Chapter 199: Roy VS Ging x Displaced Mirror Image x Human VS Beast
The Ferry Bureau, as the name suggests, is a secret organization directly under the V5, specializing in ferrying people to the Dark Continent.
On the surface, it is responsible for negotiating with the Gatekeepers about entering and exiting the Dark Continent. In reality... it monitors and contains humans who returned from the Dark Continent but suffered unfortunate disasters and mutated into unknown monsters.
In the southwest corner of the laboratory's south wall, marked [54-714-01], noted as Victim No. 1 of July 14, 1954, a test subject twisted into a hemp rope shape, suspected to be a monster whose human consciousness was erased by an unknown calamity, suddenly split open an eye and projected several images of varying sizes.
Reported by the duty officer, the superiors held an emergency meeting to analyze the situation and immediately notified... the person related to the incident, the world's strongest human, Isaac Netero!
Early July 1954 was exactly when Netero led the team, joining forces with Zzigg Zoldyck and Gourmet Hunter Linne, accepting the commission from the Kukan'yu Kingdom to find the "Trinity Water," and venturing deep into the Dark Continent.
Hunter Association.
Headquarters.
An office building with a huge "Hunter Association" logo.
Top floor.
A group of four was busy with their own affairs in a large volleyball court.
Bounce bounce... A volleyball was being dribbled like a basketball under an old man's crotch. Netero, dressed in a tank top and shorts, looking sporty, was smilingly playing a game of snatch-the-ball with a gentle-looking teenager of thirteen or fourteen wearing glasses.
By the window, twin golden ponytails swayed in the wind. Biscuit, forgetting her disciple for gems, left Wing alone to keep Netero company while she quietly bribed Beans to look through the materials he brought, searching for news about rare gems.
At some point, a ringtone sounded. Beans took out his phone, glanced at it, and noticing it was from the higher-ups, his bald, round head furrowed slightly, squeezing out a wrinkle. He answered the call discreetly, and a few seconds later, his expression changed.
He walked quickly, stopped Wing, and shouted "Chairman," rushing towards Netero in a panic.
Bang~ The volleyball, defying science, curved in a parabola, dodging Wing's pounce, brushing past the boy's cheek, and returning to Netero's hand.
The old man extended a finger, caught it, and balanced it steadily on his fingertip.
Netero, with his Buddha-like face, large ears, white eyebrows, and beard, looked over with drooping eyelids... Beans clutched the phone tightly and whispered, "The higher-ups called. They said... that victim who accompanied the Chairman deep into the Dark Continent and eventually perished seems to show signs of awakening..."
Netero's expression hardened. The column of "Nen" naturally surging from his crown, which he usually stabilized into an iron pillar with extreme body control, rarely wavered.
At this moment, upon hearing the news, it trembled slightly... keenly caught by Biscuit by the window.
"Old man, what happened?" The Shingen-Ryu style prioritizes training the heart. A heart unmoved by external disturbances, remaining steady as a mountain amidst storms, was the golden rule Netero often preached to Biscuit in the past.
Yet, the old man who claimed his heart was forged into steel showed cracks at this moment...
Biscuit flipped her twin golden ponytails, struggling to pull her mind from "gem intelligence," and looked over in surprise...
Netero said nothing. He beckoned Beans to turn on the TV and connect to the Ferry Bureau. "See for yourself."
The snowy electronic screen suddenly switched to the Ferry Bureau. In the third basement laboratory, images projected by the hemp-rope-like monster were relayed to the Hunter Association in split-screen format.
Wing, who came to the Association ostensibly for a visit but actually because Biscuit dragged him there to show off her disciple to Netero, was surprised to find a familiar figure in one of the screens. The gentle-looking boy pushed up his glasses and blurted out, "Roy?"
"That's right,"
"It's him..."
In the hazy central screen, the boy with sun and mountain earrings was clearly reflected. His expression was solemn, his bearing majestic, staring intently at the figure ahead wearing a hood and shouldering a fishing rod with a red bead.
Yorbian Continent, West Coast, 270 nautical miles northwest of the seaside city Vebis, 10,000 meters underwater, inside the Gothic-style church ruins...
Roy, Razor, Ging... and Gotoh and Elena following closely behind, the moment they crossed the tall church gate carved with reliefs of men and women of various professions and appearances, their vision blurred. In the blink of an eye, the world changed, and each entered an empty, ownerless land, instantly losing contact with the others.
"Young Master!" Gotoh, lagging a step behind Roy, was startled. He reached out to grab where Roy had vanished, but caught only emptiness.
The young butler's heart tightened. He immediately went on high alert. Suddenly hearing a strange noise by his ear, he discreetly tightened his grip on the [Infinite Pistol] and looked towards the source... Seeing the familiar figure, his narrow eyes hidden behind gold-rimmed glasses relaxed slightly... It was Elena...
Just as he lowered his hand to relax, he suddenly felt a gust of wind rushing towards him. It was a button wrapped in Ten, and its owner was this Elena in front of him!
Gotoh bent his elbow and fired a shot, hitting the button squarely. Only then did he look at the woman resembling Elena in front of him. Noticing her beautiful eyes behind the blue-light glasses lacked their usual liveliness, appearing dull and lifeless like a puppet manipulated from behind, Gotoh instantly realized... This was not Elena!
Simultaneously, Roy, Ging, Razor... and the real Elena, who was alone dealing with a magical beast resembling an elephant but with a tapir's face in the ownerless space, all discovered this anomaly!
"Right... Virtual and real... True and false... This feeling... is somewhat similar to the unconscious domain..."
Entering the church one moment and being pulled into a strange space the next, Roy watched the misty fog ahead condense into Ging's appearance and finally understood. Clang, he drew his cane sword... realizing... perhaps that Elephant Tapir, or maybe this church, used its own ability or rules to create this illusion... To get out, it seemed he had to defeat the "enemy" before him to break the realm!
On the other side, just as Roy thought, Ging encountered a fake Razor... Razor encountered a fake Gotoh... One after another, they were separated into different spaces, facing their respective opponents.
Hunter Association.
Discovering Roy, Wing's gaze shifted and noticed Gotoh simultaneously. The gentle boy stole a glance at his master and grandmaster...
Netero frowned silently, staring at the central screen where the boy drew his sword and fought Ging. His half-cloudy, half-yellow old eyes flashed with sharp light occasionally, his thoughts unknown.
"Ging... Roy... Old man, what exactly happened?" Why are they mixed up together?
Biscuit noticed the boy holding the sword clashing with the man's fist in the screen. Ko against Ko, grinding out dazzling sparks. She hugged her small hands, tilting her head to look at Netero.
The old man stroked his beard. "Beans."
"Here." Beans immediately leaned in, explaining the cause and effect to Biscuit in detail. When he mentioned... the hemp-rope-like monster, suspected to be a victim of [Calamity], was actually related to Ging, Roy, and the others... Biscuit's small mouth opened slightly, momentarily stunned.
"Ho ho ho... Don't look at me, this old man doesn't know what's going on either." Netero narrowed his eyes at Roy raising his sword for an arc of flaming blade light, slicing towards Ging's neck. He said faintly, "Specifically... maybe we can only judge a thing or two by asking them."
Biscuit recovered. Looking up, she saw Ging use some unknown method to differentiate a phantom image to take Roy's slash, while his real body suddenly appeared behind Roy, punching at his heart... The corner of the old woman's mouth pulled up into a wicked smile. "Say what you will, meeting Ging... Roy is definitely getting a beating."
"Master, that doesn't seem to be the real Ging." Wing noticed Ging's punch. Feeling as if he were on the scene, standing in Roy's position, he couldn't help but sweat for the boy.
Biscuit glared at him. How could she not know true from false?
Even if it wasn't the real Ging... Biscuit glanced aside. The real Ging was exchanging Nen bullets with a fake Razor. Just from the power, one could judge... that fake Ging was a mirror image of the real one. Even if inferior to Ging, its strength was eighty or ninety percent of the original, completely simulated based on the original. This indirectly reflected...
Being able to create multiple illusions out of thin air and mold corresponding mirror images based on real people... The "Nen ability" and "Aura Quantity" of the master behind the screen were not to be underestimated.
"That kid isn't so easy to deal with."
The scene shifted. Facing "Ging's" punch from behind, a swamp instantly appeared under Roy's feet, as if predicted in advance. He sank into the ground, beautifully dodging "Ging's" punch. Looking again, he circled behind Ging, thrusting with a flame-wreathed stab at the man's heart...
Netero evaluated this move, recognizing at a glance that this was the [Bankai] slash the boy used during the Hunter Exam in the Numere Wetlands to cut through Botobai's army of Demon Spiders. Moreover, compared to before, the power was even greater, the temperature higher, almost distorting the air, sweeping out in waves...
The old man spoke softly.
Beside him, Wing and Biscuit witnessed this scene, exchanged glances, and both saw shock in each other's eyes!
"Such sharp swordsmanship. How long has it been... he's already learned Ko..." Wing adjusted his glasses, ripples appearing in his bright eyes.
It really was Ko... Biscuit stopped laughing halfway. Her gloating heart was doused with cold water, freezing to the bottom. Looking at the boy again... it was like seeing him for the first time, almost unrecognizable.
Her beautiful big eyes stared fixedly at the screen.
In the screen.
Roy used [Swamp Space] for a counter-sneak attack. A sword of cremation pierced the air, using [Bankai] immediately. With his back to the boy, "Ging" had no time to turn around. Unknown what method he used, he simply called softly, "Turtle, come."
A phantom image of a giant soft-shelled turtle descended, firmly encasing "Ging," timely helping him block Roy's thrust wrapped in temperatures near ten thousand degrees!
Black "Heavy Water" arcs flickered on the turtle's back, dissolving the sword momentum while extinguishing the flames. Vaguely, an ancient hiss could be heard, penetrating the soul, shaking Roy's mind, making him freeze!
[Notification: [Magical Beast Encyclopedia] unfolded... Detected Magical Beast [Deep Water]... Now recorded...]
[Deep Water Turtle: C-Rank Creature (Rating based on Chimera Ant benchmark)]
[Aura Output: C (87/1,000,000)]
[Potential Aura: B (400/10,000,000)]
[Racial Nen Ability: "Heavy Water" (Note: Heavy Water, extremely cold water, appears solid... freezes upon touch. Named "Heavy" because its freezing point is far below zero)]
[The Deep Water Turtle is a very rare magical beast capable of manipulating "Heavy Water"]
The panel notification sounded in Roy's ear due to the giant turtle's appearance... The boy felt his sword stab into a block of ice, unable to advance an inch. Withdrawing the sword, he flipped his hand into a palm strike of [Magnetism · Repulsion], palm wrapped in Ko, heavily slapping the turtle's hard shell... attempting to avoid the [Heavy Water] freezing by non-contact means while using internal force to create tremors inside the turtle, cracking its shell...
"Ging," just like dodging Roy's first slash, differentiated a phantom image again to take Roy's palm strike. Reappearing... he was already a hundred meters away, instantly putting a short distance between him and Roy.
"Contract... My Nen ability is to form contracts with various magical beasts, rare beasts, or phantom beasts, establishing partnerships with them, driving them or simply borrowing one of their 'Talents' or 'Nen abilities'..."
Roy's palm hit empty air. The man's "heart-to-heart" words on the boat just now echoed in his mind. Watching the phantom image disperse into mist under his palm... Clearly, another magical beast or rare beast...
Sure enough, [Notification: [Magical Beast Encyclopedia] recorded...]
[Phantom Wolf: C-Rank Creature]
[Aura Output: C: 24/1,000,000]
[Potential Aura: C+ 79/1,000,000]
[Racial Nen Ability: Phantom (Note: The Phantom Wolf can use itself as a base to differentiate a phantom image to confuse enemies)]
Not as good as a clone, but superior in flexibility and variability... Roy narrowed his eyes, feeling the difficulty. He slapped his waist...
Clang~
Snow-Walker unsheathed. The snow-white katana flashed a silver arc, grabbed by the boy's empty left hand. Together with the cane sword [Waning Moon], one in each hand, they were firmly held by Roy...
Hunter Association.
Wing was stunned. Since when did the boy practice dual blades... Glancing aside at another screen...
The real Ging and the fake Razor were blasting each other with "Nen bullets," replicating "Razor's" moves one-to-one. The gentle boy was dumbfounded, wishing he had more eyes to carefully copy these brilliant battle scenes into his mind for later study...
"Hmm... The mirror image has about eighty percent of the real body's power..."
Comparing Ging and Razor's battle, then looking at Roy and Ging's battle... Meeting the boy again after half a year...
Netero knew that with Roy's talent, his progress would be very rapid, but... the old man never expected the boy to be able to fight Ging to a standstill now...
For a moment, his hands itched. Even the volleyball spinning on his fingertip was about to spark...
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