Franklin's perception of Moses was that while his direct combat power was average, his tactical acumen was exceptionally high.
However, the scene before him brutally shattered that perception.
Perhaps it was in that moment that Franklin belatedly realized his understanding of Moses was still based on knowledge from over a year ago.
That's right.
In just over a year, Moses had undergone a tremendous transformation that shook Franklin to his core.
'Such progress, such a growth rate...'
'No matter what, we had to finish him off here!'
As Franklin's pupils sharply contracted, he raised his left hand toward the shadow clone's direction.
Just a second ago, he used his ability to help Uvogin out, and with the black sword, he was able to pinpoint which Moses was the real one, so he was actually prepared to suppress Moses's real body with the [Single Machine Gun].
However, before he could take action, Phinks's sudden attack from behind Moses forced him to temporarily redirect the muzzle of his gun toward the shadow clone.
Of course…
Franklin could have ignored Phinks's situation and unleashed his Nen Bullets directly at both Phinks and Moses.
Anyway, Given Phinks's Enhancer attributes, even if hit by his Nen Bullets, he would be severely injured at most.
Compared to that, as long as he could eliminate the enemy, it didn't matter.
But Franklin ultimately chose to turn the gun towards the shadow clone.
Considering that Moses has the ability to exchange positions with the shadow, this choice of his is more secure. In this situation, he can cooperate with Phinks's attack and directly cut off Moses's escape route.
But Franklin never anticipated that after taking the initiative, Phinks not only failed to force Moses into danger, but was also blasted away instead...
This unexpected development caused Franklin to be distracted for a moment.
Now realizing the change in Moses's strength, he quickly adjusted to battle mode. However, it was too late to re-aim his gun, so he continued with his original plan, firing the Nen Bullets onto the shadow clone.
Even though attacking the shadow clone wouldn't inflict substantial damage to Moses, it can at least consume Moses's Nen.
Faced with the numerous powerful Nen Bullets launched by Franklin, the shadow clone suddenly switched to a two-dimensional state and fell to the ground, reducing its exposed surface area to evade the Nen Bullets.
Franklin, seeing this, quickly lowered his gun, and a series of diamond-shaped Nen Bullets chased after the shadow on the ground.
The shadow immediately moved along the ground, like a nimble sprite, nimbly dodging the Nen Bullets bombarding the ground.
'The normal shadow's speed has clearly increased to a new level, so its defense strength is likely reduced. Perhaps, just one Nen Bullet will be enough to tear it apart, but...'
Franklin furrowed his brows. Several attempts later, he still couldn't hit the shadow in its two-dimensional state.
With only one arm left, he could still enhance the power of his Emission-Type Nen Bullets to some extent, but the coverage was only half of what it used to be.
In this situation, he couldn't even catch the shadow that was as agile as a fish.
Moses manipulated the shadow to evade Franklin's attacks.
If he, who has the ability to 'teleport', chooses to dodge blindly, then Franklin's [Single Machine Gun] will not be able to pose a threat to him.
'The previous attack should have been effective.'
While controlling the shadow, Moses retracted the Nen used to conjure the black sword, and at the same time, glanced over at the situation with Phinks and Uvogin.
At this moment…
Uvogin and Phinks had each landed heavily on the ground, but soon got up one after another.
The combination of Enhancer Nen attributes and top-tier physical strength gives them an extremely high tolerance for combat damage.
"Ptui."
Uvogin tilted his head and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the ground.
The punch from the shadow clone just now made his cheek red and swollen, but it seemed that he was not seriously injured.
As for Phinks, blood stained his forehead, trickling down from the wound along the sides of his nose to his chin.
"That really hurts…"
Phinks raised his hand to wipe the blood off his face, but as soon as he lowered his hand, more blood began seeping from the wound.
'My skull must be fractured...'
He thought to himself, then looked at Moses, who was hundreds of meters away, and said coldly: "Not bad, kid."
Before being blasted away, Phinks would never have thought Moses could have such a skill.
If it was using the fluttering clothes to cover the long knife that stabbed from the armpit, Phinks already had some experience dealing with that.
What he didn't expect was that Moses's reaction speed, which was so fast that the moment he grabbed the black sword, Moses had already skillfully used the 'freely retractable' feature of the Conjuration-Type, and then combined it with the 'burst strength' of the Emission-Type to nail the black sword into his forehead.
If he wasn't tough enough, this blow would have likely taken him out.
'Is he an Emitter or a Conjurer...'
The outcome of their brief exchange made Phinks ponder this question.
Logically speaking, these two Nen attributes are on opposite sides.
If one's primary attribute is Emission, then the precision of their Conjuration would be weak. Conversely, if one's primary attribute is Conjuration, then their Emission will be the weak one.
That is to say, it is impossible for a Nen User to raise both types of Nen Attributes to a high level at the same time.
But the young man, in terms of usage and precision of both attributes, made him feel, 'This is probably his main attribute'.
'Even monsters can't achieve this level, right?'
'No, not necessarily…'
'This may be possible if the limitations are costly enough.'
'Tsk, why am I thinking about this crap?'
'The most troublesome part about this kid is his ability to switch places with his shadow at any time, making him slippery and hard to find an effective point of attack.'
'But conversely, as long as one person deals with the shadow and the other deals with the real body, it won't be a big deal.'
'So, since we had already know about his abilities, what Nen Attribute this kid has doesn't matter.'
Phinks shook his head, enduring the intense pain from the fractured skull, and looked towards Uvogin on the other side, and suggested:
"Uvogin, you deal with the shadow."
"Huh? Are you joking, Phinks?"
Uvogin also looked at Phinks and shouted, "Do you want to show me how your head gets pierced by a sword? Stop joking, let me deal with the real body."
"Uvogin, since when did your mouth become stronger than your fist?"
Phinks retorted with a stern look, then straightforwardly took a coin out of his sweatpants pocket.
This is the internal rule of the Phantom Troupe. When there is a disagreement, they can resolve the conflict by tossing a coin.
Perhaps, there was one thing neither of them realized.
When they tacitly agreed on the strategy of one dealing with the real body and the other with the shadow, they had actually conceded on the issue of 'hunting Moses alone'.
Such an approach was not in line with their usual style.
But the characteristics of Moses's abilities were the fundamental reason why the two of them had to compromise.
Instead of fighting for the chance to kill Moses in the melee, it is better to assign respective goals in advance.
"Heads or tails?"
Phinks looked at Uvogin and asked.
"Tails."
"Then I'll be heads."
With that, Phinks flipped the coin.
The coin flipped in the air, then landed in Phinks's palm.
Phinks extended his hand, palm facing Uvogin, with the coin firmly attached to his palm.
"Heads…"
Seeing the coin flip result, Uvogin swung a punch at the air in annoyance.
Phinks was very satisfied and pocketed the coin.
Not far away.
Franklin, having given up on shredding the shadow into pieces, retracted his ability, and looked at Uvogin and Phinks expressionlessly.
His expression seemed to say: Does anyone care about my opinion?