The mountain path twisted and turned.
Morrow had been walking for about an hour without encountering a single person.
He glanced up at the sky; there were still two or three hours before sunset.
Timewise, it was barely sufficient.
But it would be best to leave this sparsely populated area before nightfall.
In this world, undeveloped wilderness areas were often filled with deadly threats.
Most of these threats came from various bizarre creatures capable of easily killing humans.
In such regions, even a Nen user could lose their life in the depths of remote mountains without specialized knowledge.
Since his transmigration, Morrow had mostly immersed himself in human society, where opportunities abounded, rarely venturing into the wild.
He hadn't even visited natural scenic spots already developed by humans.
But that didn't stop him from maintaining a sense of reverence toward such places.
After a brief rest of a few minutes, Morrow continued descending along the mountain path, pondering his next steps as he walked.
First, he needed to resolve his identity issue...
From the moment he was locked inside the transport vehicle's cage, a death certificate had been forcibly issued for him.
Thus, all records of his identity in the database had vanished along with that death certificate.
Back then, Morena had helped him secure a new identity. Now, he had to figure it out himself.
But it shouldn't be too difficult.
Having spent over half a year in Yorknew City, he knew many things could be solved with money.
600,000 Jenny… I wonder if that's enough.
The money he'd taken from the two corpses wasn't much, but for Morrow now, it was crucial.
Even if it wasn't enough to buy an ID, Morrow could use it as seed money to turn a profit however possible.
Lightly patting his bulging pocket, Morrow gazed into the distance, where faint trails of cooking smoke were barely visible.
Securing an identity was the top priority at the moment. After all, high-speed transportation like airships required identification.
For Morrow now, time was life.
So he had to ensure not a single second was wasted.
Once the identity issue was resolved, he had two destinations in mind.
One was Heavens Arena, where he could earn prize money and make up for his lack of combat experience.
On the path to becoming a Floor Master, he was likely to encounter malicious competitors.
Most of these competitors were Nen users looking to exploit newcomers for victory points.
Driven by status and money, they had no morals or humanity, and ruthless tactics were commonplace.
If Morrow encountered them, he wouldn't hold back.
After all, each Nen user represented a level-up, extremely important to him.
The other destination was Yorknew City.
Morrow was familiar with the place. With some seed money, he could turn a profit quickly and solve his financial problems.
Of course, the more important goal was to spend money on antiques or handmade artworks infused with aura. He wanted to see if Tree Rings could continue gathering energy.
But even if it could, compared to that lengthy process, Morrow would still prioritize leveling up and growing stronger.
Two destinations. No matter which path is chosen, the final destination remains the same.
That is, to kill Feitan within a year.
Morrow pondered, finding it difficult to make a choice for the moment, then considered another crucial matter.
The intelligence network:
The prerequisite for killing Feitan was being able to find him.
According to the original storyline, in its early days, the Phantom Troupe committed all manner of atrocities to establish their reputation and instill fear.
Various shocking crimes were attributed to them.
This ruthless and brutal approach quickly earned them notoriety as a Class-A criminal organization, granting them considerable deterrence.
Soon after, the fact that the Phantom Troupe originated from Meteor City became widely known.
The fear and apprehension people felt toward the Phantom Troupe gradually extended to Meteor City itself.
This was precisely one of Chrollo's motivations for founding the Phantom Troupe.
To make the world fear and dread the Phantom Troupe, thereby projecting that perception onto Meteor City, creating a protective shield around it.
The Phantom Troupe was dedicated to this cause.
But beyond that, there was one more thing the Phantom Troupe had to accomplish.
That was to avenge their childhood friend Sarasa.
Under Chrollo's leadership, the Phantom Troupe waded through rivers of blood until, six years ago, they finally killed the perpetrator responsible for Sarasa's brutal murder.
After that, the Troupe's frenzied activities began to subside somewhat.
They no longer committed crimes or killed as frequently, and the frequency of their group actions visibly declined.
Eventually, the Phantom Troupe didn't even gather for three whole years.
The disbanded members, scattered and acting independently, became as elusive as stones dropped into the ocean.
Given this, Morrow had no choice but to consider the importance of an intelligence network.
Otherwise, even if he developed the strength to kill Feitan, it would all be for nothing if he couldn't find him.
As Morrow's thoughts deepened, he inevitably recalled that rain-soaked night filled with murderous intent.
Why had the Phantom Troupe targeted him...?
He didn't know.
Now that he had chosen a different path, he couldn't be sure whether Chrollo and the others would still go to Yorknew a year later.
He would keep "that piece of intelligence" as a fallback.
If conditions allowed, Morrow naturally preferred a one-on-one confrontation with Feitan.
So an intelligence network was essential.
It would help him locate Feitan when he was acting alone.
And in the world of Hunters, intelligence was an extremely expensive commodity.
Let's go to Yorknew.
Recognizing the importance of an intelligence network, Morrow finally decided to head to Yorknew first.
He would scavenge for opportunities to quickly amass a fortune.
Moreover, after establishing himself in Yorknew in the past, he had heard rumors about people stumbling upon incredible finds or setting up schemes to swindle priceless treasures from collectors.
Morrow could leverage these future insights to intercept some invaluable artifacts.
This way, he could rapidly accumulate funds for his intelligence network while also testing the current functionality of Tree Rings.
—--
Half a month later.
Yorknew City, Rat Alley in the sewer district.
The slightly damp alley wasn't littered with much trash, yet the air still carried an unpleasant odor.
Late at night, deep in the alleyway, a few dim yellow lights provided just enough illumination to see.
Morrow stood at a T-junction, holding a briefcase.
Tap-tap... Footsteps echoed from the shadows.
A masked man, dressed head to toe in concealing clothing, slowly emerged from the dim light, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings with an air of furtiveness.
Upon spotting Morrow, the masked man's wary gaze quickly swept over the suitcase in his hand before he cautiously approached.
Standing before Morrow, the man untied a long, cloth-wrapped object from his back and handed it over.
"You can inspect the goods, but I get the money first."
His voice was hoarse. After a pause, he added, "I'll only wait one minute."
"Fine."
Morrow tossed the suitcase at the man's feet and took the wrapped object. Pulling away the black cloth, he revealed a red-and-white samurai sword wreathed in aura.
Seeing the smoke-like aura emanating from the blade, Morrow nodded in satisfaction.
He had arrived in Yorknew a week ago, only to find that resolving his ID issue was far more troublesome than expected.
So, he temporarily set aside the identity problem and turned to scavenging the flea markets for hidden treasures.
In less than a week, he had earned over twenty million Jenny.
Yet instead of using the money to settle his ID, he immediately sought out the masked man to purchase this high-value and illicitly obtained katana.
If he could flip it smoothly...
He stood to make billions of Jenny in one go.