Ten minutes later.
A knock sounded from outside the training room door.
"Boss."
Vivian's voice came from outside the door.
"Someone delivered a document to the manor, saying it's for you. He said you'd know what it is. I've brought it over."
Leo stopped his punching practice, picked up a towel to wipe the sweat off his face, walked to the door, and pulled it open.
Vivian stood at the door, holding a kraft paper envelope. The seal was unsealed, and there were no markings; it was completely clean.
Leo didn't take the envelope immediately. He first used 'Gyo,' scanning the surface of the envelope with his eyes.
There were no traces of Nen, no abnormal energy fluctuations; it was just an ordinary paper bag.
"Thanks for the hard work. You may go."
Leo reached out and took the envelope.
Vivian didn't ask questions and turned to leave.
Leo closed the door, walked back to the lounge area to sit down, and tore open the seal.
Inside were only a few pages of paper. Each page was printed with dense text and photographs, neatly laid out with clear information.
The first page featured a photograph of a man in his fifties with graying hair and a serious expression, wearing a dark suit. The background was the entrance to a certain government building.
Below it, his name, position, department, and his promotion trajectory over the past five years were noted.
Vice Chairman of the V5 United Council's Finance Committee, he controlled the approval rights for the V5's annual budget of hundreds of billions of jenny.
Half of the Doctor's research funding was approved through his hands.
The second page featured another man, forty-five years old, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a gentle smile.
Advanced Consultant to the V5 Security Council, responsible for coordinating intelligence sharing and counter-terrorism cooperation among member states.
The reason the Doctor's laboratory could operate secretly on an island for so many years without being discovered was that he was suppressing the information.
The third page featured a woman, forty years old, with short hair and a sharp gaze.
Deputy Director of the V5 Special Operations Division, responsible for approving all operations requiring execution across member states.
Every operation to capture the Doctor had its route and personnel configuration leaked in advance because she had tampered with them.
The fourth page featured a man in his fifties, dressed exquisitely with an arrogant demeanor.
A member of the V5 United Council and also a core figure of the ruling party in a certain member state.
He had repeatedly obstructed in-depth investigations into the Doctor's incident in the Council, citing 'insufficient evidence and a waste of public resources' as the reason.
Four people. One in charge of money, one for intelligence, one for operations, and one for public opinion.
A clear division of labor, each performing their duties and cooperating with one another.
The Doctor was merely the executor they pushed to the front. The true masterminds were these four high-ranking officials sitting in their offices, drinking coffee, and deciding the life and death of countless people with a few pages of documents.
Leo put down the documents and leaned back against his chair.
Without any one of these four people, the Doctor's base could never have operated for so many years.
They formed a complete closed loop; every one of them was indispensable.
His phone rang.
No number appeared on the screen, only 'Unknown Caller'.
Leo pressed the answer button.
"How is it?"
Liam's voice came from the other end, carrying a certain confident smile.
"I'm being very sincere. Want to cooperate?"
Leo's gaze fell on the pages of documents on the table.
"No problem. Limited to this cooperation only."
"Excellent."
Liam's laughter grew more pronounced.
"I'm in no hurry. You'll change your mind. Everything is hard at the beginning; as long as you're willing to cooperate, it's fine."
Just as Leo was about to hang up, Liam spoke again.
"Since we're cooperating, I can give you two pieces of information for free. Do you need them, Leo?"
Leo raised an eyebrow.
"Since it's free, there's no harm in listening."
The soft sound of a coffee cup being placed on a table came from the other end.
"I know you'll definitely have Kalluto help you find those four and then kill them. But that efficiency is too low."
"As soon as you kill one of them, the rest will become alert. The difficulty of killing the others afterward will increase significantly."
He paused.
"A summit will be held next March. All four of them will attend together. You can deal with them all at once then. I can provide their travel routes."
A cold light flashed in Leo's eyes.
This guy was truly ruthless.
To be able to sell out even his own colleagues' travel routes, this person's bottom line was lower than he had imagined.
"And the second piece?"
Liam smiled, his tone becoming a bit more relaxed.
"The second piece of information—I heard them mention that someone will be sent to handle Netero. It should be a plan targeting Netero. As for what the plan is, I'm not sure."
Leo's brow furrowed slightly.
A plan targeting Chairman Netero?
Netero was an existence at the Peak of human martial power. Many people wanted to deal with him, but those who actually dared to act were few and far between.
Next March, the summit, Netero being handled...
These clues quickly pieced together in his mind.
"I understand. That's all for now."
He hung up and placed the phone on the table.
Leo sat there, silent for a moment.
Liam's proposal was worth considering.
He'd let Nico investigate the information on these four first; it didn't matter if they were given a few more months to live.
As for the plan targeting Chairman Netero he mentioned—it was most likely next year's Chimera Ant incident.
He was planning to intervene in that incident anyway.
The Chimera Ant soldiers, guards, and even the Ant King could provide him with massive amounts of Life Energy.
It was far more efficient than killing tens of thousands of ordinary creatures.
Leo stood up and walked back to the center of the training area.
His right fist clenched and smashed into the metal post.
Bang—
Time reached the fourth day.
On the outskirts of Tote City, at the Colton Ranch, at noon.
The air was filled with the distinct scent of livestock, mixed with the smell of feed and soil, along with an imperceptible trace of blood.
Leo stood by the fence, facing an endless ranch—tens of thousands of creatures were separated into different areas, various animals crowded together, letting out low cries.
A day ago, Vivian had called to tell him that the creatures had been fully acquired.
Thirty thousand. A full thirty thousand.
This was the news he had been waiting for.
Leo stepped into the ranch.
He used Nen Bullets to conduct a large-scale slaughter.
Each Nen Bullet fired from his fingertips accurately pierced the vitals of a creature.
These captive beasts fell one by one under his Nen Bullets.
Notifications of Life Energy constantly flashed in his mind, merging into a continuous long river.
The tattoo on the back of his hand almost never stopped generating heat, with warmth coming in wave after wave.
He spent two days killing over twenty thousand.
The morning of the fifth day.
The last Bicorne Ox-Horse collapsed before him with a crash, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
Leo withdrew his hand and looked at the ranch before him.
Carcasses lay everywhere, blood soaked the earth, and the air was thick with the heavy scent of gore.
An unprecedentedly intense sensation of warmth came from the tattoo on the back of his hand.
[Rank: Rank 80 (1%)]
At that moment, Leo's body jolted violently.
Muscle fibers became visibly denser, each muscle bundle reorganizing and strengthening, becoming as tough as steel cables.
His bones were itching—a sign that their density was increasing. He could hear slight clicking sounds coming from within his body.
His height was increasing, from 2.1 meters to 2.5 meters.
He looked down at his hands.
Power was flowing incessantly.
His Qi capacity had doubled.
He bent his knees slightly and jumped with all his might—his body soared into the sky, clearing a height of over eight hundred meters in an instant.
He flipped once in the air and landed steadily, kicking up only a small circle of dust.
Closing his eyes, his perception spread outward.
Eight hundred meters away, he could clearly see the dewdrops on the leaves.
Within six hundred meters, his 'En' could capture the crawling of every single insect.
His neural reaction speed had also reached a new height.
A dragonfly flew past him, the trajectory of its wing flaps crystal clear, like a stop-motion animation.
He raised his right hand and lightly scratched his left arm with a fingernail.
A small wound appeared, and in less than ten seconds, the wound stopped bleeding and scabbed over.
After twenty-five seconds, the scab fell off, and his skin was restored to its original state.
He threw a punch, and the wind from it howled out, forming a visible ripple in the air.
The fence twenty meters away was struck by the punch's wind, shaking violently as several wooden posts snapped.
The corners of Leo's mouth curled up slightly.
The endless vitality and surging power within his body left him extremely satisfied.
He looked down at his 2.5-meter frame—it was too tall, too conspicuous.
If he returned to Colton Manor in this form, Liam's people would surely notice his change.
That man was too shrewd; any information beyond common sense would be captured and then exploited by him.
Leo closed his eyes and focused his mind.
He began to control his flesh and bones, shrinking his body just like his master, Biscuit.
Now, he could precisely and freely manipulate his own physical body.
Bones began to contract, muscle fibers rearranged themselves, and skin tightened then loosened.
2.5 meters, 2.4, 2.3, 2.2, 2.1, 2.0 meters.
His body made subtle 'cracking' sounds, like bones rubbing together, resembling a precision machine adjusting its parts.
Leo's brow furrowed slightly—this change was somewhat uncomfortable, with an indescribable sense of wrongness, like wearing ill-fitting clothes.
However, it would be fine once he adapted for a while.
He moved his shoulders, feeling his shrunken body, and was very satisfied.
Although his size had decreased, the power contained within his flesh had not diminished.
Rank 80. Now he could go hatch that phantom beast egg.