The King had lost an arm.
Neferpitou, who should have been on guard duty, had to withdraw her vast En to focus entirely on reattaching the King's severed limb.
She couldn't even spare the energy to control the puppet soldiers.
For the Extermination Team, this was undoubtedly a perfect opportunity for a surprise attack.
However, Komugi's presence and her ongoing game with the King planted a small doubt in everyone's minds.
They had no way of knowing why the King had severed his own arm, but they could vaguely speculate from the scene before them... Perhaps it had something to do with the girl at the game board.
So, if they launched a surprise attack now, how should they consider the girl's position and safety?
It was then that Morel and Knuckle suddenly understood why Palm had looked so grave.
"We must inform the Chairman immediately," Morel said with a serious expression, pulling out his phone to call Netero.
—--
At that moment, somewhere within East Gorteau, atop a steep rocky mountain, Netero sat cross-legged, his head shaved and his face solemn.
His eyes were closed, surrounded by a powerful aura intense enough to distort the air around him.
Yet the Nen flowing through him remained as still as a deep pond.
This fusion of motion and stillness was like the complementary balance of yin and yang.
Seemingly contradictory, yet perfectly unified.
—--
Meanwhile, high above the clouds over the Yorbian continent, a giant creature with multiple pairs of massive wings soared through the sky.
This was a magical beast raised by the Zoldyck Family.
Zeno Zoldyck stood alone on the creature's broad back, hands clasped behind him, his robe bearing the characters for "One Day, One Kill" flapping violently in the roaring wind.
The magical beast's destination was Netero's location in East Gorteau.
Originally, this mission should have included both Silva and Zeno, ensuring support after the commission was completed.
But due to Killua's sudden return home, the original plan had to be abandoned, leaving Zeno to head to East Gorteau alone.
Zeno had been reluctant to accept this commission from the start.
After all, he was an assassin.
And with the Hunter Association being the most renowned civilian organization, filled with numerous capable individuals, when it came to dealing with non-human creatures... Why come to an assassin who only takes assassination contracts when the Association could mobilize its own experts?
But in the end, he couldn't avoid Netero's three killer moves.
Massive payment, calling in favors, and claiming the target was an inhuman creature devoid of humanity.
Faced with these three tactics, Zeno could only suppress his question of "Why not mobilize Association members?" and reluctantly accept Netero's commission.
—--
Inside the Hide and Seek room, hearing the automated message "The number you have dialed is powered off" from his phone, Morel's heart sank.
Although he knew Chairman Netero was likely still consolidating his strength at this moment... A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was right before them.
Morel sighed deeply, reluctantly putting down his phone.
Consolidating all his power to adjust to the optimal combat state was indeed crucial.
After all, the King they were about to face was even stronger than the Royal Guards.
But to miss such a perfect opportunity like this... The intertwining feelings of regret and unwillingness born from this dilemma weighed heavily on Morel's heart.
Seeing Morel's reaction, the other members of the Extermination Team immediately guessed that he had failed to contact Chairman Netero.
Without the Chairman joining the battle, even with experts like Morrow on our side, it would be difficult to seize this opportunity.
Knuckle, who excelled at assessing an enemy's aura amount and had previously confronted Youpi directly, understood upon sensing the King's aura in the Chimera Ant Nest that only Chairman Netero could handle a monster like the King.
Even if the King had lost an arm now, without Chairman Netero, the Extermination Team's overall strength offered little chance of victory.
Moreover, they had to consider the terrifying consequences of potential defeat.
If the operation failed, it would not only completely disrupt all their pre-established plans but also likely lead them to suffer the same fate as the Nen user army, becoming breeding material to enhance the Chimera Ants' combat power.
This highly probable outcome was their deepest underlying concern.
Yet, like Morel, Knuckle was filled with unwillingness, struggling to accept letting such a golden opportunity slip away.
Hearing Knuckle's words, the other team members silently acknowledged this reality.
Without Netero joining the operation, the cost of failure was too great.
"Regardless, this is an exceptionally rare opportunity," Knov said, staring intently at the crystal ball before taking a deep breath and speaking gravely. "I can attempt to infiltrate the palace and place the 'exit' of Hide and Seek in a closer location."
"..."
All eyes turned to Knov.
Morel hesitated slightly before finally asking, "Knov, can you... handle it?"
He didn't directly question Knov's ability but concealed his concern beneath his words, merely asking if Knov could endure it.
Since the failed assault on the Chimera Ant Nest, they had vaguely noticed Knov's declining mental state.
As the plan progressed, this mental exhaustion and decline became increasingly apparent.
They roughly understood the reasons behind Knov's change but found it difficult to intervene.
Nen abilities often reflect the user's personality and upbringing.
That Knov created an ability like Hide and Seek largely mirrored his personality traits, specifically, his emphasis on security.
The terrifying aura of the Royal Guard and the King had stripped Knov of his sense of security, leaving him with psychological trauma.
This kind of shadow couldn't be resolved with a few simple words.
Since Knov always managed to fulfill his duties, Morel and the others, despite noticing this, never explicitly pointed it out.
When formulating the final battle plan, they tacitly assigned Knov to logistics and support roles, sparing him the immense pressure of frontline combat.
Now, seeing Knov voluntarily take on such a high-risk mission, they were honestly somewhat surprised.
"Don't laugh at me," Knov said, meeting everyone's gaze before slowly lowering his head to stare at his slightly trembling fist, his voice heavy. "Right now, just imagining standing before those monsters makes me tremble uncontrollably."
At this point, he smiled self-deprecatingly, then took a deep breath.
When he spoke again, there was something different in his tone.
It wasn't sudden courage, but rather a clear understanding.
If this was something only he could accomplish, then he absolutely couldn't back down.
"But I still have to go. This concerns the safety of every one of you."
Knov raised his head and briefly stated his reasons and motivation.
If he could position the exit of Hide and Seek closer to the palace, it wouldn't only increase the Extermination Team's raid efficiency but could also serve as a crucial escape route.
Theoretically, as long as there were enough Hide and Seek portals inside the palace... Even if Knov couldn't participate in the battle later, he could immediately transport injured teammates to the dimensional rooms where medical teams were pre-stationed.
From this perspective, it truly concerned everyone's safety.
As for Knov himself, this was the limit of what he could achieve.
For this, he had to go all out.
At times like this, no one would think Knov lacked courage or boldness.
Although Knov's infiltration mission into the palace could indeed provide significant assistance to the overall plan... The risks involved were equally clear and visible.
Amidst those enormous risks, Knov might not only lose his life; if captured alive by the Royal Guards, the entire operation plan and their ability intelligence could face exposure.
Even so, everyone unconditionally trusted Knov's capabilities.
—--
Inside Peijin City, the Chimera Ant soldiers, having lost Neferpitou's control, stood rigidly in place like statues.
Though aura still surged within them, they posed no threat whatsoever.
Morrow effortlessly harvested these immobilized Chimera Ant soldiers with mere gestures.
Soon, the last one fell by his hand.
Still couldn't level up...
After clearing this batch of experience fodder, the Tree Rings glyphs on Morrow's hand remained at Lv.90.
Over two hundred Nen users equivalent to Shadow Beasts level... Such a massive quantity actually failed to push up a single level.
This seemed to be because "breaking through talent limits" directly corresponded to the "experience decay" mechanism for leveling up.
To use gaming terminology, at his current level, clearing these soldiers probably only granted "+1+1" experience per kill.
While leveling up through quantity accumulation was still possible, that would clearly require an enormous number of kills.
It seems if I want to rush straight to Lv.95, I'll still need to kill monsters like the Royal Guards while being underleveled.
Morrow didn't glance at the corpses littering the ground, instead looking toward the palace outline shrouded in dark clouds in the distance.
The remaining two Royal Guards... The one most likely to have a chance of defeating would probably be Shaiapouf.
This guy's aura output level was quite high too, but the clone ability "Beelzebub" actually weakened his inherent aura advantage to highlight mechanical effects.
Without the advantage in aura amount, Morrow could clearly see opportunities to kill Shaiapouf.
More importantly... Shaiapouf was the type who could solve problems with fists but insisted on using his brain instead.
Therefore, the threat and even pressure he posed in direct combat were far inferior to Youpi and Neferpitou.
Morrow felt confident about dealing with Shaiapouf, but the only problem was that his other teammates would struggle to contain Neferpitou. Casualties were more likely to occur under Neferpitou's high-intensity assault.
Thinking of this, Morrow looked up again at the rolling dark clouds in the sky that seemed about to collapse.
A heavy rain was coming.
This was perfect.
Morrow withdrew his gaze.
By the time they returned to Hide and Seek, their teammates had already finalized the plan for Knov to infiltrate the palace and set up an exit.
Meanwhile, Ponzu had also gathered the latest intelligence.
With Neferpitou withdrawing her En and the palace guards being sparse, her hornet swarm was able to infiltrate deeper into the palace more freely.
Thus, in the palace courtyard, they discovered strange trees covered with flesh eggs, and beneath one bare tree stood two hundred motionless Chimera Ant soldiers.
Additionally, through close observation by the hornet swarm, Ponzu noticed that on one tree, the silhouettes inside the flesh eggs were clearly visible, continuously squirming.
The sight was like fetal movement.
It seemed as though something was about to break out of the eggs.
This was clearly the incubation of puppet soldiers.
No one paid it much mind, only becoming more determined to achieve victory in this operation.
Otherwise, if the Chimera Ants hatched more Nen-using puppets... Even a powerhouse like Chairman Netero might be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
"I need to go too."
Morrow had no objections to Knov's operation plan, but he also needed to go to the palace.
Facing the immediate gazes of everyone, he explained:
"The 'Star Mark' I previously implanted on the puppet soldiers has now transferred to the Royal Guard. As long as she doesn't possess a Nen exorcism ability, I can continuously interfere with her treatment of the King through the 'Star Mark'."
At this point, Morrow turned to Knov, who was already prepared to depart, and calmly said, "Moreover, my actions can share a significant amount of the pressure on Knov."
Hearing Morrow's words, Knov's eyes flickered slightly, his lips trembled, but he ultimately said nothing.
Ponzu suddenly raised her hand and reminded, "But my 'Shared Window' ability can only be shared with one person."
"It's fine, I don't need visual assistance."
Morrow glanced at Ponzu.
Seeing this, Ponzu hesitated for a moment, then nodded at Morrow.
Considering the nature of Knov's mission, he indeed needed the visual support of "Shared Window" more.
Moreover, the hornet swarm could also test dangers for Knov, significantly improving his safety.
This was the synergy between Nen abilities.
After the operation was fully decided, Morrow wasn't in a hurry to depart.
He clearly knew that Neferpitou would need at least two hours to complete the treatment of the King.
So rather than racing against time, what was more important now was recovering his potential aura and physical strength.
Knov, who didn't need rest, took action first, quickly approaching the palace under the guidance of the hornet swarm.
—--
Half an hour later, after Morrow finished the medicinal cuisine prepared by Menchi, his potential aura had mostly recovered.
He then had Ponzu control the giant hornet to convey the intention of opening a Hide and Seek portal to Knov through simple circular flight commands.
Upon receiving the instruction, Knov immediately set up a portal connecting to Morrow's room.
Before leaving the Hide and Seek room, Morrow assigned Morel the task of persuading Netero to come as soon as possible.
As for how to contact Netero... It wasn't a major problem. All Morrow needed was for Kalluto to provide Zeno's emergency contact number.
Regarding this course of action, Morrow saw no need to offer any additional explanation.
After emerging from the Hide and Seek room, Morrow glanced at Knov standing by the portal and said, "Safety first."
"You too."
Knov nodded.
The two exchanged a look before going their separate ways.
While Knov needed to proceed with careful and cautious covert movements, Morrow's role was to boldly attract attention.
Thus, Morrow unhesitatingly fired a Deceptive Shooting Star toward the Meat Orchard.
As the intense aura fluctuation, bright as a beacon in the night, flew toward the Meat Orchard, inside the palace, the King, Neferpitou, and Shaiapouf all reacted with subtle shifts in expression.