By the time Ginta reacted and had barely taken a step forward, all the fire had vanished before his eyes.
Even the aftermath of the explosion seemed to have vanished into thin air.
It was as if everything that had just happened had never existed.
Everything was calm, the clouds were light, and the breeze was gentle, creating a tranquil scene of a peaceful forest.
Except... For Ging Freecss, who stood there with his arms crossed while staring at them with dead-fish eyes.
"Just like that... It's all resolved?!!"
Ginta muttered in disbelief.
He felt as if everything he had just seen was a completely unreal dream.
In fact, if it weren't for the few scattered, yet harmless, sparks at Ging Freecss's feet and the scorching marks on the surrounding trees, Ginta felt as if his eyes and ears had deceived him.
People's visual and auditory effects derived from their physical senses can be somewhat deceptive.
As a qualified professional hunter, sometimes even the feedback from one's own body cannot be fully trusted.
And clearly, this situation doesn't fall into the category of sometimes.
Ging Freecss, using some means unknown to Ginta, has completely extinguished the fires in this forest that hadn't yet caused a catastrophe!
Although he didn't know how Ging Freecss had done it, considering the results...
"This is truly great!"
Ginta wiped the sweat from his forehead, unsure if it came from the heat of the fire or the fear of the crisis just now.
"Great, my ass!!"
Ging Freecss cursed out loud.
"What the hell are you doing? You're trying to set this whole forest on fire?!"
He vented his frustration, but that wasn't even the main issue: "If you had to blow things up, could you at least do it more quietly?!"
"Can't you see there are people here thinking?!"
Well, he was mainly concerned about his own thoughts being interrupted and affected.
Otherwise... The rest was none of his business.
"..."
Ging Freecss glared at Ginta again: "When someone is talking to you, don't just ignore them and mutter something to yourself. That's very rude, you know?!!"
Luke on the side: "..."
Hearing Ging Freecss lecture Ginta about manners almost made him laugh.
"What are you laughing at?!!"
Ging seemed to notice the smile in Luke's eyes and immediately turned on him instead: "This is all your fault, isn't it?!"
"Where did you get so many bombs, and why would you set them all off at once? Don't you know this is a forest?! You're destroying the whole ecosystem here!!"
Ging Freecss started cursing and lashing out.
"Of course I know."
Luke was unfazed. "It's just that..."
He smiled at Ging Freecss. "Aren't you still here?"
Ging Freecss: "..."
"So you're counting on me to clean up your mess, huh?!"
Ging Freecss rolled his eyes.
"You've committed a crime here yourself, so don't drag me down with you!"
Still, he stubbornly refused to admit that he had acted out of concern for the forest.
Luke just looked at him.
"You bastard..."
The calmer Luke looked, the more annoyed Ging became.
"It seems even without my intervention, you bastard should have a way to prevent this fire disaster from happening and spreading, right?!"
A bastard calling others bastards, huh…
"As long as someone stops the disaster, what difference does it make?"
Luke grinned. "The goal was achieved, right?"
"That's not the same!!"
Ging Freecss's eyes bulged, and he immediately pointed at the trembling, nearly fainting Two-headed Wolf.
"I've designated a zone for them, and they can't leave!"
"If I had acted a little later, they'd probably have been roasted whole!"
Luke: "Well, isn't that your own fault? Restricting the freedom of other creatures..."
Ging Freecss: "...?!"
"The hell it is!!"
Ging immediately erupted: "I get it now, you did this on purpose, didn't you? You wanted to force me to step in?!"
"How dare you falsely accuse me?"
"Oh yeah? So I wronged you?!"
"Of course!!"
Luke looked at him with a clear conscience and said: "This is all just a coincidence."
"Don't taint my pure soul with your foolish and filthy thoughts..."
Ging Freecss: "..."
What should I do? I suddenly feel like killing someone! What should I do?!
"This is the first time..."
Ging let out a bitter laugh. "That I've met someone who can spout such shameless lies with a straight face and be even thicker-skinned than me."
"You're not thick-skinned to begin with, are you?"
Luke delivered a powerful finishing blow: "You're just a willful and arrogant tsundere. So thin-skinned that even though you have your own ideas and goals, you refuse to admit them and instead hide behind some bizarre excuse or pretext..."
Ging Freecss: "..."
He finally understood that he couldn't talk with Luke for too long.
It was as if Luke saw straight through him; he stabbed straight at his heart with every word.
Precise, ruthless, and unrelenting…
"I don't want to say anything more to you."
Ging Freecss immediately gave up the argument with Luke.
While he was confident he could outwit Luke in terms of intelligence, eloquence, and logical reasoning, he would undoubtedly be stabbed in the heart by Luke in the process.
Ging Freecss didn't want to hear Luke's assessment of his character flaws and weaknesses.
He was truly shy and embarrassed!!
To avoid this, he simply chose to escape and stopped arguing with Luke.
Frustrated, his face twisted like he'd just swallowed a fly.
Then with a casual pluck, he pulled a charcoal-covered figure from the nearby pit.
Looking closely, one could just barely tell that this was once a human.
"This guy should be one of the Kute Gang of Thieves who trespassed here."
As the culprit behind all this, Ging Freecss's tone was far less forgiving: "This guy is lucky enough to still be breathing."
"Most likely, at the very first moment of the explosion, he used aura to wrap around his body, and his Nen ability should lean toward support or defense, so he barely managed to keep his life."
Plop.
He casually tossed the trembling figure in front of Ginta.
"I'll leave this guy to you!"
Ging Freecss said with a look of disdain: "You can just go back now."
"Tell Chairman Netero that with me here watching over the Two-headed Wolf, he doesn't need to worry about poachers anymore."
Seeing Ginta open his mouth, Ging waved his hand impatiently at him before he could say anything: "What else can you do by staying here, besides disturbing me?!"
Ginta: "..."
He looked around at the scorched marks left by the flames, falling momentarily speechless.
What Ging Freecss said seemed to be true. Since arriving, Ging has been constantly pondering the Two-headed Wolf's reproduction problem, even establishing boundaries to prevent them from roaming.
But he and Luke had been the ones making noise, throwing bombs, setting fires…
Though they have achieved some results, like giving Ging such valuable suggestions and cleaning up the invading poachers...
Ginta could still tell: Even if Luke had not taken any actions, Ging would have acted himself…
"Okay, I get it."
Ginta could only agree with his head hanging low.
There was nothing he could do. Both Ging Freecss and Luke had their own solutions to the Two-headed Wolf reproduction problem.
On the other hand, he couldn't do anything here and instead seemed to be a hindrance, a nuisance. Perhaps, he really wasn't fit to stay here any longer.
As this thought crossed his mind, he couldn't help but feel annoyed and wanted to kick the charred figure at his feet.
If it weren't for this guy's appearance, he and Luke might have been able to stay here a little longer.
He wouldn't have been chased away by Ging Freecss like this!!
But upon seeing the other party's miserable appearance, he knew that if he made any more moves, he would probably be crushed to pieces.
So he resisted the urge to attack.
Luke was also sizing up the charred figure before.
He should be a tall, blond poacher from the Kute Gang of Thieves, right?
Compared to that other dumb-looking short fat guy, this one was more experienced and clever.
So now, the other one was dead beyond dead, his body caught in the very center of the explosion, and there was not even probably a trace left.
Did this tall, lanky guy just barely survive?
"But sometimes, dying is better than living..."
Luke glanced at the guy's pitch-black head.
The tuft of yellow hair on top of his head had, of course, been completely burned.
At least 99% of his own body was charred.
Experiencing that kind of pain could only be described as worse than death.
If he were taken back to the Hunter Association, he would likely be subjected to new interrogations.
For example, about the source of their Two-headed Wolf intel, which they got from the Sengi Guild.
How did they know about the Sengi Guild in the first place, and so on.
Not to mention, they were all members of the Kute Gang of Thieves.
Anything related to the Kute Gang of Thieves was important intelligence, too.
Thinking of this, Luke glanced at Ging Freecss again.
If it hadn't been for his involvement, if fate had unfolded as it should, these two guys would probably have been able to successfully infiltrate here.
Then they would confront Ging Freecss, who was lost in thought.
Most likely, they would definitely disturb Ging's thinking.
And the result… Well, everyone knows.
Otherwise, Ging wouldn't have wiped out the Kute Gang of Thieves.
This would become one of his greatest achievements.
Either Ging, annoyed, casually sent them all to their graves, or the Kute Gang of Thieves, enraged by their comrades' downfall, came to seek revenge, only to be slaughtered by him in turn…
Either way, the moment these two decided to poach here, the Kute Gang of Thieves' fate was sealed.
"And now, Ginta might be involved."
Luke thought for a moment, then said directly to Ginta: "If the higher-ups in the Hunter Association ask, just say you know nothing and that it was all Ging Freecss's doing."
He patted Ginta's shoulder and said earnestly: "This way, the Kute Gang of Thieves will target Ging Freecss with hatred."
"You will be safe then..."
Ginta: "…"
Ging: "…"
"Uh, Luke..."
Ginta swallowed hard, gritted his teeth, and said: "Pushing this whole thing onto Ging... Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
"I'm accumulating achievements for him!"
Luke said with a frank and righteous conviction, looking utterly selfless: "Protecting the Two-headed Wolf, apprehending poachers, and those from the Kute Gang of Thieves, such achievements are enough to add a significant chapter to his resume!"
"And as the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. Ging Freecss is clearly very powerful, and he's more than capable of handling a group like the Kute Gang of Thieves."
"Maybe next, he'll be able to wipe out the Kute Gang of Thieves."
"This will not only add to his achievements, but also benefit the country and the people, doing great good for the society!"
Ging Freecss originally wanted to hear how this dog, Luke, was going to explain himself.
Because he just realized that if he himself could barely be considered human, then Luke was truly a dog!!
But when he heard this part, Ging Freecss couldn't hold back anymore:
"I really should thank you so much!!"
He widened those signature dead-fish eyes again, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Then should I also include the credit for saving the entire forest from burning?!"
"No need to thank me! It's what I should do!"
Luke waved his hand selflessly, indicating that he didn't care: "This was your contribution to begin with. So, of course it counts!!"
He said seriously: "And if the subsequent Two-headed Wolf reproduction problem is solved, then you'll truly become a textbook-level figure!!"
Ging Freecss: "..."
Well, this bastard's skills at being sarcastic are just as good as his, and even more shameless.
After all, he saved this forest, no question about that.
But why did the forest burn...? Don't ask.
And why were the poachers of the Kute Gang of Thieves sent up dead and charred? Don't worry about that either.
In short, this bastard doesn't want anything to do with it, right?!!
You want to hide, but I won't let you!!!