Even though the human world possesses the supernatural power system known as Nen... Achieving healing effects that defy conventional logic remains extremely rare.
Typically, abilities capable of instantly healing severe injuries often require the recipient's lifespan as a cost.
If forced to explain with scientific theory, such abilities essentially accelerate cell division to its extreme, trading life expectancy for extraordinary healing speed.
Therefore, even for top medical experts like Cheadle, a Three-Star Hunter of the Hunter Association, the foundation of their medical skills still lies in solid theoretical knowledge and pharmaceutical research, rather than relying on supernatural healing abilities.
If it were truly possible to use Nen abilities to develop a universal cure for all diseases, how could Pro Hunters who have devoted their lives to medicine remain indifferent?
This is precisely why, although V5 publicly signed the treaty prohibiting exploration of the Dark Continent, they still secretly organize investigation teams to take action.
After all, among the five known hopes, the Herb for All-illnesses and the Nitro Rice are things that human leaders of various countries dream of obtaining.
Kurapika's chain healing ability, Holy Chain, is not the rarer, more conditionally demanding fantasy-type restoration ability either. When healing himself or a target, it can be achieved simply by overdrawing life.
Such healing abilities are typically only used in emergencies.
Moreover, according to common sense, if healing others, the cost of life depletion should theoretically be borne by the recipient themselves.
However, the birth of Nen abilities often depends on a person's individuality and character.
Someone like Kurapika would never let others bear the cost...
Now, to ensure Morrow's complete recovery, he's essentially staking his life.
Biscuit, witnessing this, could only sigh repeatedly in her heart.
She should understand Kurapika's personality and determination better than Morrow does, and she knows that the belief driving Kurapika forward is retrieving all his clansmen's scattered eyes.
She's even clearer that after retrieving his clansmen's eyes, Kurapika intends to dedicate everything he possesses to Morrow, including his life.
Now that Morrow has ended up in this state because of him... Whether out of guilt or the resolve to prioritize Morrow's life above all else... Kurapika uses his healing ability with the determination to sacrifice his life.
Based on this incredibly strong will, the upper limit of the healing ability breaks through, gaining the effect of regenerating severed limbs, though the efficiency is quite mediocre.
After about a week, plus Biscuit's assistance over the past two days, only two-thirds of the treatment has been completed.
But in fact, the root cause of such low efficiency in limb regeneration lies in the lingering will interference left by Beyond.
That willpower-based ability isn't only manifested in combat; it also has operational and materialization trait applications.
So, from an ability mechanism perspective, as long as Beyond's will and conviction strength remain at their peak... Then Morrow's injuries, under the interference of the lingering will, will find it difficult to heal and recover.
This is the fundamental reason why Beyond could be so certain that Morrow was no different from a dead man when he watched him escape. It could be said that Kurapika, empowered by the Scarlet Eyes bloodline, broke through the lingering effects of Beyond's ability with an even stronger will.
Kurapika had vaguely sensed this while treating Morrow.
Even though two-thirds of Morrow's limbs had regenerated, Kurapika's anxiety hadn't diminished in the slightest.
The reason was that a week had passed, yet Morrow showed no signs of waking up.
Kurapika's greatest concern was that this faint remnant of Beyond's power might damage or influence Morrow's mind or consciousness.
To minimize this potential risk, he had to race against time to completely purge these lingering traces of power from Morrow's body.
"Time's almost up, Kurapika."
Biscuit suddenly spoke up to remind him.
Kurapika, being rational, immediately withdrew his ability and deactivated his Scarlet Eyes upon hearing this.
The somewhat dim red glow in his eyes vanished instantly, followed by a tsunami-like wave of exhaustion crashing down on his mind and body.
Kurapika staggered twice, quickly reaching out to steady himself against a nearby table to avoid collapsing.
Biscuit was accustomed to Kurapika's state after overusing his ability and didn't attempt to assist him, instead silently conjuring Miss Cookie.
"Rest for a while."
She said to Kurapika, then gestured with her eyes for Miss Cookie to massage him.
Kurapika laboriously adjusted his chair and sat down, looking at Miss Cookie as she approached and murmuring, "Thank you."
Miss Cookie simply smiled faintly and began using her ability to massage Kurapika.
With her ability, Kurapika's current condition would recover in about an hour.
Biscuit watched from the side, opening her mouth as if to ask how much Kurapika had already sacrificed, but swallowed the words back.
There was no point in asking.
To wake Morrow, the treatment had to continue.
The stone room fell silent.
As time passed, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded from outside.
Both Kurapika and Biscuit reacted, but upon recognizing the sound of geta clacking against stone, they guessed who it was.
The only person who knew of this Unexplored Land and wore geta... Could only be Kalluto.
Kurapika and Biscuit simply listened to the urgent footsteps approaching from the teleportation point without taking further action.
Soon, the footsteps drew near.
They looked toward the entrance and saw Kalluto hurriedly barging in.
After entering, Kalluto quickly scanned Kurapika and Biscuit before noticing Morrow lying unconscious on the bed.
Without bothering to greet Kurapika and Biscuit, Kalluto flashed to the bedside, frowning deeply, his dark purple eyes filled with worry.
Though he could gauge Morrow's condition through changes in the living paper doll, the fact that the treatment had lasted nearly a week was enough to make Kalluto sense something was wrong.
Now, seeing Morrow with good complexion yet still unconscious... Kalluto's concerns were confirmed.
The only reassuring aspect was that Morrow's vital signs were normal.
"Are you confident?"
Kalluto's gaze swept over the clearly half-treated thigh before suddenly turning to look at Kurapika. Without asking what had happened, how Morrow was doing, or why he was still unconscious, Kalluto simply asked Kurapika if he was confident in waking Morrow up.
If any member of the Zoldyck Family had witnessed this scene, aside from Killua, most would have immediately guessed what Kalluto was thinking.
The exhaustion on Kurapika's face was unmistakable.
After his lifespan had drastically burned away, he appeared unchanged on the surface, but in reality, both his aura output and mental state had suffered severe depletion.
Facing Kalluto's question, Kurapika calmly replied, "Yes."
"And how are you holding up?"
Kalluto first breathed a sigh of relief, then showed concern for Kurapika's condition.
Kurapika softly said, "I'm fine. There's no need to worry about me."
Kalluto nodded, then walked over, took out several pieces of pale green sugar pancake from his bag, and gently placed them on the table in front of Kurapika.
"These are wasabi-flavored sugar pancakes. Last time, I noticed you ate quite a few, so I thought you might like them. I brought some for you on the way."
"Thank you."
Kurapika glanced at the pale green sugar pancakes before him and forced a faint smile.
Truthfully, the reason he had eaten so many wasabi-flavored sugar pancakes last time wasn't because he liked the flavor, but because he didn't want to seem impolite by refusing.
Kalluto simply placed the bag full of food on the table, then turned and returned to the bedside, silently observing Morrow's condition.
Another half an hour passed quickly.
Under the effects of Miss Cookie's massage ability, Kurapika's condition had mostly recovered. He directly activated Emperor Time again and used his chains to treat Morrow.
After a full day of intense effort, they finally managed to eliminate the last trace of the will-interference energy, and Morrow's limbs were perfectly restored.
Once the treatment was completely over, Kurapika, Biscuit, and Kalluto all fixed their gazes intently on Morrow's face.
They could see that the Ten enveloping Morrow's body was steady and strong, much like his usual state.
About ten seconds later, Morrow's eyes abruptly snapped open, and the first thing he saw were the three people gathered around his bed.
When he noticed Biscuit and Kalluto, he couldn't help but feel a bit surprised.
The sensation of waking up felt no different from waking from a normal sleep.
But the presence of Biscuit and Kalluto was enough to indicate that he had likely been unconscious for some time.
"Huh?"
Morrow sat up and, upon seeing his limbs fully intact, felt a sudden jolt in his chest, then frowned.
Given the severity of his injuries at the time, as long as Kurapika's healing ability was available, survival shouldn't have been an issue.
But he hadn't expected to be unconscious for so long.
Now, with his limbs fully restored, it was highly likely that Kurapika had used an extraordinary level of healing ability on him.
Just thinking about that possibility made Morrow shudder to imagine how much of Kurapika's lifespan had been burned away.
"Kurapika, how long was I unconscious?"
"Eight days."
Kurapika replied.
Morrow's expression shifted slightly, and he exclaimed in disbelief, "That long?"
"Yes. Your injuries weren't severe enough to warrant such a long period of unconsciousness. The person who attacked us left a kind of negative energy similar to spiritual energy on your body."
Perhaps because Morrow had finally woken up, Kurapika seemed much more relaxed as he calmly explained, "So Master Biscuit believes that person's ability may be related to mental or willpower."
Morrow's gaze sharpened, and he turned to look at Biscuit.
Biscuit crossed her arms and explained, "Generally speaking, this type of ability mostly falls under Enhancement, and it usually only affects the user without being able to interfere with others. Based on Kurapika's description, it doesn't seem like pure Enhancement, but I can't be entirely certain."
"Is that so..."
A contemplative look flashed in Morrow's eyes as he recalled the previous battle and thought of the disappearance of those negative memories in the consciousness space.
Could it be that Beyond's mental or will-based ability accidentally helped clear away those negative memories? Or did those negative memories unknowingly take a hit for him?
Well, there's no point dwelling on it now.
What's more important...
Morrow stopped pondering the ability and turned his gaze to Kurapika.
Kurapika's eyes were calm and resolute, as if he could guess what Morrow was about to say. He spoke first:
"Morrow, I'm grateful to have this ability... Actually, Holy Chain has another Limitation; if I feel even a hint of regret in my heart, it simply won't activate."
Upon hearing this, not only was Morrow slightly moved, but even Kalluto and Biscuit turned their attention to Kurapika.
A Holy Chain without regrets...
Biscuit sighed inwardly: What a pure resolve.
Morrow remained silent for a moment, then got out of bed and walked straight to the door.
"Come with me for a moment, Kurapika."
"Alright."
Kurapika's expression remained calm as he followed Morrow.
Seeing this, Kalluto, who had recklessly run away from home to come here, felt a bit upset that Morrow hadn't asked him a single word since waking up.
But then he remembered that Morrow's current reaction was due to the Limitation on Kurapika's ability, so he suppressed his unhappy feelings.
As Morrow and Kurapika walked out of the stone house one after the other, Kalluto rushed to the door and peeked out, trying to eavesdrop.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Biscuit also sneakily peeking out from the other side of the door, watching Morrow and Kurapika outside.
Knowing Biscuit's true age, Kalluto felt speechless.
—--
Outside the stone house.
Morrow stopped by the stone table and asked, "Are your clansmen's eyes safe?"
"Yes."
Kurapika replied softly, "Within the next couple of days, I'll take the eyes to their resting place."
"And after that?"
Morrow pressed suddenly.
Kurapika fell silent for a long moment before slowly raising his eyes, his gaze tinged with hesitation and inquiry. "Morrow, in the days to come... I'd like to stay at the resting place to guard them. Is that alright?"
"Is that all?"
Morrow asked again.
Kurapika nodded.
Morrow looked into Kurapika's dimmed eyes and asked, "So, are you giving up on the promise you made with Pairo?"
Kurapika was taken aback but didn't voice the question in his heart, understanding the intent behind Morrow's words.
He didn't answer the last question, merely whispering in a tone so calm it was almost resigned, "There might be some regret, but Pairo can no longer hear my answer, and my time... is running out."
This time, it was Morrow's turn to fall silent for a moment, keeping certain thoughts to himself before abruptly changing the subject. "How is Chimera?" he asked.
Upon hearing Morrow's inquiry, Kurapika instinctively glanced toward a nearby tree.
Beneath that tree lay a basketball-sized, veined fleshy egg of unknown origin. Its surface was gray and hard, almost resembling a stone.
—--
At the same time.
In a vast, sprawling forest, a massive nest shaped like a twisted hand rose from the dense woodland.
It was a Chimera Ant nest, enlarged countless times.
There didn't seem to be much reaction time left...
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Bonus chapter @600power stones