Chapter 477

"Sotan must've known all of that, but he still didn't care. Being treated like a pawn meant nothing to him as long as he got the power he wanted. There are plenty of people who can't even become pawns if they try."

Ron couldn't help feeling bad for Tuck. He didn't know much about the other members of Nightfall, but Tuck had enough talent to become at least an A-level Nen user if he hadn't gotten stuck in the Saherta United Federation. He could have lived a life most people envy. Instead, Tuck chose to join Nightfall for the sake of changing that country, ultimately sacrificing his own life. Yet it had all been just a deception.

"Patriotism and devotion are all well and good," Ron thought.

"But only if the country's truly worth it."

"Thanks for the warning, Nesli."

He hung up.

Ponzu, having watched him end the call, asked softly, "Captain, did something happen?"

"Remember Nesli?"

"Yes," Ponzu said with a nod.

She had been there when Ron, on behalf of Tuck, helped keep Nesli occupied.

"Nesli was part of a small team called Nightfall. Tuck joined it too. Nightfall was under the Revolutionary Army, which wanted to reform the Saherta United Federation. When the Six Herd came after me, the Revolutionary Army saw a chance and ordered Nightfall to assassinate Oster. But they failed. Almost everyone died—Nesli was the sole survivor.

"And just now, she told me their leader, Sotan, led the entire Revolutionary Army to surrender to the Saherta royal family."

Ponzu's eyes widened.

"Then Tuck died for nothing?"

"Basically, yes. Nesli's furious about it."

"Captain, I heard Nesli mention Oster?"

Ron paused. "Finish breakfast first. Then we'll go to the training ground, and I'll fill you in."

"Alright."

They took a quick wash and headed to the dining room, where a maid had breakfast ready. Shinji and the maid looked surprised to see Ponzu appear, but they didn't question Ron's decisions. That was how things worked in the Zoldyck Family; if Ron didn't offer an explanation, nobody would pry. Ponzu felt a bit awkward, but it was still better than returning to Sumas's space alone.

Once they finished eating, they went to the training ground.

"Go through your basics," Ron said. "Show me how you're handling those Nen techniques."

"Yes, Captain."

Ponzu closed her eyes, breathing slowly to stabilize herself. Then she opened them again.

"Ten!"

"Ren!"

"Gyo!"

"Zetsu!"

She demonstrated each in turn.

"How is it, Captain?" she asked.

"Not bad," Ron replied.

He knew Ponzu's progress wouldn't compare to his own, but not everyone had his kind of talent. Ponzu's innate potential wasn't exactly high, and reaching this stage took a lot of effort. Based on the model Chii had compiled, her upper limit would normally be B-level, but with the Bee Queen—and potentially Oster's research—she might go beyond that, even to S-rank. Ron valued her highly.

"Keep practicing those fundamentals," he said. "I'll train over here."

"Understood, Captain."

Ron walked to a long corridor. Several stationary targets were set up at the far end, dozens of meters away.

"Nen bullet!"

He formed a Nen bullet in his hand, raised it, and took aim.

Bang!

It flew straight on target. Then Ron produced the Six-Harmony Sphere and channeled aura into it. Fire ignited in his palm. He shifted the sphere to his other hand, but the flaming bullet remained.

"That's very different from a normal Nen bullet.

"I can't just fire it off. It's like a real sphere of flame I have to throw…more like tossing a basketball."

He narrowed his eyes, took hold of the flaming orb, and flung it at a target with a snap of his wrist.

Boom!

It hit its mark. The moment it struck, the flames erupted in a shockwave of heat, engulfing the entire target in fire.

"Impressive. But I have to manually aim by throwing it, using my own arm strength. It loses the straight-line speed of normal Nen bullets, but the effect is a lot stronger.

"Also, controlling it directly with my hand opens up all sorts of possibilities."

A regular Nen bullet was like a gunshot: Ron controlled only two things—where he aimed and when he pulled the trigger. Speed and trajectory were more or less fixed, aside from a bit of variance depending on how much aura he put in. But these elemental bullets were different. They were more like basketballs, letting him control direction, timing, speed, and even arc—plus the added properties of fire. It would be much harder for an enemy to defend against, and Ron was already envisioning countless ways to use it.

"In the few days I'm staying at the estate, I'll train by shooting these fixed and moving targets.

"Then, once I'm at Heaven's Arena, I could use Hisoka as a real sparring partner. He's not just an A-level Nen user—his combat mindset, tactics, and creativity under pressure are on another level. He thrives on danger and won't panic, even on the brink of death. There aren't many opponents better than him for real combat experience."