Although collectively known as the “Seven World Wonders,” there is a hierarchy among them; after all, rarity determines value.
The lowest tier naturally consists of items like the Scarlet Eyes and the Crystal Skeleton.
While they are rare, several hundred pairs of Scarlet Eyes have entered the market since the Kurta Clan’s massacre, and the birds to which the Crystal Skeletons belong still have about two hundred survivors in the world.
Next are minerals with extremely limited reserves, such as Water Glaze and Liquid Titanium.
Their appearances throughout history can be counted on one hand.
To find them, one must either strike gold in treacherous, uninhabited mountain forests or follow obscure clues to ancient ruins that have remained hidden for centuries…
or, failing that, raid the villa of a V5 high-ranking official.
The final tier is the White Fire, which is almost impossible to collect.
White Fire is a species of fish living in the deep seas of the poles; they are incredibly difficult to catch and hard to keep alive.
Furthermore, their carcasses rot quickly after death.
Like natural gas, their entire bodies are flammable, producing a beautiful white flame while alive.
Only a select few have glimpsed that ultimate “whiteness” in the ocean.
Even if one is lucky enough to haul it up, the White Fire dies shortly after, making it a fleeting beauty.
It was clear that the Liquid Titanium Crown was of immense value, but Lynn had no intention of selling it.
Such a fine item was something others would struggle to see even once in a lifetime.
Having finally obtained it, he naturally wanted to keep it for his personal collection, to be admired occasionally.
As for the other two items, while they were far inferior to the crown, they were still antiques of considerable collector value, so he didn’t plan on selling them for the time being either.
Selling off the scraps would suffice; the resulting money would be handed over to Capone for business operations.
Of course, there was another reason why these three items were not for sale.
Lynn’s eyes sparkled as he coated his pupils with refined Nen.
He saw that the three antiques, including the crown, were shrouded in an eerie black-purple gas, clinging to them like maggots on a bone.
It was a very peculiar gas—just looking at it caused an instinctive revulsion, making one want to stay far away.
In the professional terminology of Nen users, this was known as “Post-Mortem Nen”!
Post-Mortem Nen is the Nen that remains after death.
It usually forms when a person’s will regarding a certain matter is exceptionally strong at the moment of death—for instance, a desire for revenge or unfinished business.
Consequently, the originally peaceful and normal Nen becomes blackened, aggressive, and invasive.
Lynn’s strongest impression of Post-Mortem Nen came from the duel between Hisoka and Chrollo at Heaven’s Arena in the original story.
In the manga, Chrollo used his Nen abilities to create a large number of human bombs during the match.
When Chrollo believed Hisoka was dead and his body was being carried away by the staff, something miraculous happened.
A surge of Post-Mortem Nen performed CPR on Hisoka’s heart, eventually bringing him back to life.
As it turned out, Hisoka had left a portion of his Nen in his heart before dying, driving the Post-Mortem Nen with his powerful will to perform resuscitation at the brink of death.
It was an experiment by Hisoka; he hadn’t been a hundred percent sure he could save himself.
At the time, Lynn couldn’t help but marvel at the author Togashi’s wild imagination—to think a character could be brought back like that.
In other words, Post-Mortem Nen could be understood as a type of negative energy.
Opposed to ordinary Nen, even Nen users were reluctant to touch it because the danger was too great.
Unfortunately, antiques were among the items most likely to harbor Post-Mortem Nen, and the three items before him were no exception.
If he couldn’t remove the Post-Mortem Nen from them, he couldn’t touch them directly and might even have to lock them away.
While he was lost in thought, a sudden movement stirred in his mind.
Lynn took out a card.
As the light faded, it was replaced by a Pokémon Egg roughly the size of a human head.
After more than a month, this egg was finally about to hatch!
According to the egg’s description, it contained a Ghost-type Pokémon, but he didn’t know which one specifically.
As the egg shook, several figures flashed through Lynn’s mind.
After about half a minute, the top of the shell cracked open, and a mass of purple-black gas floated out, looking just as eerie as Post-Mortem Nen at first glance.
“Hehe-hehe~”
On the surface of the irregular purple-black mist, a pale, round ghostly face appeared.
The large face featured a pair of bulging eyes with white pupils and a long, protruding crimson tongue.
It was making a face at Lynn.
It was…
a Gastly?
Lynn blinked, looking at the Pokémon making faces to show its affection.
A sense of familiarity washed over him.
He was no stranger to Gastly, especially its final evolution, Gengar, whose popularity was top-tier among Pokémon.
[Name: Gastly]
[Rank: C-]
[Type: Character Card]
[Background: Pokémon]
[Description: Said to be a Pokémon born from grudges inhabiting the gases emitted from graveyards.
Its entire body is highly poisonous.
Because it has no physical form, Gastly is immune to conventional physical attacks and possesses the ability to consume dark energy to strengthen itself.]
Gastly was excellent.
Not only was it popular, but it was also highly practical—especially its final form, Gengar.
Gengar was famous for its variety of status moves.
In reality, unlike in the games, multiple negative effects could exist simultaneously.
Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, Thunder Wave, Confuse Ray—it could stack a series of debuffs on an enemy before the fight even began.
Furthermore, Gengar could pass through solids at will and hide in the shadows of objects.
Lynn planned to have it lurk in his own shadow from now on.
Even if he failed to notice a danger, Gengar could still use skills like “Protect” to keep him safe.
At the same time, Gengar could swallow items and store them in its stomach, acting as a warehouse.
In the future, he wouldn’t even need to carry bags when going out; he could just summon Gengar when needed—it was incredibly convenient.
“Kee-hee~”
Gastly’s cry brought Lynn back to his senses.
He saw Gastly flying in circles over the coffee table, its sounds filled with longing.
Wait?
What was that glistening liquid at the corner of Gastly’s mouth?
Was it drooling?
Lynn’s eyes widened as he double-checked: “Are you saying you want to eat the Post-Mortem Nen on these antiques?”
“Kee-hee!
Kee-hee!” Gastly nodded vigorously.
In its eyes, this Post-Mortem Nen was the most delicious of delicacies.
Right, the panel description mentioned Gastly consumes dark energy to grow…
Lynn paused for a second before letting Gastly enjoy its meal.
Having received permission, Gastly happily lunged forward and began devouring the Post-Mortem Nen in large gulps.
Wisps of black-purple gas flowed into its mouth.
The Post-Mortem Nen was indeed decreasing!
In that case…
with Gastly’s help, could he moonlight as an Exorcist?
In the world of Hunter x Hunter, while Nen users were far fewer in number than ordinary people, there was still a decent amount of them.
Exorcists, however, were the truly rare species, holding a lofty status.
Looking across the entire anime, only three Exorcists were ever mentioned!
The first was the Black man who appeared on Greed Island to remove the Nen from Chrollo.
The second was the rabbit-type Chimera Ant named Hina.
The last was a middle-aged female Exorcist working for the Hunter Association.
Rare talents like Exorcists could thrive anywhere.
Although it seemed Gastly could only remove Post-Mortem Nen for now, it was enough for Lynn to be called an “Exorcist.”