Chapter 19: En
On the dark, northern coast of Ghost Soul Island, two small, green-feathered birds perched on the railing of the wrecked cruise ship.
The instant Kai's consciousness possessed them, he felt it.
An intangible, formless "foreign object" was draped over them, like an invisible cobweb or a cold wind brushing past.
...Is this... En?
Through the birds' eyes, he peered into the darkness of the ship. Beams of light from flashlights were cutting through the cabin, and he could hear the sound of boots on the deck. People were searching.
And one of them... was a Nen user.
A highly skilled one, who was currently deploying a wide-range En.
En is an advanced application of the Four Major Principles. To put it simply, it's a technique where a user expands their Aura to envelop their surroundings, using it as a high-perception radar.
Every user's En is different. Some can only maintain it for a few inches around their body. Others can expand it to 300 meters, mapping out an entire building.
The shape can also vary. Neferpitou's En was an irregular, tentacle-like mass. And the most ridiculous En in the story was Meruem's, which scattered his Aura into countless photons. If a single photon touched you, you were exposed, and it would remain on you, guiding him to your location.
The En user on the ship seemed to be covering the entire vessel.
Kai, having never trained En, couldn't accurately judge its "resolution" or gauge the user's true strength. This was a clear gap in his experience.
I still have so much to learn.
He wanted to fly the birds into the cabin to eavesdrop, but he stopped.
He had one major disadvantage: he was not a bird.
He couldn't perfectly mimic a bird's natural, subtle movements. Inside that En, any "un-bird-like" action would be instantly detected.
He also had another problem: the Star Markers. To be fast, he had placed them all on the birds' beaks. Two identical birds, with identical rose-gold marks... if the enemy was sharp and knew about Manipulation abilities, it was a dead giveaway.
Kai made the two birds hop on the railing, stare at each other, and chirp, as if trying to communicate in their own... language...
Da, da, da... The footsteps from the cabin grew closer, and just as they did, the all-encompassing En vanished.
The two birds turned. A tall, imposing young man with a "broccoli-like" hairstyle emerged, followed by several men with flashlights.
...It's some kind of high-spec Miyagi Ryota.
Kai glanced at the broccoli-haired man. He was, without a doubt, the En user.
The man—Babimaina—ignored the birds and looked toward the shore. "Mr. Sloe," he said, his voice flat. "Did we not have an agreement? Our investigation on this island is not to be interfered with. In exchange, we agreed to acquiesce to Ochima's own investigation."
Flap, flap. The two green birds took off, but they didn't go far. Kai landed them on a nearby rock, giving him a perfect view of both Babimaina's group on the ship and "Mr. Sloe's" group on the shore.
Sloe was a young, balding man who seemed annoyed. "I received a report from local fishermen about a suspicious vessel and a possible homicide. As an official of the Ochima Federation, I am not qualified to investigate?"
Babimaina stood on the bow like a statue. "Mr. Sloe, please watch your words," he said, his voice hardening. "Strictly speaking, this is the territory of our Kakin Kingdom."
Huh? What's he talking about?
Kai, through his bird-scouts, was busy examining Sloe's group. He saw a short, stocky man with a familiar-looking design... though it was too dark to be sure.
But Babimaina's words threw him. This is an Ochima island. It's across the sea from Kakin. How is this Kakin territory? I was just on the internet, stop trying to fool me.
Sloe just chuckled, a fake-sounding laugh in the dark. "You see, that is our point of disagreement. I had hoped this... incident... would finally put that dispute to rest."
"I will state the terms of our agreement one more time," Babimaina said. "Both parties will set this dispute aside and conduct their own investigations on this island for a period of 20 days. We will not interfere with each other."
Sloe scowled. "Most of this island is managed by the Blanchett Company."
Babimaina turned to go back inside. "Dealing with them is your problem. Now, please leave."
"..." Sloe rubbed his balding head. "Let's go."
"What? We're just leaving?" the short, stocky man in his group complained, his voice loud. "I wanted to talk to them!"
One of Sloe's other agents, a woman in a black suit, asked, "Talk about what?"
The short man looked at her like she was an idiot. "I'm a bodyguard! I wanted to see if the other side needed to hire me!"
The entire team stared at him. Is this guy an idiot? You can't work for both sides!
"Don't underestimate me!" the man yelled. "I'm strong enough to be a bodyguard for both of them at the same time!"
Sloe sighed, already walking away. "Mr. Kanzai... we are not enemies with Kakin on this mission, but we are certainly not allies."
Kanzai just "oh"ed, disappointed. "Well, that's that, then!"
The woman in the black suit pushed up her glasses. "I see. So he's just stupid, not greedy."
"Who are you calling stupid, Glasses-Girl!?" Kanzai roared. "What's your name, anyway!?"
The woman looked at him, her expression blank. "My name is Shizuku. The pay for this job was very high, so I thought I'd try."
Sloe looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. "Everyone, in the cars. We're heading back to West Town. We have to rest. Tomorrow, we negotiate with those vampires at the Blanchett Company." He turned to Kanzai. "Mr. Kanzai, your job is to protect me. Everyone else is a potential enemy. Do you understand?"
"Why didn't you just say so?" Kanzai grumbled. "Talking to you guys is exhausting!"
The team piled into two black SUVs and drove off.
In the cloud of dust, one small, green bird darted down, landing silently on the roof of the rear vehicle.
(End of Chapter)