Nen Sage - Chapter 413
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Fri 5:06 PM
Conrad fell into thought for a moment.
Morel being unable to reach the other members of the group was not exactly an unexpected possibility.
Yes, it was a bad situation.
But it was not something that should have been considered impossible.
Any Hunter entering an unknown location like this would naturally calculate the possibility of death, injury, or even worse outcomes before proceeding.
That was simply part of exploring an unknown environment.
However, despite his rational understanding of the situation, there was still something inside Conrad that bothered him.
It was simply a feeling.
Something felt wrong.
"We'll be with you shortly," Conrad said.
He looked toward Lenfani.
"Don't fall behind me. We're going to move quickly."
Lenfani nodded.
Conrad's expression became slightly more serious.
"I feel like the situation is beginning to change."
With those words, he immediately started moving.
A few seconds later, he broke into a run.
Lenfani followed behind him and began running as well.
As she followed Conrad, she found herself thinking about the situation.
There was something she still could not completely understand about him.
"He talks about his instincts far too often."
She continued running.
"And far too often, those instincts turn out to be correct."
That was the part that bothered her.
Until now, she had never seen Conrad behave like someone who simply acted without thinking.
He could be ruthless, but his actions usually had a clear reason behind them.
He also did not seem to be the kind of person who would randomly become hostile toward someone without justification.
As Lenfani continued following him, another thought entered her mind.
"From everything I've seen so far, he doesn't seem like someone who would simply act out of malice."
Her expression became slightly complicated.
"Then why did they ask me to kill him…"
There was clearly something much larger surrounding Conrad.
And the more she followed him, the more she began to suspect that the people who had hired her had understood something about Conrad that she had not.
For now, however, there was no time to think about it.
They needed to reach Morel and Grachan.
After approximately ten minutes of running at a high speed, Conrad and Lenfani finally reached a relatively open and green area.
Compared to the dense vegetation they had been moving through, this region was considerably easier to see through.
At the center of the clearing was a large gray rock.
Morel and Grachan were sitting on top of it.
Conrad immediately moved toward them.
"What is the current situation?"
Morel looked toward Conrad.
He reached into the pocket of his clothing and pulled out a cigar.
He lit it with a lighter, took a deep breath, and then began speaking.
"It's quite strange."
He released the smoke slowly.
"We haven't been able to reach Amarin, Malin, or Artven for twenty minutes."
Conrad listened carefully.
"Amarin was originally traveling with us."
Morel continued.
"Later, he said he wanted to explore by himself."
He paused.
"But he responded properly to every radio communication before that."
Morel looked toward Conrad.
"Now, besides the two of you, nobody has responded to us."
Conrad frowned.
Something about the statement bothered him.
"Wait a second."
He immediately took out his radio.
He pressed the communication button.
"This is Conrad. Amarin, Malin, and Artven, if you can hear my voice, respond."
Two seconds passed.
Then voices began coming through the radio.
"Conrad, this is Amarin. I can hear you."
Another voice followed.
"I'm Malin. I'm here, and I've seen some very strange things…"
Then another response came.
"This is Artven. I'm moving together with Malin."
Conrad listened to all three responses.
He did not interrupt.
He simply allowed the others to hear the communications as well.
Once the three voices had finished responding, Conrad lowered the radio slightly.
He looked toward Morel and Grachan.
"They don't sound like they're having a problem."
Morel and Grachan immediately looked at each other.
Their expressions changed.
Morel was the first to speak.
"Conrad…"
His voice carried a clear note of concern.
"Is something wrong?"
He looked toward the radio in Conrad's hand.
"You spoke into the radio, and there was no response."
Morel paused.
"So why did you react as if they had answered?"
Conrad's expression became serious.
He turned toward Lenfani.
Lenfani immediately shook her head from side to side.
"I don't understand what they mean."
She looked confused.
"I clearly heard their answers."
Conrad nodded.
This was becoming considerably more interesting.
"Morel. Grachan."
He looked between the two of them.
"Before you called us, did you encounter anything strange?"
He paused.
"A strange creature, perhaps?"
Morel and Grachan frowned at the question.
Morel took another drag from his cigar.
"Hmmm…"
He narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
Before Morel could continue, Grachan spoke.
"There are far too many creatures on this island."
He looked toward Morel.
"I think those two are under the influence of some kind of Nen ability."
Conrad immediately looked at Grachan.
He activated Gyo.
His eyes focused on Grachan's body.
For several seconds, he carefully examined the flow of aura around him.
Then he noticed something.
In the exact center of Grachan's chest, there was a strange purple growth.
At first glance, it resembled a pimple.
But Conrad could immediately tell that it was not ordinary.
Its size was approximately 3.5 to 4 centimeters.
Conrad's eyes narrowed.
He shifted his attention toward Morel.
"Hmmm…"
The same type of growth was present on Morel's body.
But there was an important difference.
Morel's was much smaller.
Approximately 0.5 centimeters.
Conrad stared at it for several seconds.
The conclusion began forming in his mind.
"Morel has the same growth, but his is only around 0.5 centimeters."
He paused.
"The growth itself is behaving like a curse."
Conrad's eyes remained focused.
"More specifically, it appears to be functioning like a Nen ability."
Morel immediately shook his head.
"It's too early to make a direct conclusion like that."
Conrad gave a light cough.
"I understand."
He did not argue.
Instead, he continued explaining what he had noticed.
"You encountered something in a specific area."
He looked toward both of them.
"Or you encountered a creature."
"And after that encounter, you came under the influence of a Nen ability."
Grachan's expression became more serious.
Morel remained silent.
Conrad continued.
"The fact that both of you have the same type of abnormality strongly suggests that the cause is connected to whatever you encountered."
He took another breath.
"There is also the fact that the other three responded to my radio communication despite you previously being unable to reach them."
His eyes became sharper.
"That means the problem may not simply be a communication failure."
Conrad looked directly at Morel.
"If you trust me, I can save you."
He paused briefly.
"But if this ability continues progressing, I have no idea where the result will lead."
The clearing became quiet.
Morel slowly lowered his cigar.
Grachan stared at Conrad.
For the first time, the situation was no longer simply an unexplained communication problem.
Something had attached itself to them.
Conrad had no intention of ignoring it.
If this really was a Nen ability, then allowing it to continue developing without understanding its conditions could be considerably more dangerous than confronting an ordinary creature on the island.
For now, however, one thing was clear.
The situation had changed.
These kind of attacks are the most dangerous one and needs more direct attention to solve.