Six Star Marks originally intended for "pigs" had effectively lost their purpose for four of them.
The remaining two could still be activated through the locking mechanism to remotely assassinate targets with Shooting Star.
However, considering the risk of accidentally harming others, it would be better to ride the Shooting Star to the target's location and eliminate them directly.
Morrow had planned to first eliminate the "two pigs" corresponding to the Star Marks before seeking out Netero.
He hadn't expected Netero to call at this moment.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, Morrow answered the call.
"Chairman."
"Hohoh, Morel says your injuries have completely healed."
Netero's steady voice came from the other end of the line.
"Yes."
Morrow replied.
"Then... will you continue participating in the battle?"
Netero asked directly.
"Of course."
Morrow's response was equally straightforward.
This remained a mission with no merits or rewards, yet carried extreme risks.
On the other end of the phone, a faint smile flashed across Netero's face as he calmly said, "Meet at Quant City tomorrow at 4 PM. We'll gather intelligence then and discuss our action plan together."
"Understood."
Morrow acknowledged, then hesitated slightly.
Since they would be discussing the action plan tomorrow, he decided to save his proposal about using the Poor Man's Rose for then.
With this thought, he suppressed the idea for now.
The call ended shortly after.
Putting away his phone, Morrow muttered to himself, "Tomorrow afternoon then... No time for hunting. I'll head directly to Quant City."
He was quite curious about Netero's plans for their upcoming operations.
Although the King now only had Neferpitou and Shaiapouf as his Royal Guards, the difficulty of assassinating the King remained unchanged.
Looking at the current Extermination Team lineup, aside from Netero, anyone facing the King head-on would be committing suicide.
The sole objective of their operation was to ensure the King's elimination.
If they couldn't achieve this... then everything would be meaningless.
Morrow, with his perspective on the future, could confirm Netero's inevitable defeat.
To prevent Netero from dying in this operation, deploying the Poor Man's Rose in advance became necessary.
—--
The next day at 4 PM.
The Extermination Team members gathered in the largest room of Knov's Hide and Seek.
The room lacked furniture like chairs, so everyone sat casually cross-legged on the floor.
Knov habitually pushed his glasses up with his Index Finger and said:
"It's confirmed that the King and his two Royal Guards have taken over the capital palace of East Gorteau. We can basically conclude that East Gorteau's supreme commander Diego is under Manipulation ability control. This is currently our most problematic situation."
"Instead of killing Diego, they're controlling him with Manipulation ability..."
Morel stroked his broad chin, frowning as he said, "The Chimera Ants probably intend to use this to control East Gorteau's entire state apparatus."
"Is that really the case?" Knov put his hand down and began biting his nails, his voice low: "Although this needs further confirmation, in my opinion... those monsters controlling a national leader directly likely have a more straightforward purpose... convenient feeding."
Morrow glanced at Knov.
The exhaustion on the other's face was evident.
Was it due to the fatigue from days of intelligence gathering, or because of... when we first attacked the Chimera Ant Nest, was it the lingering trauma from personally experiencing the overwhelming aura of the King and the Royal Guards?
Probably the latter.
Morrow subtly withdrew his gaze and spoke calmly: "Facilitating feeding is certainly one of the Chimera Ants' considerations, but given their level of Nen ability, they likely also intend to transform East Gorteau's citizens into controllable soldiers. These two objectives don't conflict."
"Exactly."
Knuckle continued with a grave expression: "The Royal Guards' aura output is simply outrageous. Since we've confirmed the existence of Manipulation abilities, I wouldn't be surprised if they could control thousands of people at once."
"Controlling ordinary people in combat poses limited threat; the real problem lies in numbers... Given the bottomless potential aura of the Royal Guards and the King, we truly stand no chance in a war of attrition."
Morel can simultaneously control over a hundred Deep Purple puppets, completely unfazed by a Manipulator's swarm tactics.
But when it comes to competing in consumption with the Royal Guards, the two sides aren't even on the same level.
And considering East Gorteau's military equipment... both the scale and threat level need to be elevated.
After all, there's a significant difference between an ordinary person and a well-armed soldier.
Kite's eyes sharpened as he said: "Controlling hundreds or thousands of units... could indeed form an army-scale force, but this also means the controller must disperse large amounts of aura. This would actually lower the difficulty of targeting the main body directly."
The reason the Royal Guards are so difficult to defeat is precisely because they possess aura output levels unattainable by humans.
By distributing large amounts of aura to control puppet armies, they'd ironically make it easier for the Extermination Team to strike at the source.
The discussion continued back and forth as everyone proposed countermeasures for various scenarios that might arise during the operation.
The core objective was clear: to increase the success rate of the mission while minimizing casualties as much as possible.
Nearly everyone voiced their opinions.
Only Morrow and Netero gradually fell silent.
Food supply and controlling East Gorteau's citizens...
With his god's perspective, Morrow could see that Morel, Knov, and the others were severely misjudging the Royal Guards' true threat.
Everyone's attention was captured by the overwhelming power of the King and his Guards themselves.
But they were overlooking what the Royal Guards possessed... wisdom and learning capabilities that were in no way inferior to humanity's brightest stars.
This wasn't their fault.
After all, aside from Morrow, no one had "seen" how Neferpitou could digest book knowledge at terrifying speeds and immediately apply it in practice.
With such learning and practical abilities, plans to create modified soldiers through brain surgery would present basically no difficulty for Neferpitou.
Meaning Neferpitou would very likely transform East Gorteau's citizens into an army similar to Chimera Ant soldiers, but... considering her modification capabilities, combined with Shaiapouf's assistance... what they might face wouldn't be an army controlled through Manipulation abilities, but rather directly modified into a corps of Nen users who obey the King unconditionally.
In that case, there would be no opportunity to target the main body directly.
Even the threat level from the opposing army would completely exceed everyone's imagination.
So essentially, no matter how excellent their operational plan might be... without employing unconventional means, it would be difficult for humanity to defeat the Chimera Ants through sheer force alone.
But by directly deploying the Poor Man's Rose, any problem could be instantly resolved.
Morrow's silence stemmed from his ability to foresee outcomes using future intelligence.
Netero's silence, however, came from focusing on only one thing.
A one-on-one confrontation with the King.
This was the only path he firmly believed in after clashing with Neferpitou and personally experiencing the King's unfathomable aura.
With this premise, the only other matter Netero needed to consider was... how to satisfy the burning desire in his chest while fully executing his duties as the Hunter Association Chairman.
What Morrow didn't know was, precisely because of the changes he brought, Netero had encountered Neferpitou earlier and touched upon the King's presence sooner and more profoundly.
That pressure, as if from the top of the food chain, ignited a fighting spirit in the old man that had lain dormant for decades, now nearly boiling over.
Compared to the original timeline, Netero's determination was now more intense, more urgent.
Had he not possessed mental fortitude and cultivation far beyond ordinary people, this soaring battle intent would have been impossible to conceal.
The ability to completely internalize one's edge without leaking a trace, that was what made him truly terrifying.
This was the strongest human, whose skills and spirit had reached the peak of humanity.
But tragically... even abilities representing humanity's peak could never breach the barrier created by racial differences.
"Directly drop the Poor Man's Rose on the capital palace..."
Seizing what he deemed the appropriate moment, Morrow finally proposed his preferred solution, speaking calmly: "This would resolve the incident with zero risk."
After these words fell, complete silence enveloped the room.
Except for Gon and a few others who knew nothing about the Poor Man's Rose, everyone else simultaneously turned to look at Morrow, unable to hide their astonishment.
Even Netero, who had been silently observing, slightly raised an eyebrow, his gaze carrying an indescribable depth as he looked at Morrow.
The Poor Man's Rose.
Though small in size and classified as a bomb, its destructive power was terrifying.
A single deployment in a densely populated capital could easily claim at least 100,000 lives.
According to incomplete statistics, since its creation, the Poor Man's Rose had accumulated over 5.12 million deaths.
As terrorists began to abuse the Poor Man's Rose, international conventions finally strictly prohibited further use of such weapons.
When these provisions were rigorously enforced, the Rose gradually disappeared from human military stages.
Due to the strong deterrence and control by international conventions, even the most fanatical terrorists dared not lightly deploy this forbidden weapon after multiple strict measures were implemented.
This was why Morrow's current proposal shocked Morel and the others so profoundly.
"Impossible."
Knov, recovering from his shock, refuted almost without thinking: "Forget about how we'd bypass international conventions to obtain the Rose; just using it without authorization would be enough to make the Hunter Association history overnight."
"Morrow..."
Morel looked at Morrow with astonished eyes, as if unable to believe such a proposal could come from his mouth. He slowly suppressed the faint turmoil in his heart and spoke as calmly as possible, "Dropping the Poor Man's Rose on the capital's palace might indeed eliminate the King and the Royal Guards, but it would also mean sacrificing the citizens of East Gorteau within the capital."
"Yes, I don't deny that, but..."
Morrow met Morel's gaze calmly, seemingly able to perceive the astonishment hidden behind those sunglasses, and replied coolly, "That's assuming the citizens of East Gorteau are still alive."
"..."
Morel's heart skipped a beat, his mind involuntarily flashing to hellish scenes. But then he shook his head and frowned, "It's only been a few days. How could the King and two Royal Guards possibly..."
"Ring, ring, ring–"
Just then, a phone ringtone sounded from Knov's pocket, interrupting the conversation.
Knov took out his phone and glanced at the caller ID displayed on the screen.
It was his apprentice, Palm.
Knov pressed the answer button and immediately put the call on speaker.
"N-No... Knov-sensei, the residents of Peijin City... they've all disappeared. Now the city is only filled with armed soldiers controlled by Nen abilities."
Once the call connected, Palm's slightly stuttering voice came through the speaker.
Her nervousness didn't stem from fear but simply because she was speaking to Knov.
Hearing Palm's report, Morel froze in shock, and the others also showed expressions of astonishment.
It had only been a few days... how could all the residents of the capital, Peijin City, have vanished?
Were they relocated elsewhere, or had they already been disposed of?
Knov's heart also stirred with unease. "Palm, do not proceed further. Prioritize your safety."
"O-Okay, Knov-sensei!"
Hearing Knov's concern, Palm's tone noticeably brightened, but she quickly followed up, "But if I don't see the Royal Guards in person, my ability won't activate..."
"It's fine. The success rate of this mission was already infinitesimally small to begin with, and besides, I'm not by your side right now."
Knov's tone left no room for argument as he instructed, "Do not take any risks."
"Mhm, mhm..."
Palm's heartbeat was almost audible through the receiver.
"That's all for now."
Knov hung up the phone, raised his eyes to look at everyone present, and said gravely, "Because we needed to discuss our plan of action, I had Palm scout Peijin first. Now it seems... the Royal Guards' efficiency far exceeds our expectations. This was likely achieved through a Manipulation ability."
"..."
Faced with this outcome, Morel, who had initially thought it impossible, was left speechless.
But Morrow was not surprised.
By using Diego as a puppet to issue commands and leveraging Shaiapouf's hypnotic scale powder, gathering the capital's citizens would not be difficult.
As for Neferpitou... if she truly intended to build an army for the King, she would undoubtedly channel that intense desire into a Nen ability.
The existence of the Royal Guards was simply that unreasonable.
For them, developing a Nen ability required only one precondition: need.
Moreover, although Neferpitou was a Specialist, her focus clearly leaned toward Manipulation.
Based on this, using a Manipulation ability to enhance modification efficiency, or even the Nen awakening process, would be a trivial matter.
"To be honest... I have another reason for proposing to directly deploy the Poor Man's Rose on the palace."
Amidst everyone's silence, Morrow looked at Netero and calmly stated:
"I believe the Chairman's chance of defeating the King is zero. As for obtaining the Poor Man's Rose... as long as we truthfully report the severity of the situation to V5, those officials who only care about 'results' would likely be very willing to provide it."
"Ohoho... Zero chance, you say?"
Netero showed no anger, instead revealing an interested smile.
"Yes, I'm certain."
Morrow spoke bluntly.
"You're right."
Netero raised his hand to stroke his beard, admitting with a serious expression: "The current me... truly cannot defeat the King."
He deliberately placed slight emphasis on the word "current."
Moreover, he actually knew that if the situation truly became severe, V5's higher-ups would indeed provide the Poor Man's Rose, and might even proactively request the Association to use this forbidden weapon.
Morrow understood what Netero meant by "current"; nothing more than unifying his spirit and accumulating power.
"The result would be the same."
He responded thus.
Netero immediately comprehended, his eyes slightly peculiar, and said something that left Morel and the others baffled.
"Then, would you accompany me for some warm-up exercises?"