Nen ability is a product formed by the fusion of past experiences and one's own will. Because of this, every Nen ability carries a very distinct personal style—a unique mark condensed from unforgettable experiences.
Pairo stood in this partitioned room, his mind filled with thoughts. He couldn't help but recall that day. This meant that in Rosana's perception, home didn't necessarily represent absolute safety. However, she also immensely hoped that home could become a completely safe, undisturbed haven. Therefore, in their real home, she deliberately partitioned a space that was absolutely safe and prohibited outsiders from entering.
At this moment, Rosana was also explaining to the few of them: "This space is copied from the space designated as [Home]. It is absolutely safe." As she spoke, she pointed to the family photo. "Only those who appear in the family photo and have the key can enter this space."
Neon looked at the family photo, thinking everyone was there except her father. However, she was no longer an ignorant child; she understood that Rosana and her father indeed didn't have much interaction and rarely had intimate moments. Their relationship seemed similar to her father's relationship with his friends. So, though she felt a bit regretful, she could understand.
"Why isn't Uncle Kevin in this painting?" Kurapika asked, full of doubt. Kevin was in the family photo but not in this painting. Though the painting only featured simple stick figures, the characteristics of three of them were clearly theirs.
"Because Kevin hasn't gotten the key yet." A key with Kevin's characteristics appeared in Rosana's hand, and she lightly shook it. This key matched the image in the family photo. Only those who had an image in the family photo and had the key would appear in this painting. And anyone who wasn't foolish could understand the meaning represented by this painting—it signified the degree of danger in their current situation.
The green grassland represented safety. The middle area perhaps represented encountering combat or facing danger. And the final area seemed to represent a fatal crisis.
"If your little figure leaves the green grass, I can sense it." Rosana said, pointing to the long, strip-shaped painting. Next, she demonstrated with the key, showing how to travel between the inner and outer spaces within the room.
In Pairo's view, this ability had a huge advantage when fighting on home ground. From the demonstration, people outside couldn't see those inside, but those inside could clearly see the people outside and could walk to the corresponding position, achieving travel between the inner and outer spaces, with their bodies appearing in the corresponding place.
"Are there requirements for the room's size? What about a large room like a warehouse?" Pairo couldn't help asking. After all, the larger the area that could be called "Home," the stronger Rosana's ability would be.
"The larger the area of the Home, the more Nen I consume." Rosana explained. The size of this Nen space entirely depended on her Nen limit. Once "Home" was set, the corresponding Nen limit was directly deducted—just like Pairo's butterfly eyes.
"However, the most crucial point is that centered around Home, within a 10-kilometer radius, you can open a door anywhere with the key to return home." Without waiting for them to ask, Rosana added an explanation of restrictions: "Only one exit for returning home or leaving will appear at a time." This restriction even made it impossible to open the door to the outside space from the inside. This meant they jumped out of this space but couldn't open the door outside.
"Mom, does this space have to be based on a real-world space?" Kurapika asked. He was mainly thinking—since a different dimension could already be constructed, did there really have to be a real existing space as a reference?
Rosana looked at her son, smiled, and gently ruffled his head. "Kurapika is truly smart. If there is an existing room as a basis, it can greatly reduce Mom's Nen consumption. If this space is constructed without relying on real-world space, its appearance will be like our original home from before—fixed in size and unchangeable, and the consumption of Nen will also greatly increase." Rosana explained this way.
Their original home from before... Kurapika couldn't help but fall into a brief silence. The so-called original home was probably the one they had in the Kurta tribal land.
At this point, Rosana's Nen ability was considered fully introduced. Undoubtedly, this was an extremely powerful and functional Nen ability.
"Then, what about after activating Scarlet Eyes?" Pairo asked. Just like his own Nen ability, once the Scarlet Eyes state was activated, powerful changes occurred, directly altering the nature and strength of the Nen ability. Rosana knew about this ability before constructing her Nen ability, and she must have considered it during the construction process.
Everyone looked at Rosana with curiosity.
Rosana smiled slightly and reached out to gently tap the painting behind her. "Once you cross [Danger] and enter [Despair], I can activate Scarlet Eyes and forcibly call you home."
Forcibly call home? It seemed the ability of this painting indeed had its uses.
Otherwise, merely sensing the dangerous situations each family member was in seemed to have little meaning—only adding to worry. Clearly, this ability served as preparation for actions after activating Scarlet Eyes.
With such an ability, there was no doubt that Rosana would become the core figure for logistical support, becoming the most solid backing for everyone. With Rosana's Nen ability—[Home]—Neon's safety factor increased exponentially. It was simply the best bodyguard ability. Of course, such an ability was limited to protecting family members. But that was enough.
Based on this Nen ability, Kurapika and the others replanned their course of action.
Subsequently, Kurapika had Neon perform a divination again. This time, with Rosana's Nen ability and their preparations, the future should have changed.
[Silver wings nest upon the treasury, malicious thieves are torn apart in the storm. Your beloved star is untouched by a speck of dust beneath the wings.]
[Following the rust of the hunt, flocks of birds pecked through the filthy nest. On the young beast's skeleton are its father's eyes, be careful, the evil beast will not give up just like that.]
After the divination, though Neon really wanted to see Kurapika's prophecy poem, she held back, put it down, and turned to leave the room.
The people present began to interpret these prophecy poems. Involuntarily, the three present intentionally or unintentionally cast their gazes upon Kurapika. At this moment, Kurapika pretended to be nonchalant, staring intently at the prophecy poem as if it had nothing to do with him, but Pairo clearly wouldn't let him off easily.
In Kurapika's eyes, the three words "beloved" in the prophecy poem were deliberately circled with a heart shape and kept flashing with light. This was clearly highlighting it.
Kurapika glared fiercely at Pairo.
At this moment, Light spoke up. "However, the real observer behind this isn't that easy to deal with." They had already killed two of the Shadow Beasts and eliminated the Ten Old Men's son. But the problem was, the Ten Old Men were still alive. Having such a mafia leader eyeing them was ultimately not a good thing. When the mafia made a move, they were ruthless and capable of anything, and the other party was still in the dark—who knew when they would strike.
"So, it's best if we find a way to capture them all at once." Pairo couldn't help saying.
Hearing this, Rosana frowned and said directly, "I won't allow you to act rashly. No matter what, the other party is one of the ten great mafias in the world; they definitely have Nen users besides the Shadow Beasts in their hands. The information we currently have is not enough. Acting rashly will also lead to unpredictable accidents."
Though this was Rosana's protective instinct as a mother at work, her words were not without reason. Dealing with attacking enemies and directly eliminating the mastermind behind the scenes were completely different matters. The risks faced were also not on the same level at all. Pairo and Rosana had been Nen users for less than half a year, while Kurapika, due to his vow, couldn't even build his own Nen ability yet. Unless they were given another year to grow, wanting to eliminate one of the Ten Old Men was far beyond their current strength.
"We should be able to hire Hunters, right? After all, isn't Uncle Kevin a Hunter?" Kurapika suddenly suggested. Their current strength wasn't enough, but there were always people whose strength was sufficient. The Ten Old Men could hire Nen users, and they could also hire them with money—and they weren't short on money right now.
Unexpectedly, Rosana shook her head. "I've looked into the Hunter Association; they are more skilled at handling professional matters or engaging in bodyguard services. It's very difficult to get them to engage in illegal activities or assassinations; reputable Hunters won't get involved in that line of work."
However, Kurapika's words did serve as a reminder to everyone. They didn't necessarily have to do everything themselves. Protecting Neon and Light from threats might still require them to handle it themselves, but to eliminate external threats—
Pairo pondered, slowly pulling out a card from his pocket. On it was just a simple phone number.
"What is that?" Kurapika asked.
"This is what Uncle gave me before he left; it's the number of a very skilled assassin," Pairo said.
Hearing this, Light smiled. "It seems Kevin anticipated this. In that case, there's nothing to hesitate about." Light's trust in Kevin was unquestionable; as soon as he heard it was his arrangement, he immediately nodded in agreement. After hearing this, the others also nodded.
"So, it must be a Nen user assassin?" Kurapika asked.
Pairo wasn't sure either. After all, Kevin only said it was a very skilled assassin before he left, but since Kevin said so, it was highly likely to be a Nen user.
"He said it was an assassin from the Zoldyck Family."
"Zoldyck?!" Light suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
"You know this family, Uncle Light?" Kurapika turned his head and asked.
Light nodded with a serious expression. "I've heard some information about them. It's said their prices are extremely high, but they've never failed. As long as you can afford the price, they can help eliminate even a national leader."
"A national leader!" Everyone was truly shocked this time; this was not something ordinary gangs could compare to. After all, gangs were ultimately just forces operating in dark corners, only capable of doing things that couldn't see the light of day.
Since they had discussed solving the problem once and for all, hiring an assassin seemed to become an inevitable choice.
Although Kurapika felt some resistance in his heart, both prophecies indicated that the other party would not let them off easily. The only three remaining members of their Kurta clan were now closely tied to Light and Kevin; it could be said they would prosper or suffer together. Faced with such a threat, even Kurapika no longer hesitated about using assassination as a method.
Seeing that everyone agreed to hire an assassin, Pairo said, "In that case, we'll finalize this, and then we'll do another divination. This time, I'll be the one to receive the divination." Just as they had planned at the beginning of the month, after every major action, they would perform a divination to ensure that the development of subsequent events met their expectations.
Night. Vasa City. In a villa in the city.
Saro was sitting on the sofa, leisurely smoking a cigar and listening to his subordinate's report. "The defenses of the Nostra Estate are very strict. If we attack by force, we will pay a considerable price, and it might also alert the enemy."
Hearing his subordinate's report, Saro nodded. Then, he cast his gaze toward the two people sitting on the sofa opposite him. One of them had eyes wide open, but his eyeballs seemed unable to focus, constantly rolling around. The other person's skin was dark purple, and his entire body shape was bizarre, deformed as if a long maggot had mutated. These two were Owl and Earthworm from the Shadow Beasts.
"According to the information I've obtained, that guy Kevin is not inside the estate. That means, for the two of you now, the estate is in an undefended state," Saro said, looking at the two Shadow Beasts members.
"Heh heh, even if that guy was here, he wouldn't be a match for the two of us," Earthworm said with a sharp laugh.
Saro also showed a brilliant smile and nodded in agreement. "That's right. Consider him having escaped this time. However, we can kidnap that traitor Light's daughter and make him bring Kevin to our designated location. Then, I'll trouble the two of you to properly deal with that arrogant betrayer."
The two Shadow Beasts members were already accustomed to such actions and waved their hands casually. "No problem. It's a small matter."
"So, shall we go kidnap the Nostra Family's miss tonight?"
"Then I'll trouble the two of you," Saro nodded.
With two Shadow Beasts members making a move, and Kevin, whom he feared, not being inside the estate, Saro felt there was nothing to worry about for this operation. Just rush in and kidnap the person.
Time quickly reached midnight.
A black sedan slowly drove through the winding mountain road and grandly stopped at the estate entrance. The two Shadow Beasts members got directly out of the car. They looked at the estate gate.
"They've hidden quite a few people," Earthworm chuckled.
Owl continued to roll his misaligned eyes, without saying a word.
"Who are you? Get out! This isn't where you should be!" A gang member immediately put his hand on his waist.
"Wait." A young boy's voice came from the main entrance. Hearing the voice, the gang member turned his head and saw it was Pairo, quickly bowing his head respectfully. "Young Master Pairo."
Pairo nodded. "Tell the brothers to disperse and don't approach for now." The gang subordinate was stunned for a moment, but still nodded and passed on the order.
Looking at Pairo standing at the entrance, Earthworm chuckled. "Did you see that, Owl? That kid Saro's intelligence gathering isn't very good. Isn't there still a Nen user here?" For a Nen user, as long as the other party didn't deliberately hide it, they could easily tell if the other party was a Nen user like themselves. After all, the aura emitted by ordinary people was very different from the aura of a Nen user who constantly maintained the [En] state. "Even though it's a child."
Pairo, who looked like a child, stared straight at the two of them. The two also stared directly at Pairo without showing any weakness, the ill will emanating from them pressing against Pairo without concealment.
The kid dared to stare at them. As Shadow Beasts members, what they did was never anything honorable. They were always the darkest existence within the gang. The blood and sins on their hands were countless, and the ill will they carried made people shudder.
"Compared to those guys, they're far worse." Pairo stared at the two, feeling the ill will pressing down on him from them, and secretly evaluated them in his heart. While he was at it, he placed a mark in their eyes.
"I don't recall inviting the two of you to be guests at the estate. It's very late now, so please leave if you have nothing else."
Earthworm let out a sharp chuckle, as if he had heard the biggest joke. "He actually told us to leave, hahaha."
Suddenly, Owl's eyes seemed to detect movement inside the estate in the distance. His body moved instantly, flipping directly over the fence, passing Pairo, and rushing toward the inside of the estate.
Seeing this, Pairo quickly rushed over to block him. But Earthworm was faster, drilling directly out of the ground in front of Pairo.
"Cunning kid, you actually dare to stall for time." Seeing Owl's action, Earthworm also reacted—the other party must have noticed long ago, and they were probably relocating their target now. Though they wouldn't let the other party escape, tracking was troublesome after all. However, leaving the kidnapping to Owl alone was more than enough.
"Kid, have you ever tasted being buried alive?" Earthworm stared fiercely at Pairo.
Meanwhile, Pairo seemed to be just anxiously looking toward the inside of the estate.