HxH: Noah’s Heart

"Phew, phew, phew."

With his mouth half-open, a continuous stream of white smoke emerged from Betero's mouth, as if something inside him was burning.

Noah took a few steps back, watching him cautiously. He had no idea what was happening to Betero at this moment.

Cough, cough.

Intense pain began to grip Betero's body, as if countless needles were piercing every inch of his skin.

Betero's pupils flickered, and he suddenly noticed that a portion of the skin on his right palm was starting to peel off, revealing the bloody tissue underneath.

Breakdown!

A word flashed through Betero's mind like lightning.

Although 'Zero' cells could grant tremendous power, this power came at a price.

When fusing with 'Zero' cells, if the fusion failed, the body's cells would be consumed and destroyed by the 'Zero' cells, ultimately turning into blood and leading to death – this was known as a collapse or Breakdown.

As far as Betero knew, there were generally three reasons for a collapse.

First, when fusing 'Zero' cells for the first time, a failed fusion would result in instant dissolution into blood.

Second, if the stability rate after fusion dropped below 60%, there was still a chance of a collapse.

Third, it occurred when the experimental subject extensively used the power called Nen gained from fusing 'Zero' cells, reaching a critical point.

Impossible! I haven't even used that power much since I got here. Why is a collapse happening?

Noah also noticed something unusual about Betero's hand.

His pupils shrank, and he suddenly remembered that Rami had experienced a similar phenomenon before.

"That Rami was also an experimental subject, right?" Noah spoke up.

Rami? This kid knows Rami?

Struggling to move his pupils, Betero shifted his gaze to Noah, and at that moment, several images flashed through his mind, gradually merging together.

Rami, seeking revenge…

Rami inexplicably collapsing and turning into blood…

The mysterious young man…

His own collapse…

And…

The catastrophe from a few months ago…

"It's… it's… you." A conclusion rang in Betero's mind like thunder. His face, already peeling, showed an expression of immense shock. His bloodshot eyes were fixed firmly on Noah.

"Ex… per… i… mental… Core…"

Speaking each word slowly, Betero, like Rami before him, slowly turned into a pool of blood right before Noah's eyes.

"Experimental Core." Repeating the same four words that Rami had said, Noah felt not only perplexed but also a strong sense of anger and hatred.

Instinctively clenching his fist, Noah's gaze gradually turned cold as he looked down at the blood on the ground. He slowly began to descend the stairs.

'Those two upstairs, Rami and the one just now, Betero, were both experimental subjects with these 'Zero' cells. '

'They referred to me as the "experimental Core." It was evident that there was a connection between me and them.'

'Moreover, considering the sensations I felt earlier when fighting Rami and just now when I punched that guy, could it be that I can cause the direct death of experimental subjects like them?'

And the trigger condition is…

Though his mind was filled with confusion, anger, and hatred, Noah's brain was unusually clear. He descended the stairs slowly, rapidly analyzing the current situation in his mind.

Recalling the fight with Rami, the moment before Rami's death,

He had opened a bloody hole in Rami's arm.

Before Betero's death, he had punched him in the face.

Thinking about this, Noah quickly arrived at a conclusion.

Physical contact!

It's probably the case that as long as he had contact with the experiment subject fused with 'Zero' cells, it would cause that strange phenomenon, ultimately leading to their transformation into a bloody puddle.

After coming to this conclusion, Noah's expression didn't improve; in fact, it became even grimmer.

Just from looking at the deaths of Rami and Betero, it was evident that the so-called 'Zero' cells were not something good.

And Noah could directly cause the death of experiment subjects fused with 'Zero' cells, being referred to as the original experiment or Experimental Core.

Thinking about this, Noah became even more eager to know what was inside him.

Originally, he had thought that this body of his was among the stronger residents of Meteor City. But now, it seemed that things were much more complicated than he had imagined.

Returning to the first floor, it had only taken a few minutes from Noah tracking down to disposing of Betero.

In such a short time, it wouldn't have aroused the attention of the other people in the underground laboratory.

They probably still thought that Betero was relaxing upstairs.

In the absence of anyone coming out from underground to inspect, the door to the hidden room and the secret door to the underground laboratory remained open.

Swiftly, like a phantom, Noah entered the hidden room and gently closed the door behind him. Then, he walked up to the secret door within that room.

Standing in front of the secret door, Noah could sense that the remaining four auras he had felt earlier should all be downstairs. Noah's gaze flickered, and he stepped directly inside.

If he guessed correctly, the owners of those four auras downstairs should be experiment subjects similar to Rami. So, they wouldn't pose a significant threat to him.

With this judgment, Noah no longer cared about whether he would be entering an encirclement. So, without hesitation, he went downstairs.

Following a steel staircase down, Noah found himself in a small room below. There was an elevator in one corner of the room, and at the elevator entrance stood two guards dressed in black, holding firearms. They were ordinary people without Nen abilities.

Hidden in the blind spots where those two guards couldn't see, Noah slowly extended two fingers.

As he condensed his aura, two small Nen bullets the size of bottle caps slowly materialized at his fingertips.

Although, as a Specialist-type, Noah found it challenging to develop Emission abilities, he could still manage to create condensed Nen bullets like this due to his regular training.

Against Nen users, these bottle cap-sized Nen bullets would be utterly laughable and have no real power.

However, they were more than sufficient to deal with ordinary people without Nen abilities.

With two fingers pointing forward, he flicked them, and the two tiny Nen bullets instantly shot out. Before the two guards could react, the bullets struck their foreheads, leaving gruesome bloody holes.

In a flash, Noah appeared in front of the two lifeless bodies by the elevator entrance.

Casting an indifferent glance at the bodies on the ground, Noah casually pressed the elevator button.

At this moment, influenced by a strange sense of anger and hatred within him, Noah didn't plan to sneak into this underground laboratory. Instead, he had a clear intention.

Eliminate everyone downstairs!