The hatching of the Phantom Beast's egg came too suddenly.
Aside from Biscuit, who was still entranced by the gemstone, everyone else in the room was staring intently at the egg.
The red little head that Moro had just pushed back with his finger suddenly poked out from another part of the shell, then looked at Moro with joyful excitement.
The others noticed this immediately and realized that this little creature had already recognized Moro as its "dad."
Menchi glanced between Moro and the red little head, then said regretfully,
"It's hatched. The life energy inside the egg should be exhausted. If it still needs to eat, it'll have to wait until it grows up."
Even as she spoke, Menchi remained puzzled.
With her natural affinity, she had clearly sensed that the life energy inside the egg hadn't been fully used...
Meaning that in just a few seconds, the embryo had gone through its entire development phase?
Unbelievable.
Unless her assessment was wrong—or maybe, this was just how Phantom Beasts naturally hatched?
Menchi pressed her fingers to her chin, lost in thought as she stared at the red little head.
Among all the mysterious beasts found in remote, uninhabited magic zones, Phantom Beasts were by far the rarest and most elusive.
They were rarer than magical beasts and even harder to track.
Compared to other species, humanity knew almost nothing about them.
Hearing Menchi's explanation, Moro sighed and set aside his questions.
He had noticed Menchi's confusion, likely due to the egg hatching so abruptly.
He was puzzled too.
What baffled him was how the Phantom Beast's egg could absorb Year Wheel energy—
and how it hatched instantly afterward.
Keep in mind, humanity had never been able to hatch one of these eggs, no matter what methods they tried.
And yet, one had hatched right in front of him, seemingly by chance.
Still, more than curiosity, Moro was distressed over the 15% of Year Wheel energy that was consumed.
"Roar roar!"
The red little head let out a few calls.
Maybe from a sudden burst of strength, the already-cracked shell collapsed like a pile of blocks, scattering over the table.
Everyone finally got a look at the full body of the creature.
A birdlike red head covered in downy feathers, black beak, and a crown of feathers on top.
A long neck led to a chubby, hairless body that was dotted with tiny, scaly patches.
Its stubby limbs ended in sharp black talons, and its arms resembled branched stumps.
Most bizarre of all was its tail—smooth and snakelike, ending in a bud-shaped appendage.
Everyone stared, astonished.
Its appearance was absurd.
From the head alone, it looked like a baby bird—particularly elegant with that feathered crown, even if undeveloped.
But the body didn't match at all—fat, awkward, and the wings weren't even wings.
And that flower-bud-tipped, slippery tail?
If Moro had to describe it in one word—
Chimera.
"So weird-looking..." Callista muttered.
Yamen shared the same look of bewilderment.
Only Menchi seemed unfazed, having seen many strange creatures in her time.
"You can't judge Phantom Beasts by common standards... But this one—"
She squinted, then added,
"It reminds me of Chimera Ants."
"Chimera Ants? What's that?" Callista asked.
"They're also known as fusion ants," Menchi explained. "They have this ability called 'consumptive fusion'—basically, whatever they eat, their next generation inherits its traits."
"So that's what it is..." Callista half-understood.
Moro glanced at the creature's claws, comparing them to those of Chimera Ants—but the features were clearly different.
So, probably no relation.
Still, the resemblance was striking.
"Then I'll just call it Chimera," Moro said casually.
The little creature didn't seem to mind the name. It bent down, pecked up a piece of eggshell, tossed its head back—and promptly spit it back out.
Apparently inedible.
It tried again with a smaller piece. Same result.
Finally realizing eggshells weren't food, it waddled across the table toward Moro, flapping its awkward wings like twigs and bouncing along its chubby body.
It ran right to the edge of the table, lifted its long neck, and opened its beak at Moro, gaping repeatedly—begging for food.
Menchi had to stifle a laugh.
If the egg hadn't hatched, she might've been planning a recipe. But now that it had, she wanted to see this creature grow and be documented by the biology world.
"I'll go get it something to eat," she said, chuckling, and left the room.
Moments later, she returned with a chunk of leg meat from a two-legged amphibian called the Leaping Fish.
She sliced off a small piece with her ruby-red knife and placed it in front of Chimera.
Chimera eyed the meat, leaned in—then hesitated. It looked up at Moro and begged again.
"Seems like it only eats what you feed it," Menchi noted, handing over the knife and meat.
Moro sighed and took them.
As soon as he placed the meat down, Chimera gobbled it up.
Card after card, it devoured everything he offered.
Within moments, the piece of meat—twice its body size—was gone.
"Roar~"
Apparently satisfied, it curled up on Moro's leg and fell asleep.
Yamen said admiringly, "It's got some smarts."
"Yeah, just ugly," Callista quipped.
Menchi, however, was already thinking about its diet, growth stages, and research potential.
Later, during dinner, Chimera was roused by the smell of food.
It ran to Moro's side, yelling and circling his legs impatiently.
Callista tossed a piece of meat toward it—it ignored it completely.
Only when Moro dropped meat did it eat, gobbling it down like a little vacuum.
Curious, Moro tossed down a vegetable. Chimera ate it.
Then bone fragments. It happily pecked those too.
"Omnivorous, huh?" Biscuit observed. "That'll be easy to raise."
"Great," Moro replied. "You take care of it."
Biscuit rolled her eyes. No chance—it clearly only ate from Moro's hand.
After dinner, Chimera slept again.
The next morning, Menchi showed up early—with more meat.
"Chimera's probably hungry. Moro, feed it!"
Speechless, Moro did as told.
The thing devoured nearly an entire lamb leg's worth of meat.
In under 24 hours, it had eaten food equal to 10 times its body weight.
Yet it never pooped, and its size didn't change.
Where was all that food going?
When full, Chimera curled up on the couch—not Moro's lap—and went back to sleep.
Menchi crouched beside it, observing intently.
"Appetite's massive, but it's growing slowly."
That contradicted what she expected from high-metabolism animals.
"Menchi, you seem pretty fond of Chimera," Moro noted.
"Of course," she said. "It's a living Phantom Beast. Tremendous research value."
"I almost thought you said 'tremendous cooking value,'" Moro joked.
Menchi's hand froze mid-stroke.
Moro smirked. Actually, maybe Menchi could raise it—if Chimera would accept food from her.
In the days that followed, Menchi took on the task.
She spent nearly all her time with it and crafted custom gourmet meals.
Chimera loved them—at least, in taste.
But it still only ate food Moro personally fed it.
Moro began to wonder—was it really seeing him as "dad," or was it a connection born from the Year Wheel energy?
Time passed.
January 10th.
Moro received a message from Kurapika, saying he had passed the Hunter Exam.
Moro replied with a short "Congrats."
That evening, Biscuit left Heaven's Arena to fulfill her promise—teaching Kurapika Nen.
Moro saw her off at the airport.
As her airship lifted off into the sky...
He knew it might be time for him to leave, too.
----------
50 Powerstones? (5 Bonus Chapters)
20 Advance Chapters: patreon.com/milezen