Liam didn't actually kill the woman.
It wasn't an act of mercy. Honestly, his heart had been in such a volatile state lately that he was terrified it might literally explode if he took another life. He was stranded in a place he didn't recognize, with nothing but endless ocean in every direction and a "runway island" of unknown length. If he killed her and the resulting death energy triggered a forced growth spurt, he'd have nowhere to run and no one to watch his back.
Let's try the Mark again.
Liam plucked a strand of his own hair and gave it a soft blow. His aura wrapped around the swaying fiber, twisting it into a five-pointed star. The "flying star" drifted down like a bubble, settling against the skin of the woman's neck.
The bubble burst. The hair slid off and tumbled onto the sand.
Failed again.
So, she has an ability similar to mine, Liam realized. Once you're under your own Nen's protection, even being unconscious doesn't break the seal.
Based on her tactics, the sticker she'd tried to use was likely the medium for her control. It was a mirror of his own Star Mark.
Suddenly, he felt a pulse from the Moon Mark. Shizuku was still on the line.
"It's done," he transmitted. "She's a stranger. Probably ended up here the same way we did. Shizuku, stay sharp. You aren't alone over there."
"Mm," Shizuku replied. "I found something... weird."
Liam began searching the unconscious woman's tactical gear. He found professional daggers, composite rope, and survival equipment. His suspicion that she was a Kakin operative intensified.
The mobster Claudius had confessed to having the map, but no Buddha statue. Interrogating him through the Star Mark was limited—the Mark could handle basic commands, but complex questions were beyond its "programming." It was highly likely that Claudius had found a statue, realized he couldn't hide it, and traded it to the Kakin government for protection. They had extracted the clues from the statue and sent their own teams here.
"What's weird?" Liam asked, looking toward the fog-covered "Central Lake" where Shizuku's signal originated.
On her side, Shizuku had stopped walking. She sat in the sand, staring into the mist. "If this is a runway island like you thought, it should look like this, right?" She drew a circle in the dirt and poked two dots on opposite sides.
Liam grabbed a length of composite rope and began binding the woman's hands and feet. "Right."
"But if we both walk 'forward' along the coastline," Shizuku continued, her fingers tracing the arc of the circle, "you should curve one way, and I should curve the other. We should meet at the halfway point. But I've been walking for ten minutes, and the curve isn't bringing us together. It's moving away."
"Unless there's an anomaly," Liam muttered. He grabbed the end of the rope and began dragging his prisoner along the shore.
He didn't get far. A tall, long-haired silhouette stood waiting in the fog on the beach ahead.
Seriously? What is it with my luck today? Liam cursed silently. The man had clearly been watching him for some time.
As the gap closed, the details sharpened. The man was thin, wearing a brown felt hat and a long silver-white mane of hair. A sheathed katana hung at his waist. He looked stern, unsmiling, and strangely familiar.
"Impressive skills," the man said, his voice level.
Liam glanced back at the bound woman he was dragging through the sand.
"These people are dangerous," the silver-haired man continued. "Hostile to outsiders. I intended to step in, but it seems you handled it yourself."
"Can we skip the mysterious warrior act?" Liam raised his hands. "Who are you? Who is she? What's an 'outsider' in this place? What is actually going on?"
"My name is Kite. I'm a new Hunter."
The man introduced himself simply.
"As for what's going on... it's better if you see for yourself." Kite gestured toward the shoreline. A small raft was bobbing in the surf.
Liam looked at the raft, then at Kite. Did you float to this island on a piece of wood?
Of course Liam knew Kite. In the grand story of this world, Kite was to Gon what Shanks was to Luffy—the mentor, the catalyst, the role model. He was the top disciple of Ging Freecss, one of the five best Nen masters in existence. He looked frail, but his aura was a deep, resonant hum—stronger than Liam's.
Liam stepped onto the raft and looked back at Kite.
"Push out a bit," Kite suggested. "Then look back."
Liam obeyed, shoving off from the sand and paddling the raft into the deeper water. He wasn't afraid of a trap; Kite's character was famously honorable, and even if he were attacked, Liam was a strong swimmer. Besides, he knew Kite's Crazy Slots ability—there were no "instant death" traps associated with it.
As the raft drifted out, the world warped.
The land Kite was standing on simply... vanished. The fog surged forward, and where there had been a solid beach seconds ago, there was now only calm, undulating ocean.
Liam spun around on the raft. He looked toward the "Central Lake."
Shizuku's voice echoed in his mind. "Liam... I've been walking for miles. I'm not curving left anymore. I'm curving right. The island is looping back on itself."
Liam reached into his jacket and gripped the jade pendant. The whispers in the mist grew louder—a chorus of ghostly voices, bewitching and urgent.
"Same here," Liam transmitted. "The coastline is defecting. We aren't on a ring."
He activated the divine script on the pendant, focusing his aura into his eyes.
The fog over the central water began to peel away, revealing the truth. It wasn't one island. It was a series of rings, like ripples in a pond, each covered in its own layer of mist. Shizuku wasn't across the lake; she was on an entirely different ring further in.
Liam turned back to the shore. Through the "Cone" effect of his vision, the illusion shattered. The land reappeared. Kite was still there, standing on the sand, watching him.
"To leave these hidden islands..." Kite began, then paused, noticing Liam's eyes. He looked surprised. "Have you already sworn the oath?"
Liam didn't answer. He fired a Nen blast into the water, the recoil pushing the raft back to the shore. He leaped onto the sand.
With the divine script boosting his sight, the geography became clear. This wasn't a "runway." This was an archipelago arranged in a massive spiral.
It's not a runway, Liam thought. It's a mosquito coil.
He checked the sea behind him. No more rings. He was on the outermost circle of the spiral.
"If this is a coil," Liam told the others, "it's one continuous line. But if it's a set of concentric circles, we have to cross the water to reach each other."
He realized Shizuku hadn't been using her vision. He pulsed the Moon Mark to Kurapika, who was still hiking through the gloom. Once they both activated their pendants and focused their aura, the truth of the "Mosquito Coil Island" was revealed to them as well.
"We should have thought of using 'Cone' earlier," Kurapika said, his voice sounding distant. "But it's as if... we were nudged into ignoring it."
"It's the mist," Liam affirmed. "There's something predatory in this fog. It wants us lost. It wants us trapped here forever."
Liam noticed Kite watching him intently. "What did you say about an oath?"
Kite looked at him. "This fog contains a Nen that interferes with human judgment. The only way to clear the path is to swear the oath."
"What oath?" Liam asked. "Why would swearing anything change the weather? This makes no sense."
"The Oath of Oaths," Kite said calmly. "With your level of power, you should be able to feel it."
Liam focused his aura into his ears, triggering the "Listen" aspect of the jade pendant.
Kurapika's voice chimed in. "The script works for hearing, too. Focus on the sounds in the mist."
Liam concentrated. The effect was immediate. The sound of three heartbeats—his, Kite's, and the prisoner's—became crystalline. The rustle of the woman's clothes as she shifted in her sleep sounded like a thunderstorm.
Then, he heard the mist itself.
The indistinct murmurs condensed into a haunting whimper—a collective lamentation. It wasn't words, but raw, complex emotion. Sadness, regret, and the weight of a thousand broken promises poured into Liam's heart.
Can the oath be kept?How can we remain firm?What happens when we fail?
"You hear it now," Kite observed, seeing Liam's face pale. "What is the mist saying to you?"
Liam sighed deeply, his shoulders sagging. "It's heavy. It's... too much. I can't put it into words."
He paused, looking at Kite suspiciously. "Wait. You're asking me? Don't you know? Can't you hear it?"
"I hear the noise," Kite admitted. "But I can't hear the intent clearly."
"Right," Liam muttered. "I get it now. This is a trial. An island of oaths. You make a vow, you prove you can keep it, and the path opens. If you break it..." He thought of the man he'd seen jump from the Heavens Arena. "...you end up like Alpha Edward. Driven mad by the whispers until you end it yourself."
Kite's face didn't change, but his eyes sharpened. He recognized the name. It was clear now: Kite knew this place was tied to the True Martial King.
Liam was certain of one more thing. The "someone" who had heard the voice clearly before—the one who had taught Kite about this place—was undoubtedly Kite's teacher.
Ging Freecss.