Toying with Them

Ron Hiluk stood where he was, his expression troubled as he looked at the endless mirrors reflecting the two men and the wolf in every direction.

Before this,

he had never imagined that pursuing a mere boy who had yet to come of age would be so troublesome.

He was like a slippery loach, leaving no opening to seize.

Even if the boy was a genuine genius,

shouldn't a genius who had yet to turn his talent into actual strength be like a lamb before a lion, bleating as it waited to be slaughtered by a battle-hardened fighter like him?

Why... why was he so troublesome?!

"Boom!"

Another punch went out, shattering countless mirrors ahead.

Without pausing, Ron stepped onto the shattered mirrors and advanced slowly but steadily. His face expressionless, he spoke coldly to Baines beside him.

"Can Black Wolf still smell those children? As long as he can, we'll keep chasing them."

"All this is just a smokescreen. It can't pose any threat to us, and the fact that the boy's resorted to tricks like this shows he's run out of options!"

Baines hesitated at his words, but spoke up anyway.

"But Ron, don't you think this boy's ability is a little too outrageous?"

"I've never seen a Nen Ability like this..."

As he spoke, he glanced around at the world seemingly made of mirrors, endlessly reflecting everything around them like a kaleidoscope. His expression grew more serious as he continued.

"I've never heard of a Conjuration Nen user who could do anything on this scale."

"Just the amount of Nen it took to create all this puts the boy above the vast majority of Nen users."

"Are you sure we can really bring him back?"

Baines's implication was clear.

The strength the boy had shown was far beyond that of a mere beginner in Nen.

With talent like that, would the boy really submit to force?

If... they weren't prepared to kill him, he might very well escape.

But if they set out to kill him,

that would conflict with their original intention of capturing him and bringing him back!

After hearing Baines out, Ron paused, his face solemn. He looked at him sidelong and said coldly,

"You think I haven't considered that?"

"No, Baines. It's precisely because he's shown such a rare ability that we can't give up!"

He turned back and looked ahead, a fire seeming to ignite in his eyes. The corners of his mouth rose slightly as he said excitedly,

"What terrifying talent..."

"Look at everything around us. Honestly, my body's trembling slightly, excited at the thought of what other surprises and shocks this boy might bring me."

"If this boy grows up, can you imagine how much he could change Meteor City, Baines?"

Baines was speechless. Looking at Ron, who had fallen into a blind fervor, he could tell Ron apparently hadn't taken his words to heart.

Black Wolf had sat down while the two men were talking, wagging his tail and occasionally licking his fur.

Whether they caught the boy had nothing to do with him. He was only responsible for tracking, and occasionally bullying his master, Baines.

Ron continued,

"Don't overthink it, Baines. The most important thing now is to catch up to him!"

"If we actually let him escape, that would be the real joke!"

"Haven't you noticed? This brat's even craftier than a fox. Whether it was that strange doll before or all these mirrors now, he created all of it just to slow us down!"

"What does that tell you?"

At that, a terrifying smile curled Ron's lips. As though everything were under his control, he said in a hoarse voice,

"He's scared. He's afraid. He's worried we'll catch him by the tail!"

"The more our enemy fears something, the more we should do it. I don't need to tell you that, do I, Baines?"

After listening, Baines had to nod in agreement.

Still, the intuition he had developed over the years seemed to be constantly warning him that this outing might not end very well for them.

He gritted his teeth and said gravely,

"In that case, let's pick up the pace and find that brat as soon as we can. If we keep dragging this out, I'm afraid things really will get out of hand."

Ron nodded and said gravely,

"Exactly what I was thinking."

Baines turned his head and called out, "Black Wolf, time to get serious about the chase!"

"Awooo!"

Black Wolf gave a soft howl and immediately came to his master's side.

Baines swung himself up and settled firmly onto Black Wolf's enormous back.

The next second, a set of reins made of chains appeared in his hands and wrapped tightly around Black Wolf's chest and belly.

As rider and mount joined together, Black Wolf's limbs and claws quickly grew thicker and sharper under the effect of some Nen Ability.

Ron, meanwhile, gently rolled up his sleeves, slowly lit a cigar and held it in his mouth, then slicked back his hair. His gaze sharpened.

"Let's go!"

In an instant, the two men and the wolf vanished from where they stood.

In the distance, a furrow was soon smashed through the densely packed mirrors, like terraced fields churned up by a wild boar, possessing a kind of shattered beauty.

They quickly broke through the forest of mirrors, just as they were beginning to think Ian had no tricks left.

But the sight before them

soon doused Ron and Baines's newly kindled enthusiasm like a bucket of cold water.

"Awoo?"

Black Wolf also stared at the immense wall ahead with his big green eyes, utterly bewildered.

"Th-this... is this still Meteor City?"

Ron's face was cold as frost, while Baines beside him wore a look of shock, dumbfounded by the scene before them.

The immense wall rose nearly twenty meters from the flat ground, an especially spectacular sight.

If any other transmigrator saw it, they would probably think they had transmigrated into the world of Attack on Titan.

Although these walls were not as tall as Wall Maria, in this desolate area full of garbage, they were already like a miracle.

The ancient, weathered stone surface had almost no gaps.

Any ordinary person faced with such an immense wall would feel helpless and marvel at their own insignificance.

"Ron... what do we do?"

"Should we go around?"

Baines hesitated, but in the end could only ask Ron for his opinion.

In his view, the brat they were chasing was simply too bizarre.

Heaven knew what the boy had done!

How had these stone walls, seemingly built for giants, appeared?

Was this really something a Conjuration Nen user could do?

Ron's face tightened. After a moment of silence, he said gravely,

"No need. All of this must be an illusion!"

"Even a Conjuration Nen user couldn't possibly do something on this scale..."

He looked at the ancient, "solid" wall before him, which seemed to have formed naturally, and spoke with a trace of uncertainty.

Creating a structure out of thin air that humans couldn't possibly build was something no one could witness without being shaken.

"Unless... that brat's a god, how could he possibly create a miracle like this?!"

As the words left his mouth, he abruptly clenched his fist, his face twisting somewhat.

"Damn it, I don't believe it! This has to be an illusion. How could... how could anyone do something so absurd?!"

Even Ron, battle-hardened as he was, now began to doubt his own judgment.

So he turned his hesitation into rage and unleashed it in a punch that carried everything he had!

"Baines, don't overthink it!"

"We've already come this far. We just have to keep going and make absolutely sure we catch that brat, and it'll all be over!"

Ron roared in anger.

"Boom!"

A fist blazing with vast, searing Nen slammed forward.

Then, an astonishing thing happened.

Under the powerful Nen-charged punch, the immense stone wall, which had looked thick and solid, crumbled into powder!

It was so flimsy it could barely be called a stone wall. Even calling it a hollow brick was a stretch.

If it had to be compared to a material, crudely made foam might have been more fitting.

After Ron's heavy punch, burning with Nen,

the area was much clearer. But beyond the shattered wall, densely packed "great walls" could still be faintly seen, layer upon layer like an onion, twisting and overlapping like a maze.

Baines, standing to the side, was stunned by the power of Ron's punch.

But when he saw the flake-like bits drifting slowly down onto Black Wolf's head and body beside him, his eyes widened even further, and he couldn't help trembling as he said,

"Th-this... this is foam... it's fake!!"

Black Wolf pawed furiously at the white bits of foam covering him. The lightweight stuff made him look almost like a stuffed toy.

"Ron! These walls are all fake!"

Baines hurriedly shouted to Ron,

"That kid tricked us!"

A short distance away, Ron stood with his head lowered, his whole body trembling slightly despite himself.

"Hah... hah..."

"Brat, damn brat, how dare you... how dare you toy with me like this!"

Far away, the group, having eaten and drunk their fill, slowly set off again.

"Achoo!"

Ian sneezed and couldn't help rubbing his nose.

Machi asked with some concern,

"What's wrong, Ian? Did you catch a chill last night?"

Ian shook his head.

"I'm fine. I just suddenly felt a chill down my back. Anyway, we should be almost out of Meteor City by now, right?"

Ian noticed that there were far fewer mountains of garbage around them.

Even so, the area was still very desolate, with hardly any green vegetation to be seen along the way.

Chrollo nodded beside him.

"That's right. We should be almost out of the landfill area now, but it'll still take two days by vehicle to reach Ejin City."

"If we're lucky, we might run into a garbage transport crew here sooner than expected, and we can get out early."

"If we're unlucky, we'll just have to walk out."

"But with your Nen Ability, Ian, we really haven't had any use for the supply locations the First Elder marked for me."