Ging's condition, in the end, was still all for… Razor.
To turn an entire island into a theme-park game board and build a card-collection game powered by real Nen users, he needed a powerful Enhancement-type who could continuously supply Greed Island with Nen.
Of all the Enhancement-types Roy knew—Grandfather Zeno, Father Silva included—only Razor could really do that.
With his strength, he could stand firmly in the first tier, somewhere in the B-rank range, definitely no weaker than an average Ant squadron leader.
As for comparing him to Youpi, Neferpitou, or Shaiapouf—he might not quite reach their level, but he wouldn't be far off either. At the very least… he was not someone an undeveloped Franklin could hope to match.
"Mm."
Roy didn't comment directly. He forked a strip of bacon, browned evenly on both sides, into his mouth, raised his hand, and spread open Silva's Dark Continent Strategy Notes, reading as he ate.
Without looking up, he said,
"Book the tickets."
"They're booked. Airship tomorrow at noon. We'll arrive the next morning at ten."
"How's the handgun working for you?"
"Smooth as butter. If I ran into that Pariston goon, Clark, again now…"
Gotoh pushed his glasses up, confidence glinting behind the gold rims.
"It wouldn't take me a few minutes. I'd definitely kill him."
Clark—the fat one who'd followed Pariston during the Hunter Exam.
Roy opened his panel without changing expression. A single point of Faith sat quietly in his status.
He glanced toward Gotoh's panel.
[Notice: Your follower has grown stronger. Faith +1]
[Follower: Gotoh (Note: loyalty overflowing)]
[Physique: 217 → 224]
[Manifest Aura: D+ (9754/10000) → C- (420/100000)]
[Latent Aura: C- (1745/100000) → C- (2812/100000)]
[Rating: C-]
[Note: By Ant standards, your follower Gotoh has reached lower-tier squadron leader level.]
Lower-tier squadron leader… like the leopard that Silva had once one-punch killed descending from the sky?
Compared to before, Gotoh really had improved a lot. But when you held him up against the likes of Zazan in Meteor City or Hagya the lion-type ant who fought Morel, he was still far behind. The root of it was simple—his foundation was weak.
Ants have bloodline. They literally get stronger by eating. With devouring alone, they outstrip humans.
As one of only two true chief butlers in the Zoldyck family (besides Tsubone), Gotoh's innate talent was excellent by human standards—"one in ten thousand" wouldn't be an exaggeration.
But "one in ten thousand" is still only one in ten thousand. Compared to the "one in a hundred thousand, one in a million, one in ten million" monsters… the gap was huge.
That's talent. It hard-caps the ceiling. No matter how hard he tries, his lifetime limit is basically C-rank—unless…
Roy's eyes flashed.
He thought of Muzan. Of transforming someone's body with blood, reshaping them completely.
If Muzan could make Upper Moons, why couldn't the Sun raise "Angels" in place of "Demons"?
Breakfast ended quietly in the middle of all that thinking.
Roy dabbed his lips with a napkin and said,
"Keep it up. Also, we can start deploying our people in Meteor City. Buy ingredients on site in Yorknew, send our chefs out as a field team. Bump their pay grade up one level."
"Yes, sir."
Gotoh wrote it down, then risked a quick glance at Roy.
"Sir, how's that kid Kastro doing?"
Roy's smile turned a shade strange.
"Oh? You hoping he did well, or terribly?"
"Both."
Gotoh answered honestly.
"I hope he doesn't botch your business. I also hope he doesn't shine too brightly."
In other words… "Do well—but not too well."
He didn't add the rest out loud: And don't you dare threaten my place at the boss's side.
Roy couldn't help laughing. He flicked open Kastro's panel.
[Follower: Kastro (Note: absolute loyalty)]
[Physique: 187]
[Manifest Aura: D+ (4157/10000)]
[Latent Aura: C- (31248/100000)]
[Rating: D+]
[Note: By Ant standards, your follower Kastro has reached ordinary squad captain level.]
His ceiling: elite squadron leader.
Not quite on par with Youpi, Pitou, or Pouf, but with time and training, he'd be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with peak Hisoka, Chrollo, Uvogin, Nobunaga, and their ilk.
Not as good as Razor, perhaps.
But in terms of potential, still a notch above Gotoh.
"You'd better work hard," Roy told him mildly.
"I won't disappoint you, sir," Gotoh said, face solemn.
Roy nodded, let him tidy the plates and push the cart out, then turned back to the strategy notes.
He pinned down the coordinates of the "Home of the Disheartened," that human settlement for exiles in the Ougetsu Forest near the Samir Principality on the Dark Continent… then stood, heading to the bathroom for a quick shower and a stat dump before training.
Bolton: LV41 … Life Energy +120.
Illya: LV50 … Life Energy +150.
Those two alone could match a pair of Upper Moons. They'd definitely killed more people than Akaza or Hantengu ever had—who knew how many layers of filth and darkness had built up in their souls?
Which meant—using those two as conduits, the backlash from Nature was going to hit Roy harder than anything before.
He stripped off his shirt, turned on the shower, and let the water pour over him.
Deep breath.
He braced himself, ready to burn everything toxic with the Sun the second it surfaced, and then willed:
Empty it.
The panel chimed.
[Notice: Life Energy has been cleared. Physique +240…]
Roy's brow furrowed.
"Only 240?"
Had thirty points vanished into thin air?
The answer came with the pain.
A wave of agony tore through him—hair shedding, skin cracking, muscles ripping, cells dividing and restructuring.
Most notably:
The mitochondria responsible for cellular metabolism and apoptosis—the organelles that directly affected aging and lifespan—swelled and strengthened.
Roy clenched his jaw, a strange clarity rising in his mind.
It wasn't that the points were missing. His base was simply too solid now.
The same amount of fuel that once took him from 1 to 2 now barely nudged him from 8 to 8.2.
It's the difference between making an elephant grow one centimeter and making an ant grow one centimeter.
At his current level, he needed exponentially more energy for each incremental gain.
If he wanted to keep getting stronger, he'd need far more Life Energy—and far more Faith.
"Phew…"
Thirty seconds. A minute. A minute and a half. Two minutes…
The pain faded much more slowly than usual.
At about two and a half minutes in, a mass of "dark," twisted, insane negative emotions boiled out of his core—
And tried to devour his mind.
Roy's pupils burned with twin suns.
He invoked the Sun in his heart and let its light pour over those shadows.
"Gyaaaaaaa—"
The scream was purely psychic—a chorus of silhouettes writhing under the sunlight, melting away, leaving his inner world clean again.
He unclenched his jaw and spat out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
In the mirror, his frame was taller, muscles fuller and more dense.
He squeezed one fist.
Force detonated in his palm like a muffled thunderclap.
He glanced at the panel.
[Name: Roy Zoldyck]
[Physique: 631.8 → 871.8 (Note: normal human = 1)]
[Nen Ability: Door of Cognition]
[Manifest Aura: C- (17854/100000) → C (40517/100000)]
[Latent Aura: C (68741/100000) → C+ (27157/100000)]
[Form Change: Lv2 (584/1000)]
[Nature Change: Yang: Lv4 (42416/100000)… Yin: Lv2 (743/1000)… Fire: Lv3 (3451/10000)… Water: Lv3 (1450/10000)… Wind: Lv1 (94/100)… Earth: Lv2 (457/1000)…]
[Four Major Principles:
– Ten: Lv3 (3874/10000)
– Zetsu: Lv3 (6978/10000)
– Ren: Lv3 (2300/10000)
– Hatsu: Lv4 (7451/100000)]
[Martial Arts (Combat Experience): Lv3 (1540/10000)]
[Swordsmanship: Lv4 (9941/100000)]
[Techniques: Silent Gait, The Snake Awakens, Deception, Arm Regrowth, Swamp Space, Clone, Dream Imprint, Broad Dream Gate…]
[Title: One-Year Fruiting Apple Tree – Top C-Rank, approaching B-Rank]
By Ant standards, he was now above elite squadron leaders like Zazan and Hagya.
So roughly on par with "peak Hisoka" in raw fighting ability, Roy gauged, ignoring all the weirdness I've stacked on top.
He flexed experimentally, then shut off the shower and stepped out, pulling on a slightly larger, fresh training outfit Gotoh had prepared earlier.
He grabbed Yukizora and the cane sword, closed his bedroom door behind him, and headed down the corridor toward the training hall.
7:00 a.m.
The sun crested the horizon, painting the worn stone corridor in warm orange.
Roy's steps slowed.
Ahead, Zeno stood at a window, long white hair shifting in the breeze, the words "A Kill A Day, Never Retire" on his robe dancing along with him. His gaze was fixed on the garden, where a man and a pregnant woman walked side by side.
"Grandpa," Roy greeted.
Zeno turned his head, raised his chin, and lifted a brow.
"You've gotten taller again?"
Roy walked up to stand shoulder to shoulder with him, and indeed stood half a head higher.
"A little bit," he admitted.
"Think you'll be taller than your father?" Zeno asked.
"In which way?"
"Any way."
Roy thought of the father in his dream—stiff, awkward, but hugging him tightly—and chuckled.
"You don't need to bait me. My relationship with Father's fine. He hugged me just the other day."
Out in the garden, Silva's steps froze.
"Kikyo?" he heard.
"Hm? What's wrong?" Kikyo was hanging on his arm, huge belly round and firm, letting him half-carry her.
Silva's jaw twitched—almost imperceptibly—but he smoothed his face back into his usual sternness.
"…Let's go down the mountain today," he said. "Walk a bit further."
"Won't that be too far?"
"No. Just in the woods."
Anywhere, as long as it wasn't within his son's line of sight.
"If you say so."
As soon as she agreed, Silva scooped her up in his arms and practically sprinted out of the garden.
Zeno watched this with an odd expression, then glanced at the boy beside him, whose smile looked uncomfortably like Silva's.
"It seems some interesting things have happened that I don't know about," he muttered.
"Roy," he said, tilting his head up, "your little brother's about to be born. Why don't you pick a name."
Me?
"Your great-grandfather said, 'Whoever sees, has a share. Whoever names him best, we'll use that.'"
"This casual, huh…"
"Call him Killua," Roy said after a thought.
"Killua? What does it mean?"
"Nothing," Roy replied honestly. "It just popped into my head."
"You're unbelievably casual," said another voice.
Illumi walked up with his hands in his pockets, glancing at the two of them.
"I agree," he added. "Killua."
So casual it skipped the thinking process entirely.
Zeno: "…"
He rolled the name around on his tongue a few times, then walked off without another word.
Roy and Illumi were left walking side by side down the long corridor toward the training hall, each keeping firmly to his own side of the runner, never touching the center line.
A chill wind wound through the hall, stirring fallen leaves.
Illumi flicked his eyes over, noticing both swords at Roy's waist.
"You even have time to practice the blade?" he asked.
With the eight-million-volt divine-rod training, he clearly remembered that even though Roy had held out two minutes without fainting, he'd still been lying in the garden half the morning afterward.
No swords then.
"I just don't want them thinking I'm neglecting them," Roy said.
Ever since Yukizora awakened Bankai, Roy had realized that every blade that passed through his life, however plain, ugly, or dull, was bound to him.
They'd witnessed his past, his rise and fall.
Not for the sake of Bankai, but for the sake of memory, each became a small anchor driven into the bedrock of his self.
After the Meteor City fight through Taichi, Roy had decided he'd no longer treat them as disposable weapons.
Once he mastered reverse conjuration, he even planned to store all three blades in his inner world and never be parted from them again.
Yubashiri in one hand, the cane sword in the other, he walked, and Illumi spoke again.
"I can be your blade too," he said suddenly. "You point, I kill."
"What's the price?"
"Just don't neglect me," Illumi said. "Take me with you after."
Called it.
Roy's footwork flickered.
"Don't run!" Illumi snapped, dropping into Silent Gait and taking off after him.
One fleeing, one chasing—
Like when, in the Demon Slayer world, Rengoku chased Gyokko down a hall of pots and finally cut him in half in front of Hantengu.
The panel chimed.
[Faith +1]
~~~
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