With the Bomber trio detonating the Countdown in one fell swoop, they swept away the ninety types of Specified Slot cards that the large alliance had spent so much effort collecting. Naturally, they had now become the team with the fastest progress, the ones closest to clearing the game.
Their actions were a stark demonstration of just how catastrophic it can be when someone with ill intent infiltrates the inner circle of a gaming guild.
The other teams, who had been monitoring the situation closely, immediately began contacting one another. They ultimately decided to convene a meeting. One objective was to discuss how to snipe Genthru's trio and seize the rarest Specified Slot cards before they could; the other was to figure out the cause behind the recent mysterious wave of player deaths.
Unsurprisingly, the three-man cell led by Allen was also invited.
However, he chose not to attend such a tedious gathering. Instead, using his Hunting Map, he tracked down the "one-armed swordsman" Hisoka in the wilderness.
"Yo! Long time no see. You seem to have grown stronger again, haven't you?"
Hisoka casually tossed the fresh corpse of some unlucky soul into the river. He licked a blood-stained playing card, his eyes emitting a faint, murderous aura. Clearly, losing an arm had not hindered the pervert in the slightest; he was still relishing the thrill of combat.
"Stronger?" Allen smiled and shook his head. "No, it's just that my body's potential is slowly being tapped into. But what about you? You've been in Greed Island for so long and you still haven't managed to get Angel's Breath?"
Hisoka spread his hands with an innocent look. "It can't be helped! The difficulty of obtaining that card is too high. Even though I've robbed quite a few players, none of them had it."
"Book."
Allen summoned his binder and pulled out a card.
"As it happens, I have a spare one here. I'll give it to you. In exchange, however, you must join my team and follow my lead until a certain event concludes in the latter half of this year."
"Oh? And what interesting event might that be?"
Hisoka wasn't in a hurry to take the card that could instantly restore his severed limb. Instead, the corners of his mouth curled into an intrigued smile.
"Have you heard of Chimera Ants?" Allen asked meaningfully.
Hisoka pondered for a moment before answering, "The Level One Quarantined Species that can devour other species and manifest their genes in the next generation?"
"Exactly."
Allen nodded, explaining seriously, "Currently, the Kakin Empire has secretly bred a special Queen and injected her with human genetic material. In a few months, she will likely be released into a country or region where information travels slowly, where she'll begin to reproduce at an incredible rate. Furthermore, certain masterminds behind the scenes will use quests to lure Nen users to feed the ants. Consequently, the ants born later will naturally learn Nen."
"Which means... your hunting targets this time are those high-level Chimera Ants who have learned Nen? Hahahaha! Interesting! Too interesting! How could I miss out on something so fun? Perhaps among those cute little ants, I'll find some delicious fruit."
Hisoka began to laugh maniacally, filled with excitement. Clearly, he didn't care who the mastermind was or why they were artificially breeding Chimera Ants; he only wanted to enjoy the ultimate pleasure of constant battle.
"Then it's a deal. Gain! Angel's Breath."
Allen didn't hesitate, immediately activating the Nen ability stored within the card.
Instantly, the figure of a woman dressed in a white gown, radiating a holy light, appeared out of thin air.
"State your request."
"Heal all the injuries on that man and make his severed arm regrow."
Allen pointed at Hisoka, stating the target of the treatment directly. In the next second, the Nen-created woman gently blew a breath of Aura onto the target.
In less than three seconds, Hisoka watched as the arm Chrollo had blown off miraculously grew back, and all his scars vanished completely. Feeling the strength and flexibility of his new limb, he couldn't help but marvel: "So this is Angel's Breath? Truly incredible power. To think Nen could achieve this... it seems the creators of this game were a bunch of absolute masters."
"They are indeed masters. Especially the one who first proposed it, Ging Freecss, Gon's father and one of the five best Nen users in the world. I met him once recently; he's a very difficult man to deal with."
Whenever Allen recalled his first meeting with Ging on the airship, he felt a strange sensation, as if the man could predict the future. Especially regarding the understanding and development of Nen; Ging had forged a path entirely different from Chairman Netero's. If nothing unexpected happened, in ten or twenty years, he might very well become the kind of figure capable of founding his own school of martial arts.
"Oh? Gon's father? Sounds like fun. If possible, I'd really like to have a match with him," Hisoka said, his pathological urge to challenge everyone acting up again.
"Trust me, you'd be crushed. You wouldn't even have a chance to strike back," Allen sneered, curling his lip. Sometimes he really didn't understand what went on inside that pervert's head—challenging Netero before, and now interested in Ging. Did he not know how to spell the word 'death'?
"Hehehe, you don't understand. Sometimes, being unilaterally beaten can also produce enough pleasure. Besides, I've noticed that the other two in your team have also undergone a transformation. They're starting to look delicious," Hisoka said, casting a predatory glance toward Bodoro and Baise nearby.
"Don't get any ideas. If you dare lay a hand on my people, I guarantee you won't survive for a second. Just like this..."
As the last word left his mouth, Allen's right arm swung out at a speed completely invisible to the naked eye, grazing past Hisoka's cheek.
BOOM!
The Aura released from the end of his fist instantly obliterated every obstacle in a straight line for twenty meters—trees, rocks, everything was turned to dust. More terrifyingly, during the release of power, the Aura did not diffuse at all; it even plowed a deep trench into the ground.
When it was over, Hisoka finally reacted. He turned to look at the scene behind him, his eyes filled with undisguised shock. The speed, power, and destructive force displayed by that punch had exceeded the limits of his cognition.
Especially the speed! Though Allen's reflexes had always been fast, they had never been so fast that he couldn't even register them.
But now? They were in different dimensions!
Undoubtedly, this was proof of the potential fully developed during his fight with Chairman Netero. Recently, Allen could clearly feel that the ceiling previously limiting him had been completely shattered. The muscles, blood vessels, nerves, and bones throughout his body had entered a new round of evolution and restructuring.
The most obvious change was that while his height and physique remained the same, his weight had begun to increase mysteriously. This weight gain meant that his muscle and bone density were continuously strengthening, and his explosive power had increased by nearly a third. As for endurance, thanks to his Hunter Class Panel, there was no need to even test it.