Aftermath X Manor Negotiations

"It's delicious, Mom! I want more!"

A child's voice rang out from inside the Nosra Manor.

The courtyard of the garden.

Three-Tails was eating cake with gusto, his mouth covered in cream.

Melusina, who had just walked over, glared at the Three-Tails Beast and placed the plate she was carrying on it.

"Did you eat too much?"

Rosana sat next to the Three-Tails -Three-Tails, gazing at it with obvious affection, and wiped the cream from its lips with a handkerchief.

And the Three-Tails creature obediently pouted, letting Rosana wipe her lips.

Rosana adored her; she was the only child in the family.

This immediately triggered Rosana's maternal instincts.

Upon hearing this, Melusina picked up a cake, personally fed the person, and said with a smile.

"It's alright, this little bit isn't even considered a snack for her."

After all, the Three-Tails Beast is essentially Demonic Beast, and its digestive and energy storage systems are different from those of humans.

Three-Tails nodded as he ate.

He mumbled indistinctly, "No, no, there's still plenty to eat!"

On the other side of the courtyard.

They're discussing serious business here.

Netero watched the commotion coming from that direction, his gaze mainly fixed on the Three-Tails.

"You're really something, adopting a Demonic Beast daughter for yourself—do such creatures even exist on the Dark Continent?"

Upon hearing Netero's words, Kevin picked up his teacup and took a sip.

"No, she was just a highly intelligent Three-Tailed Fox. I simply transformed her into a human."

"To become human?"

Netero glanced at him, thought of the Cocoon of Rebirth, and roughly understood.

"I understand it less and less."

I understand it, but it's still hard to comprehend.

The Restriction Nen ability to completely transform a living being into a human are unimaginable.

Before going to the Dark Continent, Kevin could only use this move on Chimera Ant that had been mixed with human souls.

Moreover, those Chimera Ant were extremely proud of their human identity.

And some features still remain.

"You don't want Kevin to save your son, do you?"

Biscuit was sitting next to me eating cake, suddenly said something.

However, these words only elicited a glance from Netero, a couple of chuckles, and no reply.

The meaning is self-evident.

Does Netero have a romantic relationship with his son? They probably do.

But clearly, Beyond is no child; he needs to pay the price for his choices.

Beyond brought about this crisis, but also provided crucial assistance in resolving it.

To be rational...

The problem of Undying disease will inevitably erupt as long as the Dark Continent is explored.

But Beyond allowed the problem to erupt from the very beginning, so it's hard to say whether he was right or wrong.

The significant gains from Kevin's return may even inspire more proactive exploration in the future.

The problem might become even more serious then.

Discovering the most serious problem at the beginning is certainly not a bad thing.

It also provided important information.

But someone has to take the blame.

Are we suggesting that the upper echelons of V6 should take the blame, claiming that their decisions were not cautious enough and led to the problem?

That's impossible.

It's about you being better Beyond, and this isn't a false accusation at all; it's essentially a result of being better Beyond.

Naturally, all the problems were then placed on Beyond's shoulders.

As for the achievements he made as bait afterward.

V6 has something to say again.

What do you mean by calling being bait an achievement?

Isn't it to protect you from the harm caused by Parasite People?

Of course, fundamentally speaking...

It was because he was less effective Beyond he lost his purpose.

Although Kevin interrupted Beyond's parasitization process, the entire parasitization process was already halfway through.

By Beyond's soul, or rather his spirit and will, suffered a tremendous blow.

He is now showing symptoms.

And this condition is the same as the one Lorraine had before.

A hole has appeared in my soul.

The gap was even larger Beyond's, and it had almost been eroded into a sieve.

Only three months have passed, but if you look at Beyond now, you'll find that he seems to have aged twenty years in an instant, almost catching up with Netero.

The problem is that Netero, being Beyond's father, is thirty or forty years older than him.

And who can solve this problem now?

Then it's undoubtedly Kevin.

Actually, Kevin couldn't solve it either, but Kevin had a method.

Although Bianluoke and Lorraine hadn't returned, Netero knew their current situation.

However, Netero clearly had no intention of asking for help for his son.

It's meaningless.

The values of her son and Kevin clashed too much.

Kevin was already holding back Beyond the Ant King didn't kill Byndall that time.

"This matter is over. Although there are still many loose ends and chaos in various countries that need to be stabilized, this does not prevent them from now on simultaneously advancing matters related to the Dark Continent."

"So what are you planning to do? It won't be long before they start negotiating with you. Do you need my help?"

Kevin nodded upon hearing this.

"Of course, I will pay you. You'll definitely have to do your best. Besides, your Hunter Association can't really shirk this responsibility, can they?"

"Dealing with these officials is the thing I hate most in my life. It's so complicated and troublesome, and they definitely already have a personality profile of me, so they'll exploit my weaknesses."

Kevin knows what he's good at and what he's not good at.

He detests this kind of insincere and hypocritical social interaction the most.

Just like with the company's development, he always entrusted it entirely to Light.

The other person really enjoys this kind of thing and is having a great time.

And no one was more experienced in dealing with these officials Netero.

As the Chairman of the Hunter Association, Netero spends at least half of his time dealing with these officials.

"However, let's wait a while for specific discussions and negotiations, since my teammates all have their own things to take care of."

By this time, the Manor had become rather deserted.

Those who have returned can finally take a good rest.

Naturally, everyone had their own things to do.

So we went our separate ways.

Of course, this negotiation was also very important, but a long holiday was temporarily suspended.

It will take about a month.

We'll all have to get together again in a while.

Netero looked at him and nodded slightly.

At this stage, the entire process must proceed according to Kevin's will.

No one can disobey.

Kevin is now the undisputed number one Nen user.

"Let's talk about something personal now."

Upon hearing this, Kevin couldn't help but laugh out loud, picked up his teacup, and took another sip.

Biscuit was standing next to her, couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, can you two please show some respect for the elderly?"

Netero slammed his hand on the table in dissatisfaction.

"Okay, go ahead and say it."

"I've been too busy lately. The information you provided about the Dark Continent doesn't seem to include a path for human strength advancement, so what stage are you at now?"

This has been Netero's biggest curiosity these past few months.

And there was Kevin's punch three months ago.

"Well, let me first tell you about our own classification. Of course, this is just our opinion, and it's a very general one."

"Generally speaking, we categorize battles based on Nen power, but just like battles between Nen user, Nen power actually accounts for less than 40% of the overall impact of the battle."

Just like with humans, is someone with a strength of tens of thousands necessarily weaker than someone with a strength of hundreds of thousands?

That is clearly not the case.

Combat skills, experience, and wisdom played a crucial role in this process.

Of course, it also has its own unique Nen ability.

A purely brute-force-based Enhancement Type, and a highly Restriction but severely restricted Specialization Type.

Even if Enhancement Type's power is several times that of Specialization Type, it may not necessarily be a match for the opponent.

Of course, this is just an extreme assessment.

The reality is that if a Nen user has a power level of hundreds of thousands, then they are definitely not a weak person.

Only those who have tried it know the training and hardships involved.

But to say that he would definitely be able to crush them is clearly unlikely.

The odds of winning remain uncertain.

Reality is not a game; this is the reality.

"But in essence, the evolutionary level of life is an important criterion for judgment."

"Humans can reach different levels of Nen depending on their individual talents, but regardless of the level, once a human breaks through their limits, they will enter a new stage."

"The vast distance between the limits of human strength and the point beyond those limits is what we call the Knight Rank."

Upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that human potential is quite significant.

Reaching the limits of one's own life is enough to be considered as having the strength of Knight Rank.

"The previous me, and you, Chairman, including the Ant King and the Royal Guards, can all be placed in this level."

"This is a very wide range of levels; judging purely by strength, it should include everything from 300,000 to less than 1 million."

"This is based on the quality of life. Just like how I, before I broke through my limits, was able to defeat the Ant King with only the limits of humanity, we are essentially on the same level."

"It all comes down to who has more tricks up their sleeve and who has the stronger abilities."

Netero nodded; it wasn't hard to understand.

"In my experience, after humanity breaks through its limits, the next limit is the limit of an entire life form, which is one million Knight Rank."

"Whether it's humans or other life forms, there's a bottleneck at the upper limit of lifespan. Only exceptionally powerful life forms can naturally break through to this level Growth Stage."

Netero nodded, looking at Kevin.

So you're at this level now?

Kevin nodded. "That's right, we call them Lord Rank because in the Dark Continent, life forms of this level all have their own territory, at least in the areas we know of."

"They either live alone within their own territory, or they live there with their own people, providing for themselves."

"This stage involves an even greater leap; at least until now, I haven't seen where the limit is."

Kevin shook his head and said with a hint of helplessness.

That's just the way it is.

Of all the creatures he has seen so far, aside from the Overlord, the most powerful are all Lord Rank.

"At this stage, unless there is a clear countermeasure, it is difficult to completely kill the other in a fight."

"Of course, Lord completely overwhelms Knight; it's an insurmountable gap in their lives."

As he spoke, Kevin looked at Netero, his aura suddenly surging forth, completely overwhelming his opponent.

Netero's body tensed almost instinctively, and he jumped back a few steps, but he forcibly suppressed his body's reflexes and stood there, enduring Kevin's sudden pressure.

This momentum only lasted a few seconds before Kevin completely withdrew from it.

Netero's forehead was already beaded with sweat.

Frown deeply.

Although Kevin had already calmed down for a few seconds, Netero waited for about half a minute before he could fully adjust his mindset and physical functions.

"You're right, it truly leaves them completely defenseless."

Netero already felt he was no match for the sheer dominance of Netero's aura alone.

If it really comes down to a confrontation...

The sheer force of their presence alone would have made Netero hesitant and restrained.

"Is this just an aura? No, it seems there's some other force mixed in."

Once he calmed down, Netero sensed that the pressure that had just been pressing down on him was not right.

Kevin smiled and nodded.

"That's right. It's described as an aura, but it's actually a blend of spiritual power and qi, forming a power that's more ethereal and focused on the spiritual realm than qi itself."

Kevin then gave a brief overview of some characteristics of the Lord level.

"Reaching the Lord Rank signifies the complete sublimation of a life. At this level, unless there are racial traits, a life will gradually approach perfection."

"I dare not say I know much about other races, but as far as humans are concerned, the body and mind reach a balance, and the soul is firmly connected with the body."

"For humanity, it is essentially a supplement to the spirit and soul, because this is a weakness for humanity. Then comes the completion of the six elements, and the main element will become a true specialty."

"Of course, lifespan is another matter. At least for now, I can't be sure when I'll die, just by the passage of time."

After telling Kevin what he knew, Kevin held up one finger.

"And above that are the Overlord. We have detailed records of the Overlord's information, and I believe you have already seen them."

Netero nodded.

But I still said it.

"But I feel that the leap from Lord to Overlord you've described is a bit too great. The leap in life has suddenly reached an exaggerated level, as if you've become a god."

Upon hearing this, Kevin's eyes lit up.

"As you've noticed, we share this opinion. The leap from Lord to Overlord is simply too exaggerated; we feel there should be another level in between."

The key to this problem lies in the seal of the Overlord.

An accredited Lord can actually directly establish certain rules for the surrounding territories.

To be honest, that's an exaggeration.

Moreover, this ability can be bestowed upon others.

Only a recognized Lord like Kevin, after truly experiencing it, knows the insurmountable gap between Lord and Overlord.

This is an exaggerated claim that is completely incomparable to the life advancement from Knight to Lord.

"The Dark Continent ----"

Netero leaned back in his chair and muttered to himself, but the longing in his eyes was barely concealed.

Seeing this, Kevin stood up with a smile and said...

"If you also want to explore the Dark Continent on your own, then you'd better put your heart into this negotiation."

"Nonsense, don't let my old age fool you, I'm not lacking in political acumen at all."

Netero pointed to his head and said with a smile.

A month passed quickly.

The most important negotiation meeting is about to begin.