The salty sea breeze swept across the cliff, stirring up fine sprays of foam.
A slender figure stood quietly at the edge of the precipice, her orange bob-cut hair fluttering in the ocean wind.
Morrow halted his steps. From this angle, he could just catch a glimpse of her profile. Amidst the disheveled strands of hair, a pair of large brown eyes stood out prominently.
They were the same eye color as Gon and Ging.
Morrow's gaze shifted, sweeping over the woman's simple local attire, and he roughly guessed her identity.
She must be Mito, the one who raised Gon, and Ging's cousin.
Morrow paused, hesitating whether to step forward and greet her or leave first and return to search for the Divine Script Codex strategy guide beneath the cliff after Mito had gone.
Just as Morrow was pondering, Mito happened to turn around, preparing to leave.
She casually tucked a stray lock behind her ear but suddenly noticed someone standing silently behind her.
"Ah!"
Startled, Mito instinctively took two steps back.
Only after seeing that the other person was merely standing quietly in place did she press a hand to her chest to calm her breathing.
She carefully examined this person who had appeared so silently, heavy dark circles under his eyes, a somewhat pale complexion, the entire person exuding an air of weariness.
"You are...?"
"A tourist visiting the island."
Following Morel's advice, Morrow had already used Biological Mutation to alter his appearance before coming to Whale Island.
He pointed toward the cliff and apologized, "Sorry, did I startle you? I saw this cliff from the boat earlier and thought the view must be excellent, so I walked all the way here..." At this point, he gave an awkward smile, "I'm not very good at socializing. I was just hesitating whether to greet you or not."
"I should be the one apologizing. I overreacted."
Mito shook her head slightly, a somewhat apologetic smile appearing on her face, her voice gentle: "The scenery here is indeed beautiful. I won't disturb your enjoyment then. I hope you have a pleasant time."
After saying this, she gave Morrow a polite nod and then walked toward the path through the grass from which she had come.
Morrow didn't speak further, simply nodding in response.
As they passed each other, a hint of hyacinth fragrance suddenly mingled with the salty sea breeze.
It was a scent drifting from Mito's clothes, mixed with the clean smells of sun-dried cotton and laundry detergent.
After walking some distance away, Mito suddenly stopped and looked back at Morrow's back, softly reminding him: "Be careful."
"Okay."
Morrow stood with his back to Mito, the previous awkward demeanor now completely gone.
Only when the sound of footsteps faded into the distance did he turn around, watching Mito's gradually receding figure.
He didn't rush down the cliff even after Mito was completely out of sight.
Instead, he patiently confirmed that no one was watching the area before jumping down the cliff, easily finding the cave with the growing tree.
Following Ging's instructions, Morrow dug out a pale yellow book from beneath the tree roots that had absolutely no protection.
The book's cover was completely blank, its two-finger-thick spine showing signs of age, yet it felt almost weightless in his hand. For some unknown reason, the book had been buried in damp soil for many years, yet when retrieved, the moist earth rolled off like dewdrops on leaves, leaving no trace behind.
Morrow slowly opened the cover and immediately noticed densely packed black two-dimensional barcodes of varying shapes on the inner page.
These intricate black patterns were none other than Divine Script.
As his fingertips brushed over the slightly raised lines, Morrow understood why this book had remained impervious to decay and moisture.
Just to achieve preservation and moisture resistance, the entire cover had to be engraved with complex Divine Script. Truly, as Ging said, mastering this skill is indeed a thankless task.
Staring at the intricate barcodes on the inner cover, Morrow couldn't help but recall the wooden box Ging left for Gon, and the space they entered when first arriving in Greed Island.
Both the wooden strips forming the square box and the surroundings of that space were covered with complex two-dimensional barcodes visible to the naked eye.
This gradually clarifying memory gave Morrow the impression that, regardless of Divine Script's effectiveness, at the very least the preparatory work was excruciating.
Now it appeared even the "learning process" was exceptionally difficult.
Morrow even suspected that Ging had poured so much effort into Divine Script precisely to create the Greed Island game.
Well, I'm already here.
Despite his reservations about the cost-effectiveness of studying Divine Script, since things had come to this, Morrow felt he might as well give it a try.
If he found the effort disproportionate to the results during his studies, he could always cut his losses in time.
After all, the same time spent honing Nen techniques or abilities might yield greater returns.
As these thoughts flowed through his mind, Morrow turned the first page. What met his eyes wasn't the expected common continental script, but rows of unfamiliar tadpole-like characters, each stroke exuding an obscure aura.
This is... Krakauer Script.
Morrow recognized this rare language only circulated in Kukan'yu Kingdom.
He had first encountered this script because part of the "Eye of Truth" card was engraved with Krakauer Script.
He never expected the book left by Don Freecss would use such an obscure linguistic medium.
But considering Kukan'yu Kingdom's background with Divine Script, it seemed there must be reasons behind this choice.
Fortunately, there are Ging's annotations.
Morrow's gaze swept across the page's content. Beside the abstruse characters were densely packed common language annotations, with even the complex Divine Script image arrays accompanied by derivation processes.
The entire book resembled carefully organized top-student notes, breaking down the obscure content layer by layer.
Without these detailed annotations, the pages full of incomprehensible text would have been enough to make Morrow abandon the effort immediately.
Leaning against the cave wall, Morrow began reading seriously.
Within the somewhat narrow cave, only the sound of waves crashing against rocks could be heard.
Not until orange twilight spread to a corner of the cave did Morrow realize night was approaching.
"Hah."
Closing the book, Morrow let out a long breath and wearily rubbed his throbbing temples.
Too complex.
This was Morrow's feeling after several hours of study.
He needed to memorize by rote every QR code-like module that could form complete Divine Script. Unfortunately, the types of "modules" were extremely numerous, and simply memorizing them all was already a daunting challenge.
The first Divine Script image example Morrow saw in the book had a preservation effect and consisted of exactly 29 different modules.
This meant that for Morrow to replicate this Divine Script's effect, he needed to accomplish four things:
Thoroughly memorize all basic Divine Script modules. Precisely select the required 29 specific modules. Assemble them into a strict matrix arrangement. Ensure each module's position was absolutely accurate. And after finally completing it, you still had to prevent the Divine Script modules from being damaged...
If even a small part of the Divine Script modules were destroyed, the entire Divine Script would lose its effectiveness.
This crucial point was recorded in the first two pages of the book, almost as if asking the reader: Are you sure you want to dive into this?
Even if the book hadn't explicitly stated this, Morrow knew Divine Script barcode modules were easily damaged.
After all, he had previously destroyed a Divine Script set up by a Nen user on an airship, helping Kanzai out of a tight spot.
No wonder so few people study Divine Script.
Morrow slowly lowered his hand, still feeling a dull ache in his temples.
Having once observed this world as a reader, he had wondered why Divine Script, which could support Nen creations on the scale of Greed Island, had such low presence on the Nen user stage.
Now he had the answer.
It wasn't about low presence, but about the extreme difficulty of mastery.
It shared some similarities with the Nen Technique En.
Techniques like En had high learning difficulty and limited practical combat use, so unless absolutely necessary, few Nen users would diligently train in such techniques.
Divine Script was the same.
In fact, its learning difficulty far surpassed that of En.
Even with a Divine Script Codex strategy guide annotated by a top student, Morrow found the entry barrier extremely high.
I'll persist for a while. If I can find value in studying Divine Script before Gon returns, I'll continue learning.
Morrow put away the book, left the cave, and returned to the cliff edge.
At this moment.
The last rays of sunset disappeared beyond the horizon, and night enveloped Whale Island like a veil.
In the slightly cool sea breeze, Morrow followed a grassy path toward the village where lights were gradually appearing.
Whale Island had a small population but complete facilities, including markets, inns, and even a port.
Entering the village, Morrow thought about staying on Whale Island for some time and naturally needed to choose an inn for long-term accommodation.
But there was no need to choose.
Because the village only had one inn.
After checking in at the inn, Morrow began looking for a restaurant to solve his dinner problem.
Soon, a building integrated with a large tree caught his attention.
The shop-like entrance had no signboard, but a wooden plaque hanging on the door reading "Open" swayed gently in the evening breeze.
Morrow paused, hearing laughter and the clinking of tableware from inside, so he walked over and pushed the door open.
As the door opened, the aroma of alcohol mixed with the rich scent of stewed seafood washed over him.
All five wooden tables in the shop were full, and behind the rustic counter at the very back stood a dignified, beautiful woman.
It was Mito, whom he had met during the day. Behind the counter, Mito placed a freshly washed glass on the draining rack and looked up as Morrow pushed the door open.
"Welcome."
The corners of her lips naturally curved upward, revealing the warm smile unique to a shop owner.
The customers in the shop were mostly fishermen from Whale Island. Since Morrow was unfamiliar, they gave him a few extra glances.
Morrow walked straight to the counter.
It was the only spot with available seating.
As soon as Morrow sat down at the counter, Mito asked, "What can I get for you, sir? A drink or a meal?"
"A meal."
Morrow glanced at the handwritten daily Menu on the wall and said, "I'll have a seafood fried rice."
"Sure thing. Anything to drink?"
Mito asked with a smile.
Morrow instinctively scanned the well-stocked liquor cabinet but, remembering he still had to study Divine Script after the meal, asked, "Do you have orange juice?"
"Of course."
"Then I'll have a glass of orange juice."
"Alright."
Mito smiled in acknowledgment, went to the kitchen to call out the order for one seafood fried rice, then returned to the counter and poured Morrow a glass of orange juice.
Gently sliding the orange juice in front of Morrow, Mito leaned forward with her hands resting on the edge of the counter and asked curiously, "You haven't been staying there all this time, have you?"
"Yeah."
Morrow nodded.
Mito blinked, slightly surprised. "Is the scenery there really that captivating?"
"Yeah."
A trace of the same awkward smile from earlier appeared on Morrow's lips as he hastily crafted an excuse:
"Even though the scenery doesn't change, it doesn't get boring as long as the novelty lasts. Besides, like you said, the view there is truly beautiful."
"That's true."
Mito maintained her gentle smile throughout.
Before long, a steaming plate of seafood fried rice was served.
Morrow took a bite and was unexpectedly impressed by how good it tasted.
Having grown accustomed to Menchi's cooking over time, he had unintentionally become more discerning about food.
It wasn't by choice; it was just that Menchi had an almost obsessive pursuit of culinary perfection.
Moreover, during every meal, her bright eyes would watch him expectantly, waiting for his feedback.
Even though he always sincerely told her it was delicious, Menchi never seemed fully satisfied. Perhaps worried he might grow tired of her cooking, she constantly put more effort into preparing a variety of dishes.
Morrow once asked Menchi: Don't you get tired of coming up with new dishes every day?
Menchi replied matter-of-factly: I love cooking, and you love every dish I make. I get to experience the joy from both kinds of love... how could I ever get tired of it?
So, under Menchi's high-intensity feeding regimen, the fact that Morrow found this seafood fried rice tasty was proof enough of its exceptional quality.
"Tastes pretty good, right?"
Mito's bright eyes were fixed on Morrow's reaction, her tone unable to conceal a hint of pride.
Before Morrow could swallow his mouthful of rice and respond, a slightly tipsy regular at the bar cut in: "Mito, it's not like you cooked this fried rice yourself. Look at you, acting all proud."
"Mind your own business! I hope you choke on that drink!"
Mito's gentle smile vanished instantly. Her right hand, resting on the counter, clenched into a tight fist as she shot a fierce glare at the familiar customer. But the next second, she quickly regained her dignified posture, her face-changing speed astonishingly fast.
The drinker instinctively shrank his neck, sheepishly picked up his glass and took a gulp, only to end up choking and coughing violently.
Seeing this, Mito curled her lips into a gloating smile.
In just those few seconds, Morrow had already finished the fried rice clean.
"Please give me another serving of seafood fried rice."
"Huh?"
Mito looked at the empty plate in surprise and said, "You... ate so fast."
As she spoke, she immediately ran to the back kitchen and had Grandma make another serving of seafood fried rice.
When the freshly made seafood fried rice was served, Mito watched as Morrow finished a generously portioned plate of fried rice in less than ten seconds.
"Another serving."
"O-okay..."
As time passed, under the stunned gazes of all the customers in the shop and Mito herself, the stack of empty plates beside Morrow grew higher and higher.
By the time Morrow paid and left, the people in the shop were still staring dumbfounded at the tower of empty plates, which numbered at least twenty.
"That young man looked quite frail, but who knew he had such a terrifying appetite. What a strange person," a drinker at the counter said in disbelief.
Mito immediately glared at him and said, "Don't speak ill of others behind their backs."
"Uh, alright..."
After scolding the regular customer, Mito looked toward the closed shop door, her brown eyes revealing a trace of curiosity as she recalled Morrow's perpetually sleepy-looking face.
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Bonus chapter @200powerstones