The Chimera Ant incident resulted in a death toll as high as five hundred thousand.
Affected by this, the Republic of East Gorteau now existed in name only.
To prevent the situation from deteriorating further, international peacekeeping organizations swiftly intervened.
Despite this, the Chimera Ants that had escaped from the NGL Autonomous Region still brought a huge negative impact to human society.
Even though the intervening international peacekeeping organizations immediately announced to the public that the Chimera Ants were a new species of magical beast and defined the situation in East Gorteau as an internal conflict, it was difficult to put the matter to rest.
Uncontrolled rumors and opinions began to spread quietly across the internet.
As for the V5, which had ordered the Hunter Association to handle the incident, they couldn't care less whether the Poor Man's Rose had bloomed within East Gorteau's borders.
Those in high positions have always only cared about results.
As far as the current results went, the Hunter Association had indeed eliminated the greatest threat, but due to negligent management, a portion of the truth had spread among the populace.
Not to mention, the remaining Chimera Ants were still wreaking havoc in some regions...
Faced with such a situation, the V5 official responsible for liaising on this matter naturally did not give the Hunter Association a pleasant reception.
Pariston, seeing this clearly, fanned the flames from the shadows.
He knew better than anyone that the Hunter Association and Chairman Netero's fates were now inextricably linked; they would rise and fall together.
However, in order to push Chairman Netero into a position where he could not evade responsibility, Pariston was completely unconcerned about the reputation the Hunter Association had painstakingly built over many years.
He didn't care even if the Hunter Association was turned into a complete mess, a mess that he himself would have to take over.
That was just the kind of person Pariston was.
He didn't care how much practical benefit his actions brought him.
As long as he could make others unhappy, he could derive pleasure from it.
Faced with Pariston's various overt and covert tactics, Netero, who had left openings from the very beginning, naturally had no good way to respond.
The core of the problem was that he was indeed inescapably to blame.
Whether as the leader of this extermination mission or in his capacity as the Association's Chairman, he bore undeniable responsibility for the consequences of the incident.
But even if he was ultimately forced to step down, he would never let Pariston easily take over the position of Chairman.
When it came to making trouble for others, that wasn't just Pariston's specialty.
He, Netero, was by no means inferior.
Morrow learned of Chairman Netero's current predicament from Biscuit.
—--
"Is the Chairman 'enjoying himself' then?"
Inside one of the Hide and Seek rooms, Morrow glanced at Biscuit and asked casually, clearly not very concerned about Netero's current situation.
But from his seemingly casual tone, Biscuit detected a hint of something unusual, as if he were disappointed that Netero wasn't living up to expectations.
Her intuition was correct.
Before the Chimera Ant incident, Morrow had already advised Netero to deal with the two troublemakers, Pariston and Saiyu, first.
Even if he was restricted by the Ten Hunter Commandments, which forbade harming fellow members, and couldn't use overly drastic measures, he shouldn't have done nothing, allowing Pariston to continue stirring up trouble.
In the end, Netero took no action on the matter.
This was the root cause of Netero's current difficult situation.
Biscuit's expression was slightly odd as she said, "I don't know if the Chairman is enjoying himself, but he's definitely overwhelmed... Why do I get the feeling you're gloating a little?"
"Am I?"
Morrow's reaction was placid.
"..."
Seeing him like this, Biscuit tactfully dropped the subject and turned her gaze to the pile of Chimera Ant soldier corpses in the corner of the room. "You called me here in such a hurry. What's so important?"
"I'm going to the Dark Continent," Morrow stated calmly.
"Huh?"
Biscuit was slightly taken aback, but she immediately recalled the scene of Kurapika desperately trying to heal Morrow.
She had been there at the time, so she naturally knew how heavy that price was.
"So you want to invite me to go with you?"
Biscuit instantly understood Morrow's intention, quickly composing herself and asking with a raised eyebrow.
Morrow nodded. "That's right. Although the Association has classified everything about the Dark Continent as taboo, you must know something about it, right, Biscuit?"
"I have a general understanding," Biscuit said.
Morrow looked at her and continued, "Then you should be well aware of how important Miss Cookie's ability is in an environment like the Dark Continent, where even taking a break is a luxury. That's why I need you."
The Dark Continent was fraught with peril, strange and unpredictable.
Forget about safe zones for rest; just staying in one place for too long would surely cause the risks to increase over time.
Therefore, in the process of exploring and searching for hope, Miss Cookie's ability to shorten "rest time" to just half an hour was of paramount importance.
In reality, Knov's Hide and Seek was a god-tier ability for exploring the Dark Continent.
Unfortunately, Knov had no interest in exploring the Dark Continent, nor did he have even the slightest motivation to do so.
In the original story, the Hunter Association accepted Beyond's challenge for a competitive showdown on the Dark Continent.
Afterward, when considering storage and transportation of supplies, the Zodiac Twelve wanted Knov to accompany them, but he refused.
In the end, they had to settle for second best and find another member of the Association with a spatial ability.
But compared to Knov's Hide and Seek, that member's ability was somewhat lacking.
Morrow couldn't get Knov to come, so having Miss Cookie's ability would also reduce the risks in this area.
"Moreover, I believe the Dark Continent must have countless undiscovered rare gemstones. If you're willing to come with us, Biscuit, all the rare gemstones found during the exploration will be yours."
After stating the reason for his invitation, Morrow immediately added a distribution agreement that was absolutely beneficial to Biscuit.
If Biscuit were to say she wasn't interested in the natural gemstones of the Dark Continent, then her title as a Two-Star Stone Hunter would be nothing but a decoration.
Even so, Biscuit didn't immediately accept the invitation. Instead, she said calmly:
"Putting aside whether you've obtained permission, a place like the Dark Continent... even with the Chairman's peak strength in his youth, he barely crossed the threshold."
The implication was that the danger level of the Dark Continent was beyond imagination; even someone as strong as the Chairman could not venture deep into it.
"What if I told you... I'm stronger than the Chairman?" Morrow said calmly.
"Pfft..."
Hearing this, Biscuit couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.
She knew that Morrow's rate of improvement over the past few years was astonishingly fast, and he had even reached a top-tier level.
But even so, if he were to face Netero, he would still be far from a match.
Morrow didn't explain. He simply opened all his aura nodes, releasing a non-human aura of up to Lv. 104.
Instantly, a surging and powerful aura erupted from Morrow, creating a violent gust of air out of nowhere.
"Huh?!"
Seeing the extraordinary aura on Morrow, Biscuit could no longer hide her shock.
Morrow was enveloped in a sky-piercing aura, his expression calm as he extended his right hand toward Biscuit. "Regarding what I just said, you can confirm it for yourself."
"..."
Amidst her shock, Biscuit couldn't help but feel a desire to investigate further.
She nodded at Morrow, then also opened all her aura nodes, releasing her maximum aura output.
Without holding anything back, she very decisively transformed into her original muscular form.
Despite this, her performance in terms of aura amount was still clearly inferior to Morrow's.
"Here I come."
Biscuit wanted to see what realm Morrow had reached now. After a word of warning, she launched her attack.
"Eye Opener."
She blinked in front of Morrow, flicking her bent finger toward his face at considerable speed, kicking up a turbulent airflow.
Her other hand, a hidden move, swung in a hook toward Morrow's waist.
This combination of an overt and a covert close-range attack wasn't necessarily enough to create powerful pressure.
But this was an offensive unleashed by Biscuit in her muscular form, and its momentum was terrifying.
However, even without using his Starlight Convergence ability, Morrow saw through Biscuit's technique in an instant.
This was the effect of Spirit Echoes, making everything before his eyes seem slower.
Morrow used this to see through Biscuit's attack, and with his advantage in aura output, he caught her attacks with both hands without any pressure at all.
The result of this initial exchange instantly made Biscuit realize that Morrow's current strength had indeed become extremely, extremely strong.
But her offensive was not affected in the slightest. The next second, as their hands were locked in a stalemate, she delivered a powerful kick straight at Morrow's stomach.
But she hadn't expected Morrow's stomach to suddenly cave in to one side as if it were made of clay, forming a "C" shape.
Biscuit's forceful kick hit nothing but air.
This gave Morrow an opportunity to counterattack. Seizing the moment when Biscuit's Nen output was focused on offense, causing a slight imbalance in her defense, he returned the favor with a kick of his own.
Thud!
The kick landed squarely on Biscuit's abs. Accompanied by a dull thud, she staggered back several steps, blood already seeping from the corner of her mouth.
She understood that Morrow had held back at the last moment. Otherwise, with the opening she had exposed during her attack, he could have ended the fight instantly.
"Morrow, the intensity of your aura right now... just how did you do it?"
Biscuit knew that Morrow's strength was a far cry from what it used to be. Never mind the obvious change in his aura amount; just the reaction speed he displayed in both offense and defense left her secretly astonished.
So she lost the desire to continue "confirming." Just as she had decisively transformed into her muscular form before the fight, now that her fighting spirit was gone, she resolutely reverted to her loli form and instead pressed Morrow for the reason behind his current change.
Faced with Biscuit's curious questioning, Morrow said calmly, "This is the second reason I came to you."
"Hmm?"
Biscuit reined in the shock on her face slightly, looking seriously at Morrow's face.
Morrow raised his right hand and said, "I possess a leveling ability that can break one's own talent ceiling. Furthermore, I can bestow this possibility upon those who trust me."
"A leveling ability that can break the talent ceiling...?"
Biscuit was completely stunned.
The information contained in that short sentence was simply too astonishing.
With her decades of knowledge about Nen, if it were purely a leveling ability, she wouldn't have thought much of it.
After all, with the concept of leveling in so-called computer games, it wasn't impossible for a Nen user to be influenced by it and develop a leveling ability.
The truly terrifying part was the effect of breaking one's own talent ceiling.
And according to Morrow, this ability could even be bestowed upon others?
Biscuit seemed to understand in an instant why Morrow had such an astonishing rate of improvement, but she also knew that under the mechanism of Vow and Limitation, the difficulty of leveling up to break one's talent ceiling must be as hard as ascending to heaven.
But at the same time, she was moved by Morrow's act of revealing the secret of his ability.
"Morrow, you..."
Biscuit's eyes instantly became teary.
In her view, for Morrow to do this was a sign of his trust in her, a manifestation of him seeing her as someone important.
"Wait, don't tell me you think I might need this leveling ability, so you want to use it as one of the conditions to persuade me?"
Biscuit's eyes widened slightly.
Morrow nodded. "Yes. In fact, almost all Nen users would need this leveling ability. Or rather, they could use this ability to reach the limits of humanity."
This was the most terrifying aspect of the improved Etude of Love, born from Tree Rings.
As long as one didn't consider the difficulty of leveling up, it could give a person of mediocre talent a chance to reach the same heights as Netero.
Of course, this was limited to the improvement of "aura output" level.
Even so, it was enough to be considered incredible.
This was also the fundamental reason why Biscuit was so shaken.
Morrow watched Biscuit's reaction, his heart calm.
Theoretically, Biscuit could completely rely on this ability to raise her aura output level to the same level as Netero's at his peak.
But the only person in the world who could break through Lv. 100 and continue to level up was him, Morrow.
He was unique, always able to walk ahead of every human powerhouse.
—--
After struggling to digest the shocking information Morrow had given her, Biscuit finally decided to accept his invitation.
Later, while getting a general understanding of the Chimera Ant extermination campaign, she also understood the purpose of the Chimera Ant soldier corpses in the Hide and Seek room.
It turned out they were for power-leveling.
After Morrow successfully persuaded Biscuit to join the team to explore the Dark Continent, the total number of people in the team reached five.
But this lineup was still far from enough.
To explore the Dark Continent, raw power wasn't enough.
All sorts of professional skills were also needed.
Taking the many professions of the Association's Zodiac Twelve as a reference, professional skills like Gel's knowledge of toxins and Cluck's knowledge of botany were all crucial for exploring the Dark Continent.
It was not an easy task for Morrow to find talented individuals who met the professional skill requirements on short notice.
Besides, he couldn't just casually "infect" others who lacked contact and trust with his ability. Only people like Biscuit, with whom he already had a foundation of trust, could be free from such concerns.
In short, team building had to be done slowly.
What was more important right now was dealing with Beyond and re-hatching the Chimera.
Morrow was in no hurry to fulfill his promise to the King and head to the Unexplored Land where the Chimera stone egg was stored before completely clearing out all the Chimera Ant soldiers.
He wanted to see if the current Post-Mortem Nen could hatch the Chimera.