Chapter 45: Chapter 44
In a desolate little town like this, encountering someone as stunning as the porcelain doll-like girl at the bar was beyond improbable.
But it had indeed happened, leaving the drunkards in the saloon feeling as though they were dreaming.
What should we do?
No way we're letting her leave now that she's here.
Of course not! But how do we decide who gets her first?
The boss drinks first, as always. The rest of us go in order, based on drinking stamina.
Deal!
The scoundrels, whose appearance alone marked them as trouble, exchanged furtive glances and quickly reached an unspoken agreement.
The doll-like girl at the bar, idly swinging her legs and pouting, either didn't notice the brewing tension or simply didn't care.
Just as the atmosphere in the saloon grew increasingly tense and some of the thugs began to rise from their seats—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rocked the saloon from outside, startling everyone inside.
Everyone except the little girl in the princess dress, who remained calmly seated.
CRASH!
The ground shook violently, causing tables to tremble and bottles and glasses to shatter on the floor.
Chaos erupted as patrons voiced their confusion:
"What the hell was that? An earthquake?"
"No way! We've never had earthquakes around here!"
"Then what caused the explosion and the shaking?"
"Could it be... one of the boss's gasoline stashes blew up?"
One of the thugs seemed to recall something and blurted out, "Oh crap, maybe!"
The group fell silent for a moment before scrambling outside to investigate.
As they rushed out, however, they stumbled, their legs giving way beneath them.
One by one, they collapsed to the ground as if their bodies refused to obey them.
Their muscles tensed involuntarily, and goosebumps covered their skin.
"What... what's happening?"
Each man lay prostrate on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
It felt as though an unimaginably ferocious beast had them in its sights, its predatory intent crushing their spirits and will to resist.
"Seems the ruckus I caused was a bit much," Morin remarked as he surveyed the scene.
Though he made the observation casually, the oppressive malevolent aura emanating from him showed no signs of abating.
"Hey, you there."
In one hand, Morin casually held a burly, tattooed bald man—the apparent leader of the gang—by the collar.
"You're the boss of this lot? And these guys are your lackeys?"
The thug boss, subjected to the full brunt of Morin's aura, was foaming at the mouth and teetering on the edge of unconsciousness.
Even if he had been fully lucid, he would undoubtedly have realized he'd crossed the wrong person and fainted from sheer terror.
This gang of degenerates had been eyeing not only the doll-like girl in the princess dress as prey but also Pakunoda, who was dressed in an elegant outfit that highlighted her stunning figure.
The moment Morin and Pakunoda entered the town, they'd drawn the attention of these lowlifes.
What followed was predictable. The gang leader, along with his henchmen, swaggered over with lecherous grins and spouted vile threats and comments.
And then...
Well, there was no "and then."
A gang of ordinary street thugs stood no chance against Morin.
As for the explosion and shaking from earlier...
"Yeah, this thing's not the easiest to handle," Morin muttered, examining the tool in his other hand—a sturdy pickaxe.
Tool: Power Pickaxe
Effect: When used to dig, it amplifies the user's strength a hundredfold, requiring only minimal effort.
The Power Pickaxe was one of the items Morin had drawn in the previous town alongside the Locator Cane and Locator Umbrella.
At first glance, it didn't seem particularly useful.
In the Hunter x Hunter world, the only instance Morin could recall where a tool like this might have been handy was when Gon and Killua had trained by digging their way back to the canyon from Masadora in Greed Island.
But since this group of troublemakers had presented themselves, Morin decided to test the pickaxe's capabilities on them.
To ensure its full power, he even infused it with Nen and exerted half his strength as he struck the ground with it.
The result?
With one swing, Morin created a massive pit in the earth, collapsing the foundations of several nearby buildings in the process.
One of the buildings apparently housed a stash of gasoline or something equally volatile, triggering a chain reaction and a powerful explosion.
In a single motion, Morin had managed to destroy half the town.
"Well, whatever," Morin shrugged.
He tossed the gang leader into the enormous pit he'd just created with the Power Pickaxe.