"Ging, is this the hospital in Grada Oasis? Have the Chairman and the others already returned to Swardani City?"
Controlling the shadow to bring the apple to his mouth, Moses fired off two questions in succession.
Ging rolled his eyes again, deciding not to press the subject change, and answered, "Yes, but the Chairman hasn't left yet. After all, you won the bet in this match."
Few people knew about the bet between Moses and Netero, and Ging was one of them.
Netero hadn't left partly to fulfill the wager and partly because Beans had some association-related matters.
"Oh, right. I have something to show you."
Ging suddenly thought of something and eagerly pulled out his phone.
Moses raised an eyebrow, watching as Ging held the phone up.
On the dimly glowing screen was a photo of Netero. The angle of the photo was very ordinary, and only Netero's profile was captured.
The focal point, however, was the back of Netero's head, blood-streaked, and the once-distinctive tuft of hair at the top reduced to a short, scraggly patch.
Netero doesn't have much hair to begin with, and he usually just ties it up in a tuft in the middle of his head.
Now, thanks to Moses, that tuft had been chopped off, leaving him looking like a harvested patch of chives, making his already limited hair situation even worse.
When this kind of thing happens to Netero, it does bring an inexplicable sense of humor.
But only Ging would find such a thing to be this amusing.
Moses looked at the photo in silence, then slowly looked at the expression on Ging;s face that is completely devoid of any seriousness, and let out a light sigh.
"You didn't stick around just to show me this photo, did you?"
"Indeed."
Ging put his phone away, his expression turning serious, "In fact, besides being concerned about your condition, there's something else I wanted to ask you."
"…"
Moses lifted his eyelids, casting Ging a sidelong glance that seemed to say: You've finally shown your true colors, haven't you?
Ging pretended not to understand Moses's look and went straight to the point: "So, what's the deal with your Ken?"
"That, huh…"
Hearing Ging's question, Moses wasn't all that surprised.
After all, in his opinion, Ging is an insatiably curious person, always eager to learn.
The fact that he'd specifically waited around for Moses to wake up probably wasn't solely to inquire about the details of his Ken: Bone-Plated Armor ability...
"Want to learn it? I can teach you."
Seeing through Ging's thoughts, Moses smiled with a hint of teasing.
"Okay."
Ging agreed very naturally and didn't think there was anything wrong with studying under Moses.
On the contrary, he was in high spirits.
"Come on, teach me now."
He urged eagerly.
Seeing Ging's impatience, Moses sighed, "I'm still a patient here, you know."
"We can talk about that kind of thing after you finish teaching me."
"…"
With some effort, Moses raised his left hand from under the sheets, lifting a thumb wrapped in thick bandages toward Ging.
Half an hour later-
Standing beside the bed, Ging's body was enveloped in a steady, bright Aura.
"Forming a coating layer on top of 'Ken'... interesting."
Following the principles and techniques Moses had shared, Ging closed his eyes, concentrating fully. With incredibly precise control, he further compressed and refined the already rock-solid Aura surrounding him.
Soon-
The stable Aura took on a scaly, armored texture.
Ging had succeeded, and in just one try.
"I didn't expect there would be a new form of derived technique like this."
Ging opened his eyes, marveling at the visible scaly texture within his Aura with a look of surprise.
On the hospital bed.
Moses was not surprised to see that it took Ging only half an hour to figure out the principles and techniques of Ken: Bone-Plated Armor, and then he succeeded after only one try.
For someone as proficient in the Divine Script as Ging-
Maybe his strength is not the strongest, but his control over his Aura is definitely different from that of ordinary people.
A grandmaster like Ging had long since reached a superhuman level of Aura Control.
For him, replicating the Nen Abilities was as easy as breathing, so learning the demanding Ken: Bone-Plated Armor would be a piece of cake.
Moses understood this very well.
In fact, he himself was walking the same path Ging had already tread.
It may be difficult for him to catch up with Ging, but as long as he is given enough time, he will definitely be able to reach the same level in the future.
Now that Ging had learned Ken: Bone-Plated Armor, the curiosity that had been driving him subsided considerably.
"Moses, this derived technique... did you come up with it on your own?"
"No."
Moses shook his head. Of course, he would not reveal the existence of Perception and said calmly: "Have I ever mentioned an outsider named 'Mammon' to you?"
"Mammon? I've heard of him, but you never mentioned him to me."
Ging's eyes lit up slightly and he looked at Moses with some anticipation.
His knowledge of Mammon was limited to the information provided by the Hunter Association, and he roughly knew that Mammon was an outsider from the Dark Continent.
Facing Ging's curious gaze, Moses straightforwardly shared what he had learned from Mammon about the Dark Continent, including details about survival techniques and the essential role of Contracts, which is Divine Scripts, in harsh environments...
As he spoke, Moses wove in the origins of Ken: Bone-Plated Armor.
Ging listened with great interest, his eyes sometimes shining, sometimes showing a look of sudden enlightenment.
"So, it's a survival skill..."
Ging grasped the origin of Ken: Bone-Plated Armor.
It was a skill developed by humans in the Dark Continent as a means of survival in a brutal environment.
This survival skill's primary purpose was to work in conjunction with the Divine Script.
The humans on the Dark Continent...
Survived against constant threats that are everywhere by relying on skills like these.
That meant-
There must be other similar survival techniques.
Ging's eyes shone with excitement as his curiosity about the mysterious Dark Continent grew even stronger.
Moses noticed Ging's reaction and lowered his head slightly.
'If Ging knew that this information was made up by me during my narration...'
'Maybe I'd get beaten up.'
Moses thought to himself.
After calming his excitement, Ging suddenly asked, "Moses, do you want to go to the Dark Continent?"
"Not interested."
Moses replied without hesitation.
He knew exactly what kind of place the Dark Continent was.
In simple terms-
Individuals with great power can overlook all living beings from above the clouds on the Six Continents.
But on the Dark Continent, where threats were everywhere, it was as if they'd been cast down from the clouds into the mud.
In that place, individual strength couldn't decide everything.
Moses is still far from the 'peak' now, so how could he be interested in the Dark Continent?
Perhaps in the future, as he grew stronger, he might change his mind, but for now, he had no desire to throw his life away.
"I see."
Ging replied, looking somewhat disappointed.
Meanwhile, down the hallway, not yet at the ward door-
Netero stood with a hand to his chin, thoughtfully stroking his beard as he looked at the door.