Stepping forward.
Zane lunged in, his right elbow—reinforced with both Nen aura and Armant Haki—slamming heavily into his opponent's chest.
A violent collision ensued.
Though Phinks was enraged by Feitan's disappearance, he clearly hadn't lost his composure.
At the mont of impact, he imdiately concentrated Nen on his chest to maximize his defense.
But even so.
The power Zane unleashed in that elbow strike completely suppressed him.
Accompanied by the sound of cracking bone, Phinks let out a muffled groan as his feet skidded across the ground, sending him hurtling backward.
[LET'S DUEL!]
Having suppressed him in a single blow, Zane wasted no ti and instantly activated his Nen ability again.
The familiar Equality Space descended.
Zane's figure blurred like a gale; not giving Phinks a chance to react, he threw another punch.
'A spatial Nen ability?'
As the environnt shifted drastically, the thought flashed through Phinks's mind.
But he had no ti for deeper thought as Zane was already upon him, forcing him to engage.
Zane smashed a fist into Phinks's blocking left arm, then fluidly transitioned his right hand into a blade, thrusting toward the man's throat.
Phinks frantically retreated to dodge.
His steps pushed inward relentlessly.
Zane's arms beca a blur of motion, maintaining a constant offensive.
Phinks parried clumsily; forget counterattacking, even after blocking several hits, his arms were quickly covered in bruises and throbbing with intense pain.
Dual energies running in parallel.
Under the dual shroud of Nen aura and Armant Haki, Zane's attacks had clearly surpassed the limits of Phinks's Nen defense.
Pressuring his opponent into a continuous retreat.
Zane suddenly dropped low, his right leg sweeping out like a steel whip at Phinks's lower half.
His feet left the ground.
The sudden change in tactics caught Phinks completely off guard, sending him tumbling sideways into the air.
Way of the Soldier: Killing Fist - Spinning - Aggressive as Fire!
His right arm spun at high speed, burying a punch deep into the man's abdon.
"Agh!!!"
Blood sprayed from Phinks's mouth; amidst the searing flas, he was sent flying into the distance, spinning like a top.
It was over.
The heavy trauma to his abdon caused Phinks's Nen aura to scatter.
While it was only for a fleeting mont, it was more than enough for Zane.
A swift dash.
Zane caught up in an instant, his hand-blade slicing across the man's neck with precision.
Scattered Nen aura offered no protection.
By the ti Phinks hit the ground, his head had already parted from his body.
"Killing you with your partner's technique... I suppose you have no regrets!"
Zane casually flicked the blood from his hand.
Compared to his previous battle with Feitan, this clash with Phinks had been one of absolute dominance.
This difference wasn't because there was a massive gap between Feitan and Phinks's strength, but because Zane had grown stronger.
After plundering Feitan's Nen techniques, Zane no longer had any weaknesses in his mastery of Nen.
This change was a significant boost to his combat prowess.
It allowed him to fully utilize his massive reserves of Nen aura.
The splattered blood and the corpse dissolved into particles, converging into four glowing spheres.
"I'll stick with the Nen ability."
After a mont's thought, Zane reached for the sphere containing the Nen ability.
He only had one slot left for his Imprint Entries.
Although he could replace them later, he couldn't afford to be careless with his choice.
Phinks's Nen ability was called [Ripper Cyclotron].
By condensing Nen in the arm and rotating it, the power of the punch increased.
The more rotations, the greater the power.
Just listen to that.
How perfectly this Nen ability complented the Spin-Spin Fruit.
While [Ripper Cyclotron] wasn't as flashy as Feitan's ability, Zane certainly wasn't going to pass up such high compatibility with his Spin-Spin Fruit.
...
The deaths of Phinks and Feitan were like two stones cast into a lake.
They created significant ripples, yet things quickly returned to a semblance of calm.
Of course, this peace was only on the surface.
In the original tiline, Silva Zoldyck had once killed a mber of the Phantom Troupe.
Afterward, Chrollo had tracked him down, leading to a fierce battle.
Although Silva had erged unscathed, it demonstrated the Phantom Troupe's extre thirst for vengeance.
"Anyway, for now, you should just stay hidden. If... if you really do get found by the Phantom Troupe, don't try to play the hero. Just give up. At least that way, you might have a slim chance of survival instead of certain death."
Zane was giving instructions to Tonpa over the phone.
"Huh?!" Upon learning that Zane had actually taken out mbers of the Phantom Troupe and that they might co looking for blood, Tonpa went completely numb.
It wasn't just Zane who would be hunted; as Zane's subordinate, he wouldn't be able to escape either.
There was no such thing as a wall that didn't leak.
As the one who purchased the intel, if the truth ever ca out, the Phantom Troupe would never let Tonpa go.
One could only say that danger and opportunity were two sides of the sa coin.
While Tonpa had certainly made a fortune after becoming Zane's lackey, he naturally had to bear the risk of retaliation while hunting criminals.
Ending the call.
Zane imdiately looked toward the dense, primordial forest ahead.
This was an unnad deep-mountain wilderness.
It was the place he had chosen for his cultivation.
Having plundered two Nen abilities in a row.
He planned to pause his hunting for now to digest his gains.
Half a month passed in a flash.
Sowhere within the dense forest.
Zane gazed at the steep cliff before him and slowly raised his right arm.
First.
[Body of Steel].
His right arm instantly underwent tallization.
Next.
Nen shroud.
Armant Haki shroud.
The two energies surged forth, wrapping around his entire right arm.
Then.
Way of the Soldier: Killing Fist - Aggressive as Fire.
Flas erupted, flowing over his fist.
Finally.
[Ripper Cyclotron] activated.
Spin-Spin Fruit ability activated.
Voom!
His fla-shrouded right arm began to spin at high velocity.
Simultaneously, [Ripper Cyclotron] took effect. Like a wound spring, it began to build power frantically as his arm spun.
Under the staggering rotational speed, Zane's arm changed instantly, turning a glowing, incandescent red like molten lava.
Aggressive as Fire: Ripper Incineration Cannon!!!
He stomped the ground, his fist moving with his body.
As Zane lunged forward, his glowing red arm unleashed a devastating punch against the steep cliff face.
Boom!!!
An earth-shaking roar echoed through the forest, sending countless birds and beasts fleeing in terror.
A crimson shockwave, resembling a volcanic eruption, pulverized the cliff face in an instant before continuing its path toward the sky, trailing layers of explosive airwaves.
A heatwave swept out.
When the crimson shockwave finally dissipated, nearly a hundred ters of the cliffside had vanished. The remaining edges of the mountain were vitrified into a glass-like state.
"High power, but it cos with a heavy burden."
Letting out a slow breath, Zane looked at the incredible destruction he had wrought, then lowered his gaze to his charred right arm.
After half a month of digestion, he had successfully integrated [Body of Steel] and [Ripper Cyclotron] into his own system.
That single strike was the final validation of his weeks of bitter training.
The power was undeniable.
But the drawbacks were also clear.
Even with his arm tallized, the terrifying heat still caused significant burns.
"You can't have your cake and eat it too. These results are already good enough." Zane maintained a positive mindset.
If there were shortcomings, he would simply make up for them later.
Whether it was increasing his defense or enhancing his self-healing, with his abilities, nothing would be impossible in the future.
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