In the garden of Nostra Manor, Kevin lay comfortably on a chair in the courtyard, thoroughly enjoying the leisurely afternoon. Though leisurely, the air was filled with constant noise from all directions. The entire Nostra Manor had transformed into a giant construction site, with various buildings being erected in full swing. Though spacious, the sounds of various machinery were inevitably noisy.
Originally, the manor's grounds were just a section of the mountain forest, with a winding road leading up to the peak. Nostra Manor was the only resident here. This was what a wealthy person's large manor looked like, built on the edge of the city, secluded and peaceful. But now, the entire mountain and a large area of land behind the manor had been included. In contrast, the area at the manor's entrance and the grassland inside the gate had become the smallest part.
Just then, the phone chimed. Kevin sat up, holding his phone and reading carefully. It was a message from Begetto, detailing the follow-up matters concerning the Spiral organization after Kevin's departure, with a focus on their spoils of war. All the Golden Chickens and a large portion of the fertilized eggs were handed over to Begetto. These spoils were jointly held by the two, and Begetto was currently responsible for the breeding work. After all, as a Conservation Hunter, Begetto was a professional in this area.
In addition, some golden eggs that were not fertilized had been entrusted to Locke for transportation. Coupled with some Growth Organs Kevin already had, he could start refining a batch of Surging Potion. This was the name he gave the new potion. If nothing unexpected happened, this potion would be used for a long time in the coming days, but the output was limited. There was nothing to be done about this—the higher the level of the potion, the more troublesome the material requirements. It was already very good to have a stable channel for obtaining them; don't hope for increased production. Therefore, it couldn't be used as freely as the Strength Potion before, where it was used as long as the body could withstand it. Instead, training time must be reasonably planned based on production.
As for how much effect this potion could have in training, to be honest, Kevin hadn't tried it yet. Kevin was also unsure whether the increase in aura could be memorized by the body. This mainly depended on how the potion showed its effect. The potion that was prepared earlier was originally thought to be useful in battle, but it had been idle until now.
Just then, Hava walked in. "Boss, the things have been transported over. How do you want to arrange them?"
Upon hearing this, Kevin turned his head to look toward the gate and indeed saw several large trucks parked side by side there. "The efficiency is quite high. Thank you." Kevin said, scratching his head.
What these trucks were transporting was the Charge Armor breeding line Kevin had obtained from the previous base, covering the entire process from the breeding of ordinary Charge Armor, to the supporting organ transplantation and cultivation surgery, and finally to finished product breeding. To some extent, it took about half a year to obtain a Growth Organ. The reason the manor was undergoing extensive construction and had purchased large areas of surrounding land was to reserve living space for these Charge Armor. Fortunately, the yield of golden eggs was not high, so not too many Charge Armor needed to be raised. A scale of two family units was probably enough.
"Just send them over according to the previously planned scheme. The monitoring devices and defensive fences must be properly installed. I don't want any accidents. If these bugs send you all flying, I'll have to spend time and effort piecing your bodies back together."
Hava nodded solemnly. He had just seen that the young beetles were the size of his head, and it was said that the adults were like trucks. Why raise such a thing? Though he couldn't understand, he still acted honestly.
"Begetto is such a lazy guy." Kevin couldn't help complaining. He originally hoped Begetto could help raise the Charge Armor, but compared to raising Golden Chickens, Begetto had no interest in Charge Armor. After all, this thing had no mystery to speak of—it was purely an artificial product—and it was extremely troublesome to raise, not only occupying a large area but also requiring a considerable amount of food. Though Begetto had a team, he was mainly engaged in fine breeding work, not this kind of large-scale breeding. So he refused without hesitation. The root cause of all this was actually only one point: he was not interested. For a Hunter, something they were not interested in was boring. There was nothing to be done; Kevin could only handle this matter himself.
"A team—why do I feel like there's not enough manpower again?" Kevin lay on the chair, rubbing his temples helplessly.
As time passed, the team continued to grow, and Nostra Manor had undoubtedly become their core base. Everyone lived here, potions were stored here, various materials were accumulated and stored here, and servers were all stored here. If nothing unexpected happened, Rosana's "home" would also be fixed here. Now even the breeding grounds were located here, so it was conceivable that in the future, similar material cultivation sites would only increase. This led to a problem: the territory was getting larger, the matters that needed to be dealt with were gradually increasing, but the personnel available to handle various affairs were becoming increasingly scarce.
They currently had five Nen users, which seemed like quite a few at first glance. But the reality was that the number of people who could fight was limited. As the team's leader, Kevin would inevitably have to travel around in the future. He needed to acquire various materials and go to various places. Even in the distant future, he might spend several years going to unknown places.
Though Kurapika had potential, he was still in the growth stage, and his main responsibility was to protect Neon's safety—which immediately reduced the number of Nen users by two. As for Rosana, her Nen ability had become a kind of core guarantee and retreat for the team. And perhaps influenced by her past personality, she didn't like to be too far from home. She occasionally assisted with some financial matters, read books, trained, and took care of her son. Her life was fulfilling and comfortable. Moreover, Rosana's combat power was indeed not high. Through her Nen ability, she had more than enough self-preservation here, but not enough offense.
Thus, apart from Kevin, the only Nen user with combat power in the team was Pairo. However, Pairo hadn't been learning Nen ability for long and wasn't yet able to exert a powerful force that could decide the outcome. Like Kurapika, his future development was promising, but his current strength was limited.
As Red Stone Pharmaceuticals grew and expanded, Light also needed a Nen user to serve as a bodyguard. Though Light was the only ordinary person in the team, his importance was self-evident. Kevin's potion store also needed a Nen user to be present frequently. At this stage, a rotation system was mainly adopted, with everyone taking turns, just as a change of environment. But there still needed to be a main person in charge. Kevin couldn't be expected to sit there all day for such small matters—that would be too much of a waste of human resources.
Now the Charge Armor in the breeding farm was also a small problem. Though there were special isolation belts to restrict their activities in specific areas, it was difficult to guarantee that no unexpected situations would occur. Moreover, Nostra Manor was so large that it also required comprehensive defense and early warning measures.
"Can I try to get Locke?" Kevin murmured to himself. Through this collaboration, Kevin had seen Locke's capabilities. However, on second thought, the possibility of Locke joining the team was low. Though he wasn't a free-spirited person, he clearly valued his own career more. The current cooperation model was quite good. He could be hired when needed, and there was a certain foundation of trust between them—which was crucial.
Thinking of this, Kevin took out paper and pen and wrote down name after name: Mori, Menchi, Buhara, Gawain, Bajiao, Goreinu, Kite. These were people he knew who might potentially join the team. After careful consideration, Kevin felt that the possibility of Mori and Kite joining was the lowest, so he directly crossed them out.
Menchi and Buhara were also unlikely, as they were Suppliers. If they weren't active outside, the role of a Supplier couldn't be played. Though they were unlikely to join the team, if Kevin had needs, he could still hire them, and at this stage, they could be considered relatively trustworthy partners. To some extent, the same applied to Mori and Kite. If needed, he could hire them, and if nothing unexpected happened, they should be willing to help.
As for the remaining three—though they were from the same period as Kevin, they may have just learned Nen ability and were at the same stage as Kurapika and the others. It seemed they couldn't meet the team's needs at present, so they could only be considered if there was an opportunity in the future.
After thinking it over, Kevin realized he couldn't find suitable team members. Capable people often had their own persistence and ideals. If they weren't like-minded with the same goals, it was indeed difficult for them to join his team. Speaking of which, the six people in the team had different goals, but they were all closely connected in terms of feelings and interests due to Kevin, forming a community. Next, even if they recruited people, it would probably only be some peripheral personnel.
Kevin suddenly had an idea: "Why not just issue a bodyguard mission request?" After all, the reputation of most Hunters was good—worth considering.
"Hiss." Kevin had another idea. In this operation, he had encountered two Nen users who could control animals. It must be said that this ability was very practical, especially for him. At this stage, he had Golden Chickens and Charge Armor to take care of, and in the future, he might have more animals to manage. Even simple guidance and control could make breeding work much easier.
"Can I issue a request to find a Nen user with a related Nen ability? They don't need to be too strong—just responsible for animal breeding, and they don't need to participate in research work."
"Then recruit a bodyguard to be temporarily responsible for protecting Light's safety." As for whether the recruited personnel were trustworthy, Kevin thought, "I'll know after punching them. Though I can't distinguish between true and false, I can always distinguish between good and evil. If there is no malice, there will naturally be fewer problems."
After thinking these things through, Kevin didn't act immediately but continued sitting in the courtyard, taking out some files to read. These files might become his future action targets. They all came from the Spiral organization's storage base. These files were of great significance to Kevin and could save him a lot of time.
Mystical Beasts, Magical Beasts, Rare Beasts—these fantasy creatures, different from ordinary wild beasts, had left various legends in the human world. Legends from all over the world had documented all aspects of them, giving rise to many fables and folk tales. These records were certainly mixed with a lot of false and imaginary content, but there was no lack of true information. The story collection Kevin bought before had been confirmed on the Hunter Association's information website. And these files in his hand had been double-checked by the Spiral organization.
"Loire River - River God Legend - Investigation Tracking File"
"Mount Beniel - Ice Beast of Wind and Snow - Investigation Tracking File"
"The Secret Realm - Dream Village - Investigation Report"
There were more than a dozen such report files, not only involving the investigation of some strange beasts but also the investigation of related secret realms and magic mirrors. Obviously, other Hunters in the Spiral organization had participated in these tasks. These investigation reports were specially preserved because they were traceable, had real clues, and there was a high possibility that these strange beasts truly existed in the world. This meant that Kevin could directly launch an investigation based on these files.
After reading for a while, Kevin put down the files and left the garden. He walked all the way to the eradication room. A key appeared in his hand, and he inserted it into the center of the void door, then pushed it open and walked in. This was Kevin's pharmacy, and various materials were also stored here.
Kevin thought for a moment, tapped the key lightly, and his body gradually blurred, disappearing within the room. When he appeared in the hidden Nen ability space, he found that the surrounding environment was very different from the outside. Logically, the outer space and the inner space should be exactly the same.
He saw Kurapika, and Rosana was sleeping soundly on a bed not far away.
"What's going on?" Kevin was confused. They had verified before that if a "home" was set outside, the chain space inside would maintain the set appearance. It wouldn't revert to its essential "home." But this was clearly where Kurapika and the others had lived before, and various decorations unique to the Kurta could still be seen on the surrounding walls. Their frequently worn ethnic clothes were also hanging on the wall.
At this time, Kurapika was standing in front of the fireplace, staring blankly upward at something. Kevin followed his gaze and immediately fell silent.
Two paintings hung above the fireplace. One painting contained only three people: a young Kurapika, Rosana, and her husband. The other was more like a photograph, with many people standing densely together—seemingly a group photo of their Kurta tribe. In the past, Kurapika's pupils would have turned scarlet at that time. But now, after prolonged training, the three Kurta could control the state of their eye changes very well.
Kevin walked to Kurapika's side and put his hand on his shoulder.
"Normally, you wouldn't see those two paintings," Kurapika said quietly. Even when going to other spaces, Rosana would quietly hide those two paintings—perhaps to avoid seeing them and adding to her sadness. Even though he was no longer a child.
Kevin didn't speak, just accompanied him, gazing at the two paintings.
"Very surprised, Uncle. I didn't expect you to come in at this time." Kurapika forced a smile and said to Kevin.
Kevin looked around the room and asked, "Have the rules of the Nen space changed?"
Kurapika shook his head. "I don't know. If Mom is asleep, such a change might occur in certain situations." Obviously, such a change was not the first time. As Rosana's son, Kurapika had even found a slight pattern.
Kevin immediately realized that Rosana must be dreaming. Kevin, who understood Nen ability better, knew that in her dream, Rosana's will had changed the manifestation of her Nen ability. It was likely she dreamt of her former home—after all, that memory was deeply etched and unforgettable.
Just then, the space began to shimmer unrealistically. First, the two paintings gradually faded, and then the entire room began to change, reverting back to Kevin's pharmacy.
"It looks like your mom is about to wake up." Kevin said, his body flickering. At that moment, Kurapika could still see him, but Kevin could no longer see Kurapika. He quietly returned to the outer space.
Kurapika found a place to sit down and casually picked up a book to read.
"Kurapika? Is Mom asleep?" Rosana sat up from the bed, rubbing her temples and asked.
"Yes, perhaps she was too tired."