In Netero's current state, Roy felt it was best not to intervene, or even attempt to awaken him and disrupt the process.
"Hiss... um..." A few faint gleams playfully emerged from Netero's acupoints from time to time....
Watching this scene, Mamen Beans forced himself to calm down, wisely retracting his hand while quietly observing Roy, wiping the sweat that kept rolling down his round head... damn!
Having followed Netero for so many years, this was the first time he saw the chairman in such a state of "dementia"!
Even back then, when faced with Jager's passing... and the resurrection of resentment of his childhood friend Jade, known as the "Dark Side" of the Hunter Association... he never lost control like this!
So, what has the chairman encountered now? What is that mist? And what is that cartoon toy Roy Zoldyck is holding?
Even with his vast knowledge, including secrets of the Dark Continent, Mamen Beans couldn't make any sense of it for a while.
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long, just a few breaths, as the playful gleams disappeared into Netero's open acupoints....
Like an elderly person who's fallen asleep, he finally had a trace of aura.....
First, he collected his Nen, then breathed evenly, finally opening his cloudy eyes softly, exhaling gently... then stepping on the ground, regaining a sense of reality, slowly... slowly... manifesting slight changes...
Sharp-eyed, the individuals in the room captured this transformation.
"Young Master,"
"Something is off with him."
Wutong stood silently by Roy's side, his gold-rimmed glasses reflecting Netero, who seemed to have grown slightly taller.....
Not only that, "Chairman, why is your skin so tight?"
With a shout of surprise, Mamen Beans widened his eyes in shock, noting that not only height and skin but even... hair... as Netero fully regained consciousness, he gave Mamen Beans a faint smile... prompting another shocked cry from Mamen Beans, as if seeing the Netero from twenty years ago—the not completely white-haired Netero, the spirited Netero who scorned the world, exclaiming: "Chairman, you've... become younger!"
"Really?" Netero felt the burgeoning vigor and the surging, hidden Nen within his body, reaching up to touch his face... where the once deep-set wrinkles were now reduced, and his skin felt smoother too.
He then turned his head to look at the full-length mirror standing in the corner of Roy's bedroom,
The tall, vigorous, and bright-eyed man in the mirror, though white-haired, had unmistakably regained many black strands, instantly matching his youthful appearance!
Or rather—
It was exactly his self from twenty years ago!
A miracle!
Rebirth is divine!
Summoning the future with youth is divine!
Unexpectedly, in his later years, Netero too would experience a form of time reversal, reclaiming the powerful demeanor of his youth!
Should he be joyous? Should he be joyful?
Yet amidst the delight, the no-longer-dreary Netero gazed at Roy with complex, nuanced eyes, stayed silent for a while, and uttered three words—
"You're excellent."
Roy smiled gently, saying with a hint of disappointment, "Unfortunately, it's not good enough."
As expected, the lower substitute version of the Youthful Mist wasn't as effective as Roy hoped; unlike the original version that could return Netero to eighteen with one spray.
With the Eye of Truth open, firelight surged in Roy's eyes, igniting two suns that shone upon this "brand-new" Netero, followed by a panel and several lines of information emerging before him....
[Name: Isaac Netero]
[Constitution: 4850.8→6108.9 (Note: Normal human is 1)]
[1. Manifested Nen Amount: B+ (80,000/1,000,000) → B+ (950,000/1,000,000) (Note: Rating based on ants, reference Yupi: B (400,000/1,000,000))]
[In the Naruto World, referencing the "One-tailed" Sand Guardian Crane, Chakra Amount is about: 50 units (Kakashi)... Isaac Netero's current Nen amount is about "78 units," close to 2.2 Sand Guardian Cranes]
....
[2. Potential Qi Amount: B+ (990,000/1,000,000) → A- (1,500,000/10,000,000) (Note: Referencing Yupi, Yupi: B (400,000/1,000,000), Isaac Netero has surpassed Yupi, reaching Ant King level)]
[In the Naruto World, referencing the "One-tailed" Sand Guardian Crane, Chakra Amount is about: 50 units (Kakashi)... Isaac Netero's potential Nen amount is about "490 units," equivalent to 9.5 Sand Guardian Cranes]
[Comprehensive Evaluation: B+ top-notch, reaching the threshold of A-]
[Note: Standard Ant King-level strongman]
Roy's gaze flickered, and he couldn't suppress a fiery will to fight from arising within him,
Quickly, Netero, newly reborn, captured this sharply in his eyes.
Netero, with a flick of his sleeve, seemed not yet fully accustomed to his now powerful self, smiled across the few meters' distance from Roy and said, "It's already good enough,"
"Far better than this old man ever imagined."
Netero took a step forward, saying, "Why not, shall we try?"
"Sorry, I'm not my father, no interest in getting beaten." Roy played with the cartoon spray in his hand, turned it over and summoned the Sumeru Mustard Seed, tossing it inside.
Turning his back to Wutong, he said, "I'm hungry."
The young butler adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, glanced at Netero, and responded, "I'll go down and prepare something right away."
Turning and exiting the bedroom, heading towards the kitchen.
"Tap tap...." Footsteps echoed during this cooling autumn night....
As a gentle cold wind blew in from outside the window, Netero, after a straightforward refusal, comprehended Roy's intention of sending him away. With a deep gaze at Roy, he didn't linger further, instead, summoning the still-shocked Mamen Beans, dragging him out of the room.
"Creak~" The door opened and shut,
The old man suddenly stopped, his back to Roy, facing the ink-black mountains and night outside, he sincerely exhaled and said, "Roy, as you said, there is only a Netero who dies in battle, not one who dies lying down; this favor,"
"This old man will remember it."
As for how to repay it, the old man seemed to have forgotten,
Yet the naturally emitted, golden-clear Nen aura above his head told Roy, what he might need is just a period of waiting.
Just as he could help him reverse time, retrieving his youthful self, he could also assist him along the span of time, burning through years until life reaches its end.
Just like his great-grandfather Maha did, sheltering him from storms.....
"Hoo~" Somehow, despite helping the other regain youth, Roy leaned against the table's edge, exhaled, and couldn't find joy in it.
In the original work, the scene of the old man severing his arm, stabbing his heart, triggering a nuclear explosion vividly arose,
That kind of tragedy and sorrow seemed not to be compensated by just twenty years of regained youth.....
But, "At any rate, I've done something."
Roy murmured to himself, falling into silence for a moment.
"Tick tock... tick tock...." The night deepened as the clock in the corner chimed....
When the bright moon climbed over the treetops, Roy came back to his senses once again, took advantage of the pause while Wutong prepared dinner, and crossed out of the bedroom.
Before him appeared a swaying white-haired figure, blocking his path at the window.
"Your great-grandfather mentioned, he does not wish to become younger." The chest bearing the inscription "Active Duty for Life, One Kill a Day" gleamed murderously under the moonlight!
Zeno, who had appeared silently at some point, spoke eerily to Roy.
Roy then glanced over the intervening walls toward the dim little room, as if Maha regarded him, he regarded Maha, enlightened and smiling knowingly: "It seems I underestimated the weight of Longevity Rice."
"Great-grandfather had Longevity Rice; naturally, he needs nothing else."
"No, he does." Zeno suddenly turned his head, deeply gazing at the youth, said: "Longevity Rice can only slow the flow of time, but it cannot reverse it."
"Then what does great-grandfather....."
"He desires death."