lv2 (584/1000)]
[Nen Property Change: Yang: Lv4 (42416/100,000)... Yin: Lv2 (743/1000)... Fire: Lv3 (3451/10000)... Water: Lv3 (1450/10000)... Wind: Lv1 (94/100)... Earth: Lv2 (457/1000)...]
[Four Major Principles: Ten: Lv3 (3874/10000)... Zetsu: Lv3 (6978/10000)... Ren: Lv3 (2300/10000)... Hatsu: Lv4 (7451/100,000)]
[Taijutsu (Combat Experience): Lv3 (1540/10000)]
[Swordsmanship: Lv4 (9941/100,000)]
[Advanced Techniques: Shadow Step... Rhythm Echo... Snake Awakens... Deception... Limb Regeneration... Swamp Space... Clone... Dream Parasitism... Generalized Dream Gate...]
[Title: One-Year Fruiting Apple Tree, C-Rank Peak, approaching B-Rank]
Compared to Chimera Ants, he was already above Elite Squadron Leaders like Zazan and Leol...
Roughly the level of "Peak Hisoka"... If only looking at combat power... Roy silently adapted to his new body, ignoring other means. He closed the panel, rubbing the back of his left hand with his right. The "curse" reversed by one minute, displaying remaining time: 8 years, 11 months, 54 days, 37 minutes, 45 seconds. Unknowingly, nearly a year had passed since the Hunter Exam. The excitement in the boy's heart from the surging power faded, gradually returning to calm.
He turned the shower to max, washing away the grime. When he came out, he had changed into a brand-new training suit... a larger size he had asked Gotoh to prepare in advance.
Heading to the training room, he grabbed Snow-Walker and the Cane Sword.
Creeak~ The door closed.
7:00 AM. The red sun leaped out, morning glow at its peak.
Wearing a cloak of rosy clouds, two swords at his waist, the boy strolled through the mottled corridor filled with the aura of time. Suddenly, he stopped. A white-haired old man, his robe printed with "A Kill a Day / Active for Life" fluttering in the wind, stood with hands behind his back by the window, gazing at the man and woman walking in the garden...
Roy called out respectfully, "Grandfather."
Zeno turned his head. This time, he lifted his chin slightly, raising an eyebrow. "You grew taller again?"
Roy took two steps forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Zeno, half a head taller than him. He admitted frankly, "Just a little bit."
Just... a little bit? Zeno looked the boy up and down, then suddenly asked, "Will you be taller than your dad?"
"Which aspect are you referring to, Grandfather?"
"Any aspect."
Roy recalled Silva's contrasting appearance in the dream and chuckled. "You don't need to fish for information. Father and I are fine... Father even hugged me the other day..."
In the garden, Silva, supporting Kikyo, twitched his ears. His tall body stiffened visibly!
"Silva, what's wrong?" Kikyo, leaning on him, holding his arm affectionately, was pulled back slightly by his sudden stop. She looked at him in surprise...
The corner of Silva's mouth twitched rarely, then quickly returned to his stern demeanor. He said softly, "Let's go for a walk down the mountain today."
"Isn't that a bit far?"
"Not far. Just wandering around the mountain."
As long as we get away from that damn gaze quickly... anything goes!
"O... kay." Before the woman could finish, she gasped... The man swept her up in his arms and fled the garden as if flying.
Seeing this, Zeno looked strangely at Silva's fleeing back, then at the smiling boy beside him who already bore seventy percent of Silva's likeness. He chuckled low in his throat. "It seems something interesting happened that I don't know about... Roy,"
Zeno looked up at the boy. "Your brother is about to be born. Why don't you give him a name too?"
Is it my turn for this?
"Your Great-Great-Grandfather said everyone gets a say. Whoever picks the best name wins..."
Is it that casual?
"Then call him Killua."
"Killua... any meaning?"
"No. Just thought of it and said it."
"You're casual enough." Just then, Illumi walked over slowly, hands in pockets, glancing at the two.
Zeno asked, "And you?"
"Same as him." Illumi stood beside Roy. "Killua."
So casual... as if saving the time to think entirely...
Zeno: "..."
Repeating the name over and over, he left without a word...
In the mottled corridor leading to the training room gate, only the Zoldyck brothers remained, one on each side, distinct, walking slowly towards the training room...
A wind whimpered past, swirling a few dry leaves...
Illumi glanced at Roy, noting he brought both swords. He said impassively, "You have a chance to practice swordsmanship?"
Relying on the 8 million volts of electricity empowered by "Divine Script" pouring down... Illumi clearly remembered that even though Roy lasted two minutes without fainting, he still lay in the garden for half a day before regaining control of his body. He hadn't brought swords then.
"I just don't want them to think I'm ignoring them on purpose." Since the training blade could achieve Bankai, Roy realized that every sword appearing in his life, beautiful or ugly, sharp or dull, had a bond with him unlike any other. As Sakonji Urokodaki said, they witnessed his past, his rise and fall, his honor and disgrace. In the future, not for Bankai, but to remember the past, to have one more "anchor" to hold onto when lost, Roy made this decision immediately after experiencing the battle in Meteor City through Taiichi.
He even planned, once he learned "De-Conjuration," to store all three swords in his cognitive space, sharing his fate.
Snow-Walker and the Cane Sword, one in each hand...
Hearing him, seeing him act... Illumi suddenly stopped. Looking at Roy's back, his empty eyes gradually regained focus. He blurted out, "I can also be the sword in your hand. I'll cut whoever you tell me to cut."
"On one condition."
"Just don't ignore me. Keep me by your side in the future."
I knew it!
Roy moved, leaving afterimages in his wake. "You won't escape!" Illumi followed with Shadow Step...
He fled, I chased. Just like in the Demon Slayer world, Kyojuro Rengoku chasing Gyokko with a sword, finally cutting him down with a flaming sword technique in front of Hantengu...
[Notification: Faith Power +1]
☆☆☆
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