Hunter: I became stronger even after I died.

Chapter 222 Finally found it

Franklin and Lev's bodies were roughly shoved into the back seat of the car, their limbs twisted and intertwined.

Morrow picked up a plastic bottle filled with gasoline, unscrewed the cap, and then splashed the pungent liquid onto the seats, the body, and every corner of the car.

Kurt, who was watching from the side, suddenly said, "Moro, wouldn't it be easier to cook them if we cut them into pieces?"

How many pieces?

Moro glanced back at Kurt and shook his head, saying, "There shouldn't be much difference."

"What if we chop it into smaller pieces?"

Kurt continued to ask.

Moro said, "If you chop it up, it will definitely cook faster."

"Should we chop them up before burning them, so we don't have to wait here?"

Kurt raised his fan and pointed to the two bodies inside the car, which were soaked in gasoline.

Moro nodded and said, "It's not impossible, but cutting up two corpses would be too much work."

"I can control the 'paper blade' to shred them!"

Kurt volunteered.

Morrow noticed Kurt's unusual initiative and asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Are you hungry?"

"Well, sort of."

Kurt nodded somewhat embarrassedly.

Seeing this, Moro smiled and said, "Then you should save your energy. I'll handle these things."

"Uh-huh."

Kal'tsit obediently responded, then suddenly had a brilliant idea and pointed his folding fan at Kurapika, who was walking towards them.

"Kurapika's chains can extend and retract freely, right? He should be able to use them to shred the corpse, shouldn't he?"

"That is one method."

Moro seemed to be deep in thought.

Having arrived nearby, Kurapika naturally overheard Morrow and Kalluto's conversation. He immediately stopped and stood still, refusing to go any further.

A few minutes later,

The car was engulfed in flames.

Amidst the raging flames, one could vaguely see blood and bits of flesh splattered inside the carriage.

Morrow adopted Kurt's suggestion and pulverized Franklin and Lev's bodies before setting them on fire.

This not only allows for a more thorough burning, but more importantly, it eliminates the need for them to wait for the burning to end.

"Let's go."

Seeing that the fire had reached its peak, Moro turned and left.

Kurt followed and walked alongside Morrow.

Kurapika glanced at the burning car before looking away and quickly followed Morrow and Kurt.

Behind them, thick smoke billowed into the sky.

So far——

The spider lost four legs.

After dealing with the body, Moro sent Hisoka a message saying "Keep working."

As long as Hisoka can provide more information about the Phantom Troupe's squads, Moro can seize the opportunity to launch the next round of hunting.

Ideally, he should sever as many spider legs as possible before the group can react.

If I miss it...

They then hid in the shadows for the time being, waiting for the right opportunity.

He could slow down the pace of the hunt, but he absolutely could not easily reveal any weaknesses.

Like a hunter, one only pulls the trigger of their shotgun when they are certain of victory.

In a luxurious casino in some corner of the world.

Hisoka leaned lazily against the slot machine, casually picking up his phone. The screen displayed a message from Moro.

"Your movements are really swift and efficient!"

The moment Hisoka saw the message, he knew that Franklin and Lev were probably dead at the hands of Morrow.

So, if we calculate it that way...

Moro has already taken the lives of four spiders.

If the troupe doesn't take action soon, they might be wiped out by Moro.

Hisoka fiddled with his phone, his long index finger resting on his chin, a hint of amusement flashing in his golden eyes.

The future of the tour group?
He didn't care about those boring things at all.

What he longed for was to have another exhilarating and deadly battle with Moro.

But before that——

He needs a chance to fight Kuroro one-on-one.

So what if the Phantom Troupe is destroyed?
Hissona slowly lowered his hand from his chin and instead pulled the lever of the slot machine, which immediately made a crisp click.

Immediately afterwards, the slot machine's reel began to spin rapidly, and the colorful patterns merged into a blurry band of color under the light.

Hisoka put away his phone and focused his attention on the rapidly spinning pattern of colored ribbons.

Soon, the reel stopped, and three identical symbols were neatly arranged, at which point the slot machine emitted a cheerful sound effect indicating a win.

Hisoka narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the constantly changing prize numbers on the slot machine screen.

In the past, he wouldn't have cared about the final bonus at all.

Now...

He was desperately short of money.

The prize amount on the slot machine finally settled, followed by a crisp metallic clanging sound as coins rained down, piling up into a small mountain in the tray.

The clanging sounds were particularly noticeable in the noisy casino, attracting the attention of the surrounding gamblers.

Hisoka paid no attention to these gazes, but suddenly sensed something and turned his eyes to look at a tall figure walking straight towards him.

The person had long, smooth, jet-black hair and wore dark-colored clothes adorned with numerous seemingly decorative round beads.

The person who arrived was none other than Illumi.

Under the dazzling lights of the casino, his empty black eyes looked particularly eerie.

"Found you, Hisoka."

Illumi stopped in front of Hisoka, his voice flat and cold like a machine: "Are you deliberately not answering the phone?"

"How could that be? It just happened to run out of power."

Hisoka gave an innocent smile.

Illumi stared coldly at Hisoka's face.

He just saw Hisoka holding a phone with its screen glowing.

"Is the money ready?"

Too lazy to expose Hisoka's lies, Illumi cut straight to the point.

Hisoka smiled and pointed to the slot machine that was still dropping coins.

Illumi didn't care how Hisoka earned his money; he merely glanced at the remaining prize money on the slot machine and the mountain of coins, and roughly calculated the amount after exchanging them.

"Not enough. As we agreed beforehand, if you can't raise the money today, the interest will be increased tenfold."

He said lightly.

Although he agreed to repay in installments, he never conceded a penny in the consequences of defaulting.

"..."

Hisoka paused for a moment, then took out his phone and said with some surprise, "So the phone still has power."

Without waiting for Illumi's reaction, he immediately sent Moro a message asking for a loan.

In a wilderness of the ancient Ganyu Kingdom.

Moro picked up his phone. He expected a reply from Hisoka, something like "received," but when he looked at the dimly lit screen, he only saw an extremely brief message: Lend me a billion.

"He needs to borrow money again? Oh, I didn't lend him any last time."

Moro muttered to himself.

Seeing Morrow's reaction, Kurt jumped up like a kitten, taking the opportunity to peek at the message displayed on his phone screen.

Then I saw Hisoka's text message asking for money.

"what!"

Upon seeing the words "borrow money," Kurt seemed to suddenly remember something and let out a somewhat annoyed cry.

Moro looked over and asked, "What's wrong?"

Kurapika also cast a questioning glance his way.

Kurt clutched his head. "I forgot something important!"

"what's up?"

Moro raised an eyebrow and pressed for an answer.

Kurt pouted dejectedly and said, "I forgot to search the body just now. Maybe we could have found a lot of money!"

"..."

Moro and Kurapika were speechless for a moment.

"Don't worry."

Morrow tried to comfort him, saying, "Lev's outfit doesn't look like he would carry money with him. As for Franklin... even if he did, it was probably destroyed in the battle."

Kurt tilted his head and thought for a moment, then realized it made sense. His expression softened a bit, and he blinked his big eyes, pointed at Morrow's phone, and asked, "So... Morrow, are you going to lend that pervert money?"

"borrow."

Moro's fingers swiped quickly across the screen as he remarked, "After all, Hisoka really helped a lot this time, and we're counting on him to keep working hard."

"Ok."

Even if Kurt was unwilling, he wouldn't oppose Morrow's decision.

A casino thousands of miles away.

Hisoka received the money transferred from Moro, which was a timely help.

Otherwise, if he can't raise the money today, his debts will only snowball.

Even if Illumi is repaid this time, there is still a large shortfall to cover.

So the only thing to do is get the money quickly and then clear out all the debts in one go...

Hisoka never imagined that one day he would be restricted in some aspects of his freedom by "debt".

Well, sometimes, I guess I do enjoy it.

With that thought in mind, Hisoka transferred the money to Illumi as quickly as possible.

Illumi took out his phone and confirmed the transfer information.

"received."

He put his phone away contentedly.

Hisoka then pointed to the slot machine, which had stopped dropping coins, and invited Illumi, "Want to stay and play for a while?"

"No, I'm very busy."

Illumi declined Hisoka's invitation and then turned and left without hesitation.

After taking only two steps, he suddenly stopped.

"Should I tell Hisoka that I accepted Chrollo's deposit?"

Illumi stared ahead, thinking to himself.

Only when he felt Hisoka's probing gaze did Illumi resume his steps.
"Forget it, Hisoka is an informant now. If I tell him this information, it will only benefit Moro. Anyway... I just need to make sure Kurt is safe."

Illumi muttered to himself, then quickened his pace to leave.

Hisoka watched Illumi's retreating figure, a strange light flashing in his eyes.

----------

8 month 15 day.

A full week has passed since Franklin and Lev turned into dust in the ancient Ganyu wilderness.

The spiders of the group continued to move along their own paths, and they usually did not contact each other unless it was necessary to exchange information.

Therefore, they were unaware of the deaths of Franklin and Lev.

Liuying Kingdom, a town.

The streets were bathed in a warm orange glow from the lanterns, and the night breeze carried the scent of incense.

Today is a traditional festival in Ryūō Kingdom called Obon Festival.

The people of Ryuoka believe that the souls of their ancestors will return to the world on this day, which has led to activities such as welcoming the souls, sending the souls off, and returning the lanterns.

On this day, lanterns are hung all over the country of Ryuo, and people spontaneously gather together. Professions such as psychics and onmyoji also usher in their busiest time of the year.

Kuroro weaved through the bustling crowd, holding an old-fashioned flip phone engraved with an arrow piercing a heart.

"Ring ring, ring ring..."

"The owner of the number you dialed is not nearby. Please try again later, or dial from a different location..."

Hearing the cold notification sound coming from his phone, Kuroro's gaze swept indifferently over the noisy crowd around him, his eyes lingering for a few more seconds on the shamans dressed in red and white hunting robes.

"With so many people gathered here, is there still nothing...?"

During Obon, locals often seek the help of spirit mediums and onmyoji, hoping to communicate with their deceased relatives.

Although there are quite a few officially employed spirit mediums and onmyoji in the Ryuo Kingdom, most of them are just charlatans pretending to be gods and ghosts.

Only a few psychics and onmyoji who have mastered Nen possess true abilities.

Kuroro traveled a great distance because he had heard the rumors of the Ryuo Kingdom, where one could communicate with the dead.

It just so happens to be the annual Obon festival, and I was hoping to take this opportunity to find my target faster. However, after searching all day, I still haven't found anyone who fits my criteria.

This is the limitation of the "love dialing" ability.

While it can help users locate targets that meet specific criteria, the limited detection range often means that they have to search step by step, with no shortcuts available.

While Kuroro could limit his search to the Kingdom of Ryuo through "rumors," he couldn't guarantee that the Kingdom of Ryuo would have a target that met his requirements.

To confirm this—

He could only travel to every corner of the Ryuo Kingdom.

Finding it would be the best outcome.

If you can't find it, then all the time and effort you've invested will be wasted.

This kind of constraint, which is mainly based on the "unknown," is like being in a relationship. Even if you pour a lot of time and energy into it, you may not necessarily succeed in the end.

But Kuroro is very patient and doesn't get anxious about it.

He can maintain this mindset until he achieves what he wants to do, and then steadfastly continue towards his goal.

In the original work,
Before officially responding to Hisoka's challenge, Chrollo used this method and mindset to collect the Nen abilities he needed, and then caused Hisoka's crushing defeat and death.

"There's only one place left to visit."

Kuroro walked through the crowd and looked towards the distant back mountain.

Along the mountain path, lanterns are strung together to form a winding dragon of light, spiraling up the stone steps and finally converging at the top of the mountain, illuminating even the night sky.

"Ring ring—"

"The owner of the number you dialed is not available."

Along the mountain path adorned with lanterns, local residents carrying lanterns headed towards the summit.

Kuroro was among them, his figure appearing and disappearing in the flickering light of the lanterns.

"Ring ring—"

"The owner of the number you dialed has been located, but is still some distance away from you."

Halfway up the mountain path, Kuroro paused slightly, lifting his eyelids to look at the mountaintop where many lights converged.

Finally... we found it.

(End of this chapter)