Hunter: I became stronger even after I died.

Chapter 255 Moro's Determination

Thoughts after death are a vehicle for emotions and will.

Because they originate from Nen abilities, they usually possess special abilities.

However, the probability of developing thoughts about death is extremely low.

Therefore, the number of "Nen tools" left behind by death in this world is extremely small.

Not to mention complex abilities like Kuroro's, which belong to the Specialization type and encompass multiple systems.

If "Thief's Secret" can truly remain in the world as a post-mortem Nen, then it is undoubtedly a rare Nen artifact in a class of its own.

After all, a special ability that combines the theft and use of others' abilities is essentially a mechanism that transcends "Nen capacity".

Moro was well aware of the value of Thief's Secret, especially after the enhancement of death.

but,

To make him inherit everything from the Phantom Troupe, and to protect Meteor City...

If he hesitates for even a second longer, it's disrespectful to himself.

Without hesitation, Moro sealed Chrollo's will in a dark corner where it would never see the light of day, and then absorbed the posthumous thoughts that served as its vessel into the tree rings.

As Kuroro's thoughts after death gradually flowed into the rings of time, the powerful aura from before began to dissipate.

For Moro, he only stayed in the consciousness space for a short while before completely absorbing the thoughts after death.

But under the watchful eyes of Kurapika and the others, Moro simply raised his hand and grasped and absorbed the powerful afterlife consciousness.

The whole process, from start to finish, is as simple as drinking water.

Kurapika, Kalmod, and Kanzai all knew that Morrow's Nen removal ability was very strong, so they weren't too surprised.

The subsequent reaction was likely one of astonishment at the timing of the emergence of this post-death consciousness and the source of this powerful force.

Both Ziponian and Yuyin were seeing Moro's exorcism ability for the first time.

When they saw that the powerful aura of death had been so easily dispelled by Moro, they were all shocked.

This is not an ordinary thought, but a thought that has become stronger after death.

"The power of exorcism without any cost?"

Ziponian's eyes were filled with astonishment.

She was, after all, an old woman who had lived for many years. Based solely on Moro's slight reaction when he was expelling his thoughts after death, she could deduce at a glance that Moro did not need to bear the consequences of expelling his thoughts.

Such powerful exorcism ability...

Perhaps some extremely stringent restrictions have been imposed?
In any case, Moro's status in Ziponian's heart has risen as rapidly as a rocket.

"Let's go back."

Ziponian gave Moro a deep look in the arena, then turned and left.

Observing tonight gave her a deeper understanding of Moro's abilities.

If Lord Illumi's injuries were caused by Moro...

Zipanian felt it necessary to step forward and proactively recount all that he had seen and heard that evening to Shiba, in order to avoid causing any further trouble.

Yu Yin snapped out of her daze and quickly followed Zi Po Nian, glancing back at Mo Luo in the distance.

Perhaps until this moment—

This young steward, who might spend her entire life on Mount Kukuru, finally understood the vastness of the world that Zipanian had once told her.

Inside the venue.

Moro absorbed Kuroro's post-mortem thoughts, increasing the energy of the third ring of life from 28% to 42%.

Previously, he absorbed the materialized demon sword left behind by the prison after his death, which directly filled the second ring of life and brought the energy of the third ring of life to 12%.

However, after the third growth ring, the required energy is significantly greater.

So even after absorbing Franklin's post-death thoughts, and the thoughts he absorbed from the Sheath of the Deep before the death rewind, his percentage only increased from 12% to 20%, and then from 20% to 28%.

This time, Kuroro's lingering thoughts caused the annual ring energy to surge from 28% to 42%, an increase of 14%.

This shows just how strong Kuroro's lingering obsession was after his death.

"Absorbing death energy is indeed the most efficient method, but we can't let go of those items with attached death energy either. Every little bit helps."

After reviewing the energy gains from the third ring of the tree, Moro silently reflected on his actions.

He has now confirmed the ability of the tree rings to trace back to the point of death.

Furthermore, based on the second death regression, he speculated that the third ring's ability was most likely to regress directly to a week prior after death.

If this deduction is true, then by analogy, the fourth ring of the tree would be going back to one day earlier...

Regardless, Moro was well aware of the importance of tree ring energy.

This near-resurrection ability is absolutely crucial!

Therefore, now that the second growth ring has been used up, the highest priority is to quickly accumulate energy for the third growth ring.

This way, one can hold a resurrection coin and then confidently plot to kill Illumi.

For Moro now, killing Illumi is not difficult; what is difficult is killing Illumi without any worries.

There are so many things to consider regarding this one matter alone.

Moro wasn't worried about retaliation from Silvazeno.

Putting aside whether Silva and Zeno would seek revenge on him for Illumi's sake, even if they did, he could simply run away to a secret realm for refuge.

What he was really worried about was the wish-granting machine in the Zoldyck family, and the most troublesome one, Kikyo.

In a sense, the combination of these two factors is simply unsolvable.

As for Illumi's current situation...

He didn't think that Illumi, having lost both hands, would live a peaceful and quiet life on Kukuroku Mountain.

With that wish-granting machine in existence, even if the Zoldyck family can't find a Nen ability to restore limbs, they will eventually consider using the wish-granting machine's ability to restore Illumi's limbs.

In other words, Illumi will eventually return to normal.

The only difference lies in how the Zoldyck family makes their choice.

If Illumi decides to use the wish-granting machine directly, he can return to his original state in a short time.

Conversely, if we were to take a step back and seek a Nen ability that could restore limbs, then Illumi might have to behave himself for a while.

Morrow felt that whatever decision the Zoldyck family made, it would likely be led by Kikyo.

"It's too early to think about these things now. The most urgent task is to accumulate energy for the third ring of life."

Moro's thoughts shifted, and he thought of something else.

Today is August 26th, and in a few days it will be the annual Youkexin Auction.

At that time, countless genuine and fake high-value collectibles will circulate in various forms within the Youkexin City.

In order to accumulate the energy of the third growth ring as soon as possible, Moro naturally could not miss the Yorkshire auction.

If I could encounter a rare item like the Death's Executioner's Knife at an auction, like last year, then the trip would have been worthwhile.

Moreover, he's not the only one who cares about the upcoming Yorknew City auction; Kurapika and Menchi will definitely attend this year's Yorknew City auction as well.

Menchi needs no introduction; he's after the Seven Chefs Knife.

Kurapika is even less likely to be absent from the Yorknew auction.

There's only one reason: there might be some serious trouble at the auction.

Kurapika would never miss even the slightest possibility.

"Before going to Youkexin, we need to take Kurt home first. Oh, and 250 billion..."

Moro lowered his head slightly and sighed softly, almost imperceptibly.

He had only thought about the Youkexin Auction and forgot that there was still a commission fee that hadn't been paid.

Forget about spending money to buy collectibles from Youkexin; they can't even raise 250 billion now.

"Moro." Kurapika's voice came from beside my ear.

There was a hint of concern in his voice.

Moro finished thinking and looked towards Kurapika, following the sound.

Seeing that Kurapika remained calm and did not show much emotion due to the destruction of the Phantom Troupe, Moro knew that Kurapika had completely transformed.

"I am fine."

Moro smiled at Kurapika.

Kurapika breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this.

He knew that Moro's Nen removal ability was very strong, but the lingering death Nen aura left behind by Chrollo was really powerful, and seeing that Moro had been in a daze just now, he couldn't help but worry.

At this moment, Kurt and Kang Jae arrived at the scene.

“I have already notified the bounty agency to come and ‘inspect the goods.’ Since it involves a criminal group of the Phantom Troupe’s caliber, the agency’s people should arrive soon.”

Kang Jae shook the phone in his hand.

As planned, once Moro and Kurapika killed the last two Phantom Troupe members, Kangzai would then contact the bounty agency.

As for all the achievements of the Phantom Troupe's hunt, according to Moro's wishes, they were all attributed to Kang Zai and Kurapika.

After all, only Kang and Kurapika have Hunter Licenses. As for killing the Phantom Troupe, they can not only get a bounty, but also a merit related to their Hunter Licenses.

Furthermore, given Kang Jae's status, he could receive some tax benefits when redeeming the bounty.

Even if Moro makes this arrangement, Kangzai will at most use his own identity to seek more benefits for the team, but as for the credit, he is determined to let Kurapika take the lion's share.

If this condition is not met...

Kang Jae said he would simply wash his hands of the matter.

Before the bounty agency staff arrived, Moro gathered the bodies of the guild members he had previously placed there and brought them to the warehouse ruins for inspection later.

Just as they were waiting patiently, Kurt received a call from Ziponian.

Since Kal't was unwilling to go home now, Ziva was forced to complete his mission and transfer the still seriously injured and unconscious Illumi back to Kukuroo Mountain.

Ziponian's phone call before her departure, besides informing Kurt of their impending departure, also subtly reminded Kurt not to ignore Kikyo's attitude and reaction.

After listening to Ziponian's veiled reminder, Kurt silently hung up the phone.

Almost the next moment.

Suddenly, a tangible aura emanated from the hospital.

Moro, Kurt, Konjaku, and Kurapika, who were at the warehouse ruins, all looked in the direction of the aura and saw a bright and vivid firework rising into the sky in the night.

That was the jet flame released by Zipo Nian when he transformed into a flying vehicle and flew.

In the blink of an eye, the bright flame turned into a tiny dot of light.

"Wow, that's fast."

Kang Jae watched the jet exhaust plume disappear into the distance, making no attempt to hide the envy on his face.

As a professional bodyguard hunter who often has to protect his employers and run around, having a flying vehicle like Ziponian would definitely greatly reduce the difficulty of commissions.

Morrow glanced at Kurt, who was gazing at the night sky, and suddenly said, "Kurt, I'll send you home in a couple of days."

"I don't want to go back now."

Upon hearing Morrow's words, Kurt abruptly withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Morrow, a stubborn glint flashing in his deep purple eyes.

Moro hesitated for a moment, but still insisted, "You should go home."

"..."

Kurt sensed the unquestionable tone in Moron's voice, paused for a moment, and said with some grievance, "Is it because of Brother Illumi that you're in such a hurry to send me home?"

"No."

Moro shook his head; he was lying.

Sending Kal't back to Kukuroo Mountain was indeed related to Illumi.

His desire to completely eliminate Illumi was not just a thought.

So until he finishes this task, he will no longer let Kurt stay by his side.

Such was his determination.

However, he could never tell Kurt about this.

“Strictly speaking, the commission has already ended, and you've been out long enough. If we don't send you back soon…”

Morrow wouldn't reveal his true thoughts to Kurt, so he could only use the commission as an excuse.

But halfway through his sentence, he inadvertently reminded Kurt.

"Hmph, you don't even have 250 billion now, how are you going to send me back?"

Kurt's eyes lit up, completely dispelling his feelings of grievance.

Moro paused for a moment, then looked at Kang Jae, who was listening intently, and asked, "Kang Jae, ask him how much the after-tax reward is."

"Oh."

Upon hearing this, Kang Jae took out his phone and asked the staff from the organization who were rushing over.

Because the exact number of people and their identities were provided, a definite answer was received quickly.

"Moro, after tax, it's about 116 billion."

"Ah."

Moro nodded. "Kang Zai, give me these bounties as collateral first, and lend me another 10 billion, okay?"

"Hey, I've said it before, don't be so formal. It's just a small thing like borrowing money, all you have to do is say the word... uh."

Kang Jae readily agreed, but as he spoke, he felt a sharp gaze coming from Kurt's direction.

He turned his head to meet Kurt's increasingly sharp gaze, scratching the back of his head in annoyance.

Seeing Kang Jae's reaction, Kurt suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He immediately dropped his domineering warning gaze and instead put on a pitiful and aggrieved look.

A mist even appeared in those deep purple eyes.

This was not something Kurt was pretending to do, but a genuine expression of his feelings about being driven away by Morrow.

Kang Jae never expected to see such an expression on Kurt, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

Kurapika, standing next to him, also seemed somewhat surprised, as if he were getting to know Kalmod all over again.

Or rather, they saw another side of Kurt.

"Don't look at me like that, Kurt..."

Kang Jae lowered his hand, looking quite troubled. He had always struggled to handle women and children.

Okay, that works!

Kurt continued his pitiful offensive.

And then the next moment.

Morrow covered Kurt's eyes directly with his hand.

"Kangzai, Kurt isn't looking at you anymore."

"OK, I'll transfer the money to you now."

Seeing Morrow cover Kurt's eyes, Kangzai's lips curled into a smile.

Upon hearing this, Kurt immediately panicked and, like a kitten, began scratching at Morrow with both hands.

Unfortunately, they were weak, pitiful, and helpless, so it was all in vain.

Kurt could only cry out in frustration at this result.

Seeing this, Kurapika's eyes flashed with a smile, and he covered his mouth and chuckled.
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(End of this chapter)