An ability like Etude of Love could efficiently and risk-free help people awaken their Nen.
If one could firmly control this power, it would mean being able to easily create an army of Nen users on a massive scale.
Such a temptation was indeed hard for those in power to resist.
But in the current situation, harboring such greedy thoughts was truly ill-timed.
However, Morrow was not surprised by this.
Take Chimera Ant incident, for example. The attitude displayed by the V5's top brass was one of complete indifference to the potential threat of Chimera Ants. They only cared about the possible negative impact on public opinion.
So they didn't bother to ask about the ins and outs of the whole affair, nor did they even care about the process.
They simply and directly demanded that the Hunter Association give them a result.
Now, if the V5 truly set their sights on this method of mass-producing an army of Nen users, their internal factions would likely start scheming for themselves, making it difficult to remain united.
But Morrow had no interest in getting involved in these matters.
The only thing he wanted to confirm now was whether the instigator named "Morena" was the person he knew.
From the clues gathered so far, all possibilities pointed to Morena.
But even so, until he obtained more conclusive evidence, such as seeing her in person, Morrow could only remain skeptical for the time being.
"For the time being, my team will also participate in the hunt for the Meteor City Nen users. Before that, since the Eye of Truth has already shown its hand, your people should be able to root them out completely soon, right?"
Morrow didn't care about the V5's stance on the rampaging calamity.
What he and his team could do was their best to reduce the number of Meteor City cyborgs.
At the same time, he would fulfill his promise to help Eve eliminate the lingering threat of the Eye of Truth.
Eve was currently swamped with various matters and truly lacked the energy to deal with the Eye of Truth's harassment. She genuinely hoped to resolve this trouble as soon as possible. "One day. At most, one day, and I'll be able to lock down the target and their specific location."
She held up a single finger, assuring Morrow.
Morrow looked at her and nodded. "Alright, then I won't leave today. I'll wait for your results and act immediately."
Eve's eyes lit up at his words, and a smile touched the corners of her mouth.
Morrow, of course, knew what she was thinking but simply pretended not to notice.
He could have actually used his "compass" to help Eve quickly locate the mastermind behind the Eye of Truth.
But using the compass required consuming precious Tree Rings energy, and he didn't want to waste it on such a matter.
Besides, with the Kukan'yu Kingdom's resources, finding the person behind the Eye of Truth in the current situation shouldn't be too difficult.
—--
Time quickly passed to the next day.
With the coordinated efforts of the Kukan'yu Kingdom's army, Kurapika and the others' operation to hunt down the Meteor City cyborg Nen users was progressing quite smoothly.
The intelligence channels of a superpower were truly formidable, capable of continuously locating those Meteor City Nen users who were scattered about like ticking time bombs.
This powerful intelligence support also indirectly increased the efficiency at which Kurapika and his team leveled up.
As for those Meteor City cyborgs, their apparent aura output alone was already approaching a first-rate level, a testament to their substantial resources.
Unfortunately, these abundant resources could only be converted into high experience points, benefiting Kurapika and his team.
Morrow, who was inside the Kukan'yu royal palace, stopped paying much attention after learning that Kurapika's side was making smooth progress.
Moreover, Eve had delivered on her promise from the previous night. It had indeed taken her only one day to pinpoint the location of the Eye of Truth's mastermind, as well as the scale of the cult.
After receiving the intelligence, Morrow set off without any fuss.
He refused the elite Nen user squad that Eve offered.
In his view, these so-called elites in Eve's eyes would only hinder his efficiency in solving the problem.
With the support of intelligence and Chimera's flight speed... Morrow reached the Eye of Truth's stronghold without much effort.
This stronghold was located within a temple in a popular scenic area.
The front half of the temple was open to the public for tourists, while the rear half was strictly off-limits.
And deep within this rear section of the temple was the Eye of Truth's base.
When Morrow arrived nearby alone, the first thing he sensed was the aura of Post-Mortem Nen.
"Oh?"
Morrow paused on a high slope in the mountain forest, gazing from afar at the temple, parts of which were embedded in the mountainside, and raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Post-Mortem Nen... and quite a lot of it."
This discovery surprised him slightly.
Even though a Nen user could use Nen to resist the threat of Post-Mortem Nen, it was still a danger not to be underestimated when present in large quantities.
And the Eye of Truth's stronghold had a considerable amount of Post-Mortem Nen gathered within it?
This suggested that the Eye of Truth probably intended to use this Post-Mortem Nen to achieve some purpose.
Otherwise, why would they place such a dangerous thing, like a time bomb, so close to themselves?
Without much hesitation, Morrow's figure flashed, and he crossed through the mountain forest, arriving on the roof of the temple's rear section.
"The location of the Post-Mortem Nen... is inside the mountain."
He didn't even need to expand his En. Just by his keen perception of Post-Mortem Nen, he immediately confirmed the specific location of the numerous sources of Post-Mortem Nen to be inside the mountain into which the temple was built.
However, before he could make a move, more than a dozen Nen users suddenly rushed out of the temple.
"Who's there?!"
"Who cares who it is! Kill them first!"
This group of Nen users pouring out of the temple clearly harbored extreme hostility towards intruders. The moment they spotted Morrow, they charged at him, seething with killing intent.
Morrow, however, didn't even spare them a glance. He simply held his right hand out to his side, a spatial ripple spreading from his palm.
Within the ripple, an aura sheen flowed, looking both real and illusory.
Immediately after, without any discernible extra movement from him, stellar crosses suddenly materialized around the group of Nen users.
It was a spatial-traversing Emission attack.
Except there were many of them, and they were unleashed with extreme speed.
In the blink of an eye, numerous points of starlight, like a brilliant constellation, surrounded the group of Nen users.
"What's going on?!"
This sudden turn of events set off alarm bells in everyone's minds.
The next instant, the surrounding stellar crosses fired a dense barrage of Nen waves, instantly riddling their bodies with countless bloody holes.
The defensive aura covering their bodies was like paper-mâché at this moment, offering no protection whatsoever.
"Wh-What...!"
Filled with shock and indignation, the Nen users collapsed one after another.
Beneath their perforated bodies, blood quickly spread, staining the flagstones beneath them red.
From beginning to end, Morrow had not looked at them once.
"Astral Step."
Morrow's figure vanished into thin air, reappearing inside the mountain the next moment.
Dim lights illuminated every corner of the cave.
Deep within the cave, cards engraved with eye patterns were emitting a dark Nen, floating chaotically in mid-air.
Morrow's gaze swept past these cards, then turned towards the deeper darkness of the cave.
There, an aura lay dormant.
It wasn't weak, but it wasn't strong enough to warrant a second glance from him.
At the same time.
Dozens of auras were rapidly approaching from outside the cave.
To be able to react so quickly, it seemed the Eye of Truth had Nen users specifically responsible for sounding the alarm.
Morrow, having arrived via teleportation, paid no attention to this commotion. He just stared into the darkness of the cave, where the silhouette of a figure gradually became visible.
"You never 'accepted' that card. I've always found that to be a pity."
The figure revealed half of his body from the shadows. He wore a hooded cloak, his face hidden in the darkness, with only a pair of eyes glowing with an aura sheen clearly visible.
"So, may I take this opportunity to ask why?"
The figure stopped at the boundary between light and shadow, not moving forward, only sizing up the uninvited guest, Morrow, with a cryptic gaze.
From his words, it was clear that he had been paying attention to Morrow for some time.
And that he had very much hoped to see Morrow accept the Eye of Truth card he had obtained from the Finger organization.
Unfortunately for him, Morrow had never granted his wish.
Morrow, however, couldn't be bothered to answer this question. He simply asked calmly, "Are you the mastermind behind the Eye of Truth?"
The figure fell silent for a moment before saying, "It seems I won't be getting the 'answer' I want. But that's fine. Even though you've missed out on a beautiful little world because of it, I'm still willing to give you another chance."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and plucked a card shrouded in death aura from mid-air.
"There are too many ugly things in this world... so we dedicate ourselves to measuring the remaining beauty with our eyes, then using them to create one tiny world after another."
He pinched the card between his fingers and continued as if no one else was there, "I believe that as long as we persevere, we will eventually be able to merge all the tiny worlds and finally forge a truly beautiful new world. As for the ugly old world... it has no reason to exist."
As his voice fell, he aimed the eye pattern on the card at Morrow and said flatly, "Now, I can prove it to you."
"A tiny world?"
Morrow couldn't help but recall how Eve had used the card.
It was an ability like that of a Dream Maker, using the card as a medium to create a Nen space with configurable rules based on the user's preferences.
"The tiny world you speak of, you mean a Nen space?"
Morrow's interest was suddenly piqued.
This was because his current Wolf Spirit Guardian Spirit Beast happened to be a superior entity of spatial abilities.
It could take over a Nen space for its own use by devouring it.
"I really didn't expect you to ask..."
The figure stared at Morrow, a hint of emotion in his tone, but then he suddenly shook his head. "Was it what I said just now that finally piqued your interest? A pity... it's too late."
Before he could finish his sentence, he violently threw the card, wreathed in black aura, at Morrow.
The card instantly transformed into a black shadow, shooting out as fast as lightning.
Morrow merely raised an eyebrow slightly, casually reaching out and catching the Post-Mortem Nen object that had been delivered right to him.
Immediately after, the card fell into a dead silence.
Perhaps it did possess a special ability that gave the figure his confidence.
But under the suppression of Tree Rings, it couldn't display even a sliver of its power.
Seeing this, the figure was stunned.
Each of the cards floating motionlessly in the cave was the crystallization of the life's work of deceased Eye of Truth members.
They symbolized one beautiful world after another, created with their own hands.
However, once these cards were used against those with opposing ideals, the Nen space within would transform into a nightmarish cage, exhibiting a powerful imprisonment effect.
But what was happening now?
The figure looked at the unresponsive card in Morrow's hand, a trace of confusion flashing in his eyes.
Of course, he hadn't expected to kill Morrow with just one card.
He had expected the card's ability to activate, dragging Morrow into a nightmarish prison.
After that, he could calmly decide whether to commit more cards to gradually wear down Morrow's consciousness in the nightmare world until it dissipated completely.
But this card, imbued with powerful Post-Mortem Nen power, had absolutely no effect on Morrow.
Morrow glanced down at the card in his hand.
The moment he touched it, Tree Rings prompted him with the option to absorb it.
But he didn't absorb it immediately.
If these cards were truly, as the other party claimed, Nen spaces that had once been created by hand... then, by letting the Wolf Spirit devour them, his own internal Nen space could expand dramatically.
It might even evolve into a small world in the truest sense.
At this thought, Morrow raised the card, still wreathed in Post-Mortem Nen, to his left shoulder.
The Wolf Spirit abruptly materialized on his left shoulder and then, without fuss, swallowed it in one gulp.
The Entropy Bird on Morrow's right shoulder watched this scene eagerly, its eyes full of envy.
But under the cover of the mosaic light, no one could see its envious expression.
And the figure who had tried to deal with Morrow using the Eye of Truth card turned pale with horror at this sight. He stumbled back two steps, his previously calm and composed demeanor completely gone.
It was obvious that his confidence stemmed from these cards, the painstaking legacy of his comrades.
But now, not only were the cards ineffective against Morrow, they were even being devoured by his Nen Beast...
This reality finally made him feel a strong sense of crisis.
Morrow, however, didn't care what he was thinking at the moment. With a blink, he appeared beneath the chaotically floating cards.
"Can you eat them all?"
He asked the Wolf Spirit, seemingly ignoring the mastermind's presence.
The Wolf Spirit responded with action, leaping into the air and swallowing every single card imbued with the power of a Nen space.
There were seventy-two cards in total.
Morrow didn't know the exact size of the Nen space within each card.
But with the accumulation of quantity, even if each space was limited, they could stack up to create a huge Nen space.
Morrow wasn't sure what he would do with such a large Nen space for now.
He just thought that if he went to the Dark Continent again and encountered something like the mobile metal city, he might be able to just pack it directly into his Nen space and bring it back.
"Impossible, impossible..."
The figure in charge of the Eye of Truth couldn't believe his eyes. His face, revealed in the dim light, was twisted almost out of shape.
Morrow glanced back at him.
As if looking at a dead man.
—--
This was a true city of the dead.
All the humans in the city had died silently.
And the instigators, Morena and the Death God, walked through the corpse-strewn streets as if strolling through a garden.
She suddenly stopped and looked towards the other end of the long street.
A tall, sturdy figure stood there. It was Botobai Gigante, the Dragon of the Hunter Association's Zodiac Twelve.
Sensing the hostile aura from the newcomer, Morena didn't pay it much mind. Instead, she looked at the Death God beside her.
The Death God grinned. "Very weak. No problem at all."
(Translated by yourtl.app)