Chapter 58: Seeing His Former Self
"Hohoho, it seems little Lippo is quite concerned about this kid." Netero's playful laughter came from the other end of the phone. "Could you tell me why?"
It should be noted that during the Hunter Exam, Mord had destroyed more than half of the Trick Tower prison. At that time, Lippo had been furious, vowing during the examiner's gathering that he would make this kid pay someday.
Several hunters who served as examiners at the time could attest to this.
Yet now, for this so-called detestable kid, he had personally dialed Chairman Netero's number.
"Isn't it good that the kid is suffering at the hands of those gangsters? It should vent your anger," Netero provoked.
The troublesome old man just loved watching drama.
"Teacher Netero, do you know something?"
"Hmm?"
"When I was in the control room of the Trick Tower prison, watching him, it felt like I was looking at my younger self." Lippo stood at the top floor of the Trick Tower prison, gazing at the distant night sky.
"I believe that one day, he can accomplish the ideals I failed to achieve."
"Hoho, you have such high expectations for this kid?" Netero chuckled lightly before continuing. "By the way, I forgot to tell you—the mission in the Jappon Country is rated A-class."
[Note: The Hunter Association mission rating system, different from disaster levels, is categorized by the author as S, A, B, C, D.]
"...Chairman."
"Aren't you quite optimistic about him? I feel the same. If he can successfully complete this mission, with his achievements, he might directly be awarded the title of Star Hunter."
"But..."
Standing aboard the airship, Netero also looked at the distant night sky and slowly said, "Only by pushing the eaglet off the cliff can we help it spread its wings and soar."
...
At this moment, Mord had no idea that he had been schemed against by that troublesome old man Netero. If he knew the truth, he would rather stay and confront the underground syndicate head-on.
The underground syndicate's pursuit of Mord had already begun.
The Jappon Country and the ancient Kukan'yu Kingdom where Mord had previously stayed were on two separate continents. The journey was long and arduous; even by airship, it would take over half a month.
During the trip, he would have to transfer several times and finally travel a stretch by water.
Due to the Jappon Country's isolation policy, there were naturally no airports there.
Of course, the most dangerous part of the journey was leaving the Kukan'yu Kingdom. Given the Terrio family's connections with the royal family, the authorities would turn a blind eye to assassination attempts.
They might even secretly provide assistance.
However, because of Mord's status as a hunter, they wouldn't make it too obvious.
But Mord had no intention of entrusting his life to others. When it came to matters of life and death, he wouldn't take any risks. Therefore, he outright excluded airships as a means of transportation.
Being tens of thousands of meters in the air—if anything went wrong, without the ability to fly or a body strong enough to withstand a fall from such heights—it would mean certain death.
Whoosh—
Just as Mord was deep in thought, the train compartment door was pushed open, and a conductor walked in from outside.
"Hello, sir. Please show me your ticket," the conductor said with a bow.
Mord was naturally using an identity bought from the black market. He took out his ticket and watched as the conductor clipped off one corner.
"Sorry to disturb you. Have a pleasant journey."
The compartment door closed once again.
But not long after the attendant left, faint footsteps suddenly echoed from outside.
One, two, three... eight people.
Mord gazed out the window, silently counting in his mind. Judging by the footsteps, those approaching were likely seasoned veterans of the underworld.
From this, it seemed the attendant earlier had come to confirm his identity.
Outside the carriage.
A group of masked men armed with modern firearms exchanged hand signals. Two assaulters took positions on either side of the door.
One prepared to breach it.
The other five stood ready to provide fire support.
Mord slapped the table, causing the water cup on it to leap into the air. With a fierce palm strike, the cup shattered mid-air, and fragments wrapped in Nen shot out like arrows.
This was an advanced application of Ten: En.
Similar to Armament Haki in the world of pirates.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Amidst the sharp sounds of slicing air, the assassin at the door, poised to breach it with force, had just raised his machine gun when countless fragments pierced through the door, riddling his face and body with seven or eight gaping holes.
The burly man's eyes widened, unable to even let out a grunt before he collapsed headfirst. The sound of a heavy object hitting the floor echoed through the carriage corridor.
The others, startled by the sudden turn of events, instinctively stepped back and raised their handguns.
Creak—
The moment the door swung open.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire erupted, but they saw no trace of anyone.
"Are you looking for me?"
As the voice rang out, a flash of blade light followed, and crimson blood sprayed, staining the entire carriage corridor red.
With that, the first batch of eight assassins sent was completely annihilated.
Though these men possessed strong military training and perhaps accurate marksmanship, to Mord, they were ultimately just ordinary people.
Even if they carried conventional firearms like handguns and light rifles—or even more lethal weapons—they posed no threat to Mord as long as he didn't give them a chance to act.
Mord glanced around, then returned to his compartment, opening his laptop to pass the time watching a romance film.
The fact that no attendants came despite the commotion in his carriage spoke volumes.
Another point was that even with a different identity, he couldn't shake off the pursuit.
This indicated the other side had methods unknown to him.
If the Kukan'yu Kingdom were directly involved, such measures would be redundant.
Therefore, for the remainder of the journey, Mord had no intention of hiding his identity.
He would meet soldiers with arms and floodwaters with earthworks.
He wanted to see what kind of people the Terrio family could send.
However, as the saying goes, it's easy to dodge an open spear but hard to guard against a hidden arrow.
To deal with the imminent assassinations, Mord began practicing En along the way.
"En" is an advanced combined application of "Ten" and "Ren," allowing aura to expand outward from the user as the center, detecting any intruders within its range.
Generally, being able to spread Nen over a two-meter radius signifies mastery of En.
The greater one's aura capacity, the wider the range they can cover.
Besides range, endurance is equally important.
Normally, maintaining En requires consuming a massive amount of Nen, so it is typically only used during combat. To sustain it for extended periods, there are only two methods.
The first is having such an abundant reserve of Nen that expending it freely is inconsequential—like the Ant King, who could maintain an enormous En 24 hours a day without any issue.
The second method involves finding a balance: reducing the range of En and precisely controlling the equilibrium between Nen recovery and consumption.
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