Chapter 34

Gebur's ability—

is to materialize a slot machine and use his own "latent ki" as the wager to activate the slot machine.

Each time he pulls the lever, Gebur can freely choose the amount to bet, and even increase the bet by "prepaying the wager."

The larger the bet, the higher the probability of hitting the jackpot.

However, the probability of winning other prizes is not affected by the bet amount.

Once Gebur completes his bet, the slot machine will start the spin.

If he doesn't win, the wager is not refunded.

If he wins, the prize money is returned based on the prize.

If he hits the jackpot, Gebur has two options for claiming the prize.

1. Claim the prize money, choosing either a "manifested ki" or "latent ki" that can instantly break the limit. However, since it is a prize, a tax on unexpected gains must be deducted before use. Under this condition, he has the freedom to gift this prize to others.

2. Claim the desired item, and any reasonable request will be granted.

Therefore, the purpose of this ability is to aim for the jackpot.

This is also what every gambler strives for.

"I feel like it's just a little bit more..."

Gebur has spun the slot machine multiple times, with both wins and losses, but he hasn't hit the jackpot yet.

Theoretically, if his luck is bad tonight, the time and ki he spent in the "preparation phase" will be wasted.

In contrast, Cole's "harvest" requires a fixed waiting time but is stable.

"Advantage is on our side, Gebur."

Cole, who has been waiting for the "harvest moment," seems to have noticed Gebur's change in attitude and reminded him.

From an observer's perspective, and with the analysis provided by Ken, Cole can see the battle situation clearly.

The woman's ability to evade attacks is troublesome, but she clearly lacks a powerful method to defeat the enemy head-on.

She is likely trying to delay time while causing minimal damage to herself, in exchange for a large amount of damage to Ken and Sivir.

Unfortunately,

Whether it's his ability or Gebur's gambler's delusion, both can instantly grant Ken and Sivir stronger, faster, and more ferocious power once the preparation is complete.

At that moment, the battle will end.

"Cole, I'm not in a hurry, on the contrary..."

Gebur, hearing the meaning behind Cole's reminder, was not at all concerned and confidently said, "My intuition is telling me the jackpot is coming soon!"

"Gambler's intuition, huh..."

Cole glanced at the confident Gebur and remained silent.

Anyway, his "harvest moment" is almost here. Once the plants on the corpses bear fruit, he can instantly recover a huge return and then work with his companions to eliminate this member of the Twelve Earthly Branches.

Ending this battle basically means the mission is complete.

After all, the other enemy to be eliminated is just an injured rat responsible for guarding the rear.

If this woman had brought the rat out at the beginning, their advantage might not have been so clear.

"Eliminating her is just a matter of time."

Cole muttered to himself.

Gebur, hearing Cole's mutter, realized that Cole's "harvest" moment was approaching.

Suddenly, Gebur made up his mind and directly used 50% of his "latent ki" as the wager, inserted it into the slot machine, and pulled the lever.

Swish, swish, swish...

The three slots on the machine quickly spun.

Gebur stared intently at the slot machine.

After a few seconds, the slots slowly stopped, finally landing on the third prize.

"Just a little more, just a little more."

Gebur exhaled.

As the slot machine began to pay out, the 50% of "latent ki" he inserted, after deducting 20% for unexpected gains tax, was fully returned to Gebur's body.

"Let's try again."

This time, Gebur planned to insert 60% of his "latent ki." He felt that the next two spins would definitely hit the jackpot.

This feeling was a vague, indescribable premonition.

Whenever he had this feeling, Gebur always hit the jackpot within three spins.

Just as Gebur was about to insert the "wager" into the slot machine, a fist-sized nen bullet flew out from the forest and shot towards him.

"Gebur!"

Cole was the first to notice the nen bullet and reflexively shouted a warning.

"Huh?"

Gebur stopped his thought of inserting the wager into the slot machine.

At this critical moment, instead of withdrawing the slot machine and part of his nen, he decisively turned the slot machine in front of him, using it as a shield.

In an instant, the decision was made to use the slot machine as a shield.

The incoming nen bullet hit the slot machine.

"Boom!"

The nen bullet exploded, easily destroying the slot machine.

At the same time, the shockwave from the explosion pushed Gebur away, but he seemed to be unharmed.

After stabilizing himself, Gebur and Cole looked in the direction the nen bullet came from.

A figure slowly emerged from the dark forest, it was Hawk, who had come to assist Kido.

He arrived at the scene, saw Kido fighting two nen users, and Gebur using his ability outside the battle circle, and Cole who seemed to be just watching.

After assessing the situation, he immediately launched a surprise attack on Gebur, aiming to interrupt Gebur's unknown nen ability.

His surprise attack was successful.

"Hawk!"

Kido quickly glanced at the supporting Hawk.

Seeing that Hawk had returned to his original state, she felt a surge of joy.

It wasn't because Hawk had arrived in time, but because the "post-death nen" on Hawk had been removed by Mr. Erisel...

That meant Moyu was safe.

"Can you still pay attention to other things!!!"

Sivir's furious voice rang out, and a wildly aggressive attack was directed at Kido.

Kido calmly and composedly sidestepped, avoiding Sivir's wild attack, then kicked off the ground, leaping back to dodge Ken's slash.

After evading their combined attack once again, Kido calmly said, "Given the current situation, I do indeed have the ability to pay attention to other things."

"!!!"

Sivir's eyes widened in anger.

Ken's expression also turned slightly gloomy.

He had noticed that Gebur's ability had been interrupted.

However, the newcomer was just the injured rat from a few days ago. As long as Gebur could contain the rat, Cole's ability would not be affected.

In other words, the rat's arrival, while changing the situation somewhat, would not affect their victory.

Ken could think of this, and Gebur naturally could too.

He just glanced at Cole and then headed straight for Hawk.

Cole stood in place, expressionless, watching Gebur fight the rat.

"You couldn't help but show yourself, stinky rat... I'll take care of both of you here."

Cole's eyes glowed with nen.

It's almost time, almost time—

His harvest moment!

Within the battle circle.

Kido and Ken, Sivir were engaged in combat.

Hawk and Gebur were engaged in combat.

Time slowly passed.

Neither side could gain the upper hand in the short term.

Only—

When the sand in the hourglass runs out.

A smile of excitement gradually appeared on Cole's face.

His ability would be the key to this battle.

And it would be his moment to shine!

"Come on, the harvest moment has arrived!!!"

Cole couldn't help but laugh excitedly.

His words were also a reminder to his companions...

The time has come!

Kido and Hawk, who didn't know Cole's details, felt a sense of tension.

Gebur, Ken, and Sivir, on the other hand, all showed signs of joy.

Cole raised his hands excitedly, and nen light glowed around his body.

"Let's see how many fruits have grown!"

In his palm, a small ki mass the size of an apple seed formed.

The returning nen gathered in his palm at a visible speed.

It was like a manipulator收回了释放出去的念力，只不过科尓种植的念力会生根发芽，开花结果，然后以成倍的念力回报给他。

“嗯？！”

正准备迎接大丰收的科尓，忽然察觉到了异样。

他注意到，收获回来的念力竟然少得可怜。

“怎么会这样？！”

科尓神情一震。

他很确定，种植在尸体上的种子，完整地经历了生根发芽，开花结果的过程……

可为什么“收获”会如此惨淡？

用来做“土壤养分”的尸体，是一群身体素质远超普通人的武装成员。

“到底是怎么回事？！”

科尓无法理解。

他只知道自己的高光时刻没有了！

而格布尔、希维尔、肯那边注意到科尓这边的情况似乎不对劲，眉头不由皱起。

“养分失衡，所以收获变得惨淡。”

树林中，光线暗淡之处，有声音突然传来。

同时，声音来源处，一道黑影轮廓缓缓显露出来。

“这不是常识吗？”

那是莫尤的声音。

突然听到那理所当然的语气，科尓猛地看向那道黑影，仿佛明白了什么，脸色骤然一变。

“你……”

科尓脸上的兴奋早已消失无踪，取而代之的是难以置信。

“到底是谁！？”