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156 HxH: Tombbound Power
🕑 Added 2024-10-23 08:38:19 +0000 UTCRonnel wasn't hurt much—just dusty enough to look a bit worse for wear. Omokage's attack had barely scratched him.
"He's stronger than me. I can't afford to let my guard down."
The thought lingered in Hisoka's mind, but his expression remained unreadable.
"Looks like that business is wrapped up. This apple's fallen from the tree." Hisoka's voice dripped with mock sweetness.
"Got any fresh ideas for the future, little Ronnel?"
Ronnel shrugged, sounding carefree.
"Not really~" But his mind wandered to an incident back in the Mimbo Republic.
Hisoka gave a sly grin.
"Well, I think you've had enough of me for now. Shall we part ways? Let's meet again in Yorknew City next time."
Ronnel shrugged.
"Sounds good to me~"
He turned on his heel and left without a backward glance, his business with Hisoka concluded. He'd come here only for Omokage and Nen—nothing more.
With his goal met, the alliance with Hisoka was over.
Hisoka watched Ronnel's figure retreat, his playful smirk fading.
"With the way Ronnel acts like he doesn't care about anything, he probably won't get in the way of my fight with Chrollo. But…"
Hisoka looked up at the silver moon, lips curling in thought.
"I was planning to track him down again after I settled things with Chrollo…"
"But it seems," he whispered to himself, "I still need to get stronger~"
With that, Hisoka's figure vanished into the night, leaving behind only a massive crater and the broken remnants of their battle. A small wooden cabin lay in ruins, and the puppet of Omokage's sister, Retz, was reduced to splinters by the storm of their Nen clash. Nothing but silence remained.
Later, Ronnel checked his gains:
Essence Core acquired.
Nen: Soul Doll obtained.
Intermediate martial arts talent unlocked.
Advanced puppet-making skills acquired.
Not bad—everything aligned with his expectations. Thanks to Omokage, his Nen had evolved, and his aura grew stronger. The Upgrade Game feature within his Nen allowed Ronnel to level up and sharpen his abilities further.
(T/N: The Upgrade Game is an ability that he gained earlier. Treat the world like a game, with all humans and monsters acting as wild monsters. By killing them, the user gains experience points, upgrading themselves in the process. Each level up makes the user stronger, increasing their aura and Nen abilities.)
Rather than returning to the previous town, Ronnel followed his map to a nearby village. He bartered with the locals and secured a small house, along with some crafting materials for puppet-making.
"Alright~ let's get to it," he murmured, cracking his knuckles before diving into his work.
With advanced puppet-making skills, he thought the task would be simple. Ordinary puppets were easy, but a puppet imbued with the abilities of Soul Doll demanded intense focus and energy.
No wonder Omokage, despite his long tenure with the Phantom Troupe, had only managed to craft the puppets one by one over three years. Between lending his eyes to his sister's puppet and conserving his Nen, it made sense that the process dragged on.
Ronnel, however, had far greater stamina and mental fortitude.
By morning, a lifelike puppet rested in his hands—a recreation of the sharpshooter he'd taken down at Cruz Cemetery, the gunman which gave him Unlimited Firepower.
(T/N: Ability: Create a firearm with limitless bullets, as long as air is present.)
With Unlimited Firepower imbued in its design, the puppet bore the same abilities, personality, and memories as the original. It was virtually identical, except for being slightly weaker than the real person.
The gunman had been a drifter with no family or friends—just a lone gunman with only his weapon for company. Ronnel had discovered the man's backstory through his Hunter license, piecing together his history from the Hunter database.
Once finished, Ronnel activated the puppet's abilities. The lifeless figure swelled, expanding until it reached the size of a human, standing silently like a living being. The puppet obeyed without hesitation, bound to Ronnel's will.
Ronnel extended a hand, releasing a stream of necrotic energy and corpse poison toward the puppet. The dark miasma wrapped around the puppet, consuming it instantly. Yet the puppet showed no emotion as the poison corroded it, turning it gray before it disintegrated into nothingness.
"Still no good," Ronnel thought, shaking his head.
Puppets were puppets, after all. Even if destroyed, they could always be rebuilt. But this experiment confirmed that his idea wouldn't work.
His corpse poison and necrotic energy were beyond what a puppet could endure. Only his own body—and perhaps his doppelgänger—could fully wield such deadly forces.
That ruled out his plan of turning puppets into mobile corpse bombs.
No matter. There were other ways to make them useful—if not as bombs, then as distractions. Even weak puppets could buy him precious time in battle, or serve as decoys when needed.
Besides, they might still have some strategic value. Think of how Chrollo had used Order Stamp during his fight with Hisoka at Heavens Arena. Sometimes, overwhelming opponents with sheer numbers was just as effective as raw strength.
(T/N: Chrollo conjures a stamp that, when affixed onto a "puppet", allows the user to control it after giving a vocal command.)
