Suddenly, Netero's voice broke the silence with a chuckle.
"That's why I said earlier, don't worry about Larry. His hidden strength goes far beyond what we can imagine."
He glanced at Ging, who still looked serious, sharing the same surprise.
Netero had expected Larry to only use the smaller nen best, but the presence of the larger one caught him off guard too.
Larry, feeling a bit embarrassed, scratched the tip of his nose and said, "Are you guys exaggerating? It's not like it was that huge of a deal."
After all, the mushroom cloud lingering in the distance made everyone think the scene was more dramatic than it really was.
At that moment, Morel appeared, his face lighting up with relief as he saw everyone safe.
"You're all back safely!" he exclaimed, sighing deeply.
Knov, however, was still in shock.
Pointing nervously at the mushroom cloud that hadn't faded yet, he asked, "So... Mr. Larry did all that?"
His astonished expression quickly shifted to one of fear.
Could Larry really have created that massive blast in a single strike?
To me, it was like a bunch of large bombs going off all at once, and honestly, I believe it.
"Yeah, it's really unbelievable how much power he's hiding," Ging muttered while staring at the strange smoke cloud.
"Just unleash a Nen beast and crush the strengthened Ant King."
While most of the group was still riding the wave of excitement and surprise, Gon suddenly spoke up softly from the side.
"Are you... Ging?"
Gon's voice was filled with disbelief, as if he couldn't believe they were meeting under these circumstances.
That's when Ging noticed Gon standing nearby and suddenly remembered. Gon was part of the subjugation team too!
His hair stood on end, and his body stiffened, like a character in a horror movie who's just come face-to-face with a ghost.
'This can't be good!'
Ging thought frantically.
On the outside, he stayed calm, but inside, he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
'I was so overwhelmed by Larry's Nian Beast just now that I completely forgot Gon was here!'
Ging's mind raced.
What he had witnessed tonight was so shocking that he had blindly followed Larry without thinking, totally unprepared for this moment.
Gon's question snapped him back to reality and helped him remember what he had blocked out. He had forgotten Gon's presence entirely.
Ging's brain worked overtime, trying to figure out a way out of this situation.
Thoughts tangled and spun as he recalled every detail, searching for an escape route.
Larry and the others watched Ging deep in thought, looking like they were waiting for something.
Everyone except Larry, Netero, and Killua knew about "Gon's search for his father."
Meanwhile, Morel and the others had also learned that Gon had been looking for Ging.
This gave them a clearer picture of Ging's true character.
To them, Ging was just a powerful but low-key father.
With his strength, they never imagined Gon would get this close to him so easily.
But now, because of Ging's momentary lapse, he had come face-to-face with Gon, the very person who had been avoiding him all this time.
Could it be that this "search for dad" is finally reaching its end?
Killua stared at Ging with burning eyes, stunned to realize that this disheveled man was Gon's father.
Ging wore a rough linen robe, his hair wrapped in a long cloth, with a few stray strands sticking out here and there.
Although his appearance wasn't exactly messy, it gave off a very sloppy vibe, especially with his unkempt beard and shabby outfit, making him look more like a homeless man than the dignified father Killua had imagined.
Still, when Killua looked closely at Ging's face, which was strikingly similar to Gon's, he had to admit the truth. This was Gon's dad.
As several people watched, and with Gon's earnest expression staring up at him, Ging made a choice.
He lifted the scarf around his neck to cover his face, scratched the back of his head, and lowered his voice, saying, "No, you've got the wrong person. My name's 'Nigg.'"
He was grateful for the scarf at that moment; it helped him hide his identity a little better.
Gon smiled awkwardly, scratching his head.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I must have made a mistake."
The exchange left the onlookers dumbfounded.
Morel, who was smoking nearby, choked on his smoke, barely holding back tears from laughter.
Even Netero, an old man who had seen it all, couldn't help his twitching eyelids.
Everyone there shared the same thought: these two had to be father and son.
"Idiot! He's your dad!" Killua slapped Gon on the head, making the two of them laugh in frustration.
"But he said no," Gon protested, covering his head and looking a little hurt.
Killua rolled his eyes, annoyed.
"Have you forgotten? The first name you saw on Greed Island was 'Nigg'!" he reminded him, smacking his forehead.
He was about to be driven crazy by that wild little lady.
"Yes! That one is also called 'Nigg'!" Gon suddenly realized, nudged awake by Killua.
He turned to look at Ging again.
Now, Ging perfectly embodied the saying "an ostrich with its head in the sand."
With his scarf pulled up to cover his face, Ging was doing everything he could to pretend he "didn't see Gon."
From that moment on, he was officially Nico!
Clearing his throat, Ging muttered, "Ahem, maybe they just have the same name."
He stubbornly refused to admit he was Ging, no matter what.
This sneaky move only made Morel and the others see him in a new light, from a "loser dad" to a "weird loser dad."
Watching this, Larry completely lost interest.
There was nothing he could do if Ging refused to admit the truth.
People like him were just strange.
He was so shy that seeing his own son felt like seeing a ghost.
Actually, if Ging had two choices, he'd probably pick seeing a ghost over his own son.
That's a rare kind of father for sure.
Shaking his head, Larry looked away from the awkward father-son duo and focused on the palace beside them.
Once a grand building, now it lay in ruins after the battle between the Dragon Lance and Pokemon.
Collapsed walls and holes riddled the ceiling, but under the moonlight, the decaying palace held a strange kind of beauty.
Still, Larry's attention wasn't on the palace's charm.
His eyes fixed on the tower in the center, where a faint aura lingered.
That was his target, the final piece to end this whole mess.
Inside the tower room, the highest in all of East Gorteau Palace, was where the Ant King spent most of his time.
Like the rest of the palace, the ceiling had been punched through by the Dragon Lance's attacks.
Soft beams of moonlight filtered through the holes, casting just enough light to fill the room.
"What's going on? Why is the palace exploding?" a worried voice whispered.
Blind girl Komugi sat against the wall, hugging her knees tightly, burying her head as fear swelled inside her.
She couldn't see much, but she knew something was very wrong.
"Commander-in-Chief, where are you?" she called out softly, her voice trembling.
'All I knew was that tonight there were sudden sounds like explosions, and then... I never heard the voice of the Commander-in-Chief again. Was the palace under attack? Are you okay, Commander-in-Chief?'