Because of a phone call from his companion, Shalnark's position was exposed to Menchi and Lion.
Knowing that he couldn't hide his whereabouts any longer, Shalnark decided to simply answer the call. He was then left feeling somewhat helpless by his companion's words.
Sheila's soft voice came from the little red bat phone, "Will it be needed in a while, that Hunter License... Hmm, I also want to get one."
"It's hard to say, but it's always good to be prepared."
Shalnark walked out of the building cover, stood on the roof, and said: "Besides, my 'duty' and 'license' are quite compatible. If I can get it, it will be beneficial in many ways."
"That's right, then good luck to you. I'm going to find a 'way out' now, so see you later."
"Wait…"
Click.
Before Shalnark could finish speaking, Sheila hung up the phone.
He rubbed his temples and tried to call Sheila back, but the call couldn't get through.
Because there is no signal in this unknown ruins.
Just now, the reason why Sheila was able to make the call was probably because she triggered her 'Ask for Help' Ability.
'Get lost' → 'Ask for help' → 'Way out'
This is the ability stage called [Adventurer's Path] that Sheila has.
When searching for something, one would lose their way on the journey and even encounter danger.
At this stage, one will get an opportunity to 'ask for help'. After that, they must go through the entire process of 'asking for help' before they can find the final 'way out'.
Shalnark found this Nen Ability troublesome and strange. However, Sheila always inadvertently activated her ability, as she would often get lost somewhere.
Shaking his head slightly, Shalnark gave up the idea of calling back, and then appeared openly in front of everyone present.
"I'm not interested in 'fighting' at all, and I hope I won't affect your enthusiasm."
Shalnark put one hand on his hip and held his mobile phone with the other, and there's a faint smile on his young face.
In the battlefield.
Lion furrowed his brow.
If it weren't for the sudden ringing of the phone, he wouldn't have noticed Shalnark's presence at all.
This is enough to show that—
The opponent's Zetsu is at least very strong, so the other Nen techniques shouldn't be much weaker either.
It was already difficult to deal with Moses, but now, another seemingly strong Nen User actually appeared.
This is not good news for Lion.
Lion was not aware of Shalnark's existence from beginning to end, and the same was true for Menchi.
So when Shalnark appeared, Menchi immediately became vigilant.
Among the three of them, only Moses seemed relatively calm.
On the rooftop.
Shalnark quietly took in everyone's reaction.
'Not surprised at all?'
He was more concerned about Moses's reaction.
'Forget it, let's just take this opportunity to... huh?'
As Shalnark thought of this, he looked in the direction of the pure gold crown, and his eyes suddenly changed.
Under his gaze, a fat man had already run near the snakeskin bag, while his puppet was still some distance away from it.
'Where did that guy come from!?'
Shalnark quickly concealed the smile on his face, and his brow furrowed slightly.
Because his position had been exposed by Sheila's incoming call, Shalnark decided to reveal himself, hoping to attract Moses and the others' attention, and then his antenna-inserted puppet steal the pure gold crown on the snake-skin bag.
But he didn't expect—
A fat man would suddenly appear and reached the snakeskin bag faster than the puppet.
This fat man is naturally Tonpa, who was aroused by the [Hand of No Return to Paradise].
He cautiously reached for the pure gold crown, and since the appearance of Shalnark happened to help him attract everyone's attention, he seized the opportunity and run over with all his might.
And so-
Under the varied gazes of everyone, Tonpa came to the snakeskin bag, stretched out his hands and picked up the valuable pure gold crown.
At this time, Tonpa should have just run away after holding the pure gold crown.
However…
The moment Tonpa's hands touched the pure gold crown, he also hugged the snakeskin bag in his arms.
'Why did I even grab this bag...'
Tonpa's astonished gaze looked through the opening of the snakeskin bag, looking at the bulging gold coins inside.
After finally getting closer, he naturally noticed the gold coins in the snakeskin bag.
However, he had no intention of taking away the snakeskin bag, after all, it would affect his running speed.
But now, he even picked up the snakeskin bag.
In astonishment, Tonpa's first reaction was to immediately drop the heavy snakeskin bag, but then, he inexplicably felt that it would be a waste to do so.
The entanglement in his mind made him freeze in place for several seconds.
On the rooftop.
Shalnark canceled the 'automatic control' command on his phone and switched to manual operation. His fingers swiftly pressed the keys, controlling the antenna-inserted puppet to dash towards Tonpa.
'What an annoying fellow.'
While controlling the antenna-inserted puppet, he looked at Tonpa, who suddenly appeared.
If it weren't for Tonpa, his antenna-inserted puppet would have reached the pure gold crown in about ten seconds.
At that time, he could completely retreat without getting involved in this battle.
Since Shalnark noticed Tonpa's movements, Lion also naturally saw Tonpa holding the pure gold crown, and his eyes could not help but turned cold.
For Lion now, the pure gold crown can be said to have been bought with the lives of Viper and Mantis. How could he allow a filthy rat from the gutter to steal it away?
Without any hesitation, Lion strode forward, leaving Moses and Menchi behind, and rushed towards Tonpa like a wild beast.
Upon seeing this, Moses let Lion rush towards Tonpa and signaled Menchi to temporarily stop with his eyes.
Menchi, who had once again condensed the Nen ball, immediately withdrew her Nen despite being confused after seeing Moses's gesture.
Seeing Menchi retracted her Nen, Moses turned to look at Tonpa and whispered to himself, 'I really didn't expect this...'
He felt that Tonpa is not the kind of person who would put himself in danger for the sake treasure.
But now, it seems that he had overestimated Tonpa.
However, this cannot be blamed on Tonpa. After all, the pure gold crown is indeed not an ordinary treasure. And it is human nature to take risks for it.
Since Tonpa was willing to take risks, Moses chose to give up the 'stage' to Tonpa and allowed Lion to go after Tonpa.
'Start your performance.'
Moses thought to himself.
The antenna-inserted puppet and Rian both charged towards Tonpa.
Compared to the antenna-inserted puppet, whose presence is relatively weak, Lion's unrestrained violent Aura can be said to be like an attack horn, immediately reminding Tonpa of the impending attack.
"Why did you guys stop... Hey, stop him!!"
Tonpa saw Lion, who was exuding a terrifying Aura, rushing straight towards him, and panic immediately surged in his heart.
At this time, of course he couldn't expect Moses to stop Lion.
Thud!
As if doused with cold water, Tonpa threw away the snakeskin bag that would hinder his escape, and then ran wildly while holding the pure gold crown.
"Tsk."
Seeing that Tonpa just threw away the snakeskin bag when faced with a life-threatening situation, Moses couldn't help but shook his head slightly.
'What's going on, little buddy...'
'It's already this late, yet you are still holding on to the crown.'
'It seems that the 'Rookie Crusher' will become a thing of the past.'
Moses thought silently in his heart.