After listening to Essi's narration, Liam pondered. "It seems this cult leader wasn't just attracted by the Scarlet Eyes of the Kurta Tribe, but especially by a living Kurta."
Is it possible the bloodline of the Kurta Tribe really is something special? Apart from the Scarlet Eyes—known as one of the Seven Beauties—is there anything truly unique about them?
"That's not necessarily the case." Essi shook his head. "Such a fanatical evildoer may not even understand the chaotic delusions in his own mind. It may not be that he targeted the Kurta Clan after meeting Kurapika and felt his intent. Or maybe it was the other way around. After he met a member of the Kurta Tribe that was supposed to be extinct, something in his brain clicked. He inexplicably felt he should seize such a nearly severed bloodline. After all, the rarer the 'tribute,' the more precious it is. That's human intuition."
Liam said, "Your prejudice is a bit severe."
Essi asked back, "Should we have a positive view of him?"
"I've been following that Leader for a long time, so I have more information. Why do I call him 'Leader' instead of using his real name? He's been the Patriarch, Leader, and Founder of more than one organization. He's also used more than one name. Tragedies related to him—there are no fewer than thirty cases, each with at least 10 victims. No connection between them at all."
Essi sighed. "I think you can imagine how much damage a Nen user can cause when mixed among ordinary people. Especially this damn bastard. He's also very good at deceiving people."
Liam nodded.
"The cult he established this time promoted the Enlightened One and Thousand-Armed Path. In the past, he's used the names of various Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, gods, and sages..."
Essi said in a deep voice, "Normally speaking, the so-called leader of this kind of religion who often changes appearance shouldn't believe in any of it. But this Leader is different. This time, the secret activities of the cult he established have been developing for a particularly long time—more than any time before. That's why I had enough clues to find his location."
"His fanatical and crazy demeanor after discovering Kurapika's identity also made me wonder if this guy had brainwashed others too much and washed out his own brain in the process."
Liam nodded again, stood up. "Okay. Now that I had heard the story, it's time to get down to business."
Essi looked at him doubtfully. "The business is... to find Kurapika?"
"What else?" Liam looked at him like he was an idiot, then stretched his hand to the side. "Map."
Shizuku handed a large map to his hand.
They'd bought this on the way to Heavens Arena this morning.
Essi came over to take a look and became even more confused. This was a very ordinary map of the Everika continent.
"How to find him? Do you have an idea?" he asked.
"Yeah. Otherwise, why do you think Kurapika threw the phone out in the end?" Liam stretched out his hand. "Where's the phone?"
Essi took out a phone with a cracked screen from his pocket and handed it to Liam solemnly.
Liam glanced at it and handed it to Shizuku to put away.
Shizuku had no intention of summoning Blinky directly in front of this person, so she casually put Kurapika's phone on the coffee table. In principle, the entire 244th floor of Heavens Arena belonged to Liam. Even if the Arena staff saw these personal belongings, they wouldn't touch them easily.
Seeing the Hunter staring directly at her, Shizuku also looked over in confusion.
"Aren't you looking for him?" Essi wondered. He'd thought the Nen abilities of these two people had some kind of function to find people with objects—similar to divination.
When Liam heard this, he thought: The person in our team who can tell fortunes and divine is Kurapika himself. He's the one we're looking for now.
Liam took a pen, found the city where Heavens Arena was located on the right end of the Everika continent on the map, clicked it, then looked up and glanced around the room.
Seeing this, Essi followed with a question mark on his head and looked around. After Liam quickly confirmed a direction, he found the corresponding direction and angle on the map, then decisively slashed diagonally toward the top of the map.
A straight black line started from Heavens Arena and was drawn all the way to the west of the north coast of Everika continent—even into the sea further north—until it reached the top of the map. Didn't stop until it reached the edge of the paper.
"Look for him on this line."
Liam put the pen cap on and looked at the map. "Shizuku, buy tickets based on these cities along the way. We'll fly along this route bit by bit."
"Okay." Shizuku immediately ran to the computer in the room and started operating.
After a while, she ran back and took a look at the map to confirm the route. Liam felt sheepish and handed the whole map to her.
"Are you sure this route is correct?" Essi looked at it for a while and asked.
"It's impossible to be 100% sure," Liam said. "But after 10 days, you still have no clue about Kurapika's location, right? Then you can only follow us."
"Okay. I believe you." Essi also ran to buy tickets, following Shizuku's lead. She bought two, he followed with one from the same flight.
Before Essi arrived at Heavens Arena, Liam hadn't been completely practicing in the room.
He'd been concentrating on sensing the "signal" from Kurapika's Star Mark.
Out of personal habit and respect for his companions, Liam would never set up any commands on the marks on Shizuku and Kurapika under normal circumstances.
If a command was given to the Star Mark that could be executed for a long time—such as what Liam did to Lumos or the Shadow Beast Purple Ape—the mark on them would always be activated to a certain extent.
For example, at this moment, with a thought, Liam could sense Lumos on the other side of the ocean, and the location of Shadow Beast Purple Ape who'd returned to another city after being defeated and losing his Floor Master position.
But the Star Marks on Shizuku and Kurapika had always been clean.
This also meant that if they weren't within Liam's sight, Liam couldn't sense the latent Star Mark on them.
Unless they were accidentally injured and forced to activate the self-healing function of the mark.
In the process of self-healing, Liam would clearly sense the existence of the Star Mark and determine its location.
The Star Mark on Kurapika's chest had always been in a latent state. Normally, no matter how focused Liam was, as long as Kurapika wasn't within his sight, he couldn't sense it.
However, Kurapika wasn't a fool. If he fell into a desperate situation and completely lost contact with the outside world, he'd definitely take the initiative to activate the self-healing function of the mark in his own hands, thus reminding Liam, the owner of the mark.
It was with this speculation that Liam had adjusted his state and waited with full concentration for the "signal" of the possible Star Mark.
When I used Ring A's Moon Mark to transmit sound last night, that kid looked like he was about to die. No matter how stubborn he is, he wouldn't have reached that point and refused to call for help, right?
After waiting and observing for about half an hour, Liam keenly caught the signal of a Star Mark that suddenly appeared in his consciousness.
It was the third Star Mark besides Lumos and Shadow Beast.
The induction is too weak. If I hadn't deepened my control over aura in recent days, it would've been difficult to distinguish the slightest wave.
This weak feeling was very similar to the feeling at the end of the Moon Mark exchange last night, when Kurapika's voice had gradually faded away and become blurry as he called for help.
Because the Star Mark's induction was too weak, Liam couldn't even lock onto the mark's position, let alone change the operation mode, activate it, and project his consciousness there.
Liam thought about this and looked at the time. It was almost noon.
Well, maybe he'd already used this method to ask for help during the 10 days he was missing?
Liam suddenly thought of this.
Before Kurapika was stupid enough to fall into a desperate situation, he belatedly remembered to give himself a cut to activate the Star Mark...
It was very possible that in the past 10 days, he'd vaguely sensed the sudden appearance of Star Mark signals other than Lumos.
But because the signal wasn't strong, he'd ignored it?
Liam secretly felt ashamed.
Before the fuzzy Star Mark sensor disappeared, Liam could barely distinguish the general direction.
Kurapika isn't made of iron. He's made of flesh and blood. He repeatedly injures himself to activate the Star Mark and release the signal. It's impossible to stay online 24 hours a day.
Thinking back to Kurapika's dying look when communicating via Moon Mark last night...
Could it be he's been cutting his own flesh and blood to activate the mark for the past 10 days?
Liam couldn't help but rub the back of his head. After Shizuku bought the first ticket of the "route," he waved his hand. "We'll talk about the rest when they arrive. Let's go first."
Shizuku walked calmly.
Essi followed them worriedly.
On the airship flight, Liam held his breath and concentrated, waiting for Kurapika's distress signal that might appear at any time.
Before landing, another weak Star Mark signal came.
Liam opened his eyes, looked at Shizuku, and shook his head.
The signal was still too weak and elusive. All that was certain: the direction they were flying was correct.
Kurapika is somewhere ahead of this route.
Shizuku wrote down the current time.
It seems Kurapika activates the self-healing function of the Star Mark every three hours and releases a signal to the outside world.
Liam and Shizuku looked at each other. Both had such a guess.
Next, they only needed to wait another 3 hours. At 6 o'clock in the evening, if there was another Star Mark signal, it would be confirmed.
After getting off the airship, Liam didn't leave the waiting hall of the airport. When the huge sign on the wall of the hall reached 6 o'clock, there was indeed a weak signal from the mark.
Shizuku looked at Liam.
Liam nodded. "It's not in this city. Still far away. Go ahead and buy a ticket. Where's the next stop?"
Shizuku bought tickets according to the route.
Liam sat on the bench and began to relax with his eyes closed.
The next time the Star Mark signal comes, if nothing unexpected happens, it'll be at 9 o'clock tonight. Zero o'clock. 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock, and 9 o'clock in the morning the next day. Then noon again. Then it'll repeat like today.
The trapped Kurapika probably does the same thing as I'm doing now. Closes his eyes for a period of time to rest. Releases a Star Mark signal every 3 hours. Minimizes the consumption of body energy. Takes small and frequent breaks.
After boarding the next airship, Liam no longer wasted energy waiting for the mark to appear. He sat directly on the large soft chair, covered himself with a thin blanket, put on an eye mask, and rested.
Essi, who was sitting there with a worried face, looked at Liam in surprise—who almost fell asleep in a second.
With the Star Mark on his body, Liam could almost be said to have 100% control over his physical state.
The Star Mark couldn't control thoughts, but it could control the brain and make sleepiness rise. After Liam stopped resisting, he naturally fell asleep immediately.
Unknowingly, Liam tilted his head to Shizuku's shoulder. Shizuku kept her posture and looked quietly at an old book in her hand.
When three hours were up, there was no need for an alarm clock. The Star Mark on the back of Liam's neck was the best alarm. It forced him to open his eyes.
Liam woke up. Took a second to dispel the hazy sleepiness. Took another second to enter the state. After another second, sure enough, the sensor of Kurapika's mark came as expected.
Still further ahead.
It was already dark when the airship landed.
The night was filled with dim stars. Essi asked tiredly, "How is it?"
He'd followed the whole process and naturally saw something. Although he didn't know exactly what method Liam used, he seemed able to sense Kurapika.
He didn't ask too many questions. The matter of Nen ability was a personal secret. It wouldn't be good to ask rashly.
Shizuku raised her wrist and looked at the time. 8:32 PM.
It would be half an hour before a new Star Mark signal would be transmitted from Kurapika.
"Let's go get something to eat first." Liam said. He'd rested for 3 hours and 3 hours along the way. He didn't look tired now.
In the roadside snack bar on the bustling street, Essi devoured the food. Shizuku chewed carefully. Liam ate while trying to trigger Ring A's Moon Mark on his finger.
It's night now. The signal of the Moon Mark should be maximized.
The vague Moon Mark sensor came. It was Kurapika's even more tired voice: [Many people died... alternate space... Nen ability...]
[Save energy,] Liam said briefly. [You're doing very well. I'm looking for you through the Star Mark signal you're releasing. Shizuku and I are on the way. We'll find you soon. Don't die!]
Kurapika seemed to have said something, but in the end his voice was too vague. The Moon Mark's sound transmission disconnected.
If you can talk, talk. If you can't, don't. What's the matter with the signal blocking half the conversation?
Liam looked up at the sky depressedly—but now in the snack bar, when he looked up, he could only see the light tubes on the ceiling and the flying insects wandering around them, not the starry night sky.
But it's not like nothing was gained.
Kurapika was indeed in an alternate space created by the power of Nen.
No wonder the Star Mark's position sensing is so fuzzy.
However, even Nen abilities in alternate dimensions couldn't completely separate from the real material world.
Knov's "Fourth Dimensional Apartment or Hide and Seek" is so awesome, but it has to leave the entrance and exit passages in the real world as coordinates.
The so-called cult leader sacrificed his followers and even himself with post-mortem Nen. The alternate space that trapped Kurapika must have an anchor somewhere—and it was somewhere on this route.
As soon as 9 o'clock in the evening came, another signal from the mark arrived. This time the feeling was a little clearer.
"Still ahead. We're already close." Liam wiped his mouth and stood up. "Let's go!"
In the night, the airship with flowing lights left the airport.
The progress of Liam and the others continued along the straight route on the map, heading toward the north shore of the mainland.
At 9 o'clock in the morning on the fourth day, Kurapika's Star Mark signal arrived on time.
Liam suddenly stood up and left his seat on the airship, rushing to the porthole window to look at the clouds flying back outside.
Under the clouds, there were distant mountains.
"Shizuku..." Liam was about to speak when Essi came up behind him. "That's the Kamavor Mountains. Is it right there?"
"Right there." Liam said.
Shizuku said, "It's estimated this airship will take more than an hour to land..."
Liam's head behind the porthole turned black.
Whoosh.
The large airship left a long trail in the sky, leaving the densely forested Kamavor Mountains farther and farther behind.
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