Life is truly fragile.

"Let's split up for now, Jin." Noticing a sharp gaze fixed on him, Bred turned his head to look.

As the crowd rushed toward the depths of Greed Island, Melard nimbly weaved and leaped ahead, swiftly taking the lead by some distance. Then she spun around to face everyone, raised her hand like a blade, and forcefully slashed it across her pale, slender throat before plunging into the dense primeval forest.

"Bastard!"

"Arrogant!"

"Don't let me catch you, Bih! Otherwise, I'll make you regret it!"

"..."

Melard's extremely contemptuous, easily understood provocative gesture ignited the anger of quite a few people.

But Bred understood that Melard's seemingly indiscriminate taunt had actually been aimed at him, because she had used a Nen technique.

Having mastered Nen and found the right place and opportunity, Melard clearly could no longer hold back her long-planned intention of teaching Bred a lesson.

"Fine." Jin answered concisely and was the first to vanish into the distance.

Bred waited where he was for several minutes before finally setting off at an unhurried pace.

"Joanna?" Bred said. "Control the mosquitoes. I need eyes and ears."

Mosquito Girl pulled down the robe covering her entire body, revealing her lovely, curvaceous figure. "As you wish, Bred~ Children hiding in dark places, heed my summons!"

"Buzzz~~~"

"Buzz~ buzz~ buzz~~~"

In an instant, the mosquitoes within the silent forest stirred and took flight, gathering like a storm.

"Keep watch on every one of them," Bred ordered as he walked. "Also help me search for the nearest person or magical beast. Don't make a move—leave them for me. Before I run into Melard, I need some practical combat training."

After entering the primeval forest, the deeper one went, the larger the plants and animals became. Every creature was filled with terrifying greedy desires, fighting one another for food, water, sunlight, space... anything that could be fought over, and ruthlessly squeezing out other species and even their own kind. It truly lived up to its name: "Greediness," Greed Island.

"Found one." Mosquito Girl cheerfully scooped Bred up and flew away.

Not long after.

"Grrr~~ rrrowl~~~"

A pitch-black tiger over two meters tall and nearly six meters long including its tail sprawled atop a giant cedar. Having just finished eating, it was still licking its claws and fangs with lingering satisfaction. Judging from the scraps of cloth and clothing among the remains, its prey had undoubtedly been one of the unlucky humans taking the Hunter Exam.

"ROAR!!!"

At the sight of Bred and Mosquito Girl, the black tiger sprang forward in attack without the slightest hesitation.

Whoosh.

Mosquito Girl twisted aside, while the black tiger swung its tail and landed safely on the forest floor more than ten meters below.

"A magical beast, a Jumping Tiger. Its limbs are powerful and agile, its jumping ability is incredible, and its speed, strength, explosiveness, and bite force are all roughly ten times those of an ordinary tiger." With his photographic memory, Bred recalled the World Magical Beast Encyclopedia he had once browsed through and matched this savage, ferocious monster to a comical name. "A decent opponent. Put me down, Joanna!"

Mosquito Girl carefully descended, reminding him worriedly, "Don't push yourself too hard, Bred."

"Relax." Bred clenched his fists. "Ken!"

Energy erupted from the aura nodes in his body, enveloping Bred from head to toe.

Ken was an advanced application created by combining Ten and Ren, two of the four major Nen techniques. Releasing more aura than usual was Ren, while preventing aura from leaking away was Ten; combining the two resulted in Ken. Ken could increase one's defense severalfold, and once that defense was strengthened to a certain degree, it could be turned into offensive power. Thus, it was the move most commonly used in battle by those who knew Nen, despite its heavy toll on stamina.

The principles and usage of Armament Haki and Ken were nearly identical.

"ROAR—!"

The tiger roared.

The black tiger leaped forward, closing in on Bred with the speed of lightning. Its enormous, sharp claws unfurled joint by joint, chopping down like a series of blades.

With danger right before him, Bred could even smell the stench wafting from the black tiger's bloody maw. The thrill excited him. He shifted his footing and threw a punch.

Bang!

Rumble!

Smack!

"..."

In an unwise head-on clash, Bred was violently sent flying and slammed into a tree trunk dozens of meters away.

"Bred!!!" Mosquito Girl's heart leaped into her throat. "You damned—"

"I'm fine."

Protected by Ken, Bred was completely unharmed. He ground his toes into the ground and charged the black tiger of his own accord.

Bang! Bang!

Thud!

Rumble!!!

"Roaaar~~~"

"..."

Fists and kicks flew, claws raked and tails lashed as Bred and the black tiger became entangled in battle.

In no time.

"After all, it wasn't human, nor was it a Super Dangerous Beast. A magical beast with only a certain degree of human intelligence just wouldn't do," Bred muttered.

Without using Observation Haki or En's perception, Bred relied purely on hand-to-hand combat. He quickly adapted, saw through the black tiger's attack and defense patterns, and grew bored. It was time to end this.

"Whoosh!"

"Pfft!"

His childish palm pierced through the black tiger's throat.

"Drain its blood, then the next..." Bred shook off the blood and took out a handkerchief to wipe himself clean, but suddenly froze.

Mosquito Girl had secretly sent him a message.

"Whoosh!"

"Pfft!"

In exactly the same manner, Bred ended another life—someone who had heard the commotion, followed the sound, and planned to shoot him in the back.

What did killing feel like?

Bred had never known before, but now he did.

Watching blood flow freely and seeing eyes full of color lose all light in an instant, leaving behind nothing but hollow darkness—the boundless desire to live, the struggle, the endless fear and rejection of death... Bred felt neither nausea nor excitement or pleasure. What he felt was deep contemplation, along with the sorrow of seeing another creature meet the same fate.

"Life truly is fragile," Bred sighed as he looked up at the canopy overhead.

Training, resting—Bred advanced steadily.

Under the starry night.

"Someone's coming," Mosquito Girl woke Bred. "It's Esdeath."

Bred nodded. "Is she coming specifically for me?"

"No, she's hunting down several people," Mosquito Girl said.

"Spare us, spare us~~~"

"No!!!"

"Devil! Devil!!!"

"..."

Miserable screams erupted, startling flocks of birds into flight.

"Don't kill them too brutally. They can serve as cover for our undercover operation," Bred said calmly.

Standing amid severed limbs and mangled corpses, Esdeath turned and smiled, breathtakingly beautiful. "Oh~ Bred? Want to have a match? Your growth has been quite impressive. You've caught my interest."

"Pay back the money you owe me first, then we can talk." Bred held out his hand. "As of today, including interest, it comes to 1.03 million berries."

Esdeath's mouth twitched. "Even loan sharks aren't as ruthless as you. No wonder everyone calls you a black-hearted profiteer! Fine, I owe you, after all. Once I become a bounty hunter, I'll catch a few pirates or criminals and pay you back."

"I'll be waiting," Bred said expectantly.

Feeling thoroughly bored, Esdeath left and continued her hunt.

Bred remained methodical as ever.

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