read my new story : American Fast & Furious NSFW
Tiny, glowing numbers formed rapidly at the tips of Ronin's fingers, crafted purely from his aura.
"Three," Neon shouted, beating everyone to the punch while still fiddling with her latest craft project.
She was currently working on a pair of bat wings she'd brought back earlier—souvenirs ripped straight off that Shadow Beast, the Bat. She was in the process of turning them into a taxidermy specimen, a process she seemed to enjoy a little too much.
Ronin didn't really get the appeal, but he respected the hustle. To be fair, the preserved remains of Uvogin—Spider #11—that she'd worked on were actually pretty artistic. Plus, keeping the body in good condition meant Ronin could use it for the Dirty Soil resurrection technique if they ever needed a zombie tank.
That particular "art piece" was currently sitting in a display case in the room, marking Neon's debut into the world of macabre art. She was taking this seriously, too—she'd signed up for classes in Yorknew and used Kurapika's Hunter License credentials to access professional tutorials on the Hunter Association's private network. She was all in.
Meanwhile, Kurapika was having a rougher time. He was holding a plank position, dripping sweat, while maintaining his Ren—the technique of projecting explosive aura.
"If I were in Chrollo's shoes," Kurapika panted, his voice strained but steady, "I'd pause the hunt, too. After seeing the mercenary team I hired at the hotel, plus witnessing your power spikes recently... the probability of him successfully killing us has dropped significantly."
He paused for a breath, muscles trembling. "Based on the psychological profile you gave me, Chrollo has insane situational awareness and analytical skills. His style is airtight. If he can't guarantee a 100% kill rate, his best move is to retreat, regroup, find a crack in our armor, and then come back for the kill shot when he's sure he can win."
"That leaves us with three options." Kurapika's aura flickered slightly; the mental exertion on top of the physical strain was making his head pound, but he pushed through.
"One: We ignore Greed Island completely. We bet on the fact that other Spiders will come looking for the Scarlet Eyes. We use the eyes as bait, wait for them to split up, and pick them off one by one.
"Two: We buy a copy of Greed Island, enter the game, hunt the Spiders inside, and wipe them out there.
"Three: We ignore the Spiders entirely. We stick to the plan, collect the remaining eyes, stockpile our strength, and wait for them to come back so we can crush them."
Ronin hummed in thought. The aura on his fingertips began to warp and shift, losing the shape of numbers and turning into a chaotic fuzz, mirroring his internal deliberation.
Kurapika and Neon immediately locked their eyes on Ronin's hand, shifting their vision into Gyo to see through the aura. Neon had it easy since she was just gluing bat wings, but for Kurapika, maintaining Ren while focusing Gyo was grueling.
A puddle of sweat had already formed on the floor beneath him. He was nearing his limit.
Suddenly, the chaos on Ronin's finger snapped into a crisp number.
"One!" Kurapika shouted instantly.
"Ugh." Neon huffed, tossing her tools down and dropping to the floor to start her set of push-ups as a penalty.
"Honestly, going into Greed Island to hunt them isn't a bad idea. Anything that thins the herd early is a win in my book," Ronin said, voicing his hesitation.
Option One was the conservative play. Option Two was aggressive. But personally, Ronin wanted to secure the remaining sixteen pairs of Scarlet Eyes outside of the Kakin Empire before doing anything else.
If his math was right, each pair of eyes boosted his total aura capacity by about 5,000 units. Sixteen pairs would push his total reserves to nearly 130,000.
And that wasn't even counting the gains from his own training during the search.
130,000 aura capacity. Compared to monsters like the Chimera Ant King or his Royal Guards, it might still be lacking, but against literally anyone else? That was top-tier power. Specifically, for an Enhancer-type fighter with 130,000 aura, the destructive output would be terrifying.
In his fight with Uvogin, Ronin had gotten a good read on the brute's energy. Uvogin peaked at around 40,000 aura—roughly where Ronin was right now. Even if you gave Uvogin three years of hardcore training, he'd probably only gain another 20,000 or 30,000 max.
Bisky had made it clear when training Gon: extending your Ren duration by just ten minutes usually takes a month of grueling work.
Ronin had felt that wall during his last three months of grinding. Even with his Lightning Armor stimulating his cells, the Weighted Rock technique increasing the gravity load, and Kurapika keeping him healed, he had only increased his capacity by about 5,000.
Under normal circumstances, a dedicated Hunter might raise their cap by 600 to 800 units a month. That was the limit.
And aura doesn't scale infinitely. Effort, natural talent, and genetics all create ceilings. Plus, training isn't just about making the gas tank bigger; you have to develop special moves, refine your control, and gain combat experience.
The way Gon and Killua jumped by tens of thousands in a month during the Greed Island arc? That was basically using cheat codes. Bisky's massage ability was essentially a hack for recovery and growth, and those two kids had freakish talent. Combine that with a desperate need to get stronger, and you got a miracle. Replicating that speed was nearly impossible.
As for how Kurapika managed to kill Uvogin barely six months after learning Nen? That was simple: he was crazy. His Vows and Restrictions were brutal. He designed his power specifically to kill Spiders, gambling his very life and future to borrow that strength.
"I'll let you make the call," Ronin said, handing the decision to Kurapika.
With 45,000 aura, Kurapika was already operating at the level of an elite Phantom Troupe member. Except for the passive third option, Ronin was cool with whatever strategy Kurapika cooked up.
"I say we play both sides," Kurapika said, outlining his plan. "The Spiders won't clear Greed Island anytime soon, but there's a chance they could find cards to heal Chrollo inside. Either way, getting into the game gives us leverage.
"So, we start with Option One. We prioritize collecting the Scarlet Eyes. If we find Spiders along the way, we flip the script and hunt them down. If we don't run into them, we use that time to figure out a way into Greed Island. Buying it is unrealistic—we don't have that kind of cash."
Ronin knew exactly why Kurapika said they were broke.
Even after stealing the identity of Raymond—one of the Ten Dons—and seizing his assets, they weren't as liquid as Ronin had hoped. Raymond could only move about ten billion Jenny on short notice. A lot of money for a normal person, but nowhere near enough to buy a copy of the most expensive game in the world.