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179 HxH: Tombbound Power
🕑 Added 2024-11-03 07:24:56 +0000 UTCAfter gathering some critical intel, Chrollo's interest in the daughter of the Nostrade family deepened.
Meanwhile, Ronnel made an excuse to clean up corpses, heading to the far end of the abandoned building.
With a quick motion, he shifted his arm, and the bodies of the Shadow Beast he had defeated earlier fell in a heap.
"Thud~"
Absorbing the deathly aura and poison left in the corpses, he took in both their abilities and equipment.
Counting the Rabid Dog killed by Uvogin earlier, there were eight Shadow Beasts in total. Besides the raw energy they provided, they also came with a few martial arts skills.
The highest level of martial arts talent the Shadow Beasts could provide Ronnel was intermediate, and even then, it was mostly beginner-level skills—better than nothing, at least.
There were other abilities, like the neurotoxin from the Rabid Dog and the ground-movement skill from the Earthworm.
Most importantly, there was Nen. Among the eight Shadow Beasts, Only from Owl did he get Nen.
Nen Ability: [Fun Fun Cloth]
Effect: The Fun Fun Cloth is used by Owl to shrink whatever ends up in the cloth, whether it be an object or a living being, without any physical harm
Restrictions: The ability activates only when an enemy is wrapped in the cloth. It's strictly for containment, not killing.
Multiple cloth can be used, but each additional one doubles the Nen consumption compared to the previous.
The technique fails if the user's Nen is insufficient or if they lose consciousness.
This "containment instead of attack" approach is classic Owl. In a fight, his use of cloth often catches his enemies off guard.
The Owl had three cloth: one for auction items, one to block off the Phantom Troupe's vehicles, and one he'd used in battle against Ronnel.
In other words, his Nen was strong enough to handle three cloth simultaneously.
Even Ronnel noticed that Owl seemed surprisingly comfortable using Nen in their confrontation.
Owl, cautious by nature, always stayed on high alert around the Phantom Troupe. With items from the underground auction still on him, he wasn't going to waste his cloth without assurance.
The fact he managed to activate his third cloth without strain suggested he had Nen reserves to spare.
Ronnel speculated that with his own strength, he could likely use five cloth if necessary.
After testing with a few small stones, he felt some strain at six but managed to stay composed.
It seemed his limit was around eight or nine.
This estimate suggested his aura was at least 8-10 times that of Owl's.
As the strongest of the Shadow Beasts, Owl's abilities were impressive, but Ronnel's strength vastly exceeded his.
Across the six continents, Ronnel thought only a few figures—like Netero, Maha Zoldyck—could surpass him in raw Nen power.
Netero had once mentioned the "five greatest Nen users" in the world:
He counted Ging Freecss, likely Beyond Netero as well, and the missing Zigg Zoldyck.
These last two had ventured to the Dark Continent and returned alive, an impressive feat on its own.
The other two were probably Maha Zoldyck and Linne Horsdoeuvre.
(T/N: Linne Horsdoeuvre is a Double-Star Gourmet Hunter and is currently the oldest member of the Hunter Association. She is also an unofficial survivor of the Dark Continent.)
The former was undoubtedly formidable, while the latter, although elderly, still commanded respect.
If given a chance, Ronnel would gladly test his Nen against these top five Nen users.
Ging, however—Gon's notorious father—was another story entirely...
Thinking these things over, Ronnel discarded the remnants of his collection and began making his way back to base.
"Got it. We'll head there soon," he said.
As he arrived, he saw Phinks, dressed like an ancient pharaoh, hang up a phone call.
"It was Shalnark. Ronnel, you were right—the family that took Uvogin has reported it to the underworld headquarters. Shalnark managed to intercept the call."
Phinks continued, "And that family is none other than the Nostrade family—the ones with supposed divination abilities."
"Is that so? It seems suspicious that a family with divination abilities would capture Uvogin at such a convenient moment," Feitan muttered, hands folded as his eyes narrowed.
"Probably not a coincidence," Pakunoda replied thoughtfully. "The family's bodyguards might've acted on the divination, taking the chance to capture Uvogin when he was incapacitated. Otherwise, the timing is too perfect."
Pakunoda frowned. "And what if the family can predict our moves and warn Nostrade's daughter in advance?"
She continued, "We don't know the exact limitations of her abilities. For all we know, she's already received another reading warning her of our rescue attempt. If that's the case, this call might be a setup to lure us into a trap..."
The room fell silent.
Pakunoda's experience and intuition were invaluable, her suggestion wasn't out of line.
Ronnel glanced around at the pensive faces—Pakunoda's serious demeanor, Chrollo's contemplative expression as he rested his fingers against his mouth. Ronnel couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
The Nostrade family had hired Kurapika, whose vengeance had been tempered by Melody's calming influence.
But with the timing, Ronnel couldn't help but suspect the possibility of a trap—even though he knew it was just an incredible coincidence.
