This is really messed up!
Liam looked at Ring A on his index finger, then looked up at the moonlight outside the window, then looked down at his ring again.
Back then, he and Shizuku were separated by an entire continent. One was on the west coast, the other on the east coast. They'd been able to communicate through the Moon Mark at night without any issues.
Not to mention the sound transmission being suddenly interrupted—the telepathy had been so clear and fast there wasn't even a delay.
"It seems he disappeared to a very far place," Shizuku said beside him. The size of Ken on her body had obviously shrunk. In the second half of training, sweat had begun forming on her forehead.
"Yeah." Liam responded, turning the ring unconsciously. The character "A" and the code name "Tendō" appeared alternately on the front.
After he and Shizuku had dispersed to different continents, he'd tried to communicate again using the Moon Mark rings.
Therefore, he wasn't very sure whether the situation during telepathy at that distance was similar to Kurapika's situation just now.
After all, Liam was the developer of the Moon Mark derivative ability. He had a deep intuition about its boundaries.
For example, he intuitively believed the Moon Mark's signal range was limited during the day—could only communicate within the same city. But only at night would the signal be amplified countless times.
After Lumos was injured on the other side of the ocean, he activated the Star Mark. I could clearly sense it. The Moon Mark should have a similar effect. Even across oceans and continents, as long as it's night, communication should be possible without loss.
Liam thought to himself.
As long as it's night.
Human society here was just a corner of Hunter World. As long as it was night on the Everika continent where he and Shizuku currently were, then no matter which of the six continents Kurapika was on at the moment, it should also be night, right? He'd verified this with Shizuku. She'd never heard of a night hemisphere and day hemisphere.
Liam couldn't help but complain, "That kid Kurapika—could he have 'disappeared' to the Dark Continent?!"
According to his original guess, when human society on the "six small islands" in Lake Mobius was in darkness, then many places on the Dark Continent might be in daytime.
Liam shook his head. This is too outrageous.
The greater possibility was that Kurapika was in an environment created by some kind of Nen ability at the moment.
I'm afraid only Nen can interfere with the signal of the Moon Mark that's also made of Nen.
At noon the next day, at the foot of Heavens Arena.
There was a steady flow of people. A man wearing a gray sweater looked up at this huge building that was nearly a thousand meters high.
A paradise for fighters from all over the world!
Naturally, he'd heard about it for a long time.
What was striking was that the fingers of his hands were covered with various rings, and necklaces of different styles and thicknesses hung around his neck. Some of these rings and necklaces were inlaid with jewelry, some were made of pure gold and pure silver, and some were made of plastic and synthetic materials. They were quite a mix and match, which diluted the nouveau riche impression he might give people. On the contrary, they were full of punk style. He didn't look like a serious person at first glance.
Essi Rick, Professional Hunter from the Hunter Association.
For Kurapika's sake, he'd ordered the earliest airship and rushed over. Without hesitation, he lined up at Heavens Arena and directly showed his Hunter License to the lady at the front desk.
"I'm looking for the Floor Master of the 244th floor."
"Ah, please wait."
Of course, the front desk lady didn't dare to neglect a Professional Hunter. She quickly found out that Mr. Liam did have an appointment and immediately made arrangements. A colleague came over and took the Professional Hunter to the 244th floor in the elevator.
In the elevator, Essi used small talk, mainly because he wanted to find out the origin of the person who'd spoken to him last night.
His voice sounded like he wasn't very old.
Kurapika was very young either, so it wasn't surprising to Essi.
But he didn't expect that the young Kurapika had such strength—enough to surprise him. And this person who was suspected to be Kurapika's friend turned out to be a Floor Master of Heavens Arena.
One match a day. Ten floors a day.
Ten battles, ten wins.
Defeat the former Floor Master head-on and replace him.
The staff actively introduced Liam's deeds in Heavens Arena. Essi nodded from time to time. I'm afraid this Liam was already a Nen user on the first floor.
It wasn't uncommon for young people to have Nen abilities, but they usually only had unique Hatsu and their actual combat abilities were relatively weak.
Kurapika is already outstanding enough. I don't know what level this Liam is at. Is he relying on skillful application of Nen to show off in Heavens Arena, or...
Just as he was thinking this, the elevator door slowly opened.
"We're here." The staff reminded, but noticed Essi's expression was strange. "Excuse me..."
"Oh, oh, it's nothing." Essi came back to his senses.
Just now, when the elevator door opened, a strong blast of aura hit his face.
Even now, Essi—who was also a Nen user and had learned Gyo—could see a mist-like energy field floating in the corridor in front of him.
Very strong aura.
Essi wasn't amateur enough to be shocked by this level of aura.
But the strength of Kurapika's friend really exceeded his expectations.
It seems I underestimated the level of Heavens Arena Floor Masters—or maybe Kurapika's friend is already beyond the level of Floor Masters.
The staff wanted to show him the way, but Essi said as he walked, "I know where he is."
The aura in front of him was the best sign to lead the way.
Right in that room.
The closer Essi got, the stronger the aura became. It wasn't until he knocked on the door and said, "I'm Essi Rick. I'm here," that he realized his voice sounded a little solemn.
"Come in. I've been waiting for you for a long time." The answer came from the room. It was indeed the boy's voice on the call last night.
Essi pushed open the door and saw a young man wearing a tank top and shorts, with bare feet on the floor, radiating aura from his whole body—in a state of training.
Only then could Essi finally be sure that the strength of this young Floor Master's aura was definitely not weaker than his own.
And sitting next to the young Floor Master: a girl with black hair and glasses.
The girl was very quiet and kept staring at Essi after he entered the door. It was like curious observation, but there didn't seem to be much emotion. This look is so weird!
"You're really impressive!" Essi looked at Liam and praised. "Kurapika said he never beat you. No wonder."
Shizuku said strangely, "Kurapika's Nen ability was all taught by him, so of course he can't be his opponent."
"Don't listen to him! With Kurapika's character, how could he mention us to others casually?" Liam exhaled a long breath, restrained his aura and maintained it at the level of Ten. "Besides, I've never really fought Kurapika, so there's no talk about winning or losing."
He looked across. "Did you lie to confirm we're really Kurapika's friends?"
"If you taught him Nen ability, you're no longer just a friend, but his teacher." Essi smiled bitterly. "You're not surprised to see my appearance. It seems you found my Professional Hunter information."
But is it true or false?
Kurapika's Nen ability was taught by the boy in front of me?
Not to mention how old Kurapika was, and how many years it took to learn Nen—how old is this young man in front of me?
"I can't say I'm his teacher. He has excellent qualifications. I just gave him a lesson and he started practicing on his own." Liam said modestly. "We're not familiar with each other, so there's no need to be polite. Let's talk about it. How did Kurapika disappear?"
Essi sighed. "They say he disappeared, but after 10 days, I'm afraid he's in danger. You must be mentally prepared."
"Don't worry about that. He's not dead yet."
Essi looked at Liam doubtfully.
Liam repeated, "I've confirmed he's not dead yet. So the most important thing we have to do now is of course find Kurapika. Before that, please tell us carefully what happened."
Only then did Essi realize it seemed there was some kind of communication method between Kurapika and this actual young teacher in front of him. Or at least a special method that could confirm the other party's life and death status?
"It turns out he threw the phone out in the end just so the person who picked it up could get in touch with you..."
Essi shook his head and sighed, then sat down on the sofa and told Liam and Shizuku what had happened 10 days ago.
Back at Sensui Mountain, Kurapika had interrogated the young painter and retrieved a pair of Scarlet Eyes. At the same time, he'd also found out the whereabouts of three other pairs of Scarlet Eyes. The identities of the holders of two pairs of Scarlet Eyes were relatively clear, so he'd asked Liam to retrieve one pair, while he was responsible for retrieving the other two pairs.
For these two pairs of eyes, the identity of one holder was relatively clear—an ordinary white-collar office worker.
Kurapika didn't waste much time and took away the pair of Scarlet Eyes hidden in a secret room from the other party's home without anyone noticing.
Kurapika, a kid with a strong sense of morality, felt guilty for a long time after his first theft. He often went EMO alone and felt he was really degenerating.
After regaining a pair of his companion's eyes, he seemed to have lost something in his heart.
The eyes burning like fire in the solution seemed to be his dead companions staring at him.
The most painful thing wasn't that you desired revenge but couldn't get it. The most painful thing was that you might waver in the matter of revenge.
Isn't that what the great truths in books say? There's no point in indulging in hatred. Only by living in the present can we be worthy of the dead.
But I was also supposed to die together!
Kurapika's eyes burned with flames. He looked into the Scarlet Eyes in the solution for a few seconds before silently putting them away.
But for the remaining pair of Scarlet Eyes, the identity information of the holder was limited.
Kurapika spent a lot of time and energy slowly finding out more clues, finally locking onto the target—the opponent was the founder of an emerging cult.
...Of course it was impossible for Essi to know the above process.
The first time he'd met Kurapika was when they were both eyeing the cult leader.
"Although I'm not a professional Bounty Hunter, out of my personal interests, I hate the kind of people who trick others and even harm ordinary people. So I accepted this guy's bounty mission."
Essi crossed his hands covered with various rings, lowered his head, and said slowly, "In order to facilitate my infiltration, I pretended to be a believer and infiltrated this small cult organization. That's how I met Kurapika."
"This young man really doesn't know how to pretend." Essi couldn't help but smile. "His eyes are completely different from those of true believers. When the Leader gives speeches, he always casts his eyes soberly and contemptuously. It's like he wants to cut the other person into pieces with his eyes."
Liam said, "It's not that he doesn't know how to act. He just doesn't bother. If he joins the others, even if he's pretending, he'll feel dirty."
Essi said, "That's right."
"It's just a cult leader. Kurapika is trying to find the person who had the Scarlet Eyes, so being cautious makes sense. But you're going for the bounty on his head. Since you've seen him, why didn't you take action directly?"
"I think you've guessed the reason." Essi sighed. "Yes, this Leader is a Nen user."
After a pause, he said bitterly, "Moreover, this guy uses his followers as expendable shields..."
"The initiation ceremony is equivalent to the condition of his Nen ability. After becoming a member, you become his human shield." Liam asked. "Something like that?"
Essi nodded. "He's most likely Manipulation-type."
"I planned to continue observing. You also know that for Nen abilities like Manipulation, you must first understand the opponent's ability conditions. Otherwise, if you're not careful, you'll easily fall into the trap. If you fall into the trap, you lose everything—just like those believers." Essi smiled bitterly. "But Kurapika doesn't seem to care about this. He seemed to be looking for something—well, don't look at me like that. Of course I found out later he was looking for the Scarlet Eyes. The Leader has a pair of Scarlet Eyes in his possession."
Liam continued to look at him.
Essi sighed. "I don't know why, but the Leader revealed Kurapika's identity in one word. I also didn't expect the Kurta Tribe, which the whole world thought had been exterminated by the Phantom Troupe, actually had survivors."
Kurapika wore black contact lenses most of the time when outside to cover up his Scarlet Eyes that appeared when he was emotional.
Then how did the Leader see through the contact lens?
...Is it Nen?
Liam thought that when Kurapika entered the Scarlet Eyes state, the aura in his body would skyrocket.
If the so-called Leader knew something about this characteristic of the Kurta Tribe...
"We were careless. No, I should say, it was me who was careless." Essi regretted. "I only thought that guy could only use his followers act as his human shields. Who knew he could also use blood sacrificing his followers to greatly enhance his Nen ability... especially since he also sacrificed his own life, and his Nen ability itself increased by an unknown number of times."
Recalling the tragic and strange scene at that time, Essi still felt palpitations.
"I don't know what kind of Nen ability he activated, but this cult leader doesn't look like a normal person anymore. After he found out Kurapika's identity, he became even crazier. Always saying things like 'Scarlet Eyes,' 'I didn't expect anyone to be alive,' 'That's great'..."
"The Enlightened One's thousand hands!"
"The True Path glares with fury—the world burns red!"
Following the crazy shouts, the originally fat Leader shriveled up at a speed visible to the naked eye. In contrast, twisted aura like black fire surged out of his body!
It was like roaring out of hell, sweeping and wreaking havoc throughout the entire venue—devouring everything!
"No, we need to go!" Kurapika shouted, maintaining Ken, and raised his hand to manifest his Dolphin Bookshelf.
A jade Buddha necklace swayed around the neck of the skinny Leader, like a singularity, swallowing up the black aura that surged out like hellfire.
"The Enlightened One's thousand hands..."
The Leader's skin and flesh clung to his bones. He no longer had a human shape.
"The True Path's fury makes the world red with blood..."
The Leader's flesh and blood burned, leaving only a vaguely visible skeleton, which soon evaporated slowly in the black fire aura along with his weird laughter.
At the last moment, Kurapika's aura transformed into the Skeleton Knight. He grabbed Essi with a giant hand and threw him out. Like a cannonball, he hit diagonally upward through several ceilings and returned to the ground under the sunshine outside. In comparison, the phone he finally threw out seemed a little harder to detect—buried in the cracks of the ruins.
The venue for the sect's activities became deserted, with only black human-shaped shadows left on the ground and walls—like the dregs left after human beings evaporated.
The small jade Buddha fell to the ground and disappeared with the last bit of the whirlpool of black fire aura.