I, Joey, Have a Dream

Life energy brimming with vitality spilled from the severed hand and quickly connected with Joey's wrist.

Pain-intense pain-shot from the wound through Joey, but it soon began to ease, fading until it disappeared.

In less than a minute, Joey flexed his left hand. There was no discomfort at all, and not even a scar remained where it had joined his wrist!

After his left hand finished connecting to his wrist, Joey ran plenty of tests.

Whether he moved it or entered a state of Ten, he felt no discomfort.

He had, in effect, created a perfect left hand with his ability!

Most importantly, once the left hand joined his body, it seemed to shed its previous status as one of his creations.

It would no longer turn back into an inanimate object. Instead, it had joined his body perfectly, becoming real flesh and blood.

This seemed to exceed the scope of the ability as he understood it. Apparently, Wallet's Nen still possessed properties Joey knew nothing about.

But the underlying reason still seemed to have something to do with his soul.

The most obvious proof was that Killer Queen had regained a left hand as well!

In particular, the Skeleton Chariot had reappeared on the back of the hand.

And when he saw Heartbreaker Attack, an Amputated-Hand Tactic sprang into Joey's mind.

But remembering the pain of losing his hand, as well as the excruciating pain of reattaching it, he immediately rejected the tactic of severing his hand to create a chariot.

After all, he had no way of controlling the chariot once his hand was severed.

And now that his own hand had recovered, Joey naturally turned his attention to Kite.

Creating a severed hand had not consumed much of his Nen, so there was no reason not to keep creating more.

Based on his observations, Joey began creating a replacement for Kite's missing leg.

He already had a good imagination, and he had seen Kite before his injuries. With an intact leg for reference as well, the whole process proved fairly simple.

He merely imbued a wooden stick with vitality, and it quickly formed into a severed leg.

Without another word, Kite reopened his wound. A few minutes later, he stood up, adjusting to the replacement leg.

"It feels pretty good. There are still a few minor flaws, but I should get used to it with some training." Kite moved his body as he assessed the leg.

"You gave the leg considerable strength right from the start. I imagine you spent more Nen when you created it, Joey?"

Joey nodded. "Yes. I remember you being strong, so I figured even one of your legs couldn't be weak. Creating it with that thought in mind did consume more of my Nen!

"But this leg probably isn't as strong as it should be, right? After all, I can't picture exactly how strong you are."

"Right. It's still a little short, but it's good enough. Do you think you have enough Nen left to keep creating body parts?" Kite asked, gauging Joey's condition.

"Yes."

A little over ten minutes later, Kite stood in the living room, no longer missing any body parts.

He still had injuries, but they no longer hindered him.

As for Joey's remaining Nen, it ran out completely after he used Gold Experience twice more to turn drinking glasses into cats.

Wallet slowly withdrew, and Joey tucked it against his chest before dropping into a chair and tiredly rubbing the space between his eyebrows.

Just then, a pair of gentle little hands settled on Joey's shoulders. Turning his head, he saw Cookie-chan smiling tenderly at him.

"Biscuit, you're amazing!" Joey could not help praising her. "Cookie-chan really is the best."

With that, Joey slowly drifted off to sleep in his chair.

When Joey woke an hour later, he found that everyone was still in the living room, as though they had all been waiting for him to wake up.

"What's wrong?" he asked, puzzled, touching his cheeks but finding nothing unusual.

"Nothing. We were just discussing your ability," Biscuit said quite openly.

"Any suggestions?" Joey perked up.

"Once the Chimera Ant situation is over, come explore large creatures with me. That should help your ability," Kite suggested.

Indeed, if he learned about enough creatures, Gold Experience's potential would be limitless.

But the Nen for Gold Experience was not his own. Joey had always understood that clearly.

"I'll focus more of my efforts on training my own Emission abilities. Freedom is what I really want.

"I, Joey, have a dream!

"To explore unknown lands, photograph breathtaking scenery, record the beauty of life, enjoy delicious food, and finally return to a peaceful life. That's my dream, and the life I long for."

As Joey said this, he did not realize how brightly his eyes shone.

"So I'd be very happy to join your team."

"You're welcome to join. I think Shiping and the others will be happy to have you, too." Kite's sternness faded, and a relaxed, heartfelt smile appeared on his face.

"If you win her approval, you should get to see some truly magnificent scenery. It's a treasure that belongs to her and Stick."

"Kite, I want to join, too." Gon was also filled with longing by Joey's description.

"Ging?" Kite uttered just one name, and Gon's expression shifted slightly.

Right. He still wanted to find Ging!

"But those things don't conflict. Finding him while I work on becoming a better version of myself sounds like a pretty good choice, too."

Gon turned to Killua. "Killua!"

"Yeah." Killua smiled. He had no intention of backing out, and Joey's description appealed to him as well.

"Good. But before that, we need to resolve the Chimera Ant problem." Kite's expression grew serious again.

"I've already contacted Chairman Netero. Joey will enter NGL with me as Special Personnel. Killua, Gon, and Palm will still have to meet the conditions we agreed on."

"Huh? All right!" Gon looked thoroughly disappointed. Knuckle really was hard to deal with.

"Are you losing confidence? Then why not quit right here?" Palm's voice drifted over from the side. "That way, I might suppress my urge to kill. Otherwise, if you fail, I'll definitely kill you!

"These past few days, I've been trying so hard to hold back, hold back, and hold back some more! But I keep spending more and more time staring at the kitchen knife. So if you're going to give up, do it soon. Otherwise, if you fail, I'll definitely kill you!

"No matter what, I'm going to NGL. I want to leave right now!"

"Don't worry, Palm. I'll definitely take you to NGL!" Gon looked confident and full of determination. "So if you notice anything, make sure you tell me. I'll give it everything I've got!"

Palm looked a little dazed. The boy's sunny confidence made her maiden heart flutter.

By then, Gon had already dragged Killua off to train.

"Anyway, I'm more worried about what's happening inside NGL right now." Biscuit was not nearly as optimistic as Gon. "What's the chairman's plan?"

"Reconnaissance and thinning their numbers," Kite answered.

"After seeing Neferpitou, charging straight in became the worst possible option. When I left, the chairman had already begun thinning their numbers. By now, he should have made some progress!

"The problem is that word spread from here too quickly, and quite a few Hunters have entered NGL on their own from different directions. That could cause some trouble."

Biscuit frowned to herself. Judging by the earlier intelligence, small fry entering NGL would only become a burden-or even nourishment for the birth of stronger ants.

Besides, even a veteran Hunter like Kite had suffered a major setback there. What good could those half-trained amateurs do?

"That nuisance, Pokkle!" Biscuit muttered.

"You've heard his name, too? Looks like he really has made a name for himself through this." The corner of Kite's mouth lifted, but there was a note of suspicion in his voice.

"Yes. An idiot who's failed in both romance and his career. You don't see that every day. Apparently, the chairman himself approved him as a Hunter. Looks like even that old hand can misjudge people sometimes." Biscuit chuckled slyly.

Kite shook his head. "I've dealt with Pokkle. He may be a little too eager for quick results, but he isn't stupid. I suspect there's more to this."

"You think someone set Pokkle up?" Biscuit frowned.

"Yes. He has firsthand information on NGL. At this stage, that information is valuable enough to spur certain people into action." Kite confirmed her guess.

Joey quietly committed Kite's suspicions to memory. When the two shifted to casual conversation, he began training.

Only this time, his training no longer involved pouring Nen into objects.