Chapter 22: Leapfrogging Levels

Human beings—
They are most prone to developing twisted desires.
From these, they derive various methods to satisfy their perversions under the guise of "pleasure."
They unanimously name such behavior a carnival.
Torture, cannibalism...
In the world of Hunter x Hunter, these things are rampant in the corners where the sun never shines.
Some do it in the shadows, while others have a strong urge to share.
With the success of the information revolution, the world has built comprehensive communication facilities, and the technology for mobile phones and computers has grown increasingly mature.
People can use the internet as a platform to achieve real-time communication and interaction over vast distances.
Consequently, dark, grey areas of the internet have emerged, providing a stage for those with twisted urges to showcase and exchange their acts.
The video Argo found came from one of these sites dedicated to sharing acts of torture.
This video confirmed Moro's suspicions.
If he hadn't encountered Morena right after transmigrating...
With no power to resist, he might have suffered a fate even worse than the person in the video.
But what truly displeased him was that the master behind this "menu" intended to wipe them out completely.
A fire of anger burned within Moro.
If he hadn't utilized the restrictive mechanics of "Deceptive Flying Stars"—
Given his current level of Nen mastery, how could he have taken out a sniper a kilometer away?
And if not for the tactics formulated based on the Flying Stars, how could he have successfully defeated the Nen user beneath him, despite being at a disadvantage due to his own ability being countered?
Had there been even the slightest deviation in the path of fate, he might not have been alive to answer Argo's call.
This fact made him extremely grateful that he had chosen to focus his Emission-type Nen on Manipulation rather than Enhancer-style reinforcement.
Had he focused purely on the raw power of Emission, he would have lacked the operational space in the beginning...
Let alone being able to use manipulation to bypass ability counters and achieve victory through tactical application.
After this battle, realizing the enemy count had increased, Moro became even more determined to stick to the path of Emission and Manipulation.
After all, Emission-based reinforcement is too pure; it only offers a path toward increasing raw power, leaving no room for anything else.
If one could safely reach the mid or late stages, of course, Emission-based reinforcement would be more aggressive.
Conversely, if one cannot safely survive the early stages, Emission-based reinforcement lacks the flexibility that is crucially important for Moro.

This point does not align with his own personality and approach.
Moreover, once the Flying Stars' ability system is perfected, he can draw on this experience to derive abilities involving mobility.
This is something that is relatively difficult for Emission-based reinforcement to achieve.
Furthermore, regarding the power advantage of Emission-based reinforcement, it can be fully compensated for by the double-power mechanism of the Flying Stars' "Swallow Reversal."
In short, take it slow.
The road must be walked one step at a time, and the meal must be eaten one bite at a time.
In Nen, the most dangerous things are haste and presumption...
One must build like stacking blocks, perfecting step by step, and choosing every move with caution.
Under that premise, he must maximize the use of the Growth Tattoo's upgrade ability.
Moro's thoughts drifted, then slowly returned as time passed.
He looked down at the back of his hand—
Lv.5
He had killed two people, but his level had jumped from Lv.2 to Lv.5.
Because of the leap in levels, Moro could clearly feel the growth of his aura output and potential aura reserves.
"It seems that upgrade efficiency is directly linked to the strength of the target."
This result of a leap in levels was both reasonable and unexpected.
This was why the previous plan of forced Nen awakening had ended in failure.
The Nen user beneath him was superior to the earlier knife-thrower in both aura output and the completeness of his Nen ability.
That was why he achieved a leap in levels.
Moro lifted his hand and pressed lightly on the Growth Tattoo.
This was his capital, allowing him to ignore the natural factor of talent and firmly continue on his path.
Controlling the surging emotions in his heart, Moro picked up the phone again. He hesitated, then chose not to delete the deeply disturbing video, instead redialing Argo's number.
As the call connected, Moro stood up.
Facing the evening wind blowing across the plains, he said, "Argo, I need to take care of some trash. Regarding the intelligence on the other guy named Clyde, please organize it into text and send it directly to me."
"No problem."
Argo's voice, which had turned somewhat low, came through the phone.
To investigate this matter, she had seen many videos filled with cruelty.

After a pause, Argo said as calmly as possible, "I also have leads on the Phantom Troupe bounty, and I'll organize that and send it to you together. But there is one thing I must say first."
"Go ahead, I'm listening."
"Big spender, I don't really have to worry about my safety when investigating the Phantom Troupe, because their style is different from normal people. They don't seem to mind people buying information to hunt them down. But the Mafia is different..."
Argo's tone revealed a growing sense of dread, something she hadn't shown when she took the Phantom Troupe job.
"The Mafia are the type to hold a grudge for every slight, and their methods of dealing with enemies are even more brutal. They kill the target along with their friends and family, then publish recordings of the horrific state of the bodies online. You can think I'm scared if you want, but as for the Mafia, I won't be digging any deeper."
"..."
Moro was silent for a moment, not intending to force her.
"Fine, do what you can."
He replied, then hung up the phone.
Putting the phone away, Moro bent down to pick up the corpse, preparing to dispose of it.
After all, a corpse can reveal information.
An experienced Nen user might be able to glean details such as Nen attributes or ability characteristics from a body.
Although Moro didn't believe that among Nolan's subordinates there would be anyone comparable to seasoned Nen users like Biscuit, destroying evidence is always a good habit.
Dragging the body to the car engulfed in flames, Moro suddenly thought of something.
What if the body was wearing a real-time camera or a listening device...
"An oversight..."
Moro frowned, threw the body to the ground, and carefully checked it.
After a thorough check, he didn't find any devices like bugs.
Moro breathed a sigh of relief, reflecting that he needed to be more careful in the future.
The main reason was that Argo's call had come right after he killed the enemy.
As a result, he had sat directly on the corpse while talking to her and hadn't immediately considered the possibility of a listening device being on the body.
If his conversation with Argo had been monitored...
If nothing else, Argo would likely be in danger.
Moro shook his head slightly, threw the body into the fire, and then went to find the sniper's body, disposing of them both together.