Space trembled incessantly.
Streaks of radiant Flow shimmered in the air, brimming with mystique.
Palkia's body was a pale violet adorned with dark purple stripes. On its shoulders rested disc-like structures embedded with pearls, each encircled by gray rings.
When channeling spatial energy, the luminous Flow intertwined with the pearls' glow, creating a mesmerizing spectacle.
With another motion, Palkia caused the newly formed space to collapse and vanish entirely.
But its dominion wasn't limited to the spaces it created—even the native space of the Hunter World could be erased at its whim.
It had become the entity that reshaped space itself in this world.
Akira's eyes burned with fervor.
Since the ability to create space has already been tested, the next step is to try traversing space.
According to the information conveyed by Palkia, one can go almost anywhere in this world.
It's just a matter of thought.
Hmm...
'Looks like Porygon-Z might be out of a job?'
...
On an island within the imaginary continent.
Located at the mid-section of Mobius Lake, Area 957 is prone to encounters with bizarre creatures.
The island has sparse vegetation, mostly rocky terrain with jagged boulders everywhere.
These small mountains have eerie, treacherous shapes—what appears to be a flat mountain path might suddenly drop into a cliff after just a few steps.
Falling from such cliffs would leave even skilled Nen Ability users severely injured, if not dead on the spot.
And within these terrains, troublesome [disasters] are abundant.
On the rugged mountain path,
Netero walked alone.
Unlike the flat islands with only rainforests at the beginning, islands with this kind of terrain are particularly troublesome.
Because dangers can hide more easily.
Thus, the advance team would need to spend more time and effort to handle them one by one.
The tactic he was employing now was baiting.
By not concealing his presence and making himself obvious, he lured hidden dangers into exposing themselves.
After taking a few steps forward,
Netero quietly halted, the corners of his lips curling slightly.
The next moment, he lightly tapped his toes, leaping into the air like a wild goose.
Where he had just stood, a slender, Snakeine creature burst forth violently.
Its body was covered in countless hard rocks, its head shaped like a shovel, capable of easily tunneling through the earth.
Yet, despite its massive size, this creature was actually a mutated earthworm.
Such a spectacle was rarely seen on the six continents.
No one had ever heard of earthworms growing to such proportions—it was truly horrifying.
In an instant, the ground began to tremble violently.
As if a Golza were emerging from beneath, even the nearby peaks shook uncontrollably.
Every creature on the island could feel this earth-shattering disturbance.
Looking around,
one after another, gigantic mutated earthworms erupted from the ground, charging toward Netero in the air like soaring dragons.
Such a spectacular sight.
Made those who witnessed it on the island break into a cold sweat.
Netero's eyes gleamed with amusement.
His robust hands slowly traced two semicircles in the air, leaving afterimages—their speed neither fast nor slow.
"Thud!"
A barely audible sound of impact rang out.
Netero's palms came together perfectly.
In that instant, a circular golden light erupted from Netero's center, shining with blinding brilliance!
Like an ever-expanding golden moon, it slowly rose behind Netero.
Within moments, it grew from the size of a person to nearly the scale of the nearby mountain peaks.
Suddenly, Netero was enveloped in countless warm golden rays.
This radiance carried a sacred aura.
A majestic, towering golden Guanyin statue appeared, adorned with thousands of arms.
Each arm moved differently, not a single motion repeated.
Bathed in the golden light, Netero's body took on a golden hue, his entire demeanor transforming instantly.
As if he had transcended the mundane, no longer part of this turbid world.
This was Netero's Nen Ability—the culmination of his lifetime of martial wisdom!
[Hyakushiki Kannon]!
Ever since consuming the Nitro Rice gifted by Akira, Netero's physical capabilities had greatly recovered.
The power of his [Hyakushiki Kannon] had also ascended to new heights.
At the same time, the burden of using Zero Hand had significantly lessened—no longer leaving him immobilized after execution.
A colossal Kannon statue loomed over the battlefield, its invisible aura enveloping the swarm of giant earthworms below.
"I really must thank you properly~"
"Akira."
As soon as he spoke, countless golden hand blades descended like a storm.
The towering, thousand-armed Kannon statue, resembling a giant mech, relentlessly struck downward.
In an instant, countless palm strikes materialized one after another in the sky.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless rocks shattered, pulverized into fine dust, scattering in all directions.
Thick clouds of dust, mixed with tiny fragments of stone, formed a raging storm of debris, completely engulfing the entire area.
Every strike from the thousand-armed Kannon possessed the destructive force of a missile.
Yet, Netero unleashed these attacks as effortlessly as a machine gun.
Under such a relentless and overwhelming assault, even the hardest rocks were reduced to nothingness, carried away by the shockwaves of each palm strike.
The mutated giant earthworms below suffered devastating blows—their prideful exoskeletons shattered by the massive palm blades.
Then, their very bodies were obliterated.
In mere moments, the once-menacing swarm of earthworms was completely wiped out.
Their remains mixed with the swirling dust and debris, ground into nothingness by the attacks akin to a meat grinder.
Moments later.
Netero slowly lowered his hands, landing atop a mountain peak as he calmly surveyed the devastation he had wrought.
The once-towering mountain had been flattened—even sunken—forming a new valley.
Within that valley, turbulent yellow dust and the scattered flesh of the giant earthworms filled the air.
This should have been the end of it.
However.
Netero's heart suddenly jolted. His eyes widened as he stared intently at the ground below.
There was nothing there but bare, rocky terrain.
Yet in the next instant, the earth began to tremble—far more violently than before!
The entire island shook as if in the throes of an earthquake, the tremors more intense than ever.
Countless rocks tumbled down the mountains, sending the Nen users below fleeing toward the island's edges in panic.
To an uninformed observer, it might have seemed as though the island itself was awakening to purge these invaders.
Then, the very spot Netero had been staring at suddenly collapsed, forming a massive crater five to six meters in diameter.
A gigantic hand emerged from within.
It was a colossal hand made of solid rock. With a powerful push against the ground, the rest of its body followed, forcing its way out.
The earth split apart, torn open by sheer force, allowing the rock giant to emerge.
Only when it fully surfaced could Netero take in its complete form.
The rock giant was enormous—its arm alone measured over twenty meters in length.
But that was nearly its full height.
Because it had no lower body—only an upper half.
A head, two arms, and a torso.
That was its entire structure.
Even so, its sheer size was awe-inspiring. With a mere squeeze of its hand, it could crush a small mountain peak.
Like a child crushing foam, solid rock turned to dust in its grip.
Then trickled away between its fingers.
This thing… was no pushover!Netero's expression was serious, yet it also revealed unmistakable excitement.
Although the Imaginary Continent wasn't as exaggerated as the Dark Continent, finding a suitable opponent wasn't easy.
The early islands had no bizarre creatures, making them ideal for a straightforward, exhilarating battle.
However, the overall strength there was generally low, leaving him unsatisfied.
The later islands were mostly filled with various strange and troublesome creatures, with few suitable for a head-on clash.
Thus, there were truly not many that could meet his conditions.
This Rock Giant, though somewhat peculiar in appearance with only half a body, clearly followed a "hardcore" path—perfect for him to enjoy a full-fledged fight.
The Rock Giant had a single stone eye on its face, which rolled once before fixing its gaze on Netero atop the hill.
Its eye brimmed with an intense desire to devour.
It wanted to eat Netero!
The reason it only had half a body was that it hadn't yet absorbed enough energy.
Thus, it had remained underground for a long time, replenishing itself by absorbing the energy of ores.
Today, Netero's actions had alerted it to the presence of high-energy fluctuations, prompting it to emerge from the ground.
The Rock Giant slammed the ground with a mighty strike, instantly leaving a massive palm imprint.
Then, its rocky hand reached straight for Netero, aiming to grab him and toss him into its mouth to devour.
Netero's muscles tensed, his Aura swirling around him as his momentum grew fiercer.
But just as he prepared to strike, an unexpected change occurred on the battlefield.
Whoosh—
The Rock Giant's body was as if it had been sliced a thousand times, instantly reduced to countless fragments.
At the same time, a chaotic void rift appeared where it stood, banishing its remains into the spatial turbulence.
This was terrifying spatial power!
"What is this?!"
Netero's pupils contracted, his heart jolting in shock.
"Old man, don't worry."
"It's me."
A familiar voice sounded from beside him.