Outside the research base.
Bergel walked out with Kevin.
As soon as they stepped out, Kevin saw dust rising in the distance, which was now slowly dissipating.
The place where the dust rose must have been the location from which the roaring sound had just come.
"What happened over there? Is there a battle going on?" Kevin asked.
He could faintly smell gunpowder in the air, and besides some armored vehicles, he could also see main battle tanks here.
The roaring sound he had heard earlier sounded very much like artillery fire.
Bergel did not explain directly but pointed forward: "You'll know when you see it."
Not long after, the roar of engines came from the forest, and a large amount of dust rose on the road. Soon, a huge towing vehicle pulling a flatbed trailer slowly drove out.
The flatbed trailer was carrying a giant "insect."
This insect was extremely large, comparable in size to several elephants pieced together.
It looked like it belonged to the beetle family, its outer shell covered by a single piece of carapace studded with sharp spikes. In front of its head antennae, it even grew an exaggerated horn like a rhinoceros.
Judging solely by its appearance, if it were lying normally on the ground, its entire body would be protected within its carapace.
"When I left, the monster ravaging this area wasn't this kind of insect, right?"
Kevin said, then carefully examined the appearance of this beetle; he felt as if he had seen this kind of insect in a book before.
"Charge Armor?" he asked tentatively, his tone carrying a hint of doubt, not daring to be completely sure.
Bergel nodded.
"That's right, no need to doubt it. This thing is a Charge Armor, or rather, a biological weapon modified based on a Charge Armor."
The Charge Armor was originally a large insect, with a normal size about the size of a human head, and the largest known size was no more than twice its normal size.
Such a size could already be considered huge among insects.
This type of beetle moves extremely fast; when preying, it relies on its front horn and uses the speed of its own charge to launch an attack.
Its fully encapsulating carapace can well resist external damage, preventing it from being targeted by external enemies; only a very few natural predators can prey on them.
And what is truly tricky is that these beetles live in family units, meaning that once they appear, they mostly form a charge formation of several individuals.
If one is not careful, even a human could easily have their leg bones broken, hence the name "Charge Armor."
Now, the size of the Charge Armor in front of them was somewhat exaggerated.
Its size had increased by more than dozens of times; previously, the power of its charge might have been like a thrown shot put.
But now, its impact force could be completely compared to a truck driving at full speed, and coupled with its fully encompassing shell and the exaggerated horn in front, the danger level had risen to the extreme.
"So the main trouble you are facing now is this modified Charge Armor?" Kevin asked.
However, Bergel shook his head.
He said: "No, the main trouble is still the culprit behind the massacre you encountered when you left."
This time, without waiting for Kevin to ask, Bergel slowly began to recount the situation after he had left.
"After you left, we set out to search for the tracks of that monster, and we soon made a discovery and saw it with our own eyes.
"That guy is definitely man-made; the moment we saw it, we were sure. And it is very cunning; after discovering us, it didn't launch an attack but fled immediately. At that time, there were only three of us."
These three people were undoubtedly the current Bergel, White Tree, and Sant, the three Nen Users.
The massacre Kevin had seen before resulted in over a dozen deaths, and more than half were soldiers armed with firearms.
This showed that the monster had clearly sensed the dangerous aura on Bergel and the others, so it chose to flee without hesitation.
This not only indicated that this creature had keen intuition but also reflected that it was quite intelligent.
"And its size has also increased, even larger than White Tree had estimated. At first, we thought it was because the traces left at the time were not accurate enough.
"But later, when we found new traces again, we deduced that its size was even larger than what we had seen before.
"The further these traces went, the larger the size they indicated; it is growing at an unimaginable speed."
Hearing this, Kevin frowned and couldn't help but ask: "So you still haven't caught it?"
Bergel shook his head regretfully: "We were too careless. When we confirmed it was a man-made product, we instinctively thought someone was controlling it.
"Our attention shifted to the controller because it behaved too intelligently. Do you understand what I mean?"
Kevin nodded, indicating he could understand.
After all, to completely solve the problem, just eliminating this biological creation was certainly not enough. It was necessary to eradicate the organization behind this trouble; otherwise, the time and energy spent would be meaningless.
Moreover, from Bergel's description, this monster behaved like a human, making them feel like they were dealing with a person.
"But as I just said, we were careless. This monster is not controlled by humans at all; it was simply released here.
"It disrupted the ecological balance here, and these beetles you see are actually creatures that were released into this area along with it.
"It's just that the release locations were far apart, and they grew too fast, so we didn't notice at the time.
"These released beetles are food specifically provided to nourish that monster."
So that was it.
According to Bergel's account, that monster grew extremely fast and must have required sufficient nutrition.
Although this was a nature reserve, there were not enough large animals to provide the nutrients it needed. Even if this monster were powerful, its predation range was limited, and the arrival of such a food chain disruptor would inevitably trigger a chain reaction.
Other animals would naturally flee for survival. Under these circumstances, the monster might face the problem of malnutrition.
And at such times, this monster might migrate, continuing to go to other places to carry out the same destruction until it made a mess of everywhere it passed.
But the organization behind the creation of this monster obviously had a plan, so they released these modified "food" items here along with it. They clearly wanted to keep it confined to this area.
"Compared to that monster, these exaggeratedly sized Charge Armor are the true ecological destroyers. They are omnivorous creatures; you should understand the reason why they can grow to such a size."
Eating everything, they might gnaw the originally lush forest into a wasteland.
Speaking of this, Bergel shook his head irritably. For a Hunter like him who was committed to protecting the ecology, such guys who destroyed the ecological environment were the most disgusting, and they operated in family units, and there were quite a few of them.
"So what specifically do you want me to help you with?" Kevin asked curiously. "Is it to launch an investigation into the organization behind it, track down and eliminate that monster, or clean up these beetles?"
Hearing this, Bergel smiled.
"The organization behind it, in essence, does not really need us to worry about."
Looking at Kevin's questioning gaze, Bergel explained: "Although I am not very clear about the specific situation, one thing is certain: behind it is an international criminal organization.
"The situation we are encountering now is not an isolated case; these kinds of modified creatures they released have appeared on several continents.
"After several affected countries jointly issued instructions, the Hunter Association headquarters has already dispatched several Zodiacs members and relevant Hunters to investigate."
Bergel himself could also be considered a member of the relevant group, but because of his own responsibilities, he was still here dealing with the problems related to this side.
Kevin nodded in sudden realization: "In other words, we don't need to take the initiative to investigate that organization; dealing with the impact they caused is what we should do?"
Bergel nodded: "That's right, we are now considered to be involved in this matter. After it ends, based on the size of our contribution, we will receive corresponding rewards."
After speaking, he looked at Kevin, a smile appearing on his face: "Don't you need that kind of material? On these modified creatures, there might very well be the materials you need."
"Even if we don't have it here, other places will. After all, this is an international organization. Based on your contributions, you can always obtain the materials you want."
Kevin nodded, having to admit that he was somewhat tempted.
More importantly, this was related to the divination result.
『Brand your purpose into the astrolabe; the favorable wind will guide the sailing ship. Do not easily raise the anchor once it is dropped. Do not look back; the berry guided by seagulls hides the pearl you seek.』
This was the divination poem Neon gave him when he left.
Because it was the end of the month, there was only this stanza.
It looked complex in meaning, but for the person being divined, the more important or dangerous the information, the more difficult it was to interpret.
This poem did not reveal any words of danger, nor did it contain symbolic references.
This meant that this information was quite important to Kevin.
"Fine, I agree. So you want me to help hunt the Charge Armor and that monster?"
Bergel nodded: "Although I am not very clear about your Nen Ability, judging by your physical fitness and the aura you emit, you are clearly someone skilled in head-on combat.
The current problem is that the situation right now lacks someone like you who can fight head-on."
This was the reason Bergel hoped for Kevin's assistance.
Whether it was that monster or the Charge Armor, they both required someone with strong head-on combat capabilities to restrain them; otherwise, it was simply too dangerous for them.
Because these creatures were too cunning, tracking or setting traps was extremely easy to alert them.
The Charge Armor were okay; after all, they were insects and not very smart, but their sheer numbers were overwhelming.
Dealing with them one by one was not easy.
Moreover, they couldn't clear too many at once; after all, they needed to keep that monster here.
If they cleared too many Charge Armor and there was no food, that monster would flee.
In that way, they would lose track of it, making things even more troublesome.
Looking at the Charge Armor being dragged on the flatbed cart, Kevin smiled: "Heh, no problem."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a rumbling sound came from afar.
The soldiers began to shout.
"Quick! Drive the tank over there; the damn bugs are here again!" A man who looked like a commander poked his head out of an armored vehicle and shouted loudly.
Watching this sudden situation, Bergel turned to look at Kevin, a subtle, meaningful smile on his face.
Kevin didn't hesitate either; he stretched his body and walked in the direction the sound was coming from.
"They arrived just in time."
"Set up the interception nets! Quickly, lay out the traps. Stop it temporarily for now. Everyone, don't bunch up, spread out!"
"Traps with—"
Before the soldier could finish his sentence, he felt his shoulder being tapped, and then he was pulled aside.
The soldiers blocking the way stepped aside one after another.
Kevin just walked past them in an open, straightforward manner.
All the soldiers watched this scene, slightly stunned, and even the tank that was driving over stopped at the entrance.
"Hey! That guy, you are—"
Before the commander could finish his words, he saw the look in Bergel's eyes signaling him.
Seeing the commander stop speaking, the soldiers who had originally wanted to dissuade Kevin also silently stepped aside.
One of the soldiers quickly ran up and handed Kevin something resembling an incense burner.
"The scent inside this will draw the bugs to your side. Please be very careful."
Kevin took the incense burner, nodded, and placed it right by his feet.
His eyes were fixed tightly on the road in the forest.
He saw tree after tree being snapped by impact.
A behemoth was rapidly approaching, kicking up a large amount of dust along the way, charging fiercely in his direction.
Kevin twisted his neck, which made a cracking sound.
He took a horse stance and extended his hands forward.
His aura suddenly erupted.
"This guy is really valiant."
Bergel watched this scene and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
For a moment, he somewhat doubted his previous judgment; could Kevin really be an Enhancer?
He really couldn't understand how an Enhancer could construct a Nen Ability for making potions, and furthermore, he saw that Kevin hadn't even used his own potions.
The box containing potions at Kevin's waist remained tightly closed and unopened.
Could it be that he wanted to stop the Charge Armor with his own brute strength?
Although a bit worried, Bergel did not speak up to stop him.
At least in his view, Kevin was not the type of reckless and ignorant person; since he dared to do this, he must have a certain amount of confidence in himself.
Moreover, the aura Kevin unleashed was extremely strong.
As the rumbling sound drew closer and closer.
A soldier couldn't help but swallow hard: "Is, is he courting death?"
"Shut up, there are always powerful people in this world."
The rumbling was already right in his ears, and the dust came rushing toward him.
The monster's figure also gradually appeared.
It was even bigger than the one dragged on the flatbed cart earlier!
It was like a roaring truck crushing straight toward him.
"Hey, hey, it's impossible to stop this!" a soldier couldn't help but shout.
Trying to stop it head-on was simply too exaggerated.
How was this any different from blocking a truck with one's bare body?
Sant stood beside Bergel and also couldn't help but frown and remind him: "This one is too large; might it..."
"Trust him." Bergel only frowned, saying with a serious expression.
Kevin watched the Charge Armor charging straight at him.
"It really gives one a bad sense of déjà vu," he muttered to himself, "like a truck or something—hopefully, my luck is good this time."
He muttered softly, his gaze becoming sharp.
The strong wind pressure and oppressive aura generated by the giant beetle charging over rushed toward him.
"Bang!"
The two collided violently.
Some soldiers couldn't help but close their eyes; they really couldn't bear to see the miserable sight of a person being smashed to pieces.
The wind pressure generated by the collision swept toward everyone, and the hats of several soldiers were blown away.
"Unbelievable!"
The officer on the armored vehicle widened his eyes in astonishment.
"Good heavens! He is simply a strongman!"
"God bless."
The scene presented before everyone was:
Kevin was steadily holding back the Charge Armor that had charged like a truck.
His legs were deeply planted in the ground, plowing out a short trench.
His aura erupted violently.
Although the soldiers couldn't see the aura, they could tangibly feel the powerful force erupting from Kevin, as well as the oppressive sensation that followed.
"Stop! You're speeding, big guy!"
Kevin grinned, veins bulging on his body.
His muscles bulged, and the short sleeves of his top were ripped apart, perfectly displaying his physique full of strength and explosive power.
He exerted force with both hands, tightly hugging the opponent's top horn and side carapace.
"Hah!"
Kevin shouted loudly.
"He, he lifted that monster up!"
A soldier widened his eyes and shouted loudly.
One had to know that the Charge Armor's massive size meant it had an equally astonishing weight.
Now, a seemingly small human had actually lifted such a huge creature.
This kind of pure aesthetic of violence was displayed before everyone, leaving them stunned.
"Driving improperly leads to tears for loved ones!"
Muttering strange words, Kevin held the Charge Armor aloft, revealing the body hidden beneath its carapace.
Those were dense, powerful, thin legs, all hidden beneath the carapace. After being lifted, they were wiggling densely, making one's skin crawl.
"Away you go!"
Kevin threw it with a sudden swing.
A whistling sound accompanied by wind pressure came.
The Charge Armor's huge body was forcefully thrown out, crashing heavily into the forest.
It knocked down a large patch of trees.
However, even so, the beetle's strong defense meant it did not suffer too much damage.
Even though it was knocked over and flipped onto its back, it was still able to struggle quickly.
Just as it had adjusted its body and was preparing to charge again.
Kevin had already leaped into mid-air, descending from the sky like a meteor.
His fist was raised high, with a large amount of aura gathering on it.
"This move is called—a ticket!"
"Bang!"
A huge roar sounded.
The wind pressure brought by the impact carried mud and sand, forming a black wave of mud and stone.
A large number of branches and leaves also flew toward the surroundings.
The watching soldiers raised their hands to shield themselves one after another.