"Yes!"
A gunshot strained the nerves of everyone present...
Roy kept a gentle smile on his face as he actively stepped in front of Kastro to protect him.
"Young Master, be careful."
[Ten]
Milky white aura wrapped around him... The white-haired youth, standing half a step behind Roy, had been on high alert. The moment a man in black pulled the trigger, the youth stepped forward, chopping his hand down and hooking his fist. Bringing up a howling wind like a "tiger's roar", he instantly knocked away the bullet that was flying straight toward Roy's face!
"Bang!" The bullet flew backward, hitting the man in black right in the face. Immediately after, a loud explosion rang out! "Boom!"
The man in black exploded on the spot. The shockwave generated from him as the center forced Kastro back step by step until he was in front of Roy. He barely managed to protect his whole body with [Ten] to offset the damage from the explosion. This was only possible because, being an Enhancer, his physical constitution was incredibly tough...
If it were a non-combatant, such as Kortopi from the Spiders, or... the girl currently peeking over the top of a trash mountain nearby, this single move would have caused death or serious injury!
"Here they come! It's that guy Bolton's bombers!"
Shalnark and Chrollo shared a pair of binoculars, each using one lens. They saw it clearly... The latter frowned in silence, while the former jumped with excitement. Shalnark looked at the devilishly charming young man enjoying his steak in the prayer hall without batting an eye, and said with no small amount of envy, "I wonder what Bolton said to those guys to make Dean and his crew willing to act as human bombs and die for him."
To manipulate others and command absolute obedience... Shalnark's eyes lit up, and he licked his lips... 'I want that!'
"Are they really willing?" Pakunoda leaned in next to Chrollo, looking through the binoculars with him... The man named Dean that Shalnark mentioned was wandering on the edge of the battlefield holding a steel pipe. His long, shoehorn-like face was written all over with fear and hesitation... He swallowed hard, occasionally stealing glances at Bolton behind him... He didn't look willing at all...
"Young Master, there is something wrong with these people."
They were afraid but didn't retreat. Even with their companions exploding right before their eyes, not a single one ran away in fear... This violated the most basic understanding of human fear!
Kastro calmed his surging blood and frowned, blocking the way in front of Roy.
A thin layer of aura immediately welled up in his eyes as he utilized [Gyo] to observe carefully... He discovered wisps of thin aura on these men in black one by one. They didn't look like Nen users; rather, it looked like something had been implanted in them, forcing them to perform actions that went against common sense.
"It's a brand," Roy said calmly, his gaze passing over Kastro to look at the devilish youth deep in the hall. "You can also understand it as... a bomb..."
He hadn't expected that on his very first day entering Meteor City, he would encounter the user of "The Paired Destructors".
[The Paired Destructors]: The left hand bears the "Sun", the right hand bears the "Moon". The owner can affix the "Sun" and "Moon" seals onto others. Once they touch, they explode immediately. The power increases with time; a duration of 3 to 5 seconds is required for full power.
Restriction: Must be used with both hands. Prolonged contact makes it easy to be exposed. Additionally, the Nen does not disappear after the user's death; instead, it becomes stronger. Once affixed with a seal, it will not vanish even if other abilities are used in conjunction.
In the original story, Chrollo used this ability as a foundation to blow up the Heavens Arena and kill Hisoka.
However, back then, Chrollo could do that because of a critical prerequisite—before his duel with Hisoka, he had prepared extensively. By using his own Nen ability, "Skill Hunter", he borrowed the abilities of Shalnark and Kortopi. Then, through the "Black Voice" antennas and "Gallery Fake" copies... he successfully manipulated a multitude of copied puppets, forcibly squeezing Hisoka's space to move, and finally blew him up... But now...
Bolton was sitting inside the hall, showing absolutely no intention of touching his subordinates. So... even if he had marked the men in black with the "Moon Seal" in advance, how did he manage to cross the spatial distance to deliver the "Sun Seal" and complete the necessary condition for "Explosion"?
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Explosions erupted everywhere... Steel pipes and bullets came flooding in!
Even knowing the opponents would explode... Kastro had to assume a stance and fully protect Roy's flanks...
A wave of a fist, a stomp of a kick—he used a "Fist Style" and "Leg Style" imbued with "Fire". Obviously...
The boy was treating this battle as a testing ground to practice "Flame Breathing"!
'Flame Breathing · First Form · Unknowing Fire... Second Form · Rising Scorching Sun... Third Form · Blazing Universe...'
Walking through explosions... tempering himself in flames... Gradually... a series of notification sounds surfaced in Roy's mind, interrupting his thoughts...
[Prompt: Your believer "Kastro" is becoming stronger... Faith Power +0.1 +0.1 +0.1...]
[Note: The Host can randomly distribute Faith Power to any skill point to increase "Skill" proficiency...]
"Boom!"
Another explosion rang out, and the resulting shockwave rushed over, blowing the boy's black hair...
Amidst the silence, Roy gradually came to a realization. Ever since he spoke with his great-grandfather Maha in his dream and resolved to walk the path of "Faith", his road of "predatory binding" had opened. From then on...
As the "Sun" that everyone believed in and relied upon, whether he was willing or not, he was already firmly trapped in deep bonds with Kastro, Gotoh, Kyojuro Rengoku, Senjuro, as well as... Vanessa, Old Kohler, and the others.
If he is strong, they are strong. They share in the glory and the loss together, just like... his great-grandfather and his thousands of fellow travelers in the past... From now on, he was no longer fighting alone!
"Tap..."
Footsteps sounded...
Standing amidst the hail of bullets and the flash of blades...
Roy's clone, Taiyi, holding a scripture and wearing a robe, moved!
"Praise the Sun. Doulang, can I leave the outside to you?"
"Go ahead, Young Master!"
Kastro slapped a man in black who came slashing from an angle to death with a palm wrapped in flames across the air. Enduring the explosion, he smiled brightly and said, "Before I die, I definitely won't let anyone disturb you, Young Master."
Roy gave a gentle smile. Tread on the ground, reappearing past the heavy encirclement, stepping into the church, and standing steadily in the dilapidated yet holy main hall!
"A Nen user?" Bolton looked over sharply with his long, narrow eyes, like an eagle or a wolf... Roy stepped out of the swamp space, looking at him indifferently from ten meters away. Without saying much, he opened his right hand, which glowed with specks of fluorescent light, and instantly materialized an Asauchi, gripping it in his hand.
"Hoh... a Conjurer, is it?" Swallowing the last bite of beef, Bolton threw away the knife and fork in his hands and stood up tall. In just an instant, he exploded with his own [Ren], charging savagely toward Roy!
"Boom!" A "smell of gunpowder" so thick it was pungent rushed over his face...
Roy's black hair flew backward. He frowned as he sensed it... Bolton's [Ren] was different from his own, and different from his father's. It was climbing steadily, like stepping to a drumbeat; with every explosion from outside, it increased by a notch. Suddenly realizing something... he squinted and swept his gaze to a corner of the side hall, saying calmly, "I didn't expect that the dignified Kakin Empire would run to a garbage dump to mess around instead of managing their own territory properly..."
"Your name is Elijah, right?"
"Go back and tell your master Morena that Meteor City is a garbage dump, not a plague den for her to spread her 'disease'!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The battle outside entered a white-hot stage...
Living people with independent consciousness were, after all, not the heartless puppets Chrollo used to deal with Hisoka... Not only did they lack coordination, but their determination to self-destruct was also far inferior to puppets. This gave Kastro the opportunity to fight a guerrilla war...
He was like a "Flame Assassin" walking in the shadows, constantly harvesting the lives of the men in black. As their master, Bolton remained expressionless and indifferent throughout, but upon hearing Roy's words... his eyes narrowed, and he suddenly glared over!
Another middle-aged man walked out from the corner of the side hall. One took the center, the other supported, forming a pincer formation that trapped Roy in the middle...
"What a formidable [En]!" The middle-aged man clapped his hands as he walked out, looking at Roy with burning eyes. "I wondered who it was; so it was you who has been provoking my mind..."
Elijah wore a well-tailored, form-fitting suit, his slicked-back hair shining with oil. As soon as he appeared... the expressions of Chrollo and the others watching from the hill froze!
The Seventh Elder... "The Dominator"... Elijah!
It was he who stood like a mountain in front of Boss Berus, bringing his dream of changing Meteor City through legitimate business to a halt right there!
However, limited by their current status and perspective, the young Spiders, still tender as grass, would not have thought that the so-called Elders, the so-called mountains, were unimportant to Roy... The boy held the scripture, dressed as a priest. The second before Elijah revealed himself, Roy had smelled a familiar scent from him and the devilish youth Bolton: "Faith"!
"Viral" Faith!
"You actually know Morena?" Bolton looked at Roy expressionlessly. "Then you should know even better that for 'patients' like us, this place is heaven."
"After all—"
Bolton listened to the explosions and spread his hands. "Only here can one kill at will without being held accountable. Lord Priest... what do you think?"
Morena, full name: Morena Prudo. The illegitimate daughter of the King of the Kakin Empire, Nasubi Hui Guo Rou, and his mistress. She is the backer of the Fourth Prince, Tserriednich Hui Guo Rou, and the actual controller of the Heil-ly Family, one of the three major underground mafia families currently in the Kakin Empire!
Nen Ability... [Étude of Love]: Can increase the number of infected people (MEMBER) by transmitting saliva through kissing.
The infected include but are not limited to Morena herself, with a maximum total of 23 people. Killing people increases one's level, increasing the total amount and power of aura.
When a patient reaches Level 20, they can autonomously awaken their own unique "Nen Ability". At Level 100, they can even become a Patient Zero (MEMBER 0), possessing the ability to "infect" others just like Morena, developing their own infection group according to their will.
This method of "transmitting a virus" coincided to a large extent with "Bestowal"!
Perhaps in Morena's perception, "Patients" were "Believers", and "Virus" was "Faith". The reason she set a limit for herself... was that she could only withstand a maximum of 23 believers before the [Natural] backlash hit her. Furthermore...
Roy recalled the declaration Morena would make on the Black Whale in the future—"The only meaning of my life is to destroy everything"—and how she would begin instructing her believers to wage war indiscriminately against various factions on the ship. He deeply suspected...
She had fallen into some kind of "polluted" demonic state. Evidently, one foot had already stepped onto the edge of losing control!
Thoughts flashed like lightning. Facing Bolton's rhetorical question, Roy didn't want to answer, nor did he bother to... If Yoriichi Tsugikuni were here, he would surely ask the other party in anger: "What do you think life is?"
But Roy wouldn't. Roy would only... answer the other party's question with the sword in his hand!
'Bolton, Patient No. 17, Level: Lv41, Manifested Aura Output: C- (14581/100000).'
'Elijah, Patient No. 5, Level: Lv50, Manifested Aura Output: C (57414/100000)...'
According to the leveling conditions Morena promised to the infected in the original story: killing a normal person raises the level by 1, a Nen user by 10, and a Prince by 50. Moreover, as the level accumulates, more and more heads are needed...
Judging by the standard of "normal people", Bolton and Elijah each held at least several hundred lives in their hands, perhaps even a thousand!
"Puhhu~" Sensing Roy's anger, the Short-hilt turned red and ignited, two long dragons of flame surging out violently...
Feeling the scorching heat rushing toward his face, Elijah said expressionlessly to Bolton, "Watch out. This guy's [En] can read minds. Before you make a move, it's best to block him out!"
"You don't need to tell me." Bolton revealed both hands. "Old rules: kill him, split the experience."
"Bang!" Left hand holding "Sun", right hand holding "Moon", Bolton smashed his fists together!
Striking first... At that moment, an "arrow" swept across the back of his hand like a shadow snake. Catching the interval of three to five seconds before [The Paired Destructors] activated, it bit onto the "Explosion" in a flash and went straight for Roy's face.
Roy gripped the Asauchi, a great sun appearing in his pupils. With a perfectly timed slash, connecting with the flames, he hit the arrow squarely...
Only to hear—
An explosion far more violent than the self-destructing "human bombs" outside suddenly detonated!
[The Paired Destructors] activated personally by Bolton was obviously countless times stronger than those outside!
"Crash~" The steeple of the church shook... debris trembled and dust fell...
Kastro, who was moving around outside constantly entangled with the men in black... and the trio of little ones peeking from the trash mountain with binoculars, all looked over simultaneously...
Chrollo, Shalnark, and Pakunoda—even the calmest, Chrollo—could barely hide their shock. They saw a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives—
They saw the sword-wielding boy, after knocking away the explosion with a slash, gaze affectionately at the Asauchi in his hand. He stroked the blade with his fingers and muttered to himself, "There, there. It's my fault. I've neglected practicing the blade recently. Be good... I'll make it up to you now..."
"Faith Power, full open. Add it all to Swordsmanship!"
"Bankai!"