Humans controlled by the Puppet Manipulation Technique, though devoid of shadows, could have their strength enhanced using aura.
Before the airship exploded, Luyuan hid inside an ordinary person's shadow. He then used over a dozen puppet humans to encase the person, ultimately plummeting from high altitude into a lake.
Despite the reinforcement of aura, several puppet humans were damaged by the impact of the fall.
As for the ordinary person encased within, they died instantly.
Luyuan emerged from the shadow dimension and swam toward the shore.
The puppet humans under his command also returned to the shore.
Once ashore, Luyuan collapsed onto the ground, exhaustion written all over his face.
The ability type of Nowhere to Return From Shadows could be considered complex. While it offered versatile applications, the trade-off was an excessively high aura consumption.
After all the chaos, Luyuan's physical strength and aura were nearly depleted.
"Damn it… only seven survived."
He looked up at the seven puppet humans that were barely intact, gritting his teeth in frustration.
Given the circumstances at the time, he had too little time to act.
A delay of even a few more seconds could have meant death in the explosion.
Managing to preserve seven puppet humans in such a critical moment was already a decent outcome.
He was simply furious that these setbacks had interfered with his mission.
Right now, there was no way to confirm Morrow's whereabouts, let alone continue the pursuit.
Luyuan struggled to calm his emotions, exhaling deeply before closing his eyes to rest.
Losing an excellent opportunity to strike didn't mean the mission had failed.
Once he recovered, he could always seek another chance.
Under the moonlight, Luyuan leaned against a tree, surrounded by seven motionless, zombie-like puppets that shielded him in the center.
—--
Compared to Luyuan's deep exhaustion, Morrow, on the other hand, was in relatively good condition in terms of physical strength and potential aura.
This was thanks to the upgrade benefits brought by the severed head on the airship.
Morrow, his body radiating aura, walked straight along the shore toward the trio who had just finished hunting a giant-horned white deer.
He hoped to gather some information from them and borrow a phone while he was at it.
"Excuse me, everyone."
To prevent an excessive reaction, Morrow raised his hand and greeted them from a distance.
At that moment.
The three were eagerly cutting the giant antlers when they suddenly heard Morrow's greeting. Their expressions instantly changed, and without hesitation, they grabbed their hunting rifles, immediately aiming at the direction of the voice.
When they saw that the speaker was a grubby-looking teenager, they couldn't help but exchange glances.
"It's just a kid."
"So what? We've been seen."
"Kill him?"
"Obviously… What do you think we're doing here?"
Among the three, the oldest, a bearded man, made the decision swiftly.
Poaching giant-horned white deer was a serious crime, with penalties calculated by weight. The coral antlers of an adult white deer alone could land them a minimum of twenty years in prison.
A murderous glint flashed in the bearded man's eyes. Their actions were already illicit, so they couldn't be bothered to ask Morrow's intentions. He took aim and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Even with a suppressor, the gunshot echoed across the lake.
The bullet tore through the air, heading straight for Morrow.
But Morrow had sensed the bearded man's killing intent the moment it arose and immediately dodged out of the bullet's trajectory.
The bullet flew past him, vanishing into the night. The bearded man was momentarily stunned when Morrow dodged the gunshot. He hastily pulled the bolt to eject the still-warm shell casing.
"What are you waiting for? Shoot!"
As he urged his companions, the bearded man raised his gun again to aim at Morrow.
But this time, Morrow didn't give him another chance.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Several Nen bullets crossed the distance between life and death, exploding the heads of the three gunmen.
Amid the spray of blood, the three collapsed to the ground with their hunting rifles, landing with dull thuds.
Morrow approached the corpses and glanced at the nearby fallen stag.
"Poachers…"
He withdrew his gaze, his expression cold.
He didn't recognize the giant-antlered white stag, but given how decisively these three had opened fire, they were likely criminals engaged in poaching.
Perhaps they didn't care at all why a teenager had appeared in the dense forest; they only cared about covering up their crimes.
Morrow crouched down and searched one of the bodies, pulling out a phone. He turned it on and dialed Kanzai's number.
Beep, beep…
After a minute of unanswered ringing, the call automatically disconnected.
Morrow tried several more times, but there was still no response.
"Could his phone have been crushed too? Unlikely… A combat-oriented member of the Zodiac Twelve like him must be highly skilled in advanced techniques like "Shu"."
Morrow set the phone aside and glanced at the faint mist curling like smoke around him.
Surely Kanzai hadn't been unlucky enough to fall into a swamp…?
The humidity in this area was high, so swamps were likely present. Statistically, it was possible.
The image of Kanzai plunging into a swamp like a javelin flashed through Morrow's mind, sending a shiver down his spine.
That would be too tragic…
Shaking his head, Morrow sent a text to Argo instead. Without waiting for a reply, he pocketed the phone and continued searching the bodies.
Pistols, cigarettes, lighters, a compass…
After setting aside the useful items, Morrow checked the backpacks on the corpses, pulling out some dry rations, clean water, and poached goods.
Claws from an unknown creature, a multicolored sharp beak, even a pair of emerald-green beast eyes preserved in a bottle…
Finding these body parts confirmed the men's identities.
"No wonder they were so ruthless."
Morrow glanced at the corpses nearby.
He had only intended to ask for directions, but these men had brought this upon themselves.
Morrow pulled over a backpack, took out a can of meat, pried it open, and began eating.
After a quick meal, he emptied one of the backpacks and loaded it with useful supplies and food.
As for the claws, beak, and the severed antlers on the ground: those were definitely not coming with him.
Using the regional map he'd found in the backpack, he confirmed his location: a forest within the Minbo Republic.
Legally speaking, this technically counted as illegal entry.
Carrying these likely valuable poached goods would just be stacking debuffs.
As Morrow finished packing, he suddenly tensed, raising the pistol toward the low-visibility woods ahead while gathering aura in his other hand.
From the moment he'd dealt with the poachers, he hadn't let his guard down.
Now, hearing faint rustling, he immediately went on alert.
Rustle. A man pushed aside the lush bushes and swaggered into Morrow's presence as if he owned the place.
Acting as though he hadn't noticed the gun in Morrow's hand, the man's gaze swept over the corpses on the ground and the half-sawed deer antlers. His expression shifted slightly before he glanced at the pile of poached game carelessly scattered nearby.
Then, his eyes returned to Morrow, and he said calmly, "Let's get acquainted. My name is Benjamin, Gourmet Hunter by profession."
"…"