Hunter: I became stronger even after I died.

Chapter 221 This kind of joke isn't funny.
The murderer who killed Feitan and Shalnark did not take the bodies to exchange for the bounty; instead, he deliberately damaged the remains.

This action is enough to show that the perpetrator was definitely not a bounty hunter.

So the probability is...

They came seeking revenge.

This was the consensus reached by the team previously.

now.

When Franklin saw Kurapika's fiery red eyes, he finally understood the source of his hatred.

Those were the fiery red eyes unique to the Kuruta tribe, whom they had slaughtered to the last man.

So, that massacre back then...

There are survivors!
At this moment, this survivor, filled with boundless hatred, is launching a revenge campaign against the Phantom Troupe.

must--

Tell the commander this information!
Franklin was deeply shaken.

Crash-!
He exerted force suddenly, and the veins on his forehead, neck, and arms bulged, his muscles tensing to the limit.

However, no matter how hard he struggled, he could not break free of the chains binding him.

"The power of this chain far exceeds that of ordinary chains..."

Franklin instantly realized that the boy wielding the chains before him must have placed extremely strong oaths and constraints on his abilities, and perhaps even...

It's an obsession fueled by hatred!

This is why the chain can forcibly put a person into the "Zetsu" state, completely sealing off their Nen abilities.

However, such a terrifying binding effect must be accompanied by extremely strict constraints.

such as--

Target set!

This chain probably only works on brigades!
"The commander must...they must let him know this!"

"Otherwise, the entire brigade will be in danger!"

Franklin's brain was working at lightning speed, and he frantically pushed all his strength, even turning red in the face from overexertion.

However, the chains remained completely still.

"Damn it... Is there really no other way?"

"No, we absolutely cannot die like this, without any value!"

"There must be another way..."

"This important intelligence must be passed on to..."

Franklin roared silently in his heart.

His face turned purplish-red from the suffocating struggle, and the bulging veins in his neck looked like they were about to burst.

However, all these efforts ultimately came to naught with a sigh of exhaustion.

Even Uvogin, who possesses the greatest strength and physique in the Phantom Troupe, couldn't break free from Kurapika's binding middle finger chain, let alone the other members.

Morrow coldly observed Franklin's dying struggle, but his eyes secretly swept over Kurapika beside him.

The bloodlust in the boy's fiery red eyes intensified, and the flames of hatred seemed to burst forth in a tangible form.

That's how boys are—

He allowed hatred and anger to surface and distort on that delicate face.

Clearly, Kurapika's emotions were on the verge of spiraling out of control.

The cause of all this was not only Franklin in front of them, but also the grotesque spider tattoo that was being revealed beneath his tattered clothes.

The prominent number on the tattoo was like the most vicious curse, constantly reminding Kurapika of a fact.

The spiders... are far from being eradicated!

Franklin lowered his head, his heavy breathing sounding particularly clear in the silence, and beads of sweat dripped from his chin onto the grass.

He finally faced the harsh reality...

Physical strength alone is insufficient to break free from these chains imbued with obsession.

The shadow of death loomed so vividly over him, and what made him even more desperate was that he didn't even have a chance to warn his companions one last time.

Am I going to die here...?

But the commander and his men were completely unaware of this threat!
Franklin stopped his futile struggle, but the anxiety in his heart burned like wildfire.

In this state of anxiety, he sensed Kurapika's hatred and anger, and slowly raised his head to look into those fiery red eyes.

“I’m certain that we didn’t let a single person live that day, so you… weren’t even there, were you? All because of that small oversight…”

"Shut up!"

Kurapika's expression changed, and his fist, imbued with Nen, slammed into Franklin's abdomen.

Bang.

With a muffled thud as his internal organs ruptured, Franklin's body arched like a shrimp, and spurting blood drew a blinding arc in the air.

pat.

Warm drops of blood splattered on Kurapika's slightly pale cheeks.

Franklin coughed violently, and shattered internal organs mixed with blood clots spilled from the corners of his mouth.

In a daze, he thought of Paknoda's abilities.

If only Paknoda had used her abilities to confirm the population of the Kurta tribe back then...

At this point, thinking about these things is pointless.

Franklin lowered his head, the image of the commander flashing through his mind.

The leader... he can definitely resolve the crisis for the Phantom Troupe once again, and what I can still do now...

If death is inevitable, O oh, I beg you—

Let me contribute to the Phantom Troupe even after I die!
Even if it's just a short message...

Let me end with a final tribute to my comrades—

Franklin's eyes were brimming with turbulent emotions and obsessions.

He slowly raised his head once more, opened his mouth, which was stained red with blood, and said, word by word:

“My companions will find you and kill you…”

"Oh!"

Kurapika punched Franklin in the stomach again.

Struck by this heavy blow, Franklin's body arched up like a shrimp once more, and blood mixed with fragments of internal organs gushed from his mouth.

After enduring two heavy blows infused with psychic power, his vision began to blur, and his ears began to ring.

But the closer he was to death, the more intensely his obsession burned in his consciousness.

Even if I'm going to die here today...

Franklin raised his head with difficulty, "My will... will not stop here. I will protect the Phantom Troupe in another form... The Phantom Troupe will continue on and on..."

Blood foam continued to gush out with his weak words.

But in his eyes, which were gradually losing focus, there was an incomparably firm look.

This usually composed man harbors a burning flame within him, dedicated solely to the troupe.

Just like his two machine guns, he was only meant to clear a path for the brigade.

Kurapika was stunned for a moment, his bloodied fist trembling slightly.

The smell of blood was almost tangible.

The fist still retained a disgusting sensation.

Why--

You can abuse and kill others without feeling anything at all!

Just then, Moro reached out and gently pressed down on Kurapika's shoulder.

Kurapika slowly turned his head, his eyes, which were trembling slightly like fists, looking at Moro, who had given him tremendous help.

Moro met Kurapika's hesitant gaze and asked:

"You can kill him with your own hands, or you can stop now. No matter what you choose, his fate will not change... Kurapika, follow your heart and do what you think you should do. In any case, Kalto and I are here."

"..."

Kurapika bit his lip, and a trickle of blood seeped out.

His consciousness and body were actually resisting the act of killing. If he had no other choice, no matter how much he hated and resisted it, he would inevitably kill Franklin in the end.

But Morrow gave him a choice at this crucial moment...

Kurapika's tightly clenched fist slowly loosened.

Kalluto saw this and wanted to mock Kurapika for not being able to do something as simple as killing someone.

But upon seeing the blood spilling from Kurapika's lips, he ultimately suppressed the urge to laugh.

Moro also noticed Kurapika loosening his fist.

This is already an answer.

Moro immediately stepped forward, blocking Kurapika's path, and then looked into Franklin's eyes, which seemed to be burning with a strong obsession.

"You want to protect the Phantom Troupe in another form?"

Moro slowly raised the Crimson Jade Bird Blade, his eyes as cold as ice.

"This kind of joke is not funny... Even if your obsession can turn into thoughts after death, I can still make you disappear completely."

"..."

Franklin's pupils contracted.

next moment,
A sharp red line flashed before his blurred eyes.

Immediately afterwards, a stinging sensation came from my eyes and even the sides of my nose.

He sliced ​​my face in half horizontally...

After his vision suddenly went dark, Franklin seemed to see how he would die.

Then an endless, silent darkness swallowed his consciousness.

But in the quietest, darkest place, a small cluster of black flames suddenly appeared.

That was Franklin's intense obsession...

pat-

Franklin's half-head rolled onto the grass, his thick brain matter and blood scattered all over the ground.

Almost at the same instant, a pitch-black deathly thought emerged from the cut on the head, twisting and coalescing like a living thing.

Franklin ultimately got his wish and left behind his posthumous thoughts.

But this obsession wasn't for revenge, but to warn the Phantom Troupe and help them avoid the impending threat.

In theory, even if the deceased could leave behind a message, it would be difficult to accurately transmit intelligence.

However, Franklin's trust in Kuroro during his lifetime was nothing short of a faith.

It was this unwavering trust that gave his suicidal thoughts the possibility of transmitting information across life and death.

Because he understood better than anyone else—

Kuroro will surely find a way to decipher it.

The dark thought of death rose from Franklin's broken body like a flame breaking free of its cage.

however--

With a casual reach of his right hand, Moro grabbed the surging deathly thought!
In an instant, the pitch-black flames twisted and struggled wildly, as if Franklin's last will still remained.

On the grass not far away, on the head that had rolled to the ground, a pair of lifeless eyes were wide open, staring at the scene unfolding before them.

In those dim pupils, the image of death churning futilely in Moro's palm could still be faintly reflected, until—

Completely extinguished.

The afterlife thoughts that contained Franklin's intense obsession were thus absorbed by Moreau in a seemingly casual manner.

"Only about 8% has been converted..."

Moro glanced down at the third ring of energy on the back of his hand, and saw that the blue energy bar had risen to 20%.

Having previously absorbed the short sword Hell's relic after death, its annual energy surged directly to the third ring, reaching 12%.

In comparison, Franklin's death thoughts were converted much less.

This is probably because the third growth ring is more difficult to recharge.

Further confirmation of this mechanism is not difficult.

If you find an object of similar quality to the one you absorbed before, absorb it and see if you can convert it into 1% energy.

If so, it means that the difficulty of charging has not changed.

If not, it means that the difficulty of charging does indeed increase with the number of growth rings.

Morrow then looked at the hierarchical symbols in the middle of the tree rings.

"Lv.57→Lv.59"

The original level was Lv.54, but after killing the Barov, it was directly upgraded to Lv.57.

Now that Franklin has been killed, he has leveled up directly from Lv.57 to Lv.59.

However, judging from the level of manifested energy, Franklin is clearly higher than Pedrolev.

However, the experience gained from stripping away Lev's skin allowed Moro to instantly level up three times...

This may be due to the influence of an empirical decay mechanism.

But Moro believed that the most direct influencing factor was the experience points he had accumulated during this period of training, which were settled along with the experience points from stripping Lev's head.

That's why he was promoted three levels at once.

"Almost level 60."

Moro withdrew his gaze and muttered to himself.

next to.

Kurapika and Kalmod both witnessed Morrow easily absorbing Franklin's Death Will, so they were not surprised.

If I had to say something, I would be amazed that Franklin kept his word and left behind his posthumous thoughts.

Unfortunately—

Moro kept his word and eliminated the afterlife thoughts that he had firmly believed in.

Kurapika, are you alright?

Moro didn't consciously try to sense the changes in the manifestation's aura; instead, he focused on Kurapika's emotions.

Kurapika retracted the chains and nodded silently to Moro, indicating that he was alright.

Moro glanced at the bloodstains on Kurapika's face, opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

After today's events, he's not really sure whether letting Kurapika retain this pure kindness will be a good thing or a bad thing in the future.

The only thing that can be confirmed is—

He would prefer to see a Kurapika who stays true to his original aspirations.

So as long as the Phantom Troupe can disappear from this world even faster, then it's not a bad thing if Kurapika retains this kindness forever.

Moreau picked up Franklin's half-head, which lay open in death, from the grass, and then dragged the strong, bear-like corpse with his other hand.

The hunt is over.

The next step, naturally, was to destroy the evidence.

"Kurt, bring me the body of the man who was stripped off."

Moro walked straight toward the car they were driving towards in the distance.

"Ok!"

Kurt responded quickly, then manipulated a large amount of paper scraps to wrap up Lev's body before hurrying after Morrow.

After throwing the body into the car, Moro took a can of gasoline from the trunk.

Kurt then threw the body, along with the paper, into the car.

Not far away, Kurapika watched the two busy at work, the bloodshot in his eyes gradually fading.

"Kurt and I are right here."

He seemed to hear Morrow's words again in his ears.

wow-

Kurapika slowly raised his right hand, which was wrapped in chains, and placed it on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, which was gradually calming down.

“I… also have companions.”

He muttered to himself.

(End of this chapter)