"Phew..."
As the pain receded and strength surged forth, Roy exhaled lightly. He intuitively felt the endless power welling up from the depths of his body. He clasped his hands together and stretched them upward.
"Crack, snap..."
His neck, elbows, knees, ankles... every joint popped like stir-fried beans.
His entire body felt indescribably comfortable. He took a simple shower, opened Chronicles of the Western Continent, and sat at the dining table. At that moment, Gotoh pushed the dining cart in. The boy looked up and glanced at him.
[Believer: Gotoh]
[Constitution: 217 -> 220]
[Manifested Aura Volume: D+ (9754/10000) -> C- (77/100000)]
[Potential Aura Volume: C- (1745/100000 -> 2250/100000)]
Since learning the "Breathing Style", the "Constitution Bottleneck" that hadn't budged for years had finally loosened slightly. Obviously, he had put in hard work these past few days...
Roy smiled. "Have you mastered it completely?"
Gotoh pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "I am still unable to achieve the 'Total Concentration: Constant' that Young Master spoke of."
"No rush." Roy took the knife and fork Gotoh handed him, cut a piece of steak, and put it in his mouth. "Later, have someone prepare a few gourds. Blow into them whenever you have nothing to do; it helps extend the duration of 'Concentration'."
The "Breathing Style" prioritizes "cardiopulmonary function". A powerful heart and lungs drive the blood temperature up, accelerate the heartbeat, and stimulate potential... In the original work, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and their group mastered "Total Concentration: Constant" using this method taught at the Butterfly Mansion.
"Yes." Gotoh silently committed these words to memory.
He attended to Roy's meal. Soon, dinner was over. The young butler cleared the table and pushed the dining cart away. Just before he left the room, Roy stopped him.
The boy spread his right hand open. Through imagination enhanced by "Nen", he conjured the "Nen Gun" imprinted with the [Infinite] divine script, signifying "Infinite Fire". He casually tossed it to Gotoh. "Take it."
Gotoh caught it. The moment it was in his hand, he discovered the difference in this "Nen Gun". He immediately recognized it...
This was a [Nen Tool] imprinted with [Divine Script]!
"Infinite continuous fire, the aura never empties, the bullets never cease. This gun also has the function of amplifying 'Emitter' output capabilities. It is a rare and excellent gun."
Roy flipped Chronicles of the Western Continent to the page on the application of "Faith" and spoke without lifting his head.
Gotoh stroked the "Infinite Handgun", unable to put it down. He opened his mouth to say something, but seeing that the Young Master was already immersed in reading, he pressed the gun firmly against his chest, bowed, and pushed the dining cart out.
'I will make good use of it.' The young butler took a deep breath, silently added a sentence in his heart, and disappeared from Roy's sight outside the door.
"Rustle... rustle..." The wind blew the curtains, lifting a corner to reveal the thick night outside the window.
A single lamp burned like a bean in the bedroom, leaving only the sound of the boy quietly turning the pages of Chronicles of the Western Continent...
Comparing Zigg's expositions and conjectures on "Faith" and "Nen", Roy reviewed the encounter in the Dark Continent with Frank Becki and that believer of [Storm]... Lord Benjamin. That man could communicate with nature to amplify "Lightning Intensity" via "Nen abilities" with mere gestures. It was unknown how much "Faith" he had absorbed from others, or how much "Aura Volume" he had embezzled!
Perhaps... the reason why Little Mary and the "Abandoned People" captured and offered up by the 4K Gang led by Frank Becki were reduced to objects for the cruel "venting" of Benjamin and other [Storm] believers, was not without reason. Their "spirits" might have already suffered a certain degree of backlash from [Nature], showing signs of gradually drifting toward "Pollution" and "Calamity"...
Chronicles of the Western Continent was turned to page 27, where a sentence was clearly written:
[The deeper the faith, the more extreme the person. Upward is good, benefiting a region; downward is evil, plaguing a whole city...]
That Benjamin was undoubtedly the latter!
Roy looked thoughtful. He did not know what doctrine the existence holding the authority of [Storm] had originally established, but he secretly warned himself...
[Sun] also had more than just an upward side.
When gentle, it could indeed nourish all living things. But when intense, it could equally trigger droughts and scorch crops to death...
Two sides of the same coin. It still could not escape the "contradictory" attributes inevitably contained within a "concrete existence".
[Therefore, it still depends on the person, and how they guide it...]
Zigg's words cut off here. It seemed like he had said everything, yet said nothing. Perhaps... Grandpa Zigg himself didn't have a concrete answer or implementation plan either...
As his thoughts churned, Roy closed the book and shut his eyes. He tapped his fingers on the dining table. A moment later, his gaze turned firm, and he had a plan in his heart... The road was right in front of him. Since he had already stepped onto it, there was absolutely no possibility of turning back!
Demon Slayer needs evangelism... The Dark Continent needs evangelism... This island in the middle of the lake, imprisoned by the Mobius Lake, which he was currently standing on, also needed evangelism...
The boy pushed back his chair and stood up. He paced to the window, looking at the bright moon and sparse stars, the night dark as ink. He constructed a rough topographical map of the lake island in his mind. At a certain moment, his eyes narrowed, and he settled on a location...
The place abandoned by the world as a garbage dump—Meteor City!
"We never reject anything. Likewise, no one can take anything away from us."
A face emerged in his mind: a forehead tattooed with a "Cross", ears always wearing blue earrings, usually sporting slicked-back hair... though occasionally letting it down when picking up girls to gather intelligence or when off-mission... fond of wearing a black coat with an inverted cross on the back, and eyes as tranquil as a deep pool, yet making it impossible to see what he was thinking...
Roy cupped his chin, deciding to bring a sliver of "Light" and "Heat" to this no-man's-land that had survived for fifteen hundred years, and had been cruel for fifteen hundred years...
"Whoosh~" The night breeze stirred the "Hanafuda earrings", making them sway. The boy stood with his hands behind his back, gazing south across the night sky.
On the northern border of the Yorbian Continent, across the sea from the Minbo Republic, where Meteor City existed...
A "play" was currently being staged...
"First, absolutely no acting on impulse!"
"Second, absolutely never miss catching a bad guy!"
"Third, absolute fairness and beauty in judgment!"
"Minna-san~ Good afternoon! We are—the Cleanup Rangers!"
In a church located in the western district of Meteor City, a boy with a bowl cut, clutching a microphone and putting great effort into playing the "Host", smiled and waved to the stage below.
The audience, who had been waiting eagerly, erupted in a burst of enthusiastic cheers, instantly drowning out the large, solemn prayer hall.
He possessed hair as black as ink and was dubbing an animated series called Cleanup Rangers with great interest.
As the curtain slowly rose, he turned sideways to make room for the pink-haired girl playing the "Pink Warrior", letting her make a dazzling entrance...
Listening to the half-grown boy backstage, wearing a tiger-skin skirt and bare-chested, bickering with the "Wandering Swordsman" who had a tattered wooden sword crookedly tucked at his waist, he looked helplessly at the girl with two blonde ponytails beside him. "Sarasa... counting on you..."
The girl nodded solemnly. Despite her small stature, she walked with a vigorous stride, coming between the half-grown boy and the wandering swordsman. She slapped each of them on the arm. "Shh... stop arguing."
Uvogin and Nobunaga actually snorted at the same time and turned their heads away... Seen in the boy's eyes...
Chrollo quietly let out a sigh of relief, thinking, 'It really takes Sarasa to keep these two guys in check.'