Neutralizing the War Chariot brought no benefit to Kite.
In fact, during the battle, he discovered a major flaw in the Chariot's design—it targeted based on heat signatures. The hotter something was, the higher its attack priority.
Kite himself had triggered one of its explosions after his weapon emitted too much heat.
Taking all this into account, and realizing that continuing the battle against Neferpitou would inevitably lead to death, Kite started planning an escape.
After wielding the Magic Staff, he rolled a weapon change and landed on the Long Rifle.
The heat generated by bullets became the perfect guide for the Heartpiercer attacks—and thus, the ideal method to keep Pitou occupied.
During this frantic escape, Kite lured Neferpitou back to the Chimera Ant base. The base's ammunition stockpile—mapped out on Joey's documents—became his goal.
To trigger the explosion and break away from Pitou, Kite paid the cost of an eye and a leg.
The explosion separated them.
Then, using Weapon No. 8—an umbrella that masked his aura—Kite entered Zetsu and completely hid his presence. Neferpitou couldn't find him.
But the price was steep: blood loss and shock rendered him unconscious.
It wasn't until Chairman Netero's team arrived—prompting Neferpitou to retreat back to the nest—that Morel could summon White Snake from smoke and locate the barely surviving Kite.
That close encounter with Pitou allowed all three—Netero, Morel, and Knov—to feel just how viscerally disgusting and monstrous her aura was.
"Oh, and Killua," Joey added with a grin, "Nob asked me to relay something. He said part of your assessment was correct. He admits you're no ordinary brat—but you're still far too weak."
Joey chewed on that. It didn't sound like something a man broken by fear would say.
Apparently, his choice to save Bokur, gifting the map to Kite, and even losing his arm—all created a chain reaction that shifted the entire course of the Chimera Ant crisis.
Kite had survived. Knov hadn't lost his mind.
And with Netero present to share the burden of Pitou's pressure, Knov might not ever go bald in this timeline.
Maybe—if Joey truly mastered Gold Experience—he and Kite could one day walk back into NGL whole again.
Maybe Gon wouldn't go dark.
Maybe Killua would remember his younger sibling Alluka.
Maybe that needle Illumi planted in Killua's brain would be pulled earlier.
And without a Chimera Ant version of Kite, would those royal guards and loyal soldier ants still defect to humanity?
A hundred questions buzzed through Joey's mind. But one thing was clear: he didn't regret anything he'd done so far.
The truck pulled up to their safehouse. On the way, Kite had learned about Joey's developing Nen ability.
True to his mentor role, he shared his thoughts.
"Unless absolutely necessary, don't rely on the power of vows and restrictions," Kite advised. "They may help you grow stronger fast, but you risk losing yourself to the power.
Worse still, vows can become weak points, and the cost of invoking them can be far greater than what you thought you signed up for."
Joey nodded firmly. "I understand. I'll take the long road, even if it means paying more time."
There was another truth Kite left unsaid, but Joey had sensed it already.
The stronger the vow and restriction, the greater the limitations on the resulting ability.
People who tried to shortcut their way to strength usually ended up lost. Without special conditions, it was a dead-end path.
Joey mentally excluded Kurapika from that generalization. Despite his vow's severe limitations, his Scarlet Eyes mode gave him overwhelming power—even without using Chain Jail or Judgment Chain.
Then there was Gon—the ultimate cautionary tale. Without Gon's absurd talent, his vow wouldn't have left a scratch on Pitou.
Even with that gift, if not for Nanika, Gon would've died anyway.
So yes, for someone like Joey, the vow path was dangerous and unnecessary.
As Kite recovered, everyone fell back into their daily grind of training.
The difference now was that Gon and Killua, who could maintain Ren for three hours, were sent off by Bisky to begin their challenge against Knuckle.
Meanwhile, Joey finally achieved a breakthrough.
By once again transforming his wallet into a tattooed bug on his wrist and using its Specialist aura, he successfully turned a button into a golden beetle.
It fluttered like the real thing.
Joey was ecstatic.
His Specialist ability, born of obsessive will to restore his lost hand, was taking shape through sheer tenacity and brutal repetition.
That's the beauty of the Specialist type—once the direction is clear, development can be swift.
Days passed in measured, efficient rhythm.
By the tenth day, Joey realized his potential aura had improved dramatically.
Not a gradual increase—this was a huge leap.
After careful analysis, he pinpointed the reason.
It was the life-force-rich aura from the wallet. Not only had it enabled Gold Experience, it had nurtured his body constantly, slowly boosting his Nen capacity.
The growth wasn't explosive, but the compounding effect was clear.
He now understood why the original Kira Yoshikage had decent Nen capacity despite not training for five years.
The answer was always: the wallet.
But that knowledge made Joey more cautious.
If the wallet was that beneficial, why didn't Kira keep it on his person?
As the benefits became more obvious, so too did Joey's suspicion.
Still, he wasn't going to stop.
After mastering simple creations, he started making larger creatures.
Frogs. Cats. Dogs. Tigers. Even elephants.
The bigger the lifeform, the more aura it consumed. And they always had to be based on known creatures—nothing unfamiliar.
He couldn't make humans. Or rather—he could recreate organs, but not people.
Something essential was missing.
When he tried, they came out… wrong. Closer to beasts in human skin than true homunculi.
That's when Joey realized: his "Gold Experience" wasn't true life creation.
It was infusing objects with intelligence and shape-shifting them, based on his own mental blueprint of the intended organism.
Their behaviors and instincts matched his subconscious understanding of the species.
So in truth, Gold Experience wasn't breathing life into matter.
It was…
"Letting dead things experience what it means to be alive."
According to Kite, Joey's ability resembled a hybrid of Transmutation and Manipulation—but supercharged by that life-rich aura.
Combat power aside, none of that mattered to Joey.
He had one goal since the beginning:
To recreate his own severed hand.
So, in front of everyone, he steeled his resolve.
Gritting his teeth, he cut open the scarred flesh at the end of his stump.
Blood gushed.
Then, with trembling focus, he activated Gold Experience on a cup of water he'd prepared in advance.
In full view of the others, the cup twisted and morphed—becoming a replica of Joey's missing left hand.
Eyes burning with hope, he pressed the new hand to his exposed wrist.
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