The sky above Meteor City was obscured by countless Nen bullets, pouring down like a torrential rain across various parts of the city.
Each Nen bullet was only the size of an adult's fist, but the energy it contained was comparable to that of a grenade, triggering violent explosions upon impact.
Buildings in Meteor City's core district collapsed under the relentless bombardment, with smoke, dust, and flames swiftly engulfing large sections of the streets.
Faced with this indiscriminate area-of-effect assault, Meteor City's armed forces, even equipped with sophisticated firearms, were utterly powerless to retaliate.
They could only flee the bombing zones in panic, just like the ordinary residents.
Only the Nen users led by the Elders could barely manage to put up some resistance.
However, the number of Shooting Stars was simply too vast, and they were too scattered.
Even with their full efforts to intercept, they could only block a portion of the Nen bullets.
At this moment, it felt as if doomsday had descended upon Meteor City.
Rage, terror, despair. No matter what emotions surged in the hearts of Meteor City's people, they ultimately transformed into a profound sense of powerlessness.
They gazed up at the sky, yet were unable to prevent the disaster from unfolding.
High above, Morrow's expression remained calm as he slowly condensed a third Shooting Star in his right hand.
With absolute air superiority, he could use the Ko technique to unreservedly channel all his aura output into the Shooting Star.
"Shooting Star: Star Rain."
With a casual toss, the intensely condensed Shooting Star abruptly split apart high in the sky, transforming into a shower of stars that rained down upon the town below.
This was the third wave of bombardment.
But it was far from enough.
Morrow's objective in coming here was to completely exhaust all his potential aura.
Only by dealing a swift and painful blow to Meteor City would those who advocated for vengeance truly understand what real terror and powerlessness felt like.
And indeed, that was exactly what happened.
When faced with the first wave of the star rain bombardment, the Nen users led by the Elders initially felt rage.
But as the second and third waves of star rain fell, the anger on their faces was replaced by panic and confusion.
Then came the fourth and fifth waves.
Large swathes of the town's districts turned into ruins under the explosions, and the armed forces equipped with sophisticated firearms could only fall helplessly amid the flames, powerless to resist.
There were no countermeasures.
Everyone could see the source of the attack hovering high in the sky, yet they were unable to stop the relentless downpour of star rain.
So, in the end, the Elders and other Nen users could only endure the torment of feeling completely powerless.
'...'
Amid the silent stillness, the Nen users inside the church continued to do their best to intercept the Shooting Star Nen bullets falling around them.
But this effort was ultimately futile.
If anything, it at least helped preserve this church that symbolized their faith.
Boom...
The sound of explosions echoed incessantly in their ears.
For the people of Meteor City, time had never passed so slowly.
After the tenth wave of star rain bombardment, the dark figure high in the sky finally fell still.
But soon, a tiny dark figure plummeted from the sky.
The Nen users on the church dome focused their gaze, and someone quickly recognized the figure.
"It's Slick!"
A Nen user with exceptional eyesight shouted first. The figure was one of the members who had participated in the retaliatory action against Kurapika some time ago.
When the identity of the fallen figure became clear, everyone present understood who the attacker was.
The Elders' faces darkened like iron, yet they lacked even the strength for anger.
"Catch him."
One of the Elders spoke through gritted teeth.
As his words fell, a figure shot upward, catching the still-conscious Slick, whose limbs were completely broken, mid-air before landing steadily back on the church dome.
The crowd immediately gathered around.
"It seems you're the only one left from the retaliation squad."
The eldest Elder asked in a hoarse voice, "Did they spare you specifically to deliver a message?"
Slick's Adam's apple bobbed weakly. "Yes..."
"Speak!"
Another Elder's eyes flashed with cold light.
'...'
Struggle flickered across Slick's face, but under the Elders' icy gazes, his lips finally trembled as he relayed the words Morrow had forced him to bring.
"We... We reject no one, so take nothing from us... R-rats should know their place in the sewers."
'...'
After Slick's words, the area fell into dead silence.
The Elders' faces shifted between pale and flushed in the firelight.
High above, on Chimera's back, Morrow condensed the final Deceptive Shooting Star in his palm.
The previous star rain bombardment hadn't involved any special mechanisms. They were all standard Emission attacks channeling his full aura output.
But this Shooting Star was different, a Deceptive Shooting Star whose power would multiply through ricochets.
In truth, Slick had already been implanted with a Star Mark before being thrown down.
As for how Morrow implanted the Star Mark without Slick's awareness... It was simple.
Morrow's current Starlight Convergence allowed him to remotely implant Star Marks on ordinary people while maintaining his ability activation.
This mechanism worked on Nen users as well.
Of course, the ability's effect required the Nen user to be unconscious, thus losing their aura's protection.
Morrow had implanted the Star Mark on Slick while he was unconscious.
Now, the Star Mark on Slick would provide guidance for Morrow's Deceptive Shooting Star.
「Deceptive Shooting Star」
Morrow swung his arm upward. The two-meter-wide phosphorescent green Shooting Star soared skyward, hovering at a hundred meters before Nen energy churned violently across its surface, causing it to abruptly expand to four meters.
The next instant, it plunged downward, trailing a long phosphorescent green tail.
Against the night sky, the Shooting Star carved a blinding arc through the air like a comet, precisely locking onto Slick atop the church dome.
"What's that...!?"
The phosphorescent green light illuminated the night. Nearly simultaneously, the Nen users on the dome looked up, their pupils instantly flooded with the green glow.
The dark canopy had been torn open by a glaring light trail. Though still distant, the powerful Nen wave pressed down on them like gravity.
With just one glance, tidal waves of shock surged through everyone.
Absolutely unblockable!
This instinctual judgment rang like a life-alarm bell.
"SCATTER!!!"
Someone screamed in terror.
No one responded.
Because upon seeing the massive Nen bullet descending like a comet, every person's body had reacted faster than their thoughts, scattering in panic like startled birds.
The Nen user who had been carrying Slick earlier threw him down like a hot potato and frantically fled from the church.
"Take me with you! Take me with you!!!"
Slick crashed onto the church dome, his pupils reflecting the rapidly approaching death comet. The eerie green glow illuminated his deathly pale face, making him look like a ghost.
Boom!
The moment the fluorescent green shooting star touched Slick, his outline rapidly melted and vanished like wax in the intense light.
Upon impact, the surrounding air violently distorted.
Immediately after, a fluorescent green shockwave erupted from Slick as the epicenter.
In an instant, both Slick and the nearby stained glass windows were engulfed and vaporized by the intense light.
The subsequent shockwave swept through, causing the entire church to crumble layer by layer like fragile biscuits.
The stones that broke apart from the structure turned to dust before even hitting the ground.
As the entire church rapidly disintegrated in the fluorescent glow, the blinding halo carried by the shockwave continued to spread outward.
Everything in its path was annihilated by the intense energy.
The fleeing Nen users were soon struck by the sweeping shockwave, all sent flying higher like kites with cut strings, pushed by the blast wave.
In the districts farther from the church, the people of Meteor City watched with terror as the explosive aftermath surged skyward.
When the explosion subsided, a crater now stood where the church had been.
The ultimate destructive power of Emission was unmistakably displayed at this moment.
Those Nen users blasted away by the shockwave, being at a distance from the epicenter, managed to use their Nen to withstand the impact.
However, a few less skilled unlucky ones suffered severe internal injuries, left with only a breath of life.
The others who narrowly survived struggled to their feet from the rubble, staring blankly at the crater that had replaced the church and surrounding buildings.
This terrifying Emission attack... Perhaps this was the real warning.
The opponent was undoubtedly a complete monster.
Elder and the other Nen users laboriously shifted their gaze upward.
Under the cover of night, the shadow hovering high above was no longer visible.
'...'
From this moment on, Meteor City's 'unwavering retaliation' would become a joke.
And those newly selected Phantom Troupe members felt an overwhelming shadow cast over them today.
—--
Beyond the garbage dump piled mountain-high, several black cars were parked on the road adjacent to the forest.
A group of people in black suits who stepped out of the cars stared in shock at the Meteor City town in the distance, where towering flames and black smoke rose.
These people were all subordinates of the Ten Dons.
Although the Ten Dons hadn't completely broken with Meteor City, they had no intention of making things easy for them.
Cutting off resource trade was one measure.
Allowing gang members to hunt Meteor City residents in the garbage dump was meant to make Meteor City pay the price.
However, these gang members had just arrived when they witnessed the astonishing scene of Meteor City being bombarded.
This level of Nen...
A one-eyed woman with slicked-back hair and an open shirt revealing her pale chest found it hard to remain calm after witnessing the powerful Emission attack that descended like a comet.
She was a new member of the Shadow Beasts, codenamed Gray Snake.
Previously, Morrow had killed several members of the Shadow Beasts.
However, the mafia empire controlled by the Ten Dons spanned across ten districts on six continents, with thousands of mafia subordinates.
Their proud Shadow Beast Squad was merely the ten strongest members selected from the mafia ranks.
In other words, even if the Shadow Beast Squad suffered losses, the Ten Dons could continue selecting suitable successors from the mafia.
Thus, the number of Shadow Beast members had always remained constant at ten.
Nevertheless, Nen users like Worm and Porcupine, whom Morrow killed, weren't easily replaceable.
Gray Snake was a new Shadow Beast successor, but she originally served as a personal bodyguard for the Ten Dons.
It was only to quickly replenish the numbers of the Shadow Beasts, which represented the mafia's strongest force, that the Ten Dons assigned her to fill one of the positions.
In reality, although the Shadow Beasts were publicly declared as the Ten Dons' strongest unit, there were many other skilled Nen users in the mafia besides them.
These Nen users had different responsibilities from the Shadow Beasts, primarily focusing on personally protecting the Ten Dons.
That's why during the original Yorknew incident, Illumi needed to spend a fortune to hire his great-grandfather Maha to assist in the assassination mission against the Ten Dons.
Without Maha's support, it would have been absolutely impossible for Illumi alone to complete the assassination mission faster than Silva and Zeno while dealing with a group of Nen user bodyguards.
Although Gray Snake was transferred from being a personal bodyguard to a Shadow Beast member, she understood the cause of her predecessors' deaths and knew that the Nen user who killed the former Shadow Beast members was a powerful Emission ability user named Morrow.
Now, seeing the star rain attack that was equivalent to his signature Emission ability, Gray Snake could immediately confirm this even without seeing Morrow.
What a monster.
Gray Snake's expression turned grave.
That terrifying destructive power completely surpassed her understanding of Emission ability users.
In comparison, the Emission replacement in the Shadow Beast Squad was simply not worth mentioning.
Meteor City has really kicked a hornet's nest.
Gray Snake took a deep breath, trying hard to calm down.
She knew the full story behind the previous Yorknew Auction incident and was aware of Meteor City's vengeful nature.
She assumed that various retaliatory actions had angered that powerful Emission monster, leading to today's disastrous bombardment.
But then she remembered that her bosses, besides targeting Meteor City, had also considered getting back at Morrow.
They just hadn't taken action because there had been no information about Morrow's whereabouts.
Thinking of this, Gray Snake couldn't help but frown.
Before today, she was merely a subordinate following orders, unable to interfere with her bosses' decisions.
From her perspective, she didn't see any problem with her bosses' decisions either.
After all, the mafia always valued face, and the Yorknew Auction was their most important event. How could they simply let it go?
But now, having witnessed that disastrous Emission destructive power firsthand, Gray Snake's first reaction was to advise her bosses not to provoke Morrow again.
However, as a subordinate, Gray Snake had no authority to interfere with the Ten Dons' decisions.
She might even anger the Ten Dons by speaking her mind directly.
All she could do was truthfully report everything she witnessed today to the Ten Dons.
--------------
End-of-Chapter Bonus Scene:
Killua, who had advanced to the 200th floor with a perfect record, unfortunately encountered Hisoka in his first match.
But relying on the mechanics of his 'Godspeed' ability, Killua still had confidence in defeating Hisoka.
Yet he made a shocking discovery. Hisoka was a rubber man!!!