When he decided to intervene in the Chimera Ant incident, it was to use this opportunity to raise his level to that of a world-class expert.
Then he would find a chance to strike against Beyond.
And he hoped Chairman Netero would survive this incident.
This way, he could continue to impose Limitation on Beyond's covert plans.
Now at Level 97. If I go through the backtracking again, reaching Level 100 in one go shouldn't be a problem. By then, new mechanics might activate, or I might even be able to infect others like Morena, spreading my 'ability' to other infected.
Morrow slowly suppressed his bloodlust as he calculated in his heart.
Since reaching Level 90, the difficulty of leveling up had become terrifyingly high.
However, correspondingly, Morrow could clearly feel the obvious changes as his level approached the peak.
The increase in aura output went without saying, vaguely giving Morrow a feeling of omnipotence while also allowing him to experience effortless control over Nen output scheduling.
Additionally, the cooldown time for Astral Step had been continuously improving and decreasing, with its consumption noticeably lower too.
He just didn't know what changes reaching Level 100 would bring.
Anyway, with this rollback restart, reaching Level 100 would become relatively simple.
Let me first check the abilities imprinted by 'Tree Rings'...
Morrow focused his thoughts slightly, sinking his consciousness deep within to begin receiving the ability information from Neferpitou.
This particular backtracking imprint was somewhat special.
What it recorded wasn't the target's ability in their normal state, but the Post-Mortem Will enhanced version.
Therefore, in terms of precision and power, it completely had the potential to surpass the original.
More importantly, the abilities imprinted by Tree Rings could also be fine-tuned and evolved according to Morrow's own conscious needs.
Actually, back when he fought Netero, Morrow had realized that to defeat something like the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva at that level, he was still missing the final piece of the puzzle.
A crucial piece that could lead to becoming the "World's Strongest."
At the time, he believed the most ideal condition would be an ability similar to Killua's "Whirlwind," capable of driving the body to react to enemies at speeds surpassing thought.
This way, it could connect with the Starlight Convergence ability, achieving the ultimate in both offense and defense.
And Neferpitou's Terpsichora actually belonged to the same type of ability.
Using it to fill this final gap wouldn't be unacceptable either.
Moreover, Terpsichora emphasized Manipulation, making it highly compatible in terms of affinity.
However, Morrow wasn't particularly fixated on this either.
For him, as long as he could push his level to Lv.100, the specific ability system he constructed became somewhat secondary.
Because with just the current ability system built upon "Emission, pinnacle" and "Manipulation pinnacle," as long as his aura output hardware kept up, he could still secure a place at the world's peak.
More accurately speaking, relying on the absolute advantage of aura output could, in a sense, allow him to reach the level of "Enhancement pinnacle."
This would essentially mean achieving the triple pinnacle of the Shingen-ryu style.
So no matter which outcome ultimately manifested, it was all the same to Morrow. However, after this rewind, it seemed to accelerate both his progress toward reaching Lv.100 and finding the final piece of his ability puzzle from all aspects.
Morrow's deeply buried subconscious desires and the enhanced ability information of Terpsichora, strengthened through death, merged together at this moment.
He became completely immersed in it, forgetting everything around him.
So much so that Hisoka, who had just proactively greeted him, was utterly ignored.
As for this, whether Hisoka had long grown accustomed to Morrow's attitude or simply didn't mind, he didn't get angry.
After all, this time, Morrow had straightforwardly given him the meeting location.
This kind of positive response alone was enough to excite and delight Hisoka.
At this moment, Hisoka slowly circled halfway around Morrow, who stood still like a statue, lost in thought.
His intrigued gaze fell upon that entirely unfamiliar face.
Appearance, physique.
Everything was completely different from Morrow.
But Hisoka was certain the person before him was Morrow.
In truth, Hisoka had sensed a hint of dissonance.
It likely occurred the moment the train started and carried the girl with the cane away.
While bidding farewell to the girl, something subtle seemed to quietly emerge within Morrow in that instant.
Hisoka didn't know how to describe that sense of dissonance captured only by the naked eye.
Moreover, as Morrow lowered his head in contemplation, the dissonance vanished as abruptly as it had appeared.
In any case, Hisoka was certain Morrow had heard him.
But judging by his current reaction, Morrow likely considered responding to him immediately far less important than whatever he was pondering.
You're not... intentionally ignoring me like this, are you?
Hisoka ultimately couldn't resist leaning closer.
Just then, Morrow seemed to conclude his thoughts.
He lifted his gaze, sweeping a detached look over Hisoka's face now inches away.
"Follow me."
With only those words, Morrow turned and strode toward the station exit.
As he walked, he casually dismissed the disguise effect of his Biological Mutation, reverting to his original appearance.
Hisoka watched his retreating figure, a flicker of peculiar interest passing through his eyes.
How intriguing.
The dissonance he'd sensed earlier became even more pronounced in that brief glance from Morrow just now.
But he didn't dwell on it, instead focusing more on Morrow's action, which equated to accepting his challenge.
The two walked out of the train station one after the other.
Apart from the capital and a few other cities, most regions of the East Gorteau Republic suffered from underdevelopment and barren land.
The town they were currently in, despite having a train station, was chaotically constructed; clusters of uneven buildings sprawling across undulating terrain, appearing cramped and disorderly.
Morrow stopped before a barren patch of land, his back to Hisoka as he gazed toward the dense urban area in the distance.
"Originally, I intended to say... though I gave you the meeting location, it doesn't mean I've accepted your challenge."
He glanced back at Hisoka as he spoke.
At this moment, the face adorned with tear-shaped makeup openly displayed raw hunger.
It was a pure desire for combat and slaughter.
Hisoka ran his tongue over the corner of his lips, narrowing his eyes as he asked, "And now? Have you changed your mind?"
"Yes."
Morrow turned back, once again looking toward the low, dense buildings, his tone calm as he said, "Just recalling how you've helped me quite a bit before, and now you've come all this way... I can't help but feel somewhat apologetic when I think about what you're about to face."
"Apologetic?"
A flicker of emotion passed through Hisoka's eyes as the laziness in his tone vanished instantly. "You really do look down on me as always."
"Interpret it however you wish."
Morrow raised his hand to point toward the building complex, speaking calmly. "You never learn your lesson. For this final time, let me choose the venue for you. That place inside there suits your ability quite well."
"..."
Hisoka silently gazed at the chaotic urban area, immediately understanding Morrow's purpose in specifically bringing him here.
This was still a form of disdain.
"May I offer a friendly reminder?"
Hisoka produced a joker card between his fingers, his gaze fixed on Morrow's back.
Morrow turned around, meeting his slightly restrained eyes. "I'm listening."
"Heh, not long ago I was 'fortunate' enough to experience near-death. Thanks to this experience, I've become stronger."
The corner of Hisoka's mouth lifted slightly as he said seriously, "I want to remind you that my ability has changed now."
"New ability?"
Morrow's expression remained unchanged, still perfectly calm.
Hisoka narrowed his eyes again. "You could understand it that way. This is my thanks for your thoughtful venue selection, and to spare you from making a 'how is this possible' expression when you lose."
"Oh, thanks."
Morrow nodded and walked directly toward the urban area.
"Let's go. I'm pressed for time."
"..."
Observing Morrow's reaction, Hisoka couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, muttering to himself, "Lack of interest, huh... No matter, I'll get you excited soon enough."
The two weren't far apart.
Morrow naturally heard Hisoka's somewhat eager words.
Get excited?
That's probably not very realistic.
Though he could use Hisoka to test the fusion of "Starlight Convergence" and "Terpsichora."
Morrow thought to himself.
Soon, the two entered this disorderly building complex.
Due to Diego's nationwide summons, most residents here had already taken trains to the capital Peijin, leaving the surroundings deathly silent without a trace of human presence.
Morrow and Hisoka stood about fifty meters apart, confronting each other in a relatively spacious alleyway.
On both sides stood houses of varying heights and piled-up debris, with crisscrossing electrical wires above that fragmented the sky into pieces.
"Shall we begin?"
Hisoka held several playing cards in each hand, his tone brimming with eagerness.
Morrow gave a slight nod, then without reservation released his maximum aura amount.
Instantly, surging light-red aura erupted from his body, creating a powerful gust from the energy fluctuation alone that scattered the surrounding debris everywhere.
Even more noticeable was how the aura waves contained faint, arc-like strands of black Nen.
That was the characteristic of Post-Mortem Will.
After Morrow used Tree Rings to imprint Neferpitou's death-enhanced Nen, this trait had begun manifesting in his aura amount.
But even without the presence of these black arc-like Post-Mortem Nen, the sheer scale of his current aura alone was enough to completely overturn Hisoka's previous preconceptions.
Indeed...
On the path to pursuing strength, everyone was running with all their might.
So after Hisoka became stronger through his near-death experience, he had mentally prepared for Morrow having made further progress as well. As the roaring aura surged before him, a rare look of astonishment flashed across Hisoka's face.
This was no longer just "one step."
Hisoka's astonishment lasted only a moment before an intense sense of crisis washed over him like ice water.
He immediately decided to counterattack instead of defending.
But as he looked up, the familiar yet unfamiliar brilliant starlight had already enveloped him, moving at an astonishing speed.
And between the countless starlight particles, thin, hair-like red Nen Threads were interwoven and connected.
A new ability?
For some reason, Hisoka's mind flashed back to Morrow's calm expression when he had asked the question earlier.
A strange feeling instantly arose, but his combat focus remained completely unaffected. Instead, under the indescribable pressure, it soared to its peak.
However...
The moment Morrow shifted from stillness to motion, even with Hisoka's full concentration, all he saw in his vision was a fleeting red afterimage.
This was not a teleportation ability but pure explosive power.
In that instant, Hisoka tried to predict the trajectory through the flow of aura, but the dense starlight particles connected by red threads around him acted like some kind of signal jammer, completely disrupting his perception.
At the critical moment, he could only rubberize his body while simultaneously unleashing hundreds of playing cards, hidden on his body with Texture Surprise, forward with all his strength.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...!
Hundreds of playing cards erupted like a metallic storm, instantly sealing off every inch of the alleyway.
But something even more unbelievable happened.
Morrow seemed capable of instantly sensing every single playing card without needing conscious thought, allowing his body to react with conditioned reflexes.
Under the effect of his Biological Mutation ability, his eel-like form moved like a faint red streak of light, weaving through the hundreds of playing cards that should have sealed off the entire alleyway.
This was the result of the synergy between Starlight Convergence and Terpsichora.
When information reading and analysis bypassed the brain and connected directly to the body, it allowed for more offensive time even while defending.
Morrow passed through the hundreds of playing cards and, in a flash, appeared at Hisoka's side, delivering a concise and powerful strike.
"Sorry, I'm not interested in your 'new ability,' so I'll pass on experiencing it."
Before losing consciousness from the blow, Hisoka clearly heard Morrow's words.
So...
The gap had already reached such a hopeless extent.
As his consciousness sank into darkness, Hisoka couldn't even begin to imagine how Morrow had accomplished this.
He only thought...
In the end, he still couldn't let Morrow enjoy himself fully.
Faced with this outcome...
He completely deflated.
Without any drive left.
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Bonus chapter @750powerstones