He's an Emitter

Kang Jae was like a little tiger with flames shooting from its forehead. Although Dago and the other amateur Hunters knew the Zodiac's anger was not directed at them, they still trembled a little.

"All right, Kang Jae." Ging spoke up to stop him, breaking the tense atmosphere. "I don't think Jing Yang meant it that way."

He turned to Jing Yang and asked, "Do you know what a Specialized Hunter is?"

"Who doesn't?" Jing Yang snorted, then paused before saying, "Explain it in detail."

Kang Jae rolled his eyes. His temper flared quickly and faded just as fast, and his anger was extinguished in an instant.

"We'll talk about it later," Ging said. There was no need to explain the Hunter Association's internal factional conflicts in a setting like this.

"Fine, don't tell me." Jing Yang grabbed a pen and quickly signed his name in pure Chinese characters.

Shizuku was very curious. "What kind of writing is that?"

"A minor language, a minor language," Jing Yang said. "It's normal that you haven't seen it."

"Oh." Shizuku nodded.

...You didn't seem to get anything out of studying that contract either. Dago and the others grumbled inwardly. You signed it so readily, so why the hell did you ask them for advice?

"Then everyone, make your preparations. In twenty minutes, we'll set out for the protected area." Seeing that the professional and amateur Hunters had temporarily settled their conflict, Slooe, the bald young man from Ochima's government, checked his watch and said with a genial smile, "I don't want to go back empty-handed. There are only five days left, but now that Blanche Company has given us clearance, we can investigate openly. I hope we can make some tangible progress."

"What exactly are we investigating? Is it really that hard to find?" Menchi was puzzled. When she looked back, Jing Yang and the others had already left.

Dago leaned over and sighed with the experience of someone who had been through it. "It's not that we're inefficient. It's that the people from Kakin have been obstructing us. The agreed-upon deadline was twenty days, but they kept dragging things out and wasted more than half of it..."

"Oh." Menchi nodded and turned to leave. "Ging, Jing Yang, wait for me."

Dago: "..."

Somehow, Shizuku had gotten hold of an old book. She adjusted her glasses and quietly began reading in the corner.

"You're leaving?" Menchi looked at Ging.

"Of course," Ging said. "My mission is already complete."

"Didn't you finish your mission to catch the Poacher a long time ago?" Menchi put her hands on her hips.

"What he means is that his mission was to guide you in learning Nen Abilities," Jing Yang said. "Ging, you still haven't explained Specialized Hunters. Don't tell me you're trying to slip away."

"..." Ging stopped at the door. After thinking for a moment, he turned back and said, "There is no compensation for guiding a newcomer like Menchi."

"Huh?" A question mark practically appeared over Menchi's head. "Why are you bringing that up?"

"Newcomers may achieve something in the future, and that can count as part of their mentor's accomplishment. But a newcomer's potential is, after all, an uncertain factor." Ging spoke calmly. "If they were Specialized Hunters, they would definitely refuse missions like this—ones with no real reward that also take up a great deal of time. Besides, the risk is too high. No matter how generous the reward, Specialized Hunters would not touch it. They choose missions with low risk, high returns, and short time commitments."

"Any Hunter with self-respect should despise idiots like that." Another voice came from behind them.

Jing Yang and Menchi turned around.

Kang Jae ground his tiger fangs, fuming. "Those Specialized Hunters are an insult to the word Hunter! The way they cowardly pick and choose their missions makes my blood boil!"

Menchi was stunned. "Then what makes a qualified Hunter?"

"Anything but the kind of freaks Specialized Hunters are!"

"Someone who always maintains sufficient patience, enough curiosity, and never fears any challenge or hardship—that is a Hunter," Ging said slowly. "If it were Chairman Netero, he would probably answer that way."

"Do you have any 'prey' you would pursue no matter the cost?" He looked at Menchi and Jing Yang.

"Of course! I'm a Gourmet Hunter!" Menchi puffed out her chest, raised a thumb, and pointed it at herself. "For good food, I can risk everything."

Jing Yang smiled. "I suppose I do. But the target is a little far away, so I don't want to talk about it."

"I thought you were pretty annoying before," Kang Jae said. "Now, you're not too bad!"

"You're the tiger here," Jing Yang said.

Kang Jae's head filled with question marks. His brain did not catch up.

Menchi laughed herself silly. Jing Yang was far too mean.

Ging smiled as well. He waved goodbye to them and set off on his own journey.

Inside Blanche Company's research institute in the protected area, Slooe, the balding young man from Ochima's government, shook hands with the person in charge and smiled. "This time, you should let us investigate officially, right?"

The person in charge withdrew his hand. "Haven't you already been investigating for half a month?"

Slooe did not respond directly, merely smiling as he said, "The core area is also within the scope of the investigation."

"The core area is the Fanged Moon Tigers' primary habitat." The person in charge stressed his words. "I don't know what exactly you are investigating, but please do not damage the ecosystem here. Fanged Moon Tigers are an endangered species, and this is one of their few remaining habitats..."

"Who told Kakin to deliberately stall us?"

"Watch your wording, Mr. Slooe."

Jing Yang, Menchi, Shizuku, and the others turned to look. Babimayna was walking over with several Kakin personnel. His manner bore an obvious military air; his movements were crisp and efficient, and he spoke without beating around the bush. "For the Kakin government to approve this cooperation between both sides so quickly is already the result of Prince Benjamin's full cooperation."

Prince Benjamin? Jing Yang caught the keyword, but before he could speak, curious little Shizuku asked, "A prince?"

"A prince of Kakin," Menchi said. "In their country, it seems that whether male or female, any child of the king is called a prince. They make no distinction."

"Ahem!" Dago coughed lightly and began explaining, "Benjamin Hui Guo Rou, the First Prince of the Kakin Royal Family, and also the one most likely to inherit—" When he noticed Babimayna's sharp gaze sweeping over him, Dago immediately shut his mouth.

The First Prince!

At that, Jing Yang remembered. Wasn't this the muscular brute from the manga who made his debut by grabbing a male lion in a hold and strangling it to death?

He was also the biological brother of that super-perverted Fourth Prince...

The Kakin Succession War arc in the manga had become increasingly text-heavy, and Jing Yang had given up after it made his head hurt. Still, the First and Fourth Princes, those pair of twisted brothers, had been major figures from the early stages of the succession war, so he retained some impression of them.

The First Prince...

Jing Yang now understood who his enemy would be in the future.

He was a dangerous man... The most dangerous part was that he held high status and immense power, commanded a private army established by a prince, and seemed to be a Nen User himself. He probably had quite a few Nen User soldiers under his command too, such as Babimayna before him, as well as the man Jing Yang had killed earlier...

"Is he one of the Hunters you hired as well?"

Babimayna suddenly pointed at Jing Yang and asked the balding young man from Ochima.

"Yes," the balding young man said with a smile.

Babimayna said nothing further. After all, Jing Yang looked far too young... or rather, too childish.

With the air of a protective buddy, Menchi glared at him irritably, as if saying, Got a problem with that?

They waited until everyone had left the research institute and were about to enter the lush forest ahead. The others all seemed to be watching with anticipation.

Seeing that, Jing Yang raised his hand and asked, "For the investigation, we're free to act as we see fit?"

"Of course," Slooe, the balding young man, said. "Hunters include all kinds of extraordinary people, so outsiders like us won't give blind orders. You may act independently as you please. We only want results."

"Then let's work together!"

He pointed at Menchi and Shizuku. Shizuku looked around, seeming to realize that he was pointing at her.

"Huh?" One of the people beside Dago could no longer hold back. In truth, he had been unhappy ever since Jing Yang appeared and signed that contract. Now he stepped forward. "You little brat, you just showed up and started spouting—" His words froze in his throat, because the boy had curled a finger and aimed it at him.

"You guys have seemed to have a problem with me all along."

An ever-growing ball of Aura spun rapidly at Jing Yang's fingertip, taking shape...

Hey, hey, hey! Are you kidding me? Is that thing for real? Someone's going to die!

...I'm going to get beaten to death!

Though Dago and the others were amateur Hunters from the civilian world, they were still Nen Users. They could not possibly fail to sense the direct danger emanating from that Nen bullet. Cold sweat immediately broke out across their foreheads.

Jing Yang flicked his finger.

Boom!

The blazing Nen bullet grazed the amateur Hunter's cheek, then tore through everything behind him, smashing through three or four trees...

The man's cheek was grazed open, blood streaming down it. His legs shook, and he could not stop himself from collapsing to his knees before Jing Yang. Now Jing Yang was looking down at him.

Jing Yang blew on his index finger without even looking at the man before him. "Do you still have a problem with me now?"

Is he an Emitter...? Kang Jae and Babimayna thought almost simultaneously. To have such destructive power, he's quite strong!

Menchi was a little confused. Mainly because Jing Yang did not seem like the sort of person who was this hot-tempered.

Slooe was even more confused. He was an ordinary person and had no idea what sort of magic Jing Yang, this little Hunter, had performed to mold an invisible "cannonball" out of thin air...