“Click…
click…
click…” After accepting Ian’s employment via the inserted coin, the Stumbling Expert, dressed in a green suit, slowly moved its short legs across the ground, making a sound like an old machine starting up.
Its movements were incredibly slow.
It swayed from side to side, like a dilapidated doll with a rusted mainspring, slowly inching forward.
Feitan frowned as he watched this scene.
He felt like his previous vigilance was a complete joke.
“Are you kidding me…” Looking at the palm-sized doll crawling toward him as slowly as a turtle, Feitan couldn’t help but speak up in anger.
“Damn it, have you been messing with me using this broken toy the whole time, Ian?!” Ian didn’t mind Feitan’s reaction.
He knew the power of the Stumbling Expert and trusted that it wouldn’t disappoint him.
“I advise you to take this seriously.
Otherwise, I can’t guarantee what will happen next…” Hearing this, Feitan shook his head and sneered, looking down.
“Still acting tough…” “As expected…
talking to a smooth-talker like you was my biggest mistake.” “To think I was played by a bastard like you, it’s unforgivable…” The moment his voice fell, Feitan hesitated no longer and dashed forward.
“No matter what tricks you’re trying to pull, I won’t fall for them again.” “If I get even one chance, I’ll personally knock your teeth out!” Feitan’s speed was incredible, almost blurring into a dark shadow as he rapidly closed in on Ian, whispering in an icy tone.
Up above, Chrollo watched with a slight frown, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
‘That doll appeared out of nowhere and is moving on its own…
Is it a Manipulation Nen ability?’ The others also watched the scene unfold nervously, equally curious as to why Ian would deploy such a self-moving doll.
Feitan was fast.
Without slowing down in the slightest, he charged straight at Ian.
Yet Ian remained unhurried, wearing a calm smile without making any defensive preparations.
Seemingly aware of Feitan’s approach, the Stumbling Expert—standing less than fifteen centimeters tall on the ground—suddenly raised its head.
Its arm slowly lifted, and a cold glint flashed across its sunglasses, which reflected Feitan’s approaching figure.
*Whoosh!* Feitan swiftly passed by the Stumbling Expert.
His eyes grew cold.
While moving at high speed, he slightly hooked his foot, gathering power to kick the doll away.
However, right at that moment.
*Clang!* The Stumbling Expert’s arm had already risen, pointing directly at Feitan.
Its white fist transformed into a cannon barrel in the blink of an eye, the dark muzzle exuding a bone-chilling aura.
‘What is this?!’ Feitan’s pupils shrank when he saw this.
The feeling of being targeted by a terrifying beast returned, almost making his legs give out.
But it was too late for him to react.
*Bang!* The next moment, Feitan crashed heavily onto the ground, face down with his rear in the air.
His previous arrogance and coldness vanished into thin air.
“He got taken down!” “Feitan was actually defeated by that guy’s doll!” Seeing Feitan fall, Pakunoda and Franklin lost their composure.
Although they had anticipated Feitan might lose after feeling the terrifying malice of Ian’s aura, they never expected it to happen so decisively.
“It worked!” “As expected of Ian!
I told you, that kid Feitan is no match for him!” Uvogin, Machi, and the others were overjoyed.
Seeing Feitan in such an embarrassing state allowed them to vent their frustrations, especially since Feitan’s words had been incredibly harsh earlier.
Not far away, Chrollo’s expression remained calm, but his eyes were fixed on the Stumbling Expert that had defeated Feitan.
He thought to himself, ‘Is this the Nen combat Ian spoke of…?’ ‘It has nothing to do with physical martial arts.
It relies solely on remotely controlling an object created by Nen.
Even without physical contact, victory can be achieved…’ Although Chrollo misunderstood the true nature of Ian’s ability, this battle undoubtedly gave him immense inspiration.
At the same time, it sparked a deeper interest in the Nen abilities he had only recently learned.
For the spectators, all of this happened in a flash.
On the battlefield, Feitan was seeing stars from the fall.
After a few seconds of daze, he quickly snapped back to reality and scrambled to his feet.
“Cough…
cough!” The next moment, intense pain flared up from every part of his body.
“Oh, I didn’t expect you to still be able to move.
But…
that’s fine, it still has two more chances!” Just as Feitan felt a burning agony all over, Ian’s leisurely voice drifted over from a short distance behind him.
“Damn it!” Feitan couldn’t help but recall the moment he was blasted down by the cannon.
Thinking of his embarrassing display, and hearing Ian’s slightly mocking tone, his eyes turned red with rage.
“Ian, I’m going to kill you!” “Don’t talk big.
Besides…
didn’t I tell you?
It still has two more chances…” Ian didn’t care about Feitan’s anger at all.
There was no doubt that in the future Phantom Troupe, Feitan had one of the worst personalities.
He derived joy from torturing his enemies.
He loved using all sorts of inhumane and cruel methods to interrogate foes, and even his developed Nen ability had a religious, self-destructive nature.
His Nen ability, Pain Packer, resembled a medieval Iron Maiden, symbolizing misfortune.
Upon taking enough damage, he could conjure a miniature sun!
The heavier his injuries, the more devastating the scorching power of the sun.
Without a doubt, this guy was a sadist—and a powerful one who not only tortured his enemies but, when pushed to the brink, even tortured himself.
In a way, his personality perfectly matched the underlying tone of the entire Hunter x Hunter world.
Growing up in a place like Meteor City, you either became a criminal or a psychopath.
Whether it was Killua’s mother or the members of the Troupe, almost none of them were normal.
Or rather, growing up to be a normal person in such an environment was what would truly be abnormal.
And that was exactly what made the world of Hunter x Hunter so fascinating.
Here, absolute good and evil were practically discarded, leaving only a profound gray…
The origin of all this twistedness had long been forgotten.
Ever since humanity fled the Dark Continent and settled on the islands in the center of the giant Lake Mobius—the continents where humans now lived—they had never been able to shake off the nightmares of the past.
From the upper echelons to the lowest dregs, the unspeakable psychological pressure left over from their origins caused the humans of this world to struggle in a twisted reality.
And Ian undoubtedly wanted to change this situation.
On the field, Feitan completely ignored his injuries, stood up, and charged at Ian once again!
“Have you lost your mind?” “Even someone like me, who isn’t familiar with combat, knows that losing your cool in a fight only leads to defeat!” Seeing Feitan’s approach, Ian couldn’t help but shake his head with a look of pity.
“Didn’t I tell you?
The Stumbling Expert still has two chances.” “Until then, it will be very difficult for you to hurt me!” Feitan couldn’t hear a word Ian was saying.
Right now, he only had one thought: to smash his fist hard into Ian’s youthful yet infuriatingly smiling face.
Unfortunately, willpower was useless in the face of an overwhelming gap in strength.
Just as he closed within a meter of Ian, the Stumbling Expert behind him had already raised its arm, its dark muzzle aimed squarely at the center of his back.
A cold glint flashed across the Stumbling Expert’s sunglasses.
Even though it looked like nothing more than a short doll, no one could ignore its powerful aura.
It was as if, no matter what kind of enemy stood before the Stumbling Expert, it feared nothing.
It held only one conviction: to make the target fall!
*Boom!* With the roar of a massive cannon, the invisible air seemed to be heavily compressed.
The next moment.
The center of Feitan’s back caved in at a visible rate.
Before his fist could even touch Ian, his face twisted into a hideous expression of agony, so painful he almost threw up!
“Gah!” In an instant, Feitan crashed heavily to the ground.
Even with the defense of his aura, his body convulsed uncontrollably from the pain of being hit by the Stumbling Expert’s air cannon.
“Sigh, didn’t I tell you…” “Until you defeat the Stumbling Expert, it’s practically impossible for you to hurt me…” “Do you still want to continue?” Ian relaxed his posture and strolled over to the fallen Feitan, unable to hide the smile on his face as he chuckled softly.
During the fight with Feitan, he had tested the power of the Stumbling Expert and felt pretty good about it.
It seemed the Stumbling Expert’s attacks had an armor-piercing effect.
Otherwise, logically speaking, Feitan’s physical defenses were bolstered by Nen.
Even if he took a heavy blow, it shouldn’t have hurt so much that he couldn’t bear it.
It was just a pity that he didn’t have many gadgets on hand right now, as the Stumbling Expert wasn’t really suited for real-time combat.
“Damn it!” Feitan growled unwillingly from the ground.
But he was genuinely starting to fear the attacks from that broken toy.
It hurt too much!
After being tripped by the Stumbling Expert twice in a row, he knew clearly that his body had lost the ability to fight back.
Pain, pain, pain…
An indescribable agony spread throughout his entire body!
Every bone in his body seemed to be screaming.
Even the slightest movement sent sharp, piercing pain through him.
Seeing that the other party was only growling in humiliation and no longer cursing, Ian’s lips curled up.
He knew Feitan had been thoroughly beaten into submission.
“It seems I’ve won our little wager.
Remember to get those 1,000 coins ready for me…” Saying this, Ian seemed to remember something.
He glanced at Feitan, who was struggling to get up, and smiled.
“Seeing how miserable you are, I’ll save the hit I owe you for later…
Of course, that’s assuming you insist on continuing to oppose me in the future…” “Hmph!” Hearing Ian’s words—half offering a way out, half threatening—Feitan remained silent, only letting out a cold snort from his nose.
Ian didn’t mind.
He waved at Uvogin, Machi, and the others in the distance, grinning widely.
“Hey, Uvogin, Machi, Nobunaga, I won…” In no time, Machi and the others rushed over.
Chrollo, Pakunoda, and the rest also gathered around, supporting the heavily injured Feitan.
“So, have you decided?
Are we leaving this place together?” Ian had a few scratches on his face but didn’t care at all.
He looked at Chrollo and asked softly.
Chrollo glanced at the supported Feitan.
Pakunoda and Franklin both looked at Chrollo and nodded.
Feitan didn’t speak, but he didn’t refuse either.
Chrollo replied calmly.
“Since no one has any objections, we are willing to accept this proposal.” Hearing this, Uvogin and Nobunaga couldn’t help but rejoice.
“Awesome!” Ian also smiled.
No matter how you looked at it, the people in front of him were all top-tier powerhouses in the making.
He had no connections or resources in this world.
With them around, his future path would undoubtedly be much smoother.
But right at that moment.
“Click…
click…” The sound of an old machine suddenly echoed behind them.
The moment he heard that sound, the supported Feitan turned pale, and Ian’s expression stiffened slightly.
“Ian, haven’t you put that gadget away yet?” Machi turned around, looking at the Stumbling Expert slowly walking toward their group.
She blinked, asking curiously.
Chrollo cast a sidelong glance at the Stumbling Expert.
Although he really wanted to grab it and study it, he held back and looked at Ian along with Paku and the others.
Ian seemed to realize something and rubbed his hands together awkwardly, avoiding Feitan’s deadly glare as he muttered.
“Sorry, once the Stumbling Expert is activated, it won’t stop until it trips the enemy three times…
Not even I can stop it!” “Pfft…” Hearing this, Uvogin, Nobunaga, and the others flushed red, holding it in for a long time before finally bursting into laughter.
The supported Feitan turned deathly pale, his eyes widening as he glared viciously at Ian.
“You…
you bastard…” Just as his words fell, the Stumbling Expert had already raised its cannon and pointed it at him.
*Boom!* With a massive bang, Feitan was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily to the ground once more.
His face twisted in agony before he passed out completely.
A dead silence fell over the area as everyone turned their gaze toward Ian.
Ian helplessly spread his hands and offered a comforting remark.
“It’s fine.
Passing out is for the best.
At least he doesn’t feel the pain now…”