But at that moment, Shalnark had only one place left to insert his antenna: himself.
Even if he could insert an antenna into someone else's Nen Beast, he could not seize control, because that was the rule of Manipulation: whoever established control first had priority.
The only way to seize control was to overwrite the original owner's aura with his own.
But the problem was that Nen Beasts were formed from their owners' Nen. Once Shalnark overwrote the Nen Qiao Lun used to control his Nen Beast, the beast would lose its supply of Nen and dissipate along with it.
In other words, if he inserted Nen into Toad's tongue, he could only make Qiao Lun's summoned Nen Beast disappear by releasing an enormous amount of Nen to overwrite Qiao Lun's.
That simply was not worth the cost.
After all, he knew Qiao Lun could summon more than just these two kinds of Nen Beasts.
There was another important point: he could clearly hear fighting inside the restaurant.
But the Nen Beast user and the Chain Killer he was worried about were both outside. Under these circumstances, defeating these two would naturally allow him to rescue the boss inside the restaurant.
He might even only need to hold them off to create an opportunity for more Phantom Troupe members to arrive and surround them.
But none of this was the most crucial matter. Most crucially, Shalnark could be certain of one thing: if these two were the ones who had killed Uvogin and Machi on the night of the first, then he and Pakunoda were the ones in danger now!
So today, he had to insert his antenna into himself!
"Fall back." Shalnark had figured everything out in an instant.
Pakunoda was not a combatant. In fact, her Nen Ability was more suited to support in battle, so Shalnark could only rely on himself now.
The Black Divine Dogs failed to bite Shalnark, but they did not bite the gang member either, because before their jaws snapped shut, Toad had swung its tongue and flung the controlled gang member away.
In Qiao Lun's view, aside from the Phantom Troupe members he had judged to be existences akin to Cursed Spirits, everyone else was worth saving.
Qiao Lun had also noticed the antenna on the gang member, so even after Toad flung him away, it did not release the tongue wrapped around him.
Because that tongue was the best restraint for him.
And keeping this man restrained was equivalent to wasting one of Shalnark's antennas.
Qiao Lun knew Shalnark's Nen Ability very well. With only two antennas, Shalnark had just one choice left: insert the antenna into himself and enter Autopilot Mode.
Everything went just as Qiao Lun had calculated.
Pakunoda, whom Shalnark had shielded behind him, also realized his intention immediately.
But she had no time to stop him-or rather, she had no reason to stop him now.
Still, Pakunoda had made preparations. Once their companions arrived to support them, she would use her ability to help Shalnark end his ability's active state.
Because Pakunoda knew perfectly well that Shalnark's Autopilot Mode would not stop until either he or his target was dead.
Only killing his opponent or being killed by them would stop this Autopilot Mode. This was Shalnark's true trump card, and his strongest state.
Boom!
The instant the phone antenna pierced Shalnark's body, golden Nen erupted from him, enveloping him completely.
Qiao Lun's expression turned serious at that moment as well.
"Leave him to me. You take the woman."
As he spoke, Qiao Lun was already moving. Cursed Energy reinforced his body in an instant, and the black and white Divine Dogs moved with him.
Kurapika naturally understood what Qiao Lun meant. The chain in his hand that had blocked the bullets shot out, attacking Pakunoda by the stairs.
Having entered Fully Autopilot Mode, Shalnark focused entirely on Qiao Lun.
The White Divine Dogs reached him first, but before their open jaws could bite down, Shalnark's foot struck their mouths.
The White Divine Dogs were sent flying by that powerful kick, but the Black Divine Dogs pouncing after them had already sunk their jaws around Shalnark's arm.
Yet the Black Divine Dogs' sharp teeth failed to penetrate Shalnark's defenses. Instead, Shalnark slammed his other fist into their heads.
As Qiao Lun charged over, he sensed something was wrong.
Shalnark did not seem like a Manipulation user at all now. He seemed more like an Enhancement user.
Could Shalnark's Autopilot Mode completely change his category, giving him the power to use Enhancement abilities at one hundred percent?
This should also be a form of power granted by "Vows and Limitations"!
As he thought this, Qiao Lun had already closed in on Shalnark and launched an attack.
Cursed Energy radiated outward, forming a protective layer around Qiao Lun like Shalnark's, except his was pale blue rather than golden.
With no intention of fighting one-on-one, Qiao Lun joined the Black and White Divine Dogs to fight Shalnark three-on-one, since Shalnark could not easily kill either of them.
And this was precisely the style of combat a Ten Shadows sorcerer excelled at.
As the saying went, two fists could not contend with four hands. Even though Shalnark was like an AI now, able to calculate every attack from Qiao Lun and the black and white Divine Dogs with precision, he simply could not block them all.
He could only keep increasing his Nen output to withstand the attacks that slipped through.
For a time, the two sides were expending energy at completely different rates, but the terrifying aspect of Shalnark's Autopilot Mode soon became apparent.
Despite this extreme expenditure of Nen, the amount of aura around him showed no sign of decreasing.
Qiao Lun knew Shalnark was overdrawing his aura. The more fiercely he expended it now, the harsher the backlash he would suffer once the ability ended.
Autopilot Mode could improve Shalnark's close-combat ability, even raising him directly to a level comparable to Uvogin without Big Bang Impact.
But that was all.
At full power, Qiao Lun could confront Uvogin head-on. Facing Shalnark now, whose explosive power and attack strength were both inferior to Uvogin's, with only slightly stronger defenses, he naturally could not fall behind.
Not to mention that Qiao Lun had kept something in reserve all along.
Three minutes into the battle, the Divine Dogs had begun watching from the sidelines, because Qiao Lun, now fully absorbed in combat, had activated Simple Domain.
In Jujutsu Kaisen, "Simple Domain" was an ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerer's core means of survival against "Domain Expansion."
This technique, created by simplifying the ancient secret art "Hollow Wicker Basket," centered on the user and deployed a small Cursed Energy vacuum bar-
rier circle with a radius of two meters.
Although its core effect was to neutralize a domain's guaranteed-hit effect, the deployed "Simple Domain" had another effect: enhancing close combat.
Within "Simple Domain," the circulation of Qiao Lun's own Cursed Energy accelerated, and reinforcing specific parts of his body or Cursed Tools became more efficient. It even helped him land consecutive Black Flashes.
And within "Simple Domain," Qiao Lun could also anticipate Shalnark's attacks!
This was an effect he had discovered after infusing Nen into "Simple Domain."
"Simple Domain" no longer sensed only Cursed Energy. It could sense Nen as well-or rather, the current "Simple Domain" was more like a high-level "En"!