Venture Capital's ability is most suited for ganging up on a single enemy.
This minimizes the negative effects imposed by its Limitation.
Currently, there are two enemies.
But in Adam's eyes, Kalluto's strength is so negligible that he can be ignored.
In other words, Adam doesn't have to worry about Kalluto interfering with his ability's activation.
This is also why he didn't hesitate to trigger the first condition of his ability against Morrow.
Otherwise, under normal circumstances, he would wait for his target to attack him before declaring, "You are my next competitor"…
This way, he could fulfill two activation conditions at once.
Limitations, by nature, can be overcome or even exploited through various methods.
And Adam has his own ways of dealing with them.
This also shows that Adam is someone with a clear understanding of "planning."
That's why he developed an ability like Venture Capital, and once he did, it was inevitable that he would also possess the means to mitigate the risks of his Limitation.
From a results-oriented perspective, this might seem to contradict the system of Vows and Limitations, but it also highlights the infinite possibilities of Nen abilities.
However, the moment Adam uttered those words, Morrow, who had already leaped off the wall and landed beside Kalluto, couldn't help but grow wary.
He sensed something unusual in that statement.
This had nothing to do with Nen systems or experience.
Rather, as a reader of the original work, Morrow had witnessed countless Nen abilities from an omniscient perspective, granting him broad insight into them.
This was one of the precious advantages of being a transmigrator.
At this moment, it immediately reminded him of Greed Island's Bomber, whose ability activation relied on specific verbal triggers.
"You are my next competitor"…
Target selection, competitor designation.
In that split second, Morrow suddenly commanded in an unshakable tone, "Kalluto, attack the one with glasses."
Instantly,
Kalluto reflexively obeyed Morrow's order.
He might not have realized it himself, but in their relatively short time together, he had developed a trust in Morrow rooted in sheer strength.
And this trust, if only for the sake of verifying a suspicion, gave Morrow immense support.
Without a second thought about the power gap between himself and Adam, Kalluto acted at once.
"Paper Flutter: Gale."
With a flick of his unfolded paper fan, a fierce wind surged, sweeping up countless paper scraps from the ground like a blizzard and hurtling toward Adam.
As the wide-range attack descended from above, the gentle smile on Adam's face vanished in an instant.
"Caleb!!!"
All traces of refinement gone, Adam recoiled as if electrocuted, veins bulging on his forehead as he urgently called Caleb's name.
The intent behind that call needed no explanation.
Caleb, too, was shocked, with no time to dwell on the young man's terrifying analytical skills.
He swallowed a drug he had hidden in his mouth earlier and immediately positioned himself in front of Adam.
"Deep Addict."
A faint red glow emanated from the aura flowing across his body. Caleb's dark circles rapidly faded, his previous exhaustion disappearing, replaced by a feverish flush and steam rising from his face. This ability utilizes drugs to imbue the aura with stimulant properties.
When activated, Caleb's physical strength is significantly enhanced, and his focus and mental acuity become sharper.
The drawback, however, is that his emotions can become overly excitable, leading to overconfidence in judgment and occasionally nonsensical actions.
At this moment.
Caleb, in a state of extreme exhilaration, charges toward the blizzard-like swarm of paper sheets.
"Utter Madness."
His head jerks erratically like a spinning gyroscope, making meaningless rotations and swings, while his fists punch the air like a machine gun.
Yet, despite the seemingly nonsensical movements, they generate violent, surging gusts of wind from his fists.
BOOM!
The wind clashes with the paper storm.
In an instant, the already fragile paper snow scatters into nothingness.
But right then…
Morrow's Shooting Star cuts a sharp trajectory through the flurry, aiming straight for Caleb's vitals.
At this moment, Caleb has concentrated most of his aura into his fists, leaving the rest of his body poorly defended.
Moreover, he has invested 30% of his aura output, making him as brittle as a biscuit—one hit from the Shooting Star, and he's dead for sure.
By the time Caleb notices the incoming Shooting Star, it's already too late to redirect his aura for defense.
The timing is absurdly fast… Was this his real plan all along?
The sharp glint of the Shooting Star reflects in his eyes, sending a tremor through his heart.
To deduce the mechanics of his ability just from a single sentence Adams uttered while fulfilling the conditions, then formulate a strategy in such a short time?
How is that even possible?
Caleb's pupils contract rapidly—there's no dodging this.
Morrow's timing was too precise, too ruthless, as if he had foreseen the "future."
Just as Caleb faces imminent death, Luke, standing nearby, intervenes in the nick of time.
"Weaver's Lie."
A surge of aura materializes in front of Caleb, morphing into a grotesque, human-sized Spider Nen Beast.
The beast's body is a chaotic, irregular mix of colors, resembling aimless graffiti splashed across a city wall.
Embedded on its back is a pale, beautiful woman's face, smiling warmly as if bathed in spring sunlight.
Flanking the face are four pairs of dull red compound eyes, arranged vertically in perfect symmetry.
And above the face, rests a tiny Crown.
The suddenly manifested Spider Nen Beast dangles upside-down in front of Caleb, suspended by a strand of spider silk leading into the void.
The Shooting Star, carrying immense force, hurtles toward the beast.
Yet, one of the beast's limbs extends forward—between them, a web appears out of nowhere, ensnaring the Shooting Star completely.
But the expected impact never comes.
The Shooting Star is utterly immobilized, as if glued to the web, losing all momentum.
Then, the tips of the beast's limbs secrete more silk, tightly wrapping the projectile before slowly lifting it in front of itself.
Simultaneously.
The lowest pair of compound eyes beside the woman's face suddenly "ding", flashing a bright red glow.
Every witness present sees it happen. Caleb narrowly escaped death. Though shaken, under the influence of the Deep Addict's ability, he didn't show it too obviously.
—--
Instead, it was Adams, who had retreated to the back, staring at Morrow with a mix of fear and deep regret.
He had sensed Morrow's unwavering fighting spirit from his aura and, considering Kalluto's lack of strength as no threat, seized the opportunity to fulfill the first condition for activating his ability.
He believed Morrow's momentum had peaked and that an attack was imminent.
His plan was to draw Morrow's attention and focus solely on defense, blocking the strike flawlessly.
This way, he could silently meet his ability's condition without losing aura output to Morrow in the exchange.
Yet, to his surprise, the man radiating overwhelming aggression didn't attack immediately. Instead, he had keenly detected the issue hidden in Adams' words.
"You're my next competitor."
Amid the tense standoff, Adams' declaration was essentially saying, "Your opponent is me."
The only oddity, if any, was the word "competitor."
What terrified Adams was how Morrow had used this to deduce a potential weakness in his ability's mechanics.
But that wasn't the crux.
It was Morrow's terrifying decisiveness.
In an instant, he had assessed the situation, tested his theory, and, adapting to the shifting dynamics, seized the perfect moment to deliver a fatal strike at Caleb.
Had Luke not been there, Caleb would be dead.
As Adams reeled from the shock, Morrow's attention shifted to the Spider Nen beast Luke had Conjured.
The earlier Shooting Star was now wrapped and secured between a pair of its limbs.
From catching it to binding it, the entire process had been effortless.
Even if this Shooting Star hadn't rebounded to amplify its power, it was still a lethal strike unleashed with Morrow's Lv. 38 aura intensity.
He hadn't expected it to kill the dark-eyed man outright, but it should have dealt significant damage.
Even incapacitating one of them would have been an acceptable outcome.
Yet the Spider Nen beast had outright nullified the attack.
Not defended; nullified.
"Lucky."
When an attack is bound like this, the usual concern is that the aura output forming it might also be trapped, preventing its dispersal and return.
But his aura output remained unaffected.
This meant the Spider Nen beast's ability wasn't defense-weakening in nature.
Given how its red compound eyes glowed upon nullifying the attack, it was clearly triggering some ability condition.
By extension, this also meant...
That Spider Nen beast could nullify at least three more attacks.
That glasses-wearer's ability really is similar to the Bomber's… target selection through speech. Given how frantically he dodged Kalluto's attack, his Limitation must involve not being hit by anyone other than his "competitor".
While his opponents regrouped, Morrow didn't press the assault. Instead, he analyzed rapidly. It's a pity that Kalluto is too weak; otherwise, we could use this to our advantage and have him deal with that guy in glasses first. I estimate that the other party has anticipated this, which is why he is so confident. After all, just because he can't be attacked doesn't mean he can't counterattack.
Moreover, it's still unclear what the guy in glasses' specific ability is, so it's meaningless to be fixated on leveraging this piece of information.
The real trouble lies with that manifested Spider Nen beast; we must be wary of the bizarre abilities it might possess. However...
As his thoughts turned, Morrow at least knew how to reduce the pressure of direct combat.
He suddenly glanced at Kalluto from the corner of his eye and said, "Kalluto, I'm sorry, but you'll have to take care of the target."
"Huh?"
Kalluto keenly sensed the underlying meaning in Morrow's words.
Why apologize?
Because it meant violating the prior agreement that "he would handle all Nen users."
But this was unavoidable.
The defensive strength here exceeded expectations.
In order to fulfill the commission accurately, Kalluto certainly couldn't harbor any rebellious thoughts at this moment. He silently obeyed the orders and, with his sleeves fluttering, took a detour toward the mansion.
—--
His actions immediately drew the reactions of Luke, Adam, and Caleb.
"Middle Finger, that kid is up to you."
Luke glanced at Kalluto, who was making a move, and without hesitation issued the command to Caleb, taking on the demeanor of a superior.
Caleb, who had just been saved by Luke, no longer had the habit of gasping in surprise and, feeling somewhat exhilarated, let out a howl before charging at Kalluto like a mad wolf.
The battlefield was instantly divided into two.
Adam didn't have to worry about Kalluto disrupting his investment abilities for the time being, but he also understood why Morrow arranged things this way.
It was simply because Kalluto's strength was too weak to exert tactical value in this battle.
Thus, a decisive separation was made, allowing Kalluto to attract a portion of the combat power.
In just this brief encounter, Adam had already felt the terrifying aspects of Morrow.
Fortunately, they were outnumbering the enemy, and his aura strength was greater than Morrow's.
Even so, the look Adam directed at Morrow was still filled with caution as he said in a deep voice, "Zoldyck, truly deserving of the name!"
Morrow, however, completely ignored Adam.
"Deceptive Shooting Star."
With a flick of his hand, he shot a Shooting Star at Luke.
Luke's gaze sharpened, and in an instant, he shifted his position slightly to dodge the Shooting Star.
Then, with a sudden push off the ground, he propelled himself toward Morrow like an arrow, using the explosive power of his aura.
As the confrontation officially began, Adam also charged toward Morrow.
"One can freely choose whether or not to neutralize an attack."
Seeing Luke dodge the Shooting Star, Morrow's mind stirred, and he seemed to retreat to avoid the sharp edge while subtly adjusting his position.
The Shooting Star that Luke dodged came to a halt a hundred meters away.
It then expanded in size and returned at a faster speed, slicing through the air as it aimed for Luke's back.
The Spider Nen beast hanging beside Luke suddenly became alert, swiftly turning its body to face the returning Shooting Star.
The Spider Nen beast's reaction was able to convey the imminent attack to Luke.
In that instant, Luke's momentum not only did not diminish but became even more ferocious. He ignored the attack closing in from behind, stepping decisively into the strike range, his white-gloved right hand piercing toward Morrow like a blade.
At the same time.
The inverted Spider Nen beast beside him suddenly extended a pair of limbs, repeating its earlier tactic to envelop the returning, more powerful Shooting Star.
Once again, the attack was neutralized, and the second pair of compound eyes lit up with a glow.
But this outcome...
Had already been within Morrow's expectations from the moment Luke dodged the first-stage Shooting Star.
"Starlight Convergence."
The aura around Morrow shattered into starlight, engulfing the ferociously attacking Luke.
Come…
The intensity of your next assault will determine the course of this battle!