Humans, this species—
Are most prone to developing twisted desires.
And then, on the basis of "pleasure," various methods to satisfy these twisted desires emerge.
They invariably name this behavior "carnival."
Torture, cannibalism...
Such things are ubiquitous in the world of Hunter x Hunter, in those corners where the sun doesn't shine.
It's just that some do it secretly, while others have a strong desire to share.
And with the success of the information revolution, robust communication facilities were established worldwide, and mobile phone and computer technology became increasingly mature.
People could use the internet as a platform to achieve real-time long-distance communication and interaction.
Thus, some obscure gray network zones came into being, providing a platform for those with exceptionally twisted sharing desires to display and exchange.
The video Algo found came from one such online site dedicated to sharing acts of torture.
This video basically confirmed Morrow's speculation.
If he hadn't happened to meet Morena after crossing over...
Completely defenseless, he might have ended up even worse than the person in the video.
But the real reason for his displeasure was that the owner behind this "menu" wanted to wipe them out completely.
A surge of anger ignited in Morrow's heart.
If it weren't for the restrictive mechanism of "Deceptive Flying Star"—
With his current level of Nen ability, how could he possibly have taken down a sniper a kilometer away?
And if it weren't for the tactical application based on Flying Star, how could he have smoothly eliminated the Nen user beneath him, despite his Nen ability being countered?
Even the slightest deviation on the path of destiny, and he might not have been alive to receive Algo's call.
This fact made him extremely grateful for his initial choice to prioritize manipulation in the Emission type, rather than enhancement.
If he had focused purely on the offensive strength of the Emission type, he wouldn't have had any room for manipulation in the early stages...
Let alone using manipulation to avoid ability counters and thus achieve victory through tactical application.
After this battle, Morrow realized that with one more enemy, he became even more determined to stick with the path of Emission and Manipulation.
After all, pure Emission Enhancement is too straightforward, only increasing power and leaving no other room.
If one can develop smoothly into the mid or even late stages without incident, Emission Enhancement is certainly more aggressive.
Conversely, if one cannot safely navigate the early stages, Emission Enhancement lacks the flexibility that is extremely important for Morrow personally.
This very point was inconsistent with his own personality and approach.
Moreover, once the Flying Star's ability system is perfected, he can leverage this experience to derive some abilities involving mobility.
This is something that Emission Enhancement finds relatively difficult to achieve.
Furthermore, the power advantage of Emission Enhancement can be fully compensated by the double power mechanism of Flying Star's Swallow Return.
In short, take it slow.
One must walk step by step, and eat bite by bite.
Nen ability, above all else, must avoid recklessness and taking things for granted...
It should be like building with blocks, gradually perfecting and carefully choosing each step.
And on that premise, maximize the use of the Tree Ring Tattoo's upgrade ability.
Morrow's thoughts wandered, then slowly reined themselves in as time passed.
He looked down at the back of his hand—
Lv. 5
He had killed two people, yet his level rose from Lv2 to Lv5.
Due to this leap in levels, Morrow could clearly feel the increase in both his manifest aura and potential aura.
"It seems that upgrade efficiency is directly related to target strength."
Skipping levels, this result, could be said to be both reasonable and unexpected.
That's why the previous forced Nen awakening plan ended in failure.
The Nen user beneath him, both in terms of manifest aura and the completeness of his Nen ability, was significantly stronger than the previous one who used throwing knives.
That's why he achieved the result of skipping levels.
Morrow raised his hand and lightly pressed the Tree Ring Tattoo.
This was his capital for continuing onward with unwavering determination, disregarding natural factors like talent.
Controlling the surging emotions in his heart, Morrow picked up his phone again.
After a moment's hesitation, he still didn't choose to delete the severely uncomfortable video.
Instead, he redialed Algo's number.
By the time the call connected, Morrow had already stood up.
Facing the evening breeze blowing in from the plains, he said,
"Algo, I need to deal with some trash now. As for the information about the other person named Clyde, please organize it into text and send it directly to me."
"No problem."
Algo's voice, now a little low, came from the other end of the line.
To investigate this matter, she had seen many videos filled with cruel meanings.
After a pause, Algo said as calmly as possible,
"There's also a lead on the Phantom Troupe bounty. I'll organize it all and send it to you. Also, there's something I need to say upfront."
"Speak, I'm listening."
"Big boss, for intelligence work related to the Phantom Troupe, even if I investigate deeply, I probably don't need to worry about safety, because their style is different from normal people. They don't seem to resist people specifically buying information to hunt them down. But the mafia is different..."
Algo's tone gradually revealed apprehension, something she hadn't shown when she took on the Phantom Troupe job earlier.
"The mafia are vindictive bastards. Their methods against enemies are even more cruel; they'll kill even relatives and friends, then release videos of the horrific corpses online. You can think I'm scared, I don't care. Anyway, when it comes to the mafia, I won't investigate deeply."
"..."
Morrow was silent for a moment, not insisting.
"Alright, do what you can."
He responded, then hung up the phone.
Putting his phone away, Morrow bent down to pick up the body, preparing to dispose of it.
After all, a corpse could reveal some information.
Experienced Nen users might be able to glean information such as Nen attributes or ability characteristics from a corpse.
Although Morrow didn't think any of Nolan's subordinates would be comparable to seasoned Nen users like Biscuit.
But destroying evidence, or bodies, is always a good habit.
Carrying the body to the car engulfed in raging flames, Morrow suddenly thought of something.
What if the body was equipped with a real-time camera or a listening device?
"I overlooked that..."
Morrow frowned, dropped the body to the ground, and then carefully examined it.
After a thorough inspection, he found no devices such as listening bugs.
Morrow then breathed a sigh of relief, reflecting that he needed to pay more attention in the future.
The main reason was that Algo's call came right after he had killed the enemy.
As a result, he just sat on the body and talked to Algo, and didn't immediately consider the possibility of the body carrying a listening device.
If his conversation with Algo had been bugged...
Putting aside everything else, Algo would probably be in trouble.
Morrow shook his head slightly, threw the body into the flames, and then went to find the sniper's body, dealing with both of them together.
(End of Chapter)
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