Hunter x Hunter: Card Master, the Strongest in the World.

Chapter 164 Ten Thousand Sword Swings! The Assembled Spiders!

After meeting Amy and the other princes, Lynn also met the current King, Gates.

Gates was in his fifties, tall, about two meters high, with a hooked beard similar to Netero's, wearing the king's distinctive red and gold ceremonial robes and a crown inlaid with jewels.

Lynn was no stranger to the gems on it.

It was a gemstone the size of a pigeon's egg, polished from crystal, one of the seven most beautiful colors in the world.

Strictly speaking, this was the first time he had ever seen genuine crystal glass.

Judging by the age of Nen users, he is still in his prime, but he seems to have suffered some injuries when he was young, so he has aged relatively quickly.

Despite its imposing appearance, it exudes a sense of decay, like a setting sun gradually descending the mountain, heading downhill.

This is probably why Gates chose to have Amy succeed as king this year.

"Exorcist Lynn, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've wanted to see you for a long time," Gates said slowly, his voice deep and resonant, a kind smile appearing on his rugged face. "First of all, I must thank you for saving my daughter, Amy."

Gates spoke sincerely, his personality somewhat contradicting his appearance; he was surprisingly gentle and kind. He also valued his children highly, which is why he specifically expressed his gratitude to Lynn.

"I was just doing what I could," Lynn said politely.

After a brief introduction, Lynn and the others were taken to their specially prepared accommodations within the palace and settled in.

The palace is vast; even the main gates are divided into east, south, and north gates. The interior is further divided into various areas, such as the main thoroughfare, the rear garden, the main palace, and secondary palaces.

They, along with Bisji, stayed in the guest quarters of the estate, located in the southern part of the palace.

The manor is quite large, with all kinds of facilities. Because of its large area, it is very private, so even if there is any fighting, it will not disturb others.

However, since Lynn had stayed in many high-end suites, she didn't find this environment particularly novel.

There is one advantage, though: it allows for more freedom in training and practice.

Even the most luxurious hotel suites are usually just one floor, located in a high-rise building, where it's inconvenient to make a lot of noise.

But the manor is different. You can fight freely on the ground, and the manor even has a dojo for sparring.

Inside a private practice room.

Lynn gripped Hyōrinmaru with both hands, his gaze sharpening, and with a standard, clean and decisive slash.

In mid-air, a flash of light appeared, as if splitting the air in two.

This strike didn't utilize Nen or Armament Haki, so it might not have much power, but it was infused with conviction.

Previously, he had exchanged views with Mr. Netero on martial arts, and Netero also pointed out his situation.

Ultimately, every martial art, when mastered to its fullest extent, can develop its own unique "momentum" or "force."

Just as boxing has its stances and swordsmanship has its stances, each person's stance is different, with varying effects. These stances can often make one more intimidating and allow one to unleash greater power.

【Potential】is the embodiment of a top martial artist’s achievements in martial arts, and many people incorporate it into their Nen abilities.

Netero was naturally proficient in martial arts techniques, such as the Hundred Style Kannon, which was a Nen ability formed after incorporating martial arts experience.

His method was simple: practice. He set a goal for himself and then worked toward that goal again and again.

For example, his goal was to throw 10,000 punches a day. At first, it took him more than ten hours a day to complete this, but he gradually reduced the time.

Netero thought he could try this approach as well.

His swordsmanship has reached an extremely profound level, and he is only one opportunity away from achieving the "momentum" level.

This opportunity could be a breakthrough in a life-or-death battle, or it could be the natural result of hard training in ordinary times.

Relatively speaking, Nitro recommends the second option, which has a higher success rate and is safer; the only thing needed is time.

Lynn is still young and can afford to spend that time.

Even Netero believed that with Lynn's talent, he might master this ability within a few years and become the youngest top martial artist.

Lynn also thought this method was pretty good, so he started the same training plan, namely "swinging the knife 10,000 times a day".

This method helps one break through limitations in swordsmanship.

Although their worldviews are different, Lynn felt that they still had some commonalities, such as their level of swordsmanship.

In the One Piece world, swordsmanship can be roughly divided into ordinary swordsmen, steel-cutting swordsmen, sword masters, and great sword masters.

An ordinary swordsman is someone who can use swords to attack normally and knows some basic swordsmanship.

The Steel-Cutting Swordsman is someone who can use swords made of steel to cut through steel, taking their swordsmanship to a higher level.

Then came the swordsmen who could use flying slashes, and the even more powerful great swordsmen.

Although it may seem that swordsmen in One Piece don't have much skill and just compete in strength and the power of their Armament Haki, there should be some skill involved, but it's not easy to depict it.

He is currently at the [Steel Cutting] stage, and perhaps after he comprehends [Momentum], he will have the opportunity to become a sword master.

Of course, this will take quite a bit of time.

His starting point was higher than Netero's, so he didn't have to spend more than ten hours a day practicing swordsmanship, but it still took him several hours.

When he has free time, he does it himself; when he doesn't, he sends his clone to do it. He can still accumulate experience in the same way.

At the same time, he often exchanged swordsmanship tips with Zoro and gained quite a bit from him.

To be fair, Zoro may have a terrible sense of direction, but his talent in swordsmanship is undeniable.

He then lived in the manor, going out during the day to visit the capital of Reges, while his clone stayed at home to train. At night, his main body and clone trained together.

Time flies when you're training.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed, and he received a new message from the knight-errant—the troupe had successfully assembled.

night.

-

Inside an abandoned building.

Strands of bright moonlight shone through the hole in the top of the building, casting their light directly onto a floor inside the building that was littered with construction debris.

On the ruins, which were about a person high, Kuroro, wearing a dark coat and with a cross on his forehead, was looking down at a book.

At this point, there were six players on the field besides Kuroro.

Lying on the ruins, striking a seductive pose, his entire body wrapped in bandages, Peeling Lev resembles a mummy.

Leaning against the ruins, the knight and Kuwa closed their eyes as if they were sleeping.

Paknottan, dressed in a pink suit, with striking blond hair and a hooked nose, and a wide-open chest.

She's naturally naive, with a face covered in black-rimmed glasses and a black sweater.

There are seven people in total.

And their agreed meeting time is today.

There are only two hours left until the deadline.

A moment later, two footsteps echoed from the quiet ruins. Under the moonlight, a short man wearing a black trench coat and a skull mask with fierce eyes walked side by side with a burly man without eyebrows wearing a tracksuit.

It was Feitan and Phinks.

The short, arrogant Feitan glanced around and noticed that Hisoka, the clown he disliked, hadn't arrived yet.

Already in a bad mood because of the deaths of his two companions, he shouted angrily, "Shout! Hasn't Hisoka arrived yet?"

"What time is it? You're still late!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Hisoka stepped gracefully out of the shadows, raising a playing card to cover the lower half of his face, revealing only his bewitching, narrow eyes: "I think I heard something strange~"

"Machi, can you hear me?"

Behind him, Machi walked out with a blank expression.

Since they were both at the Sky Arena, they set off for the meeting point together and naturally arrived together.

Upon seeing Hisoka and Machi appear, Feitan pursed his lips and remained silent.

When everyone saw Uvogin and Nobunaga disappear into the crowd, a moment of silence fell as they were immersed in sadness and anger. Uvogin was usually the most active at times like this.

However, soon after, everyone realized another problem.

Midnight arrived as promised, but Franklin was nowhere to be seen; he had never been late before.

The perceptive Hisoka sensed something was amiss.

Kuroro slowly closed the book, raised his head, and lowered his eyelids: "Franklin probably won't appear."

These words immediately sent a jolt through the hearts of the other members.

What does this mean?

The swordsman pretended not to know and stepped forward, asking with suspicion, "Could it be that something came up and delayed you?"

The chivalrous man spoke the minds of everyone else.

Because they genuinely didn't want to believe that another member had left them.

Moreover, Franklin was the eldest brother in the Brigade.

Kuroro's eyes darkened, and he shook his head, continuing, "He hasn't replied to my messages, and I can't get through to him on the phone. I'm afraid something has happened to him."

"According to my investigation, Franklin has not been exposed for more than a year, which is abnormal."

"Has any of you been working with Franklin recently?"

Seeing this, the knight-errant pondered for a moment, then said with a mixture of truth and falsehood, "I met Franklin at the beginning of last year when we were planning to attend Youkexin's auction."

"But because of problems with the auction, we separated again not long afterward."

The knight-errant spoke with perfect discretion because he and Franklin had always operated in secrecy, without being exposed to the public eye.

The only thing he needs to be wary of is Pyknottan!

Paknotan's special ability, Mind Control, allows him to access memories by touching others and share those memories with others using bullets.

If Paknotan were to use his Nen ability on him, the whole story would become clear, and he would become more wary of Lynn.

Fortunately, as a senior member, he was trusted by everyone, unlike the way they trusted Hisoka.

Kuroro nodded slightly, conjuring up a reasonable explanation in his mind: "It seems that Franklin must have had an accident this year."

"I will continue to follow up on the investigation, but everyone should also be mentally prepared."

Kuroro didn't spell it out completely, but everyone understood what he meant.

Be mentally prepared to accept that three members will leave them!

Upon hearing this, Maggie felt a chill run down her spine, sensing that things were leaning towards the worst possible outcome, and her intuition was rarely wrong.

boom!

The hot-tempered Phinks casually punched the nearby ruins, blasting a hole that billowed out dust. "Damn it!"

"Why is there so much bad news!"

Since the group was founded, there have been members who have been killed or replaced, but the deaths of two people and the disappearance of another at once is a major event that has never happened before!

Franklin's disappearance cast a shadow over the hearts of everyone, causing even greater emotional turmoil.

Among these people, apart from the puppet knight, Hisoka is the most composed.

Because he had no feelings for anyone else, he joined the Phantom Troupe only to get closer to Chrollo.

Now he was starting to wonder if Franklin's death might also be related to Lynn—maybe it was possible.

What Hisoka didn't know was that he had stumbled upon the truth.

Even the crowd was unaware that not only three people had died, but the swordsman who had been speaking just moments before was also already "dead."

The killer was Lynn alone from beginning to end.

Seeing the sour expressions on everyone's faces, Kuroro continued, "Let's leave Franklin's matter aside for now, but the murderer of Uvogin and Nobunaga has been identified: Lynn, the strongest tower master of the Heaven's Arena, who has recently gained considerable fame."

"The purpose of today's gathering is to discuss how to get revenge on Lynn."

Paknottan said thoughtfully, "Lynn? I've heard of him. He became a celebrity because of the publicity for the Heaven's Arena. I didn't expect that he could kill Uvogin and Nobunaga."

"Tch! What strongest boss? He's nothing but trash." Feitan muttered, wearing a mask, his tone full of disdain. "I think Uvogin and the others were careless."

What is Sky Arena anyway?

Nobunaga Uvogin was a member of the same group as him. If Nobunaga Uvogin is said to be inferior to the mere Lord, wouldn't that mean he is also inferior to the Lord?

He's unwilling to admit such a thing!

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