The girl was using that technique habitually as if it were natural. How does such a Nen user grow up? What kind of instruction did Luan, who is her father and likely taught her Nen, provide? Gragg was racking his brain.
It was highly likely she was using some kind of 'Hatsu (Special Ability)'. This Hatsu is an ability that can be said to be a lifeline for Nen users. She wouldn't talk if asked to tell, and asking is a serious breach of etiquette. Depending on the situation, it wouldn't be strange for immediate hostile action to be taken.
However, Gragg had succeeded in extracting information regarding her abilities from the girl. In conducting an investigation of the danger zone known as the Dark Continent, it is better for everyone to grasp each person's abilities to raise the survival probability even slightly. He created an opportunity for all five people present to share information.
Since it is a very private matter, whether to disclose the ability or not was left to the girl's judgment. To ensure fairness, the members of Quantum revealed their abilities first. They didn't force the girl to do anything beyond that.
Receiving this response, the girl went as far as to explain her own abilities. She didn't show any signs of hiding anything in particular. It seems she had the intention to speak from the beginning.
Apparently, she is an ability user belonging to the Specialist category. She had two abilities. One of them is named 'Idol Shaping (Mad Doll)'. This apparently boosts the body's recovery function, but its effect is extraordinary. It is said to be able to treat serious injuries as long as they aren't instant death, and even restore missing parts to their original state.
It is certain that a recovery ability is extremely useful in combat, but surprisingly few ability users create this Hatsu. Hatsu is the culmination of the Four Major Principles and a technique that expresses the person's essence. Precisely because the qualities at the user's root are strongly reflected, one cannot actually create just whatever one likes.
Recovery is a characteristic premised on receiving attacks from an enemy, existing a step back from the offensive. In Nen, where mental strength is demanded above all else, attempting to make this 'retreat' into an ability can become an affirmation of one's own weakness. To handle that power, qualities different from the senses of an ordinary person become necessary.
There is no doubt it is a rare ability. However, in Quinn's case, it is even more unique. Restoring the body is the territory of Enhancers in terms of category, but even that is mostly limited to heightening self-healing capabilities. If it's an ability that restores even missing parts, it is no longer recovery but the realm of regeneration. Hence, it made sense that she belonged to the Specialist category rather than the Enhancer category.
It seems she can't heal if she receives a fatal wound, nor can she nullify infectious diseases or poisons, but it is a sufficiently powerful Hatsu to be called absurd. It is likely because she has that much ability that she has been able to survive the Dark Continent until now.
She didn't tell any more details, but it could be inferred that her ephemeral appearance is maintained by that regeneration ability. The lack of muscle can also be considered one of the constraints. That convinced him that she can endure the abuse of her body that exceeds limits via aura.
And, not only that, she had created one more ability. It is to manipulate a large bug that attaches to her right arm. It seems she hasn't given this one a name. Generally, this is an ability included in the category of 'Biological Manipulation', a Manipulation-type Hatsu.
While being a Specialist, she has created a Manipulation Hatsu, but this isn't that rare. Looking at the hexagon chart, the two categories are adjacent, and compatibility is good. There are cases where one creates an ability of a different category even if it sacrifices efficiency. Since Nen has an aspect where effects are exerted according to the strength of the person's emotional attachment, that choice cannot be unconditionally judged as a failure.
Manipulation ability users are mainly divided into three types: 'Material Manipulation', 'Biological Manipulation', and 'Nen Beasts'. In the case of a Nen Beast user, it becomes a composite ability with Emission or Conjuration, so handling it is difficult.
Compared to that, Biological Manipulation can be said to be an orthodox ability. Its greatest advantage is cost performance. An object of manipulation formed from scratch using aura, like a Nen Beast, incurs significant consumption just to maintain. In that respect, the target of Biological Manipulation is a living creature with substance, and its power source is originally equipped. Long-term operation with a small amount of aura is possible. Depending on the caster's competence, it also excels at manipulating large quantities of targets at once.
The representative example of Biological Manipulation would be 'Human Manipulation'. Taking away another's control rights and turning them into a puppet. However, this is a technique of particularly high difficulty even within Biological Manipulation, requiring the caster's talent and strict usage restrictions. Since it can neutralize an enemy in an instant, the conditions imposed are correspondingly numerous.
On the other hand, if it is not a creature with complex thoughts like a human, the difficulty of manipulation becomes relatively easier. Since Nen abilities are heavily involved with correction by emotional attachment, not just any creature can be manipulated, but there are many 'Beast Tamers' who freely manipulate animals they have tamed, for example.
In a case like Quinn Almeiza, she is called a 'Bug User'. It doesn't mean "she's weak because she can only manipulate small targets like insects." Especially in this case, the biggest problem was the point that the bug being manipulated is native to the Dark Continent.
Everyone had wondered about this bug since initially encountering Quinn, but they hadn't pried until it was spoken from her own lips. It was out of consideration that it might be related to her ability and shouldn't be asked about carelessly.
She says she utilizes the poison in its fangs by manipulating the bug. There was no specific mention regarding the strength or effect of that poison.
The members of the survey team feel an incomprehensible point in her attitude while explaining. Regarding the first ability, 'Idol Shaping', she spoke eloquently as if she had prepared it, but she was perfunctory about the second ability. It wasn't even given an ability name, and she finished with a concise explanation as if to say it was just an add-on.
Certainly, her Specialist ability is extraordinary, and one could take it that she wants to intentionally guide the conversation to suggest that compared to that, bug manipulation is a trivial ability. The first ability likely isn't a complete lie, but there are probably parts aimed at camouflage.
That bug is apparently very important family to her, but the idea of forcibly binding such family with a Manipulation ability also feels off. Furthermore, due to a Vow, she apparently cannot be separated from the bug. It seems she has imposed a heavy Vow that she will die if separated by more than a certain distance.
While the first ability has no particular restrictions or Vows (or she hasn't revealed them), the second ability is unnaturally heavy. The judgment to put her on the ship based on this means they must take this bug along as well.
As long as the details of this bug are unknown, they cannot drop their guard. Just being a bug inhabiting the Dark Continent means its threat level is unknowable. It was necessary to scrutinize the content of the abilities she spoke of.
And the investigation is already proceeding. Gragg and the others had seen through that her statements contained lies. Katroi's ability. They don't know what is a lie and to what extent, but it was certain she wasn't telling the truth.
Katroi's ability isn't omnipotent either. Even if she is intentionally hiding things, as long as she isn't lying, the malice attached to it is trivial, and detection accuracy dropped considerably. If she were a born liar who spouted falsehoods without remorse, Katroi might have struggled. Fortunately, she is an honest person, and her lies were easy to spot.
Especially the Vow was a blatant lie. They knew immediately it was an excuse made to bring the bug onto the ship. Also, by exposing an obvious weakness, she likely intended to see how the team members reacted. It is thought she is using it as material to judge that if the humans on the survey team side take action to forcibly separate the bug from her, there is hostile intent.
The girl schemes to draw out conditions favorable to herself, but that feeling was mutual. Gragg and the others haven't revealed all the truth either. Naturally, they hid Katroi's lie detection ability.
The survey group is reserving their final decision on whether to treat her as an ally or an enemy. They must achieve the original mission of investigating the 'Return' while incorporating a potentially hostile existence as a member of the unit. That mental strain weighed heavily on Gragg's shoulders.
If this were a relationship of merely deceiving and being deceived, he might have felt a little more at ease. He could have assumed the girl named Quinn was a clear enemy and made the decision to dispose of her resolutely.
She was too 'human' to conclude that.
The reason they have been able to come to the planned point without encountering or engaging enemies so far is largely due to Quinn's cooperation. Even with Chel's En, Katroi's killing intent detection, Tokunosuke's Nen Beast reconnaissance, and a multi-layered enemy detection system, there have been scenes in the past where contact with enemies was unavoidable.
Quinn's wild, intuition-like detection sense was also remarkable, but what was useful above all else was her knowledge regarding the behavioral ranges of large organisms. In the ecosystem of this forest woven by a chaotic food chain, just grasping the territory of organisms living there is extremely difficult. It requires delicate and specialized knowledge, like reading constantly turbulent tidal currents.
That knowledge must have been acquired naturally in the course of living. she could predict the behavioral ranges of dangerous creatures from slight traces and derive a safer route of advancement. And she unsparingly shared that information, which was worth a fortune.
Her knowledge regarding edible plants is also deep. Gragg exchanged questions and answers several times about plants seen along the way. It became an opportunity to obtain valuable information about poisonous plants and mushrooms.
During meals, the taste of the issued portable rations didn't seem to please her. Apparently, she doesn't like meat. Instead, she greedily crunched on the hard cookies included in the rations as a luxury item, buying everyone's laughter. She was expressionless, but her cheeks were puffed out like a hamster, so it must have been delicious.
She isn't the type to initiate conversation and answers indifferently, but there were several times she asked the team members questions about the continents where humanity lives.
Gragg was asked if he knew a manga called 'HUNTERxHUNTER'. He wasn't knowledgeable about manga so he couldn't answer, but from the title, he could guess it was a work with Hunters as the subject. There are many works depicting the exploits of Hunters who have left behind brilliant achievements. The girl said she wanted to read that manga.
It's nothing special; she is a normal child. If she hadn't been born in a place like this and hadn't obtained disproportionate power, if she had been born on humanity's continent, she should have been able to walk a normal life. He could understand the feeling of wanting to survive this hell and live a normal life as a human.
There is no lie in those words of hers. The modest hope just to be put on the ship feels far away. If the girl were a heartless monster plotting to use the survey group to destroy humanity, one of Gragg's sources of worry would have been resolved.
He couldn't help but think she was a difficult person to deal with.