Chapter 33

In the mountain forest.

Mo You and Hawk walked through it.

Although they were still some distance from the "battlefield," they could already sense the fluctuations of Nen energy coming from ahead.

"Amazing."

Mo You suddenly spoke in admiration.

Hearing the admiration, Hawk immediately looked at Mo You with a gaze filled with curiosity.

From the moment he left the temple, he had vaguely sensed it.

His son might have already developed Nen abilities, and it was highly likely to be a "Revelation" type of Nen ability, either of the Emission or Manipulation type.

Only this could explain why Mo You, who was in the temple, could understand the situation outside.

In less than half a month, from awakening Nen to developing Nen abilities, such a thing... was unbelievable.

Mo You suddenly stopped.

It wasn't because he noticed Hawk's gaze, but because he discovered something through "Vision Sharing."

"Hawk, can't we bring 'Rat Treasure' along?"

Mo You stopped and asked Hawk.

Hawk also stopped, shook his head, and said, "No, to prevent 'Libra' from escaping the 'Nen Space,' 'Rat Treasure' must stay in the temple."

"Understood."

Mo You glanced in a certain direction and said calmly, "Hawk, go support Kido first; she needs urgent assistance."

"What about you?"

Hawk was worried that Mo You might act rashly.

Mo You stared in a certain direction and said, "There's something I need to destroy..."

"Hmm?"

Hawk's expression slightly tightened.

He wanted to ask, but given the urgency of the situation and his trust in Mo You, he ultimately asked nothing and continued forward according to Mo You's arrangement.

After Hawk left, Mo You approached a large tree.

Beside the tree trunk, a fully armed corpse lay quietly.

At this moment.

The corpse was entangled with dense branches and green sprouts, and a faint Nen energy emanated from the green sprouts.

"This must be the Nen ability of that long-haired man."

Mo You's gaze swept over the corpse, and he could see that the Nen energy emanating from the green sprouts was gradually strengthening, and both the branches and sprouts showed signs of continued growth.

Such changes were particularly noticeable in the dimly lit environment.

"Using the corpse as nourishment..."

Mo You made a basic judgment from the signs of growth.

"Is it for control, or to nourish? Or perhaps for some other purpose?"

As he spoke, Mo You picked up a dry branch from the ground.

If it were a control-type ability, a "seed" would need to be implanted in the control target while they were still alive, and then, after the target's death, the plant would grow and serve as a medium for control.

This kind of thinking, for the straightforward "Manipulation" type, was almost a "rebellion," and the entire process to achieve it was extremely cumbersome.

Of course, it was also possible that the cumbersome process was set up to amplify the Nen ability's effect.

However, based on the plant's growth, Mo You personally leaned towards it being a "nourishment" type ability.

"And that man who materialized the 'Slot Machine.'"

As he muttered to himself, Mo You poked the newly sprouted green sprouts on the corpse with the end of the dry branch.

There was no reaction.

And due to the protection of Nen energy, Mo You's rough actions did not damage the sprouts.

"Without a counter-reaction to my attack, is it because the threat level is insufficient..."

Mo You casually threw away the dry branch, then raised his palm, and Nen energy emanated from his fingertips, emitting a soft glow.

Faced with this clearly "preparatory" or "growing" ability, the action to take was to stop or destroy it.

Mo You suddenly slashed his palm towards the corpse covered in branches and sprouts.

This Nen-empowered attack immediately triggered a violent reaction from the corpse's plant.

The branches that were tightly entwined around the corpse suddenly arched like snakes, blocking Mo You's Nen-covered palm.

Sss—

The two met, but there was no significant noise.

At the point of contact, it was as if a small fire had burned out, emitting a wisp of blue smoke.

At the same time.

The already weak Nen energy of the corpse's plant became even weaker after this blow.

"I see."

Mo You retracted his palm, and the arched plant branches also retreated.

"The 'Slot Machine' that draws lots, the 'Plant' that grows using the corpse as nourishment—just from the type and appearance, these two are both 'Preparatory' Nen abilities. Plus... the two Nen users who launched a fierce attack on Kido from the front."

Mo You thought to himself, "It's likely that these are 'Preparatory' abilities primarily for collaborative support, which is why they need at least one 'Offensive' Nen user. The strongest point of this combination is the moment when the preparation is complete."

"Kido's Seirin team... seems to have a deep foundation."

Thinking about this, Mo You looked around.

If there were no omissions, Kido had eliminated twenty armed members.

That means—

In this silent mountain forest, there were twenty "soils" continuously providing "nourishment" to the plants suspected of having a nourishment effect.

"To improve efficiency, I can only recall the Shadow."

Mo You slashed his palm at the corpse again, but this time he controlled his strength.

The plant entangled around the corpse responded again, arching to block Mo You's palm strike.

Sss—

Blue smoke rose.

The Nen energy of the corpse's plant became even weaker.

With just a light strike, it could probably be completely destroyed.

But Mo You's second palm strike was deliberately weakened.

This was because—

"No reaction, good."

Mo You smiled slightly.

Through the real-time images transmitted by "Vision Sharing," Mo You saw no reaction from the long-haired man.

This was enough to show that even if the corpse's plant was attacked, the long-haired man would not receive any information.

So Mo You deliberately controlled the strength of his second palm strike to avoid accidentally destroying the plant on the corpse.

After all, "attack" and "destruction" are different...

Weakening the Nen energy of the plant on the corpse would not attract the long-haired man's attention.

But if the plant on the corpse were directly destroyed, the long-haired man would likely notice immediately.

With the key information provided by "Vision Sharing," Mo You changed his initial plan to destroy.

He recalled his shadow and began a targeted action to weaken the Nen energy of the plants in the forest.

On the other side.

Shirley, who had been thrown by Kido, quickly got up from the fallen tree trunk and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Damn Ken, didn't you say she 'can't attack'?!"

"..."

Ken remained silent.

No, I never said she couldn't attack.

Sighing inwardly, he chose to ignore Shirley's pointed verbal attack.

"Gembur, haven't you drawn the jackpot yet?!"

Seeing that Ken had no reaction, Shirley turned to Gembur.

She had been hit by Kido, but she didn't seem to be seriously injured; she was just extremely agitated.

"..."

Gembur's face twitched at Shirley's question.

Although the appearance of the "Slot Machine" easily revealed the corresponding ability, it was different for the enemy to guess and for a teammate to say it outright.

Like Ken, Gembur ignored Shirley's question.

Actually, the agitation, as an emotion, wasn't entirely bad for Shirley.