Destruction X Choice X Prevention

In the mountain forest.

Moyu and Hawk moved through it.

Though still some distance from the "battle zone," they could already sense the fluctuations of Nen emanating from ahead.

"Incredible."

Moyu suddenly let out an admiring remark.

Hearing that praise, Hawk immediately cast a probing look at Moyu.

He had vaguely sensed it from the moment they left the Temple.

His son had likely already developed a Nen ability, and it was probably an Emitter or Manipulator type "scouting" Nen ability.

Only that could explain how Moyu, while still at the Temple, understood what was happening outside.

In less than half a month, from awakening Nen to developing an ability... it was mind-boggling.

Moyu suddenly stopped.

It wasn't because he noticed Hawk's gaze, but because he had spotted something through "Vision Sharing."

"Hawk, can't we bring Rat Treasure along?"

Moyu halted and asked Hawk.

Hawk stopped as well and shook his head. "No. To eliminate any possibility of Balance breaking free from the 'Nen Space,' Rat Treasure must stay at the Temple."

"Understood."

Moyu's peripheral vision flicked toward a certain direction, and he said calmly, "Hawk, go support Kite first. She urgently needs help."

"And you?"

Hawk worried Moyu might do something reckless.

Moyu stared in that direction and said, "There are some things I need to destroy..."

"Hm?"

Hawk's expression tightened slightly.

He wanted to ask, but the situation was urgent, and he chose to trust Moyu, so in the end he asked nothing and continued forward as Moyu had arranged.

After Hawk left, Moyu approached a large tree.

Beside the trunk lay a fully armed corpse, lying quietly.

At this moment.

The corpse was covered in dense vines and green sprouts, with faint Nen emanating from the sprouts.

"This must be that long-haired man's Nen ability."

Moyu's gaze swept over the corpse, noticing that the Nen spilling from the green sprouts wrapped around it was gradually growing stronger, and both the vines and sprouts showed faint signs of continued growth.

Such changes stood out sharply in the dim environment.

"Using corpses as nutrients..."

Moyu made a basic judgment from the growth signs of the sprouts.

"Is it for manipulation, or nourishment? Or does it serve some other purpose?"

With that, Moyu picked up a dry branch from the ground beside him.

If it were a Manipulator-type ability, one would need to implant something like a "seed" into the target while they were still alive, then wait for the target's death before using the rooted and sprouted plant as a medium for control.

That kind of thinking was practically "rebellious" for the straightforward Manipulator type, and the entire process of meeting the conditions was far too cumbersome.

Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that the cumbersome process was deliberately set up to multiply the ability's effect.

But judging from the plant's growth behavior, Moyu personally leaned toward it being some kind of "nourishment-type" ability effect.

"And that man who materialized the 'Slot Machine.'"

Murmuring to himself, Moyu poked the newborn sprouts on the corpse with the tip of the dry branch.

No reaction.

And because of the Nen's protection, Moyu's rough actions didn't harm the sprouts.

"No counterattack response to my aggressive move... Is the threat level too low?"

Moyu casually tossed the branch aside, then raised his palm, Nen seeping from between his fingers, emitting a soft glow.

Faced with an ability that clearly showed signs of "incubation" or "growth," the right move was to stop or destroy it.

Moyu suddenly swung his palm down at the corpse covered in vines and sprouts.

This attack, imbued with Nen, immediately triggered a violent reaction from the Corpse Plant.

The vines that had been tightly coiled around the corpse suddenly arched up like snakes, blocking Moyu's Nen-coated palm.

Chi—

The two collided, but no great commotion ensued.

Where they touched, it was like a tiny flame burning out, curling up with wisps of green smoke.

At the same time.

The Nen intensity on the Corpse Plant, already not very strong, grew even weaker after this strike.

"I see."

Moyu withdrew his palm, and the arched plant shrank back as if conceding defeat.

"A slot machine for drawing prizes, a plant that grows by feeding on corpses—just from their types and behavior, both of these are 'preparation-type' Nen abilities. Add to that... the two Nen users who launched a frontal assault on Cheadle."

Moyu pondered, thinking to himself: Probably 'preparation-type' abilities focused on coordinated support. That's why they need at least one 'assault-type' Nen user to pair with. The strongest point of this combination is the moment the preparation is complete.

It seems this Qinglin Squad that Cheadle mentioned... can't be underestimated in terms of 'foundation.'

With that thought, Moyu glanced around his surroundings.

If he hadn't missed any, there were twenty armed members taken down by Cheadle.

In other words—

In this silent, soundless mountain forest, twenty patches of "soil" were continuously providing "nourishment" to this plant that seemed to have a feedback effect.

"To improve efficiency, I'll have to recall the Shadow Person."

Moyu struck the corpse with another palm strike, but this time he controlled his strength.

The plant coiled around the corpse responded once more, arching up to block Moyu's palm strike.

Chi—

Green smoke rose.

The Nen intensity on the Corpse Plant weakened significantly again.

Probably just one more light tap would be enough to completely destroy the plant on the corpse.

But Moyu's second palm strike was deliberately weakened.

This was because...

"No reaction. Good."

Moyu smiled faintly.

Through the real-time feed transmitted by "Vision Sharing," Moyu saw no reaction whatsoever from the long-haired man.

This was enough to prove that even if he attacked the Corpse Plant, the long-haired man wouldn't get any information.

That was why Moyu deliberately controlled the force of his second palm strike—to avoid accidentally destroying the plant on the corpse.

After all, "attacking" and "destroying" were different...

Simply weakening the Nen intensity on the Corpse Plant wouldn't catch the long-haired man's attention.

But if he directly destroyed the plant on the corpse, the long-haired man would probably notice immediately.

Armed with the key information provided by "Vision Sharing," Moyu abandoned his initial intention to destroy.

He recalled his shadow and began a suppression operation aimed at weakening the Corpse Plants in the forest.

On the other side.

Sivir, who had been sent flying by Cheadle, quickly got up from a fallen tree trunk, turned her head, and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

"Damn it, Ken, didn't you say she 'can't attack'?!"

"..."

Ken was silent.

No, I never said she couldn't attack.

With a light sigh inwardly, he chose to ignore Sivir's pointed verbal attack.

"Genbul, haven't you hit the jackpot yet?!"

Seeing no reaction from Ken, Sivir turned to look at Genbul.

She had been hit once by Cheadle, but she seemed fine otherwise—just that her mood had become extremely irritable.

"..."

Faced with Sivir's question, Genbul's face twitched.

Although the appearance of the "Slot Machine" easily revealed the corresponding ability information, an enemy guessing it and a teammate blurting it out were two different things.

Like Ken, Genbul ignored Sivir's question.

In truth, the emergence of "irritability" wasn't entirely a bad thing for Sivir.