When it comes to virus research, most people would associate it with advancing medical science.
But if you add "human experimentation" before those words, the meaning changes entirely.
Biological weapons...
That was the term that immediately came to Morrow's mind after reviewing the intel.
Come to think of it, the so-called "Poor Man's Rose," classified as a bomb in this world, was essentially a biological weapon.
Even someone as formidable as the reborn Chimera Ant King, with a body fused from countless superior genes, couldn't withstand the corrosion of the Rose Virus.
This showed that the upper limits of viral potency in this world were unimaginable, truly a restricted area for humanity.
Yet humans had never stopped exploring the path to destruction...
The Poor Man's Rose, with its low cost and ease of production, was proof of that.
Even so, Morrow never expected a mafia syndicate to dare dabble in virus-related human experimentation, though in their eyes, it was likely just another lucrative business venture.
Nolan Gambino...
Morrow closed the email interface, his expression blank.
Every word of the intel Argo had sent was drenched in blood, exposing the darkest corners of the world.
Putting away his phone, Morrow headed to a clothing store on the street and bought an outfit to conceal his appearance. Just in case, he also picked up a well-fitted gas mask.
The western part of Pritter Town was a vast wetland forest, with many areas shrouded in toxic fumes, making gas masks a common piece of equipment here.
Moreover, this was a gray zone; discreet attire was the norm, and walking around with a gas mask hardly raised any eyebrows.
Morrow now wore a loose black hoodie, the hood pulled up, along with a face mask and sunglasses, completely obscuring his face.
He stuffed the gas mask and some portable food into his backpack before heading to a local gang to purchase a stash of firearms.
He had expected buying guns to be difficult, but to his surprise, once the money was handed over, the process went as smoothly as buying a few bottles of water.
With preparations complete, Morrow set off toward the outskirts of town.
According to Argo's intel, the base conducting the viral human experiments was located near a village on the edge of the wetland forest.
As for the exact coordinates, Argo couldn't uncover them.
It wasn't a matter of ability; she simply wasn't willing to take on greater risks.
As she had said, she could investigate intel on the Phantom Troupe without hesitation because the Troupe itself didn't care about such things.
The mafia, however, was different. Retaliation was their default response. If they caught even the slightest trace of her involvement, they would cling to her like a persistent shadow.
In short, Argo was running a business, not risking her life for Morrow.
Morrow understood that.
In fact, even if Argo didn't push her abilities to the limit, Morrow was already beginning to appreciate the benefits of having an intelligence network.
To him, this channel was like a search engine, expensive, but otherwise flawless.
Leaving Pritter Town, the road outside was potholed and uneven, flanked by overgrown greenery so dense that the occasional collapsed road sign could barely be seen within. Had he not just left the town, Morrow would have found it hard to imagine that beyond a well-equipped settlement, complete with an airport, lay such poorly constructed roads.
After walking a stretch along the main road, Morrow followed the map's directions and turned onto a muddy trail that had been trodden into existence by countless footsteps.
Another ten kilometers or so along this path would lead him to a village called Shan Ni, which, geographically speaking, was situated near the edge of the Wetland Forest.
For a village to survive in such a place, its inhabitants must possess considerable physical resilience.
Morrow had long understood one thing: even without the existence of the Nen system, he couldn't use his past life's standards to define the upper limits of human physical capabilities in this world.
If he had to establish a hierarchy, it would be something like this:
Above ordinary people were the somewhat strong, the fairly strong, the very strong, the exceptionally strong, and the extremely strong; only then came Nen users.
If one of the "very strong" ordinary people were placed in his previous world, they would essentially be akin to superhumans.
Thus, despite the countless dangers lurking in the forest, humans could still extract the resources needed for survival.
After trekking over ten kilometers along the muddy trail, Morrow looked up and spotted wisps of smoke rising in the distance.
Pulling out a gas mask and putting it on, he bypassed the village entirely, heading straight for the forest beyond.
Uncertain of the exact location, he decided to first explore the areas outside the village.
If he found nothing, he would enter the village directly.
The day passed in the blink of an eye.
Morrow combed through the forest's edge but found nothing substantial.
The only notable discovery was a small, vegetation-covered mound with scattered fragments of bricks nearby, suggesting the presence of a tomb.
Since his goal was to locate the viral research facility, Morrow paid it no mind and continued searching the remaining marked areas.
By dusk the next day,
he had thoroughly scoured the outlined zones but found no trace of the base.
If Argo's intel was accurate, then the facility had to be inside the still-unexplored village.
After a quick meal of rations, Morrow prepared to leave the forest and head straight for the village.
But the moment he moved, he caught the faintest of sounds.
Immediately, he closed his aura nodes, entering a state of Zetsu, and crouched low in the thick undergrowth.
Soon, footsteps approached.
Morrow could tell they were light, but the damp soil and rotting leaves beneath still betrayed the walker's presence.
The source of the footsteps soon came into view.
It's her.
The figure he saw was unmistakably the same heavily covered woman he had spotted earlier in town.
While there were plenty of similarly concealed individuals in Pritter Town, she was the only one who had left a lasting impression.
Not just because she was a Nen user, but also because she possessed eyes that seemed utterly out of place in a town like Pritter.
Morrow observed her discreetly.
At first glance, he was inclined to believe she wasn't malicious, but he refrained from jumping to conclusions.
There was also the possibility she could be one of Nolan's subordinates.
He watched as she scraped something resembling moss off a tree and carefully stored it in a test tube.
After a while,
she secured the tube and turned to leave. Morrow did not emerge immediately. Only after the woman had gone far did he rise to look in the direction she had departed.
That was the way to the village.
—--
Beneath a large mansion in Shanni Village.
There lay a massive tomb.
To be more precise, it was a tomb that had been artificially modified and constructed.
The stone walls of the passageways, which should have been dark and damp, were covered with pipes and cables.
Deep within the tomb, it was brightly lit.
At the center of the spacious and well-lit burial chamber, the original coffin remained, now encased within a square glass enclosure.
The lid of the coffin had been pushed open halfway.
Tendrils of black aura seeped out from within.
Around the square glass enclosure, figures clad in white hazmat suits could be seen.
Among this group, however, stood a man dressed in a black suit with slicked-back hair.
The man tilted his head to glance at the row of surveillance screens hanging on the nearby wall.
One of the screens displayed a woman preparing medicine in a dimly lit mud-brick house.
"The Pro Hunters are indeed Pro Hunters, professional and highly useful. Hmm, what was her name again?"
The man stared at the surveillance feed and casually asked.
Someone nearby promptly replied:
"Virus Pro Hunter, Sambica Norton."