National-Level Combat Power

The once tranquil forest was now a scene of utter chaos.

With thick blood staining her leather shoes, Long walked slowly to a corpse and absorbed the emerging soul matter and black mist.

The left side of the clothes was torn, but there was no injury.

In less than half an hour, he had taken down more than a dozen Nen user... The more enemies there were, the more complex the coordination between Nen became, and the more extreme the situations and information he had to deal with became.

To some extent, once Nen user reach a certain level, the increase in their numbers is not simply a matter of one plus one.

These people are all quite capable.

However, due to the passive enhancement of the Damnation and Absolution abilities this week, his Nen power has increased somewhat, influenced by the magic power factor.

At the same time, physical defense, that is, the physical combat ability, has also been improved somewhat...

Therefore, it is even more difficult for Nen user to harm him.

The black mist relates to three aspects: attack range, critical hit rate, and Life Steal.

The black mist around Oboro is now at level 40, but its attack range has only increased by ten centimeters, which is different from the experience in the actual game.

This was within his expectations.

After all, Separation from the game and integrated into reality.

Moreover, due to the issue of Separation, the effect of the Absolution is reduced in terms of attack power.

The current level of growth is already quite impressive.

Critical hits, like other attributes, can enhance damage output. While the attack range of ten centimeters may seem short, its effectiveness in actual combat is particularly noticeable. Especially in close combat, even with dodges and agility, without sufficient distance, one can still be hit by Oboro's punches and kicks...

In addition, Oboro has killed some ordinary people in the past few days... He discovered that souls and black mist do not drop after the death of ordinary people; they only affect Nen user. Moreover, the stronger the opponent, the greater the attribute boost that the released soul or black mist will bring him, not just depending on the number of layers absorbed.

Therefore, hunting down powerful individuals seems to be a good way for Oboro to advance his career.

Even if some targets don't die at his hands, they will still drop their souls and black mist. This is a passive effect of his two abilities, but it has a certain range, about 500 meters in radius, and he himself must be on the 'site'.

If the two types of energy are not picked up in time after they fall, they will disappear within a short period of time.

After touching the corpse to see if he could find anything useful, the eerie green Ghost Mist swirling around Oboro dissipated, and his figure vanished from the spot without a trace.

"The captain is back!"

Meanwhile, Anthony and his companions, through telepathic communication, detected Oboro's location.

The team members were somewhat surprised when they saw Oboro appear with her clothes torn.

Only four escaped, the battle seems quite fierce...

They now have immense trust and admiration for Oboro's strength.

"What happened?"

Menchi looked over.

Oboro briefly explained the situation.

"More than ten people? A trap..."

"Hmm... the two groups have joined forces." Oboro nodded.

"That's great... Saves us the trouble of going to them, and we can cross one off." Anthony chuckled, took out a pen, and crossed out the red dot marked at this coordinate on the map. "Five left."

In fact, they could have purged the rebels outside the restricted area much faster.

However, in addition to the marked red dots, there are many other forces in this area that the Sori Group has not yet discovered, including some newly arrived gangs.

Therefore, the workload and intensity of their work were much higher than initially anticipated.

"No rush."

Long took out new clothes from her bag and changed into them, then looked at Menchi and said, "Let's make something to eat first."

Menchi understood immediately and turned to leave.

Fante followed closely behind.

The brilliance of Gourmet Hunter lies in their ability to gather ingredients from the local environment, eliminating the need for the team to carry any rations. They are able to discover and find food, and cook delicious dishes.

Some special ingredients and cooking methods can make the restorative and satiating effects of food very obvious.

The team had already witnessed Menchi's culinary skills, which were nothing short of art.

The kitchen knife in her hand could dissect and debone any wild animal with exceptional cleanliness...

Menchi is a very picky woman when it comes to food, and the dishes she makes are naturally delicious and visually appealing.

An excellent Gourmet Hunter not only needs the ability to face the dangers of obtaining ingredients, but also needs a wealth of knowledge. Just like Menchi... In the places the team has passed through these past few days, even some wild fruits and plants, as long as they are edible, Menchi can name them at a glance.

Even if it's not on her menu, she can tell whether it's edible...

The woman's superb knife skills benefited from her insightful observation of the ingredients. For example, with some wild beasts, regardless of their size or appearance, Menchi could tell the size and distribution of the skeleton hidden under the skin, which made her knife work extremely precise.

In short, Oboro was very satisfied with her performance.

A stick of incense burned, and soon... Menchi and Fante returned.

I brought back ingredients for cooking...

Oboro then called the other four people to his side and began to review the battle, pointing out some areas where they needed to improve.

The main instructors were Gabe Vich and Rita ...

A few days later, Oboro and his group met with their contact again.

"You did a great job. Your efficiency is astonishing. You truly deserve to be called experts from the Hunter Association..."

The man exclaimed, "Now our company can further expand the restricted area..."

"However... the situation inside the restricted area is troublesome. Recently, we've lost quite a few more people. Some of those left outside the restricted area are observing, while others are unable to break through our defenses. But the guys inside are almost all people we can't capture or deal with."

"Your team should have national-level combatants trained by the Ochima Federation, right?"

Long asked a question.

"Yes," the man replied.

By saying this, he was essentially no longer concealing the relationship between the Sori Group and the Ochima Federation... He was willing to reveal the truth because Oboro's team was outstanding and trustworthy!

Men won't admit that they're even slightly less capable.

"There were two, one of them is already dead..."

The former looked serious.

Are all the national-level Nen user dead?

Anthony and the others' expressions changed slightly.

Do you have any specific information?

Long Bo calmly continued to ask.

"There were originally four rival groups, but one of them had already left with the items they had looted from the ruins. The national-level Nen user died while trying to stop them."

There are three left.

"The things they stole are all very valuable... We can't afford any more losses, please help us protect them."

The man changed his previous arrogant attitude, bowed to Long, and looked solemn.

"This is some information we have collected so far regarding these three parties; it's not complete." With that, he handed a file to Long.

Long didn't look at it; he put it away first.

"At 10 PM tonight, there will be a gap in our security personnel's presence. You only have two minutes. Please follow this route into the restricted area," the man told them, pointing to a path on the map.

"Good."

Long nodded.

"I have a question!" Anthony suddenly spoke up.

"You said it."

The man looked at him.

"Since the ruins are so important, and they've been operating in the restricted area for so long, you should have had enough time to send reinforcements, right?" Anthony said bluntly, "Why not just call a few more of those so-called nationally trained individual soldiers?"

The man's lips twitched slightly, while Menchi glanced at Anthony with a look of disdain, as if he were looking at an idiot.

"Then let's leave it at that."

Oboro interrupted their conversation.

The contact nodded to him, glanced at Anthony, and turned to leave.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem...?"

Anthony looked at his teammates with a puzzled expression.

No one, including Long, paid any attention to him.

Only Gabe Vich stammered, looking at Anthony, and said, "National... national..."

"Stop! You'd better not say anything, just write it down in this notebook."

Anthony took out paper and pen.

Gabe Vich quickly wrote a few sentences and showed them to him.

National-level combat forces are certainly extremely rare. If the Sori Group could mobilize them at will, there would be no need to hire them.

Moreover, this kind of thing involves the interests and backgrounds of multiple parties, so the conflict can only be kept within a certain range. If it escalates to the point where even a 'fig leaf' can't cover it up anymore... it might affect the internal relationships within V5.

"Hahaha, I actually knew... I was just pretending to test you guys."

After reading it, Anthony threw the paper away and put his arm around his younger brother's neck. "It seems you've learned a lot under our captain's tutelage, which puts my mind at ease... These are all mission experience points, so be sure to memorize them."

"..."

Gabe Vich.

Immediately afterward, Long and his group determined their direction and began to move towards the Sori Group's cordon, waiting for the right moment.

"Change strategy."

During the journey, Long instructed, "The opponent is very strong, and you can't handle him. So, your first task is to protect yourselves... Even with Gabe Vich's abilities, don't spread out too far. The key to the mission is what comes next!"

Killing the enemy is no longer the primary principle.

The circumstances are different, so adjustments must be made.

"This document only lists five people, most of whom are not physically presentable, and their abilities are described only superficially, so they are not very useful to us. As for the three teams, given their ability to quickly break through the security line, infiltrate the restricted area, and leave swiftly, each team would likely consist of no more than three to seven people, roughly the same as us. Therefore, the document only covers a small portion of the people; there are many other roles that have not been exposed... or rather, roles that the Soli Group cannot detect."

Menchi reviewed the contents of the document and, based on her judgment, offered some reminders.

"Um."

Oboro replied, "Given the specific nature of their purpose, there must be someone in the team with the ability to copy or store information... otherwise, there would be many things they wouldn't be able to take with them."

"That's right."

Menchi.

"They're different from those outside the restricted area... Some teams may have already obtained the information or things they want, but the Soli Group can't restrict them, giving them time and space to get more. Under these circumstances, if even one member is injured or killed, or if they sense something is wrong, they will leave decisively and won't take unnecessary risks." Fante, who had rarely spoken since joining the team, suddenly said, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

This made Long look at him with a hint of approval.

No wonder he's the oldest member of the team...

He felt that Fante was more of Specialization, while Anthony was more of Enhancement.

But sometimes, thinking about this kind of thing... is quite strange.