Choosing to board this airship was initially for the timeliness offered by a direct route.
If one were to disembark midway, they would have to account for the time lost due to transferring to another mode of transport.
This typically amounts to days.
In other words, it could delay them by several days, thereby affecting their goal of reaching the Great Nation of Guganyu.
After some deliberation, Moro still decided to change his itinerary.
Anyway, on this trip to the Great Nation of Guganyu, he didn't expect to accomplish much; at most, he'd scout the way.
If he could get an opportunity to act as a bystander, then being on the periphery, he might consider whether to enter the fray and seize the chance, depending on the situation.
However, that possibility was extremely low.
Even just witnessing a duel between masters from afar was an incredibly difficult feat in itself.
Ultimately, if one's strength isn't sufficient, there are times when it's truly impossible to make any progress.
Based on this premise, all choices and decisions had to be compromised for it.
Moro stood up and walked towards the table where the phone was placed, picking up the itinerary notification form next to it.
He opened it, his gaze sweeping past the marked locations the airship would pass during the flight, directly to the special reminder for the mid-flight resupply station.
It stated that the airship would arrive at the first resupply station around noon tomorrow.
"Noon tomorrow, huh..."
Closing the itinerary form, Moro looked out at the night sky again.
If he couldn't catch the chase-and-hunt drama between Silva and the Phantom Troupe, he could at least rely on Argo's intelligence capabilities to do something, one way or another.
The prerequisite was— Could he contact Silva, and would Silva accept intelligence assistance from an outsider?
Furthermore, given the Zoldyck family's profound background, they likely had their own exclusive channels for enemy reconnaissance.
It was even possible that Silva had already engaged the Phantom Troupe.
Gazing at the night sky, Moro silently gave up his daily training for the night, returned to the sofa, and closed his eyes to meditate.
When idle and not training, Moro would constantly construct the future extension routes of "Deceiving Star" in his mind through meditation.
This had become a habit for him. He could vaguely sense that after his death and rebirth, the emergence of the "Deceiving Star" ability was too natural and simple.
So simple that it led him to naturally assume that the birth of "Deceiving Star" didn't seem to occupy any Nen capacity.
This implied that even if he were to develop other ability effects for "Deceiving Star" later, he likely wouldn't encounter difficulties or stagnation due to the potential factor of Nen capacity utilization.
For this possibility, and also to truly develop rarer ability effects...
Moro would meditate regularly.
At the same time, during meditation, he could further enhance the stability of his "Ten".
Time passed, second by second.
"Hmm?" He didn't know how much time had passed, but Moro suddenly opened his eyes, sharply looking at the door.
Just a moment ago— He had felt an undisguised fluctuation of aura.
Lower deck of the airship.
It was late at night, most passengers had fallen asleep, with only a few still lingering in the bars on both upper and lower levels.
For Kahara, late night was the best time to invade shadows.
Because as long as the target was asleep, the time required to invade their shadow would be significantly reduced.
Based on this mechanism, Kahara planned to pull an all-nighter on the first day, acquiring control over as many people as possible.
Once he gained control over all passengers on the lower deck, he could then infiltrate the upper deck, waiting for the opportune moment to act.
"Patience... ensure the mission's success."
Kahara burrowed into a passenger's slanted shadow like a worm, repeatedly performing the same operation.
By now, he had gained control over nearly 50 passengers.
Just as he was about to target the 51st passenger, he suddenly felt a fluctuation of aura emanating from the upper deck.
"A Nen aura, so blatant, who could it be...?"
From within the dark, slanted shadow, Kahara's body emerged, his eyes showing surprise as he looked at the cabin ceiling.
At the same time.
Inside Kanzai's cabin.
"Safa, wake up."
Taliyah woke the silver-haired woman.
Safa was not the silver-haired woman's real name.
Moreover, as the Third Princess of the Great Nation of Guganyu, according to the extremely strict royal laws, Taliyah should not have addressed her by her true name, as that would be punishable by death for violating the law.
However, there were priorities, and the silver-haired woman was not some brainless royal.
Using a pseudonym in extraordinary times was not something she found difficult to accept.
"What happened?"
Woken by Taliyah, Safa rose from her bed and asked calmly and composedly.
Before the cabin door, Kanzai stood upright like a spear.
Hearing Safa's question, he answered for Taliyah,
"Someone is making a show of force against us."
"A show of force?"
A trace of doubt flickered in Safa's azure eyes.
She calmly said,
"Isn't that redundant?"
"Ah, normally, yes, it would be redundant, but..."
Kanzai looked at the door, stopping mid-sentence, suddenly unsure how to explain it to Safa.
No matter what the situation, once Nen abilities introduced a variable, one could no longer adhere to normal ways of thinking.
The unknown opponent who was releasing their aura had clearly arrived imbued with killing intent, yet they redundantly made a show of force...
Thinking from the perspective of Nen abilities, it couldn't be ruled out that the opponent possessed a counter-attack type ability.
If they acted rashly, it could make an already disadvantageous situation even worse.
So it seemed...
Their reluctant decision to board the ship today was precisely the outcome the enemy had painstakingly schemed to achieve, all to put them in an environment where they had no choice but to engage.
Thinking this, Kanzai frowned.
On one hand, he had to ensure the client's safety, and on the other, the unfolding situation meant they were losing all room for choice, making them truly too passive.
To the extent that now they even lacked space for probing...
That being said, they couldn't do nothing.
Oh right...
He also needed to explain the current situation to Safa.
Ugh, what a headache.
In just a few seconds, Kanzai's mind was churning like a storm.
Although Safa was aware of the existence of Nen abilities, at most, she only understood half of it.
In Kanzai's opinion, if he truly had to explain it, it couldn't be made clear in just a few words.
He wasn't good at "explaining" things to begin with...
Safa saw Kanzai suddenly fall silent mid-sentence, but she wasn't angry.
Beside them, Taliyah seemed to understand Kanzai's difficulty and offered her own interpretation to clarify for Safa:
"The act of showing force is merely a catalyst; the opponent wants to force us to choose between 'countering' and 'observing'."
"I understand."
Safa nodded gently and calmly said,
"But since the opponent came prepared, wouldn't either choice be the outcome they desire?"
"That's precisely the problem..."
Taliyah's expression was grave.
Both she and Kanzai understood one thing: while the opponent's targeted actions still maintained a slight degree of restraint, the intertwined restrictions continuously kept them in a passive position.
"So, is there no third option? For example... not caring about my life or death."
Safa said with a calm expression, as if speaking of something inconsequential.
"!!!" Taliyah.
"..." Kanzai.
(End of Chapter)
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