If it weren't for restrictive type abilities, dealing with speed-type Chimera Ants like Cheetu would indeed be extremely difficult.
The problem doesn't lie in the hunting itself being hard to succeed.
Rather, it's that the prey is far too easy to escape.
Take the situation just now, for example. Knuckle had already activated Hakoware on Cheetu, and with his companions providing support in battle, victory was essentially secured.
Yet even so, if Cheetu was determined to flee, they wouldn't have been able to stop him.
With the hunting operation failing just like that, Morel was already considering entrusting the pursuit mission to other Nen users who could counter Cheetu.
Unexpectedly, Morrow, who should have been slowly recovering on a sickbed, suddenly appeared at such a moment.
And in a single encounter, he unleashed a devastating Emission attack on Cheetu.
Watching the explosive commotion soaring into the distance, Morel, Knuckle, and Shoot stood frozen in place.
Morrow didn't pay much attention to their reactions, merely lowering his head slightly to glance at the Tree Rings glyphs on the back of his hand.
Level 90.
In terms of aura output alone, he had already reached the peak.
But before the Royal Guards and the King, it was still far from enough.
This kind of hardware gap was largely determined by race and could never be closed, no matter what.
The only way to narrow this hardware disparity was through software development.
Morrow's Starlight Convergence ability was inherently designed to counter speed-type opponents.
But once the opponent's speed exceeded the threshold that Starlight Convergence could handle, Morrow would face the risk of being instantly killed in one blow.
Against a Chimera Ant of Cheetu's level, the battle could be concluded within a few rounds.
But if it were Neferpitou, relying solely on Starlight Convergence would likely be meaningless.
Because even if he could use Starlight Convergence to counter Neferpitou's speed, the absolute gap in aura output would prevent him from leveraging the lethal value of Star Mark and Deceptive Shooting Star.
The ability that truly offered a chance of victory was actually the cross-level kill mechanism of Stellar Collapse.
However, this ability was primarily prepared for leveling up by targeting Youpi.
If he wanted to use it against Neferpitou, Shaiapouf, or even the King... the difficulty of success would only become more stringent.
Morrow raised his eyes to gaze at the billowing smoke and dust stirred up by the explosion in the distance, thinking to himself. Using Level 90 aura output in actual combat indeed brought an unprecedented sense of exhilaration. Whether attacking or defending, it felt more effortless than before. But...
He sighed silently, slowly lowering his eyelids. Before enemies of the Royal Guard's caliber, going from Level 81 to Level 90 didn't seem to make much difference. No matter how I simulate it, the result is still no chance of victory.
Because he had just casually eliminated Cheetu, images of Neferpitou in combat flashed incessantly through Morrow's mind.
Using her as an imaginary enemy, he couldn't find even a sliver of an opportunity to win.
As for the King, he didn't even dare to think about it.
On the other hand, Shaiapouf... seemed to offer a slight chance.
But overall, if the Extermination Team were to launch a second assault, the probability of failure would be very high. Even if they were to dispatch members of the Zodiac Twelve skilled in combat, it likely wouldn't make much of a difference.
It was important to remember that the King possessed a racial talent that made him stronger with every creature he consumed.
A one-on-one duel was manageable, but if they chose to gang up on him, they might inadvertently be handing the King a power boost.
After much deliberation, Morrow concluded that there were roughly only two feasible methods to completely resolve this incident.
One was to actively expend one of his precious chances to turn back time, addressing the problem at its root before the King was even born.
The only concern was the crucial piece of information Kalluto had mentioned, that Killua had once infiltrated the Chimera Ant Nest but couldn't find the Queen.
This was something Morrow had been fixated on all along.
Even now, he still didn't understand why the King had been born earlier than in the original timeline, and could only attribute it to the butterfly effect for the time being.
The other method was to simply abandon all notions of fair play and drop a Poor Man's Rose directly on the King's location.
That way, they wouldn't have to worry about the risks that might arise from a failed assault.
Compared to wasting one of his hard-earned chances to turn back time, Morrow was more inclined to use the Poor Man's Rose outright.
As for how to progress from Lv.90 to Lv.95, or even higher... he could temporarily fill the experience gap by hunting down the fleeing Chimera Ant soldiers.
Just as Morrow was deep in thought, Morel and the other two approached.
"Morrow, is it done?" Morel asked.
Due to the distance and the obstructing smoke and dust, he couldn't confirm Cheetu's condition. He could only infer, based on Morrow's stationary position, that Cheetu had likely been killed.
"Yes, he's dead," Morrow replied, ending his train of thought and nodding at Morel.
There was no need to explain how he had confirmed Cheetu's death; Morel and the others would trust his judgment without question.
This change in their relationship was born from surviving life-and-death battles together.
After the assault concluded, not only had Knov's attitude toward him significantly improved, responding promptly to his requests for information after he woke up, but even Kalluto and Ponzu's relationship had noticeably warmed after fighting side by side.
Knuckle glanced at Morel, thinking that his master was probably too stunned by Morrow's sudden appearance and the massive impact of that thunderous strike to remember to confirm the Chimera Ant's death with him immediately.
After all, as soon as A.P.R. vanished, they could instantly determine the opponent's death.
But then again, Knuckle realized he had also been too shocked to proactively report the result to his master and Shoot.
However, more than that, what Knuckle was truly concerned about was...
"Morrow, your injuries... have they healed completely?" Knuckle scrutinized Morrow's body closely.
He had personally witnessed Morrow's severe injuries earlier; the extent of the damage was so horrific that it wouldn't have been surprising if he had died the next second.
Before Morrow could answer, Knuckle pressed on rapidly with concern, "Did you use your ability to do it? That ability... doesn't have any Limitation or side effects, does it?"
Beside him, Morel and Shoot also turned their concerned gazes toward Morrow.
To recover from near-fatal injuries in less than two days and now appear completely unscathed... such a powerful healing ability would normally come with strict Limitation conditions.
The most common one was burning through cells and shortening one's lifespan.
"There's no Limitation, and no side effects." Morrow shook his head, not intending to hide anything, and explained frankly: "My healing ability is similar to a 'defeat enemies to regain health' mechanism in games. Originally, the healing effect wasn't as efficient as what you've seen, but if the target is a Chimera Ant, that's a different story."
"That's good." Hearing this, Knuckle finally felt truly relieved.
Morel, however, seemed thoughtful.
He recalled the exceptionally tenacious vitality of those Squadron Leaders and Officers, feeling that Morrow's stamina-based ability was practically the bane of Chimera Ants.
Not only that, he also thought of the only achievement in the assault battle, killing Youpi, one of the Royal Guards.
Even Chairman Netero hadn't accomplished this, yet Morrow had succeeded.
What he relied on seemed to be precisely this highly targeted mechanism-based ability.
Moreover, the proposal to attack the Chimera Ant Nest in advance was also suggested by Morrow.
Thinking of this, an involuntary flicker of something unusual passed through Morel's gaze as he looked at Morrow.
However, concealed behind his sunglasses, no one noticed the change in his expression.
Morrow glanced at the faces of Morel and the others, noticing clear signs of exhaustion, and asked, "Have you not rested at all until now?"
"Yeah." Knuckle rubbed his wrist and sighed, "It's all because those stubborn old fools from the Association's review department are so unreliable. For something as important as hunting down Chimera Ant soldiers, they sent a bunch of people who are completely useless."
"I've heard about it from Kalluto and Knov." Morrow pointed in the direction of Quen City and said, "Quen City is very close to here. You should go there. I've already asked Menchi to prepare a table of medicinal cuisine for you at a restaurant called Reida. It can effectively restore your energy."
"Forget it, going back and forth would waste too much time. We still need to continue pursuing the remaining Chimera Ant soldiers." Morel shook his head.
After the assault battle ended in failure, he and his two disciples had indeed considered taking a temporary break and leaving the task of hunting down the Chimera Ant soldiers to the reinforcements sent by the Association.
But who would have thought that these reinforcements couldn't even effectively intercept Squadron Leaders, let alone Chimera Ant soldiers at the Officer level?
What's worse, the Squadron Leaders were very cunning; they knew to disband their Officers and Peons, sending them out separately as vanguards.
Over the past two days, the only lead they managed to grasp was the leopard Squadron Leader whom Morrow had just killed.
And that was only because that guy was too flashy and reckless; otherwise, even this clue would have been hard to track.
In Morel's view, every one of these remaining Squadron Leaders was a potential threat not to be underestimated, and they needed to be located and eliminated as soon as possible.
So how could they find time to rest, let alone make a special trip for medicinal cuisine?
At this point, they were no longer fighting for "achievements."
Instead, they were fighting to minimize casualties and to prevent Chairman Netero from being held too accountable.
Seeing Morel's resolute attitude, Morrow thought for a moment and said bluntly, "To be honest, in your current state, you were just lucky that the Squadron Leader you intercepted was a novice Nen user whose aura amount couldn't keep up with his speed..."
Some things only needed to be hinted at.
Morel and the others would naturally understand the reasoning.
Physical exhaustion could be endured through sheer willpower, but mental fatigue would directly affect their performance in combat. The assault had already subjected them to immense mental pressure from the aura of the Royal Guard and the King.
Now, they had to carry out a high-intensity pursuit mission in this state. If they forced themselves to push through, it wouldn't be surprising if things went disastrously wrong.
Morel, Knuckle, and Shoot were momentarily at a loss for how to refute this.
And indeed... if Cheetu's Nen Technique hadn't been so crude, given their condition at the time, a disaster might very well have occurred.
They were lucky this time, but what about the next?
Morrow continued, "I'll take over the pursuit mission. Hand me the 'movement intelligence.'"
"No way!" Before Morel could respond, Knuckle exclaimed urgently, "Morrow, you've already gained no credit or reward for the assault on the Chimera Ant Nest. If you take on the pursuit mission now, won't you be working for free again?"
"It doesn't matter. I'm not here for credit or rewards anyway." Morrow replied calmly, "Are you all fighting so desperately now just for credit and compensation?"
Knuckle was visibly moved by these words, and even Shoot looked at him with admiration.
"Morrow, you..." Overwhelmed with emotion, Knuckle, with his signature delinquent hairstyle, burst into tears: "You're already incredibly strong, and your character is this good too... Damn it, how can someone be this good? I don't even know what to say."
"..." Morrow silently took a step back to avoid being splattered by Knuckle's saliva and tears.
Nearby, Morel glanced at his disciple and couldn't help but chuckle softly. He then began seriously considering the idea of taking a break.
The threat posed by this biological disaster wasn't limited to the scattered Chimera Ant soldiers; there were also the more troublesome King and Royal Guard waiting to be dealt with.
Although it was still unclear what Chairman Netero planned to do... for now, it was best to preserve their condition as much as possible to avoid affecting the final battle.
With this in mind, Morel had already decided to accept Morrow's suggestion.
Morrow's proposal for them to rest wasn't about stealing their prey but was genuinely out of concern for their safety.
As Morel made his decision, the two groups parted ways there.
—--
Morrow watched them leave and then carefully sensed the Star Marks corresponding to the Chimera Ants.
Six Star Marks remained.
Each corresponded to a Squadron Leader or an Officer.
This meant that the Peons previously used as "blood bags" had died, and their Star Marks had vanished with them.
After all, they hadn't undergone Nen awakening, so it was no surprise they perished easily during the migration.
Even at the Officer level, Chimera Ants with overly flamboyant and reckless behavior faced a very high mortality rate.
The truly difficult ones to deal with were the cautious and intelligent Squadron Leaders.
Suddenly, a name flashed through Morrow's mind.
Gyro.
That unique existence who, in the original storyline, resisted the Chimera Ant Queen's will using his memories from his human life.
It was unknown whether he had survived following the original trajectory and already separated from the ant colony.
If that were the case, he would need to be taken seriously.
With the Chimera Ant Queen dead, the soldiers under her would, in theory, gain the ability to reproduce.
If Gyro so desired, he could easily cultivate an entirely new ant colony through covert reproduction.
Better to deal with this nearby group of soldiers first. Morrow shook his head slightly, refocusing his attention on pursuing the Chimera Ant soldiers.
With the latest movement intelligence provided by Morel, plus the six Star Marks corresponding to the soldier ants, a successful hunt would likely yield experience from about fifteen Chimera Ant soldiers.
Thinking this, Morrow immediately sprang into action. Relying on the movement intelligence, he eliminated the soldier ants scattered across two cities in just half a day.
In terms of efficiency, it was astonishingly fast.
This was one of the changes that came with reaching level Lv.90.
With no shortage of lethal power, through the combined use of abilities like Deceptive Shooting Star, Starlight Convergence, Insidious Shooting Star, and Astral Step, not to mention soldier ants, even Razor and Kite... Morrow was confident he could defeat them in a short time.
Hmm? Just as Morrow was about to target the Chimera Ants marked with Star Marks, he suddenly discovered that the Star Marks' guidance ability had failed.
The Star Marks were still there, but their guidance ability couldn't be activated.
Is this... a suppression-type Nen exorcism ability? Morrow was quite surprised.
Soon, he confirmed that four of the six Star Marks had been nullified.
Before he could investigate further, his phone suddenly buzzed with vibrations.
Morrow took out his phone.
It was a call from Netero.