Hunter: I became stronger even after I died.

Chapter 287 I never expected this
Illumi's Nen needles can disguise him and also modify his body.

Within this system, certain acupoints are stimulated, supplemented by the power of thought.

It's not impossible to force a few more seconds of life-extending.

However, this behavior itself is not very meaningful.

It's less about prolonging life and more about clinging to life for a few more seconds.

However, considering the possibility of "afterlife thoughts," no normal person would just stand by and watch Illumi make a final struggle.

After all, the ability of manipulation, under certain conditions of control, is most likely to leave behind thoughts of death.

But Morro is not normal.

So he allowed Illumi to insert several Nen needles into the acupoints near his heart.

In just one second, the effect was immediate; a blush suddenly appeared on Illumi's pale face.

He seemed to be able to do it again.

Moro shook his arm to remove some of the sticky blood from his hands, then pushed off the ground with his heels, propelling his body backward.

Even if we let Illumi use his last desperate measures, it doesn't mean that Moro has to confront him head-on.

After Illumi finished administering the acupuncture and regained his power, he saw that Moro had already retreated a considerable distance.

"..."

The blood and qi surged to his face, and it went a little too far.

Illumi was unwilling to give up. With his last bit of strength, he dashed through the mist like lightning and chased straight after Moro.

However, Moro refused his invitation to fight to the death.

With his avoidance of battle, Illumi's charge became increasingly ineffective.

After a while.

After the color drained from Illumi's face like a receding tide, it returned to its initial paleness, and his eyes were shrouded in a layer of gray.

Seeing this, Moro stopped retreating.

The two were about ten meters apart.

Not long.

But it was a distance that Illumi could never cross, even in his death.

The price of strengthening the needle's power is that once the life-extending time ends, his life force is instantly stripped away.

Illumi's eyes suddenly lost their luster, and he lost the strength to support his body, causing him to fall forward abruptly.

Snapped.

The lifeless body slammed heavily onto the mud, splashing up bursts of mud.

Moro stood still, looking at Illumi's corpse with a hint of anticipation.

He believes that, given Illumi's personality and the unique nature of the piloting system, there is a high probability that he will leave behind his thoughts after death.

However, the logical motivation for leaving behind thoughts after death may not be simply for revenge.

Instead, he carried on with the extreme, almost pathological, desire for control he had during his lifetime, and after the "death" phase, he continued to have the idea of ​​completely erasing this existence that would affect Kurt.

Just as Moro thought of this, a chilling aura suddenly emanated from Illumi's corpse.

"come yet……"

With his gaze fixed on Illumi's corpse, a hint of excitement flickered in Moro's eyes.

Under his gaze, he saw the Nen needles stuck in Illumi's corpse silently emitting black smoke.

Once the smoke appeared, it grew stronger and larger at a visible speed, eventually enveloping all the mind needles.

It was the dying thought of the pilot...

Under the control of this deathly will, Illumi's corpse suddenly stood up straight like a zombie.

The black Nen energy that enveloped the Nen needles began to spread like thick smoke to every part of Illumi's corpse.

However, Moro flashed forward, his right hand reaching straight for one of the Nen needles wrapped in black Nen energy on Illumi's corpse.

The moment the fingertip touched the needle, the annual rings on the back of the hand suddenly generated a strong suction force, like a vortex that swallowed up the deathly aura like black smoke.

Immediately afterwards, the death energy emitted by the remaining needles was swept into the rings of time like dominoes.

Moro immediately looked down at the back of his hand.

The energy ring of the fourth growth ring instantly jumped from 4% to 11%.

Judging from the intensity of this death wish, if it were the third growth ring, it could recharge at least 10%.

But now it has only grown by 7%.

Clearly, the energy threshold required for the fourth growth ring is much larger than before.

But this was still a pleasant surprise, and Moro was very satisfied, especially since...

He looked towards the center of the tree rings.

The symbol representing the level has been upgraded from Lv.72 to Lv.73.

Before deciding to intercept Illumi, Moro never expected that Illumi's experience would allow him to level up directly.

However, after meeting Illumi, Moreo noticed that Illumi's manifested power had clearly improved considerably.

Moreover, his ability system has undergone a transformation that exceeded his expectations.

It's easy to guess that in just over a year, Illumi must have put in a lot of effort and trained desperately in order to kill him.

Unfortunately, this irrational obsession only benefited him.

"Is it really necessary...?"

Moro lowered his right hand and looked at Illumi's body, which had lost its "power source" and was now back in the mud.

He once tried to understand why Illumi had to go to such lengths.

Just because he became Kurt's friend, did they see him as a thorn in their side that had to be removed?

The idea that assassins don't need friends.

Is it really necessary to carry this through to the end?

Those who are already dead cannot answer Mauro's question.

If there is an answer, it should lie in the lingering trace of death.

That's right.

After Illumi died, not only did the Nen needles on his body generate death thoughts, but even the Nen needle piercing Killua's head was slightly amplified by death thoughts, essentially eliminating the possibility that Killua could pull the Nen needle out on his own.

From this perspective, Illumi's ideology, which stemmed from an extreme desire for control, can indeed be described as pathological.

Moro was unaware that his actions had subtly enhanced the Nen needles in Killua's head.

He stared at Illumi's corpse, then suppressed his aura, bent down to search the body for the communication device, crushed it with his five fingers, and threw the remains back onto the body.

After doing all this, he stepped back to create some distance.

Without his imposing aura, several figures quickly emerged from the thin mist.

Those are creatures from the Shimeile Wetland.

They came following the scent of blood, and as soon as the invisible barrier called "aura" disappeared, they immediately set their sights on the many corpses on the ground.

Moro watched coldly from a distance.

He only turned and left when he saw a strange creature with the head of a crocodile and the body of a lizard tear Illumi's corpse in half and swallow it whole.

original--

Morrow had a plan to use the creatures of the Lost Mela Wetlands to finish off Illumi and clear his name.

If a creature from the wetlands were to devour Illumi alive, then the Zoldyck family would have to resort to the "Wishing Machine" ability to find Illumi's whereabouts...

You'll most likely get the answer that Illumi was killed by a certain creature at a certain time and place.

This way, they can extricate themselves from suspicion.

But after much deliberation, he ultimately decided not to implement this plan to exonerate himself.

He felt that if the Zoldyck family was determined to use the "Wishing Machine" to find out the truth, then even if he implemented this plan to exonerate himself, he would not be able to get away with it.

Unless the Zoldyck family is naive enough to believe that Illumi would die at the hands of a wetland creature.

Such a thing is absolutely impossible.

Therefore, by simply adjusting the way the questions are asked, the truth can be basically uncovered.

This is the most buggy part of the wishing machine. Of course.

The premise is that the Zoldyck family is willing to take the risk to do this.

Anyway...

No matter what the future holds, Moro will not regret his decision today.

If he doesn't kill Illumi here, he might be tricked and killed by Illumi later.

"There should still be time."

As the fog thinned, Moro carefully discerned the direction of the Biscayne Forest assessment venue.

Although he did kill Illumi, he didn't actually spend too much time and should have made it to the venue for the second test.

With that thought in mind, Moro left without looking back.

----------

On a grassy area.

Corpses lay scattered haphazardly.

The fatal wounds on the corpses were mostly on the neck, and the wounds looked like they had been cut open by a sharp weapon.

Just a dozen meters away from the numerous corpses, Leorio, his face covered in cold sweat, clutched his abdomen, which had been bruised by a heavy punch, and painfully vomited bile.

"Xiao Jie..."

He raised his slightly pale face and looked at Gon, who was being lifted up by Hisoka and had no power to resist. He wanted to get up and help, but even standing up was a luxury.

Just over ten meters in front of Hisoka, Killua's eyes trembled violently, and cold sweat kept seeping from his forehead.

His terrified expression made it seem as if he would turn and run away at any moment.

"Yes, you passed too~"

Hisoka smiled as he looked at Gon, who was standing right in front of him, and suddenly let go of his hand.

Xiao Jie suddenly plopped down on the grass, looking completely lost and bewildered.

Hisoka didn't look at Gon, but instead glanced at Killua, narrowing his eyes slightly as he said, "Your turn."

"..."

Locked on by Hisoka's gaze, Killua finally couldn't hold on any longer. Tormented by the voice in his mind, he gritted his teeth and turned to flee at top speed.

He was resentful and angry.

Complex emotions swirled in my chest like a ball of yarn.

But I have no regrets.

He was so envious that Kurt had such a good friend.

So after some internal struggle, he decided to turn back and find Xiao Jie.

But when he faced Hisoka's overwhelming strength, he couldn't even move a finger.

He was furious at his own incompetence and cowardice.

No matter how much self-loathing one feels, it doesn't change the fact that one has to flee in defeat.

The faster Killua ran, the stronger the taste of blood seeping from his bitten lip became.

Hisoka had already left a flexible love in Killua.

Seeing Killua fleeing at breakneck speed, Hisoka merely had a slight thought, and as the pink threads tightened, Killua's body suddenly soared towards Hisoka.

“W-What…!?”

Killua's expression changed drastically. Before he could react, Hisoka grabbed his neck with one hand.

Hisoka sized up Killua, his eyes unconsciously flashing a dangerous glint as he disliked the escape attempt.

"Let him go."

Suddenly, Kurt's cold shout rang out from within the thin mist.

Upon hearing Kurt's voice, Killua's face showed a hint of panic.

Before he turned back to find Xiao Jie, he clearly told Kurt to go ahead first.

"Kurt, quick, run away..."

Killua called out to Kalluto with difficulty.

Of course, Killua wouldn't abandon him. Holding his purple bamboo fan, he stared coldly at Hisoka.

Seeing this, Hisoka smiled with amusement; things were developing in a more interesting way than he had expected.

"I'll let him go, but what's in it for me?"

Without waiting for Kurt's reply, Hisoka continued, "Then help me find Moro. Think it through before you answer. This isn't a discussion with you."

"Don't even think about it..."

Kurt had barely opened his mouth when it was as if he had been choked.

Hisoka used a playing card to slash Killua, leaving a bloody wound.

Think carefully before you answer.

Hisoka repeated the reminder in a light tone.

"Hisoka, you bastard...!"

Kurt's face was instantly filled with rage, his eyes almost tearing Hisoka apart.

Hisoka merely squinted, seemingly enjoying the gaze that seemed to want to tear him apart.

"K, Kurt, don't, don't worry about me, hurry... go."

Killua's eyes trembled as he spoke haltingly, telling Killua to escape.

Hisoka knew what Killua wanted to say, but he didn't stop him. Instead, he considerately loosened his grip a little.

After Killua finished speaking, he looked at Kurt's face again.

In addition to anger, there was now a hint of struggle.

This is what Hisoka wanted to see.

He never intended to pick those tender apples.

However, this did not stop him from exploiting human weaknesses to force Kurt to agree to his demands.

Seeing that Kurt was still hesitating, Hisoka casually pressed the playing cards between his other hands against Killua's carotid artery.

Upon seeing this, Kurt's pupils contracted sharply.

Rather than risk his brother being killed by Hisoka, Kalluto chose to believe in Moro's abilities.

Even if we find Moro, so what...

With Moro's abilities, he'll definitely make that bastard regret it!

"I promise you."

Kurt gritted his teeth and said.

Hisoka grinned, saying nothing, but signaling with his eyes for Kalluto to fulfill the conditions first.

Kurt caught Hisoka's gaze, hesitated for a moment, and said:
"My ability to find people involves creating a life-giving paper doll tailored to the 'target,' and then determining the target's direction and distance based on the doll's tremors. However, creating a life-giving paper doll requires some specific materials, which I don't have on me at the moment."

"It's not good for children to lie!"

Hisoka immediately saw through Kalluto's lie, a dangerous smile playing on his lips, and gave him a warning with his aura.

Kurt paused for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Are you a dog?!"

"Hmm~ I was surprised that you would carry paper doll materials that are compatible with Moro with you, but... thanks to how much you value him, I don't have to wait any longer."

Hisoka looked at Kurt with a slightly amused expression.

Kal't took a deep breath, and under Hisoka's aura warning, he had no choice but to obediently make the Life Paper Doll of Morro.

And at the very moment the paper life figure was completed...
The paper life figure began to tremble violently in one direction.

"Ok?"

"Ok!"

what's the situation?
Kurt and Hisoka stared at the trembling of the life paper figure, and their reactions differed.

Such intense tremors indicate that the target is very, very close.

(End of this chapter)