After wiping out the Yeschi Family's base, Xiang Nan's squad returned to their temporary lodging in Zerta City.
In a dim, sealed interrogation room, Xiang Nan looked at the bodyguard—now suspended from the ceiling, just like how Kaito had been, and only just regaining consciousness. Xiang Nan lightly nudged his glasses, calmly asking the question.
His own neck injuries were serious, but he'd treated them somewhat. Seeing Xiang Nan's interrogation, the man merely responded with a sneer, unmoved.
"Not going to talk, huh… that's fine,"
Xiang Nan said, not surprised. He gave a small, friendly smile as he slowly rose from his seat.
As a doctor with two lifetimes of experience, he happened to know certain special interrogation methods—ones that maximize the subject's "stimulation" without letting them die too soon.
"So then… let's begin."
With that, Xiang Nan slipped on a familiar pair of sterile white gloves.
Very soon, from within that room, came chilling screams that would make anyone's scalp tingle.
Outside, Garo and Sigma and the others were waiting. They listened to those horrifying sounds echoing from within the room, faces bleak and set.
Strictly speaking, this was the first time they'd truly hunted a Nen user on their own. Although they'd succeeded, the bodyguard's sheer brutality—even while severely injured—had unnerved them. His monstrous strength in combat was just…unthinkable.
Garo, in particular, already felt a bit haunted by it. Clearly, the squad leader was just like them—a normal human—yet he'd so deftly faced a Nen user, treating the man as prey, calmly prevailing despite their wide difference in power.
"Captain almost got killed by this guy," murmured Sigma, who was leaning against a hallway wall. He glanced at Garo's pale expression.
At the time, he and a few others had also been hiding inside the mansion. They witnessed Xiang Nan injecting the Nen user with the syringe. But according to the plan, they were not to move closer, since Xiang Nan was bait, and the others had to adapt to whatever followed so the plan could succeed.
Xiang Nan had made it clear from the start: they had to exploit their advantage to the max—meaning team cooperation. They acted as one unit, not individuals. That strong resolve and unflappable mindset led Sigma to see something in Xiang Nan beyond skill in martial arts and medicine.
On their way back, Sigma noted the pronounced bruises on Xiang Nan's neck. Now he was reminding Garo that the gap between them and Xiang Nan was comprehensive, not just in one aspect.
They… were not Xiang Nan.
If any of them had devised that plan or faced such a sudden shift, could they have stayed cool-headed? Likely not.
"I'm not quitting," Garo stated after a pause, then turned and walked off.
Because when the mission ended, Xiang Nan apparently perceived their shifting mindsets, saying anyone who wanted to leave could do so immediately. Objectively, they'd realized that as normal humans, hunting Nen users was extremely risky with no guaranteed success.
This time it worked; next time it might not. Even though they'd glimpsed the hidden reality of this world and realized their weakness, they were nonetheless an elite squad with government resources and top-tier training. In the grand scheme of the Republic's army, they might not be the best, but certainly near the ceiling of what an ordinary human could achieve.
They really didn't need to keep playing Xiang Nan's "game."
Sigma just watched Garo's back, saying nothing. Just then, two teammates who had gone to handle their fallen comrades' remains returned.
Inside the room, blood trickled down Kai's ankles, dripping on the floor. Even while horrendously wounded, Xiang Nan's torture left him in tatters. Regardless, though Xiang Nan inflicted a variety of excruciating methods, he still refused to utter a single word.
This only intrigued Xiang Nan further about the man's identity and background.
"Seems there's no helping it. I'll need a special approach…" Xiang Nan sighed, halting his physical torment.
He pulled a specialized set of medical instruments from his coat. This man was far stronger than Kaito, and most important, his willpower was exceptional. People like him aren't developed lightly; it must connect to his upbringing and experiences. Also, most strong individuals share certain common traits—some secret in their personal history that shaped their current prowess.
Xiang Nan was eager to uncover that truth and learn from it. He was, in a sense, a diligent student. Or rather, he found this Hunter x Hunter world immensely interesting.
Kai's face remained stubborn, but soon… after Xiang Nan pried open his skull and removed part of his brain tissue, the man's features turned vacant.
"Hmm… This is my first time performing such a delicate neurosurgery. I'm a bit rusty…" Xiang Nan muttered.
"Good thing I've kept up on learning techniques from other hospital departments—this is a chance to practice. Follow current novᴇls on novel⟡fire.net
"It'd be a real shame if the specimen died mid-operation…
"He probably can't live that much longer anyway…"
Nimbly, Xiang Nan worked around the body strapped to the bed, hoses and monitors all over it. His voice was casual. Eventually, he pulled off his bloody gloves and stepped back, eyes on the "paralyzed" Nen user. The surgery was far from perfect; he estimated perhaps five or six minutes to extract answers.
Again, Xiang Nan asked the question. The man, now responding in a dull, mechanical fashion, took a few seconds before stiffly replying, "Kai…"
"Where are you from?"
Meteor City? Xiang Nan's eyebrows rose.
"How did you end up a bodyguard for the Yeschi Family?"
Xiang Nan wasn't wasting time. He wanted to understand the backroom dealings between Meteor City and mafia groups, plus the criminal underworld's structure—useful intel for the covert operations his squad would be undertaking.
"How did you become a Nen user?"
"…" Kai offered no immediate reply.
"Roughly how many Nen users like you are in Meteor City?"
"What exactly is your Nen ability?"
"Explain what you know about Nen training and techniques…"
Time ticked on, Xiang Nan firing off question after question he'd carefully prepared. Meanwhile, in his mind, he counted the seconds. At about the 400th count, the man's stiff responses ceased, his breath fading.
Machines beeped frantically in the quiet room.
Yet Xiang Nan wore a satisfied, almost excited smile.
"Fantastic… that fills in another gap. My entire train of thought feels more alive now." He mumbled, still a bit jittery from the adrenaline. His understanding of Nen had evolved.
Learning never ends… combining knowledge, theory, and hands-on trial to gradually decode this vast, complex power system was pure ecstasy to him.
He found the Hunter x Hunter power structure very worthy of in-depth study.
"I can't wait to grab another one…" Xiang Nan thought with a strange glint in his eyes. He realized he felt almost too excited—he needed a moment of deep breathing to steady himself.
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