Ron tightened his grip on the Rotten Life Blade as he faced surging masses of death aura—the manifestations that had emerged from the portion of the Fallen One he had been fighting. One resembled a mummified corpse, the other a twisted, youthful husk—both radiating an intense aura of death. As Ron brought down his blade in a single powerful arc, a strong suction erupted from its edge. The death aura, drawn in by the weapon's force, was split apart and absorbed completely into the blade. The turbulent energy only settled after a long time.
This was the most potent death aura Ron had ever encountered since learning Nen, far surpassing what he had seen in Taris. The Rotten Life Blade, having consumed it, fell into a dormant state—yet it was clear that this was not a sign of weakness. Rather, the weapon had reached a critical point of evolution.
"The Rotten Life Blade has entered a state of dormancy."
"Having absorbed the death aura from the two Fallen Ones, it's reached a threshold for evolution."
This outcome surprised Ron. From the moment he saw the Fallen Ones, he had considered using the Rotten Life Blade to absorb their death aura, but he hadn't expected that doing so would bring the blade to the brink of evolution.
"I wonder what level the Rotten Life Blade can reach after this evolution," he thought, "and what sort of changes it might undergo." Ron began to look forward to it.
After cleaning up the corpses of both the young and mummified Fallen Ones, Ron made his way toward Misty and the others.
Chii rose high into the air and hovered there briefly before quickly locating the direction in which Misty and the others were gathered. With a thought, Ron dispersed all of his Nen Beasts. The Six-Harmony Sphere and the Rotten Life Blade were secured at his waist. His feet stepped lightly on the sea surface as he sped toward Misty and the group.
Before long, the sea returned to complete calm, as though nothing had happened at all.
"Big brother!" Misty, spotting Ron approaching, immediately waved her hand. Menchi and the others also looked over.
"Ron, how did it go?"
"It's been handled," Ron replied, though he didn't go into detail.
Menchi's eyes lit up but then dimmed again. "We didn't do well on our side. That guy got away. After today, he'll definitely hide deeper, and finding him again later will be much harder." She was filled with self-reproach. ( See note)
"Let's head back first."
Ron still hadn't seen the arrival of any backup forces. They returned to Gourmet Paradise, and along the way, Menchi received a phone call.
"Ron, come with us. Senior Linne wants to see you."
"Alright," Ron nodded, not declining.
He had come to Gourmet Paradise intending to meet this Senior Linne—after all, she had been Zigg Zoldyck's teammate, and that gave them a personal connection. Moreover, if he was to absorb the full essence of Gourmet Paradise, meeting Linne was essential.
"Misty, Shizuku, Sally, you all go back first."
Ron followed behind Menchi and the others. Apart from Ron, none of them were in good shape. In their earlier battle with the Fallen One, they had failed to gain the upper hand and paid a considerable price. The casualties had not been few.
Ron's gaze was suddenly drawn to a figure. Cloaked from head to toe, the person appeared short and heavyset. Yet Ron was certain this person hadn't been present earlier. Moreover, the aura emanating from them was unusual. But since Menchi and the others said nothing, Ron naturally said nothing either.
Before long, the group entered the fourth zone of Gourmet Paradise—also known as the mysterious zone.
They approached a tall building. The area around it was deserted. Upon entering the building, they took the elevator to the top floor. Down a corridor, they reached the door of a meeting room. Menchi pushed the door open and walked in.
Inside, someone was already present—an elderly woman whose age was immediately apparent. She exuded a presence similar to that of Netero, though weaker. Back in the days when Netero, Linne, and Zigg formed their team, Netero had been the strongest among them. Even now, that remained true.
Beside the old woman stood a tall, well-built woman, silently standing guard.
"Lady Linne, I'm sorry. We let him get away," Menchi said, lowering her head.
Linne's expression remained unchanged as she nodded lightly. "Tell me exactly what happened."
"Yes." Menchi began explaining in detail.
"At the time, we were searching across the ocean, relying on the cursed silver coins you provided to sense the Fallen One's location. At first, we found nothing. Then suddenly, we discovered a severely wounded member of another squad on the water. That's when we located the Fallen One."
"Our three squads surrounded him. All three of us used cursed silver coins on him. The coins entered his body and temporarily restricted his movements."
"Underwater, a large number of mermaid-like monsters appeared. Their defense was high but their attack power was low. They weren't hard to deal with."
"But at that moment, the Fallen One split in two."
"The three cursed silver coin's effect vanished, and the restriction was lifted."
"Ron handled one half alone, while the rest of us took on the other. We're not sure exactly what happened on Ron's side, but at the end, he told us he had eliminated his portion. I believe him."
"But on our side, we failed and let that part escape."
"I'm sorry, Lady Linne."
Linne waved her hand. "Forget it. If he got away, he got away. What's already happened can't be changed. What comes after is for the future to deal with. Mana, you used two cursed silver coins at once, didn't you?"
The cloaked figure stepped forward. "Yes."
Then, he pulled back the cloak.
Ron's pupils narrowed slightly.
He had heard of Mana before—an A-rank Freelance Gourmet Hunter.
But the person now standing before him looked nothing like what he remembered. They were completely different.
The Mana of the past had been a handsome man. But now, he was short, fat, his hair was mostly gone, the top of his head balding like a Mediterranean. His face was swollen, his teeth disfigured—there was nothing beautiful left.
What remained could only be described as grotesque.
Ron couldn't help but recall someone—someone from the Yorknew arc who had played a very important role...
Ok so the Fallen One was split into a Mummified Form and a Young Form. Both were killed in the earlier battle. Menchi's later statement that "a part escaped" does not match this. The reason for the discrepancy is not explained here and may be clarified in later chapters.
The body was killed, but a core part of the Fallen One's essence or Nen survived, perhaps escaping unnoticed in the final moment. That "part" is what Menchi is referring to—and what Linne indirectly acknowledges as still a future threat.
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