Nearly thirty armed men...
Upon spotting Morrow and Hisoka, they immediately raised their submachine guns and rifles, decisively pulling the triggers.
As the rapid gunfire erupted, countless bullets poured toward Morrow and Hisoka.
Morrow, gripping a pistol with one hand, swiftly retreated behind Hisoka.
Hisoka caught Morrow's movement from the corner of his eye. Without a word, he had already prepared his aura, activating Bungee Gum.
Suddenly, he spread his arms, stretching out a sheet of pink, transparent adhesive. Pressing the other end to the ground with his feet, he erected a pink curtain in front of him to block the bullets.
The swarm of bullets struck the pink adhesive curtain.
In an instant, their kinetic energy and heat were completely absorbed, leaving only sharp, protruding trails on the sticky surface before coming to a halt.
By the time the armed men emptied their magazines, Hisoka's adhesive curtain was densely studded with bullets.
Staring at the wall of frozen bullets suspended before Hisoka, the armed men froze in shock, even their instinctive reloading motions halting mid-action.
At that moment, Hisoka casually clasped his hands together, compressing the pink adhesive and squeezing all the bullets into a single clump.
"It's magic~"
Under the stunned gazes of the armed men, Hisoka slowly spread his hands again.
The once-clumped bullets were now neatly arranged on the pink adhesive, a sight that would delight any obsessive-compulsive.
Morrow watched Hisoka's theatrics closely.
But what he saw wasn't just a magic trick; it was Hisoka's mastery over his Nen ability.
And that was precisely one of the things Morrow lacked the most.
As he pondered this, Morrow's eyes lingered on Hisoka's seemingly unguarded back.
For a fleeting moment, a surge of killing intent flashed through his mind.
But under the restraint of reason, it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Morrow pressed his lips together, then used Hisoka as a shield, steadying his pistol beneath Hisoka's outstretched arm.
Seizing the moment while the armed men were still stunned, Morrow mercilessly pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Amid the muzzle flashes, deadly bullets struck their targets with precision, either in the face or the chest.
Within a second or two, six or seven men collapsed.
Morrow emptied his magazine, casually tossed the pistol aside, and drew another from his waist, continuing to fire.
Faced with Morrow's assault, the armed men quickly snapped out of their daze, scrambling for cover while reloading.
Some even pulled out grenades.
But Hisoka gave them no chance to recover.
After his magic act, he simply flicked the pink adhesive, using the elastic rebound of his ability to send all the bullets hurtling back at them.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Amid the relentless, muffled impacts, the remaining armed men toppled like dominoes.
No matter how well-equipped they were, against a Nen user they couldn't even make a ripple.
"It seems this mansion hides some astonishing secret..."
Hisoka's gaze shifted from the corpses littering the ground to Morrow's face, his interest piqued as he asked, "What kind of fun secret could be worth you coming all this way?"
"You're overthinking it. It's just a research outpost for viruses, nothing special. I came here specifically to destroy it, that's all." Morrow's expression was calm.
Hisoka's gaze swept over the subtle shifts in Morrow's face, deducing that he wasn't lying, and immediately lost interest.
Initially, he had thought Morrow's actions were highly purposeful, suggesting some hidden, intriguing motive or secret beneath them.
But it turned out he was just here to destroy a virus research outpost.
"Is that so?"
Hisoka spread his hands but suddenly added, "Though… did you just try to kill me?"
"Did I?"
Hearing this, Morrow calmly ejected the empty magazine.
Hisoka narrowed his eyes at him and smiled. "Alright, no, you didn't~"
"Yes, I didn't."
As he spoke, Morrow reloaded a fresh magazine and walked toward the pile of corpses by the mansion's entrance.
After a few steps, he finished reloading and abruptly halted, turning back to glance at the wall they had scaled earlier.
Hisoka looked over at the same time.
A familiar figure leaped onto the top of the wall and immediately locked eyes with them.
"You two!"
The newcomer was Sanbica, who had rushed over upon hearing the gunfire.
Standing atop the wall, Sanbica stared at Morrow and Hisoka, her dark eyes flickering with shock.
Then, she noticed the fully armed corpses strewn before the mansion's entrance and froze.
In her understanding, how could a well-equipped armed squad like this appear in a nearly forgotten village?
The overwhelming sense of dissonance instantly gave way to deep confusion.
—--
Meanwhile.
Inside the tomb passage leading underground.
The man in the black suit was named Retona.
His expression cold, he removed his tie and suit jacket, revealing a tactical harness fitted snugly against his body.
Drawing a Desert Eagle from the harness, Retona muttered to himself:
I once believed guns were the best weapons, just raise your hand, pull the trigger, and effortlessly take a life.
Pressing the barrel against his temple, he continued,
And I was certain that with a gun in hand I'd eventually gain the wealth and status I desired. And I did… but I was wrong. There are weapons far deadlier than firearms.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The tomb passage erupted with muzzle flashes as deafening gunshots echoed relentlessly.
Retona had emptied the magazine into his own temple.
Yet, the bullets fired from the barrel failed to pierce even the slightest layer of his skin.
Every single round was blocked by his aura.
Clink… clink…
The flattened bullets dropped to the ground one by one, ringing crisply against the stone.
I'm grateful to have learned Nen. Even more grateful to be an Enhancer; it has elevated me above all the truths I once held sacred.
Retona stepped forward calmly, releasing his grip and letting the pistol fall.
Clang.
As the gun hit the ground, his aura flared even stronger.
Above All
This was Retona's Enhancement Ability.
By reinforcing his convictions through words and actions, he could enter an unshakable mental state, locking his combat prowess at its absolute peak.
This ability was far from redundant.
In fact, it was the perfect catalyst for an Enhancer.
Its existence directly countered the various negative factors Biscuit had once pointed out, factors that could undermine real-time combat effectiveness.
With this mindset, Retona ascended the stone steps leading to the surface and soon stepped out through the mansion's gates.
He ignored the corpses strewn across the ground, his expression cold as he surveyed the three outsiders in the courtyard.
Morrow, spotting Retona suddenly emerging from the mansion, couldn't help but brighten at the sight, thinking that his trip hadn't been in vain. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and fired several shots.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Yet the bullets were effortlessly deflected by the opponent.
"Hmm?"
Moreover, Morrow immediately noticed that after being struck, the intensity of the man's aura had actually increased slightly.
Around Lv.35...