Chapter 198: Ging's Nen Ability x The Ferry Bureau's Disaster Laboratory
Water Breathing... Is this another method I don't know about?
Razor looked tentatively at Roy. Elena looked at him, then at Roy. The so-called "Water Breathing" was obviously the boy's doing.
The woman adjusted the blue-light glasses on her nose, recounting the abilities Roy had displayed one by one since meeting him. Countless, absolutely countless... He was like an iceberg spanning the ocean. Every time Elena was certain this was his Nen ability, Roy would always reveal another hand from somewhere else, leaving people speechless.
"Heh heh, that's good." Ging's gaze wandered over Razor and Gotoh for a moment, finally taking a deep look at Roy.
Saying nothing, asking nothing, they ate breakfast, packed their luggage, and boarded the boat Elena had rented in advance on time, heading for the target sea area.
Vroom~ The engine roared, driving the cruise ship through the waves, leaving the shore.
Roy and Ging, each with a fishing rod, sat cross-legged at the bow, starting to fish.
The hood was lifted by the oncoming sea breeze. Ging pressed down the brim, flicked his wrist, and the red bead pulled the fishing line into a graceful parabola, landing in the sea. The man then turned to look at the boy holding the cane sword [Waning Moon] as a fishing rod, extending a "Nen line" as a "fishing line." Just as usual, using the [Hookless Fishing] learned from Grandpa Zzigg's notes to temper his Nen ability... The boy was clearly only ten or so years old, yet he displayed a superhuman maturity beyond his years.
"Roy, I can't see through you more and more."
In the cabin, Elena held the blue screen as a guide, directing the helmsman to adjust the course.
On the deck, Razor used his hand as a blade, practicing [Water Breathing] meticulously according to the booklet.
Behind Roy, Gotoh held a handkerchief, carefully wiping the [Infinite Pistol].
A sea bird occasionally let out a soft cry... Ging, with [Feicha's Parrot] on his shoulder, glanced sideways at the boy and said.
Caw~ The Golden Crow spread its wings, emerging from Roy's head. Like a fat chicken, it found the swirl in the boy's black hair as usual and lay down on the spot. Chirp—
[Feicha's Parrot] flapped its wings and flew over, nestling next to Goldie on Roy's head. Its two beady eyes narrowed, affectionately nuzzling Goldie's chubby face. Ging's mouth twitched imperceptibly at the sight...
"What's there to see through? Aren't you the same?" In contact for two days, except for stealing Razor's Nen bullet via [Feicha's Parrot] and exchanging a blow with him, Ging hadn't used any other means, let alone Nen abilities...
However, since his surname was Freecss, and his ancestor Don had personally ventured into the Dark Continent and left a book, Journey to the New World, revered as a guide by the Ferry Bureau... connecting this with [Feicha's Parrot] on his head, and... every time Ging appeared, he was accompanied by magical beasts or phantom beasts. Even more exaggeratedly, he once rode a dragon, playing Jenga with several other colossal creatures no smaller than mountains...
Roy vaguely guessed that the opponent's ability might be related to "Magical Beasts" and "Phantom Beasts." Exploring ruins, discovering prehistoric civilizations, and walking the path of a "Ruins Hunter" might not be unrelated to this consideration.
"No, we are different." Ging held the fishing rod, watching the sunlight glistening on the sea, lost in thought. "You are harder than me."
"You have to control 'people,' while I..." The man flicked his arm. The red bead moved, and the hook pulled out a pike, struggling as it flew onto the deck. A sailor on board knocked it out with a club, becoming a candidate for their lunch.
Ging turned to the boy and smiled. "I just need to have good relationships with animals."
"Human hearts are too complicated, you can't control them?"
"Can't control them." Ging scratched his head. "I hate those sordid, scheming things... prefer staying with animals."
"Sakura." Ging beckoned. [Feicha's Parrot] flew back reluctantly, landing on the man's shoulder, affectionately nuzzling his palm. That harmonious relationship with animals reminded Roy of Kite for a moment. Kite was accepted as a registered disciple precisely because he got along well with the animals around him.
According to what Ging said to Kite at the time: "Someone loved by animals can't be a bad person."
Looking at it now... Roy lifted his cane sword, also hooking a pike, flinging it onto the deck, where a sailor knocked it out with a club.
The boy agreed, "It seems your 'Nen ability' is related to animals."
"Contract." Ging flicked his wrist again for a beautiful cast, watching the hook hit the water with a splash. He said softly, "I can choose any magical beast, rare beast, or phantom beast to form a contract with. Those contracted with me are my partners, can be driven by me, and even... lend me their innate Nen abilities."
Roy was stunned. This was somewhat similar to his [Magical Beast Encyclopedia]. The difference was... Ging didn't need to kill the magical beast like he did to take the opponent's innate Nen ability.
On the contrary, Ging's method via [Contract] was gentler. As [Partners] entrusted with faith, the degree of [Backlash] from [Nature] he endured would also be relatively smaller.
"Since you are my friend and we are about to enter the secret realm... I wanted to tell you in advance. Knowing oneself and the enemy makes cooperation smoother."
Ging noticed Roy's surprised expression and explained, "Razor is Emission, Elena... you probably already know from last night."
Four Heart Worms, corresponding to... Gotoh, Elena, Razor, and Ging... Roy had indeed had a "heart-to-heart" talk with Elena. He said noncommittally, "Conjuration... I am a Conjurer... You can understand it as..."
"I have a world standing behind me."
The Demon Slayer World!
On the deck, Razor, practicing "Water Breathing" with his hand as a blade, had just dispersed the howling sea wind with "Drop Ripple Thrust." His ears moved, and he glanced at the boy... The shock in his eyes was almost identical to Ging's!
"You have a big heart!" And you said you haven't been to the Dark Continent... Ging turned his head, staring blankly at Roy. After a long while, he squeezed out this sentence through his teeth.
He had traveled north and south, heaven and earth, exploring ruins and lost civilizations for years. He asked himself, his experience and vision were inferior to no one. But... the talk of a world... besides that land of longing, Ging couldn't think of anything else.
And people... no matter how strong, without being told, truly cannot imagine things beyond their own cognition...
Roy didn't explain, nor would he explain to Ging. Let him misunderstand. With a move of his hand, he planted the cane sword directly into the bow. Then he lay back on the deck, letting the sunlight pour down on him, spreading his arms wide in a starfish shape. "It's not my heart that's big, it's the Sun."
Hunter has a sun... Demon Slayer has a sun... Even in the concrete jungle where he lived as a corporate slave in his previous life, he couldn't escape the sun...
The boy shielded his face with his hand, watching the great sun in the sky pouring sunlight freely through his fingers. Silence beside him for a moment, then Ging's suppressed low laugh rang out. The laughter grew from small to loud, then became hearty and cheerful... startling flocks of seabirds...
"Heh... I now believe it's not that the Zoldycks are amazing, but that you... are too unexpected!"
Indeed... a completely unfamiliar world, isn't that unexpected?
Finishing a set of "Water Breathing," Razor let out a light breath and sat next to Roy. The three of them sunbathed in different postures. Soon, they heard the woman poke her head out of the captain's cabin. "We're here."
Vroom... off... The engine cut immediately. Inertia carried the boat forward a few meters, stopping on the sea surface with the rising and falling waves.
"Let's go." Ging packed up his fishing rod and shouldered it. He extended a hand, and Elena leaned in, grasping it immediately. Dots of blue light appeared on them, forming a湛blue "Nen" water sphere in the blink of an eye, perfectly encasing the two.
Ging then looked at the others. "Really don't need my help?"
Roy didn't speak. He simply beckoned, grabbing the cane sword [Waning Moon] via [Magnetism · Adsorption]. Then he took a step forward, leaving afterimages. Solidifying again, he leaped, plunging into the sea like a sharp sword, diving rapidly towards the seabed!
"Young Master, wait for me." Infinite Pistol in hand, Gotoh followed quickly, flashing past the gunwale, entering the water straight as an arrow. Upon contact with the sea, he seemed to change species from "human" to "fish." Legs together, kicking towards the sky like a fish tail, splashing waves, indescribably crisp!
"So fast!" Elena used her Nen ability [Overall Control] to radiate En, marking Ging, Roy, Gotoh, Razor, and herself on the small screen in front of her... Visible to the naked eye...
Roy and Gotoh entered the water, swimming faster and fiercer than sailfish known as "underwater rockets," plummeting straight down, diving deep into the seabed. It seemed... "They really aren't troubled by water pressure and lack of oxygen!"
Presumably... that's the power of the so-called "Water Breathing"...
Splash... splash... On the deck, excluding the captain and sailors, two of the five were gone in an instant.
Ging shouted to Razor, "Come with me, save your Nen."
Razor wore a white tank top, muscles faintly visible around his shoulder blades. Back to Ging and Elena, he jumped into the sea without looking back, saying bluntly, "I don't have a hobby of being a landlubber."
Splash~ He entered the water, chasing rapidly after Gotoh and Roy. Although his initial movements were slightly clumsy, not quite used to entering the sea, by forcing himself to calm down and trying to change his breathing rhythm towards "Water Breathing," Razor gradually found a feeling of "merging with water"...
Using "hands" as "fins," "legs" as "tail," a gentle swing propelled him five meters down. Clearly... he was adapting more and more to the underwater conditions or life...
Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh... On the small blue screen in front of Elena, three white dots representing Roy, Gotoh, and Razor shot out like arrows, blinking past the screen's boundary.
Ging raised his hand to press his hat brim, pretending not to hear the sarcasm in Razor's words. He turned to Elena. "Let's go."
Exchanging a glance, following Razor, he and Elena jumped into the sea, wrapped in that blue water sphere. Pushing aside the seawater, relying on the sufficient oxygen inside the sphere to overcome the lack of oxygen or even anaerobic conditions, they chased after Razor, Gotoh, and Roy.
Five water lines, front, middle, back, and further back. After about half an hour, they finally reached the bottom... A majestic and magnificent Gothic-style church complex came into view, blocking their way like a mountain. Even craning their necks, they couldn't see the top. Just a fleeting glance while descending brought surging emotions and indescribable shock!
"Who could imagine such a complex existing on the seabed?" Gotoh followed Roy, slowly coming to a stop in front of the church.
Logically, light shouldn't penetrate ten thousand meters underwater; it should be mostly dark and dead silence... But this Gothic architectural complex before them radiated a soft halo throughout. The tiles and walls, made of unknown materials or imprinted with [Illumination] Divine Script... not only illuminated the area but also pushed back the seawater, creating a spherical space filled with fresh air, almost indistinguishable from the outside world. Astonishing.
"This is the place my ancestor mentioned, where the Elephant Tapir once appeared."
Tap~ Following Razor landing with Roy and Gotoh, Ging and Elena arrived shortly after. The "water sphere" surrounding them burst with a pop, revealing their figures.
"Hard to find without specific coordinates." Razor took off his tank top, revealing his muscles. Wringing it out to squeeze the seawater, he glanced sideways at Ging.
Ging said breezily, "That's why we explore."
Measuring the church before him with his eyes, the man said, "That's also the meaning of adventure."
Hunters must have prey. Ging's prey... was ruins!
He walked past Razor's shoulder, strolling to Roy's side, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him. Looking up at the church's main gate, imprinted with various reliefs—armored warriors with broadswords, women with severed arms and bared breasts, girls with garlands holding their mothers' right hands, missionaries holding scriptures and shouting in the crowd... A thousand faces, all different... In a trance... fascinating...
Transporting people back to an unknown epic of history...
"You haven't been here?" Roy admired the reliefs on the door. Somehow, he felt a familiar feeling.
He frowned in thought, searching carefully for the source of that familiarity.
Hearing Ging say, "No."
"Just caught a glimpse in ancestor's records."
Roy was thoughtful. The familiarity in his heart grew stronger.
"Young Master, did you discover something?" Gotoh pushed up his glasses, keenly noticing Roy's anomaly.
Ging, Razor, and Elena all looked over. The boy was silent, then said after a moment, "Maybe we'll know once we go in."
His gaze then swept around, meeting the eyes of Ging and Razor. The three tacitly approached the door. Each extended a hand, mustered their strength, and pushed hard...
Rumble rumble~ The church's main door, sealed for who knows how long, suddenly flashed a crack, sucking the three inside...
At the same time, far away in the third basement level of the Ferry Bureau, in the laboratory storing various monsters twisted by [Calamity]... against the south wall in the innermost corner...
A monster sealed in a jar, appearing like a mass of hemp rope, cracked open an eye. The eye blinked...
Images projected from deep within the pupil, startling the duty officer guarding the laboratory. He hurriedly notified his superiors!
"Bad news, the Calamity has manifested..."
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