Dragon Handler × What Makes a Home

"Snap!"

A sound of impact and shattering rang out, like a sharp hammer cracking open a seashell.

The giant dragon was attempting to open the Charging Armor's outer shell in a way that no one had anticipated, so as to devour the body inside.

This dragon was indeed unlike the evil dragons commonly seen in fantasy works.

When it begins to attack and feed, it displays a highly disjointed behavior.

In an instant, everyone was brought back to reality.

It opened its mouth, and everyone could see its teeth were closely packed together, like those of Crocodile. However, this mouth structure made it impossible for it to open the hard shell of the Charging Armor.

Immediately afterwards, a pinkish-black object, resembling a long spear, shot out from its mouth.

It was its tongue.

No one expected that its most aggressive part at this moment would be its tongue.

As everyone watched from afar, the tongue easily pierced the hard Charging Armor shell, knocking a hole in it.

It used the same trick again, knocking open two more holes, making a row of three holes, and then gently biting with its teeth, it pried open the shell, which was as hard as a clam.

It was like lifting the lid off a pot; the shell underneath almost became his bowl.

"It's Gun-tongue Lizard! So that's why it has these genes; no wonder it eats Charging Armor."

Begel immediately recognized which creature this hunting method originated from.

Upon hearing Begel's words, Kevin frowned slightly, trying hard to recall.

Since he arrived, he has spent his free time looking at all sorts of interesting creature illustrations.

He does appear to have indeed read the relevant literature.

The Gun-tongue Lizard is a coastal creature that hunts by using its tongue.

Phylum Chordata - Class Reptilia - Order Squamata - Family Glossoptera.

As its name suggests, its main attack method is its tongue, which shoots out of its mouth like a bullet.

The tongue can typically be 0.8 to 1 times the body length, and the tip of the tongue is usually rich in calcified spear-shaped bony spurs.

The initial velocity of the tongue can reach 120m/s, and its power is roughly comparable to that of some small handguns.

As a type of lizard, this creature has a very long mouth that looks like a gun barrel.

Its tongue can easily pierce through hard objects, so its diet consists mostly of various crustaceans.

Charging Armor are naturally on its menu as well.

Most of them are gray and live on beaches, exhibiting a certain degree of Mimicry. Although they don't have many functions, they can fool some animals without any problem.

Once this impression was formed in their minds, upon closer inspection of the dragon, everyone could indeed see that it bore a striking resemblance to the Gun-tongue Lizard in many ways.

Furthermore, Begel and Kevin were almost certain that the dragon was already an adult.

Based on previous evidence, it is inferred that he never used the Ballistic Tongue attack method.

In other words, when it was less than ten meters long, or even just a dozen meters long, it was in its juvenile stage, just like the tongue-slinging lizard.

To be able to unleash such an attack, he would probably only be considered an adult if his main body truly used the genes of the Tongue-Slaying Lizard.

At this moment, the giant dragon had successfully opened the hole in its prey and was now lying on the ground, leisurely enjoying its meal.

"Is it enjoying itself?" Shante couldn't help but say.

Begel nodded.

"At this rate, this guy will soon become a highly intelligent Demonic Beast."

Moreover, it is Demonic Beast with a huge appetite and extremely high danger.

Because he is cunning and extremely aggressive.

And he has tasted human blood and killed people.

He would then be able to understand the vast majority of the vulnerabilities of human beings.

"It's time to make a move."

As Begel spoke, he pulled his revolver from his waist.

Seeing this, the others prepared to launch a surprise attack and began to quietly approach again.

Just then, a loud rumbling sound came from afar.

Perhaps because of the great distance, the sound was not very noticeable in the somewhat noisy forest.

But the dragon had clearly sensed something was wrong; it stopped eating, tilted its head, and looked behind it.

The entire body quickly shifted from a comfortable, relaxed state to a vigilant, offensive posture.

This unexpected turn of events forced Begel and his companions to stop and find a new place to hide.

"What happened?" Shante asked softly.

Just then, Locke's voice came through everyone's earpieces.

"Something's wrong, another Charging Armor is heading in your direction."

Heading straight in their direction? Isn't this like lambs to the slaughter? Or are they worried that this monster won't have enough to eat, so they're sending another one over?

Could someone be manipulating the food delivery?

Before they could even process the message, Locke's voice came through the headset again. "There's someone on the back of this Charging Armor. Be careful."

Upon hearing this, Begel and the others immediately tensed up. They exchanged glances, each understanding the other's thoughts.

Everyone took several steps back in unison, then completely concealed themselves.

"Judging from this... there might be a big fish on the hook," Baishu couldn't help but mutter to himself.

In this scenario, the person standing on the Charging Armor's back is very likely someone sent by the mastermind behind these artificial creatures.

Just when they were preparing to hunt the dragon...

What a coincidence!

Just when they thought the dragon would either fight back or run away, it suddenly froze in place and remained motionless.

"Is it being controlled?" Kevin couldn't help but wonder.

In this situation, such speculation is easy to understand.

After all, this is a man-made organism. If it is to be used as a biological weapon, then absolute control is essential. Otherwise, it will not meet the standards of a weapon and will only become a source of harm.

The dragon's current behavior perfectly matches their previous expectations for the biological weapon.

The Charging Armor rumbled as it approached the giant dragon.

The crowd was then able to see the people on the dragon's back from a distance.

That person was clearly seriously injured; anyone with normal eyesight could see that.

He was wrapped in bandages, missing one hand, and covered in blood.

The dragon did not react to his arrival; it stood there stiffly like a statue.

Locke's voice came through the headphones again.

"He's speaking, but you probably can't hear him. I'll translate for you using lip reading."

This was a pleasant surprise.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. After all, his high-altitude reconnaissance missions don't receive voice messages, so lip reading is a good option.

Immediately afterwards, a simultaneous translation of the person's words came through the earphones.

"Number Nine? I didn't expect you to have grown so big here. You seem to be quite clever."

"Compared to your predecessors, your genes are superior, and you're almost a perfect creation."

He muttered for a while, then jumped directly from the back of the Charging Armor onto the dragon's head.

"It's a pity, there's no time for you to grow up slowly now. I will record your genes and help you pass them on."

"There should be a base around here, you damned Hunter x Hunter. I'll make you meddlesome fools pay."

"What an obedient bunch of dogs."

The injured man sat atop the dragon's head, seemingly trying to orient himself.

He pulled out something resembling Pocket Watch from his pocket, turned it left and right for a while, and seemed to have identified his target.

"Phew, thankfully it's not far. Lady Luck is on my side today."

He patted the dragon's head.

The dragon then flapped its enormous wings, creating a strong wind pressure, and its body slowly took off before flying in one direction.

That direction leads deeper into the forest, and this area is already considered uninhabited.

Locke's voice came through the earpiece. "So what are you planning to do now? This matter doesn't seem as simple as it appears."

Begel said, "That guy was clearly badly injured. Judging from the wounds on his body, it can be basically determined that someone else did it."

"From what he said, we can tell that it was done by other Hunter x Hunter. Based on the current situation, it should be that the Hunter x Hunter team led by the Twelve Zodiacs Branches found their base or lair and launched a surprise attack."

"This guy must have escaped here somehow. At least in the surrounding area, I haven't found any trace of the investigation team. If there were such an operation, I should have known."

"Judging from his words, they have a secret base deep in the forest. There are definitely risks involved, but the rewards must be considerable."

So what do you think?

He posed the questions directly, mainly to Kevin and Locke.

Baishu and Shante naturally followed Begel's decision.

Kevin pondered for a moment.

That man was definitely an important figure in the organization behind him, but he was clearly not in charge of affairs here and was not even very familiar with the base. However, he knew a lot about Dragon Number Nine.

Based on this information, it can be inferred that the base standing here serves primarily as a concealment point, and also for observing and feeding the Number Nine dragon.

The massacre they witnessed six months ago, with its bodies left at the scene, may have been perpetrated by personnel from this base.

This dragon grew extremely wildly, clearly without any effective guidance or control.

This means that the base may not have had anyone who could control the dragon effectively, further suggesting that it was not a large base.

It was just a small, hidden base.

However, deploying Charging Armor may be the mission of this base, meaning that this base is very likely to have prototypes of Charging Armor.

This is exactly what Kevin needs.

Although the strength of that Nen user was unclear, given his current physical condition, he posed virtually no threat to them.

Such injuries cannot be healed in a short period of time.

Battles between Nen user are not a simple contest of numbers; physical condition is extremely important.

Even if he's incredibly skilled, he can't unleash much of his full potential in his current state.

Moreover, judging from his abilities, he is very likely capable of controlling these creatures.

Of course, it is also highly possible that he does have the means to manipulate things, but due to internal issues, he is unwilling to distribute these means indiscriminately.

That's why the base couldn't control the dragon.

But based on Kevin's thinking, this guy is most likely Manipulation Type.

If Kevin hadn't heard what he said, he might have been too cautious to continue the investigation.

But after hearing the man's words and being able to deduce this information, the Danger Level wasn't as high as he had imagined.

"Go, this is an opportunity."

Kevin said without hesitation.

He has already marked his prey; he must obtain the Charging Armor juveniles or the possibility of raising them.

And this is indeed an opportunity.

Upon hearing this, Begel smiled.

Now only Locke on the other end of the headset remains.

"Damn it, fine, I'll join in, but you have to pay more."

"Are you sure? If we take down one of their bases, the Hunter Association will definitely give us a reward."

Begel, fearing the other party might not understand, specifically reminded them.

If he pays the money, it's equivalent to him hiring the other person, and he should take credit for their work.

"... I'm not Professional Hunter yet."

A moment of calm followed.

"Oh? Oh, then I'll add another billion."

Begel never expected that Locke wasn't Professional Hunter. He had originally thought that Locke was Kevin's classmate, which was why the two knew each other.

They could all see that the injured man was at his last gasp. The main danger of this operation lay with the giant dragon and the security personnel who might be present in the base.

Since the decision to act has been made...

The group immediately reunited.

They continued tracking in the direction the dragon had flown.

It must be said that the dragon's flight speed was not as fast as they had expected.

With such a massive size, even with its uniquely designed wings, it would be difficult for it to achieve very high speeds.

Flight speed is clearly not this artificial monster's forte; the flight capability merely gives it more means of movement.

Flight capability is merely one of the selling points of this monster as a biological weapon.

After all, being able to fly and not being able to fly are two completely different things, and the prices can be worlds apart.

Nosra Manor.

The Manor looked no different from usual.

However, experienced people who observe carefully will find that the patrols at this Manor are many times more stringent than before.

There are hidden sentries and special alarms everywhere, and specially designed cameras hidden in every corner are constantly monitoring the surrounding environment.

However, at this moment, Pairo and the others in the Manor understood that such arrangements actually had limited effectiveness and were only used to prevent some unnecessary dangers.

After all, these obstacles can be easily overcome by Nen user.

However, if the other side wants to act silently, it will inevitably take more time. If they can achieve this, their plan will be considered a success.

At this moment, in the small living room outside Nion's bedroom.

Pairo, Kurapika, Nion, and Rosana are gathered here.

The person who initiated this small meeting was Rosana.

"Mother."

Kurapika looked at Rosana with a questioning look in his eyes. She must have something to say to everyone that she had called them here.

Pairo looked at Rosana, seemingly guessing what was going on.

This period of time might be related to Nen ability.

Rosana smiled at everyone and said, "I originally planned to wait until Kevin came back before trying to complete the final step."

"It seems there's no need to wait any longer. I want to tell you that my Nen ability is now fully developed."

"Really, Mom?"

Kurapika's face lit up with a surprised smile, and he asked.

"Hmph, of course."

"What kind of superpower is it?" Nion asked eagerly.

She was very interested in Nen ability, which she considered to be no different from superpowers.

Although they do seem to be quite similar in essence.

Just like the shows on TV, it's very interesting.

Rosana gave a mysterious smile, offering no direct explanation, but instead placing her hand on the carpet beneath their feet.

Under the watchful eyes of several people.

The air gushed out like a fountain.

It then spread like a thin film over the floor, continuing to spread until it completely enveloped the entire room before stopping.

Once this step is completed, the gas disappears.

Pairo and Kurapika reached out and felt around, but didn't notice anything different about the room compared to before.

Seeing the puzzled looks on the three people's faces.

Rosana smiled mischievously and waved her hand.

In the blink of an eye, she vanished from the spot.

"Gone?"

Kurapika exclaimed in surprise, then activated "Condensation" to check, but still couldn't see his mother.

This indicates that it's not the ability to "hide," but rather that they have truly disappeared.

"Mommy's here."

The voice suddenly came from behind Kurapika, and Rosana even reached out and gently patted him.

The sudden noise startled Kurapika, who jumped back like a frightened cat.

Then I saw my mother's mischievous smile.

"Mom!" Kurapika called out with a hint of displeasure. "You used to love playing hide-and-seek when you were little," Rosana said with feigned sigh.

As she spoke, three keys appeared in her hand.

These keys look very antique, and each key has unique features.

She handed three keys to the three people in front of her.

Pairo and the others took the keys, and from the characteristics of the keys, they could tell that each key corresponded to a person.

The elements are very vivid.

"This is Mom's Nen ability— [Home]. After you get the key, you will be able to go home."

She then led the three of them outside.

Then she took out a key herself, inserted it directly into the center of the door, and turned it.

But in reality, there was no lock there at all.

However, as she turned, the door seemed to open; with a gentle push, it opened, revealing Nion's small living room, seemingly unchanged.

"I've designated this room as 'home.' Once you have the key and open the door, you'll be back home."

"And without a key or an invitation from family, outsiders can't get in," Rosana explained.

However, since the people in front of me are all family members, I cannot demonstrate the situation where outsiders cannot enter at this time.

"Although you can't get in without a key, you can still get into the room by forcibly breaking in."

"But in this situation, the intruder would enter the real [home], which is absolutely safe."

As she spoke, Rosana hung her keys on her person.

Gently flick the key.

Just like before, she disappeared from the spot once again.

Kurapika immediately understood how to use it, quickly hung the key on his body, and flicked it lightly.

Sure enough, he disappeared from the spot.

The other two followed closely behind.

Then, although they seemed to have disappeared, they were actually still in the same place.

Looking around, they realized that this space was almost identical to Nion's room.

However, obvious differences can still be seen.

Because two decorative items that shouldn't have been there appeared in the room.

It's hanging very clearly on the wall.

One of them is a photograph.

That was a Family Portrait.

It's supposed to be Family Portrait, but it only features five people: Rosana, Pairo, Kurapika, Nion, and Kevin.

And they have no recollection of ever having this photo taken.

On the opposite wall, there was a painting.

This painting is divided into three sections. The first section depicts a bright grassland, and the refreshing green style is pleasing to the eye.

The central square depicts a battlefield engulfed in flames, filled with ruins and desolation.

The final square resembled a hellish Abyss, with flames burning ceaselessly and Magma flowing everywhere.

At this moment, there are three little figures on the first square of the grassland. Careful observation reveals their features: they are Nion,...

Kurapika, Pairo, and two others.