Hart scurried off to make tea. Four cups. He returned carefully, balancing the tray, and set it on the coffee table.
On the sofa in the living room, Wing sat quietly and listened while Liam explained the collective dream experience from twenty minutes ago.
Liam was certain he'd seen Wing, Hart, and the other martial artists who'd climbed the mountain together in that dream.
But Wing had zero memory of it.
Even the idea that he'd dozed off on the sofa wasn't clear. Physically, it felt like a momentary trance. His posture on the sofa had shifted slightly. But other than that? Nothing unusual. At first, he'd felt tired and assumed he was just in poor condition. It wasn't until Liam's visit that he realized there might be another explanation.
"A stone Buddha. A Bodhisattva." Wing thought aloud. "If that really was a projection in a dream, then it does sound like President Netero."
"Besides, I'm certain President Netero is actually at Sensui Mountain." He looked up. Before coming here, his master Bisky had already informed him. There was no way John Smith could've known about the elusive President Netero's whereabouts in advance. "All the details match your account."
"Isn't that bad?" Hart set down the brewed tea and clutched his head. "Senior Brother, you got violated by something weird while you were dreaming!"
Violated?
Cold sweat broke out on Wing's forehead.
Liam pulled out a pen and paper, placed them on the coffee table, and scribbled something. "This was the scene. This is you, Wing. And this is that weird black skeleton thing."
Wing and Hart leaned closer. "Which one is which?"
Shizuku also came over to look. She stared at the graffiti-like mess. A question mark appeared over her head.
Flowing Star Strike!
Liam activated the Star Mark on the back of his neck. He let it control his hand. The pen moved rapidly across the paper, drawing a new picture based on his memory. Like printing a photograph.
Hart looked down. The scene felt like he was standing right there. The black skeleton lying on Senior Brother Wing's body. The black eye sockets sucking breath from Wing's sleeping face.
His scalp went numb. His short hair stood on end. He jumped back in fright. "What kind of monster is that?!"
Liam grabbed him and pulled him back.
"Shizuku, do you see it?"
Liam pressed down on the kid's head, brushing his short hair aside to expose the top of his scalp.
Shizuku channeled Gyo into her eyes. She looked closely at the top of Hart's head. A white and red petal rested there. Like it was real. But also not.
Liam and Shizuku exchanged glances. Both recalled the massive peach tree in that dream. Dozens of meters tall. Impossible to ignore. And the peach petals constantly drifting through the sky.
Liam reached out and tried to brush the petal off Hart's head. His fingers passed through it. The petal didn't move. Less like an object. More like a mark.
Liam gestured toward Shizuku. She lowered her head.
He brushed the hair on top of Shizuku's head aside. No petals.
He lowered his own head. Shizuku checked him. Nothing.
"Is there something on my head?" Hart was confused. Wing was also checking the top of his own head.
Wing muttered to himself, puzzled. "I don't see anything."
He raised his eyes to look at Liam and Shizuku. Understanding dawned. He lowered his head so Liam could check.
Both Liam and Shizuku saw it. A peach blossom petal that looked half-real and half-virtual rested on top of Wing's head.
"This must be some kind of mark. Possibly Manipulation." Liam let go and pointed at Hart, who was full of question marks. He asked Wing, "You really can't see the thing on his head? It's a peach petal."
"From the peach tree in the dream you mentioned?"
Wing understood but still shook his head. "No. I can't see it."
"In other words, targets marked by the peach petals can't see each other's marks," Liam mused. "But Shizuku and I weren't marked, so we can see them. Of course, civilians who don't understand Nen wouldn't see them either."
He was naturally referring to the large number of ordinary people at the front mountain attending the art exhibition.
Hart was lost. But he spotted the obvious question. "Why weren't you two marked?"
Wing, however, understood. Liam and Shizuku had probably been "controlled" by Liam's Manipulation ability in advance. That allowed them to avoid the peach petal mark.
"Wing, you said you participated in the Sensui Mountain Conference before," Liam said. "But when I asked you about it earlier, you were vague. What if this happened last time too? What if you were marked by a similar Nen ability, but after going down the mountain, you gradually forgot what happened up here?"
"Some conditional abilities do have memory-correction effects." Wing sat on the sofa, deep in thought. "But precisely because my memory of last time isn't clear, I can't be sure whether this situation is the same as before." He crossed his arms, muttering in distress. "But since the dream you mentioned contains someone suspected to be President Netero, I don't think there will be overly serious consequences."
Shizuku turned her head and looked at Liam in confusion.
She clearly doesn't understand Wing's reasoning. You've been marked by an unknown ability, and you're still here talking about 'no serious consequences.' Are you overconfident?
"Sitting here thinking won't get us anywhere," Liam said. "Why not call someone familiar with the Sensui Mountain Conference and ask?"
He looked at Wing sincerely. "Do you have your president's phone number?"
At a time like this, Netero would most likely give the most comprehensive answer.
Wing shook his head. He pulled out his phone. Hesitated. Then dialed a number.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The call connected. Wing held the phone away from his ear. At arm's length.
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?! I'M TRYING TO GET MY BEAUTY SLEEP!"
A powerful "little girl voice" burst from the phone's speaker. Barely restrained fury. "You have one minute to give me a reasonable explanation!"
A giant question mark appeared over Shizuku's head. Why does Wing's master sound so young?
Hart nearly had a heart attack. Why does Senior Brother Wing's master sound like that?!
Wing explained quickly. He switched the call to speakerphone and gestured to Liam and Shizuku. "This is my master. The Two-Star Gem Hunter, Biscuit Krueger. Master, this is John Smith and his companion Shizuku. They came specifically to warn me about a dream. They also discovered marks planted on me and Hart."
"Hello." Liam couldn't help grinning. He waved at the phone.
Shizuku said nothing. She stared at the phone in Wing's hand calmly.
Bisky's composed voice soon came through. Still in that little-girl tone. "The situation you encountered, Wing, this peach petal mark, is probably a Manipulation ability. But I should remind you that what leaves a mark isn't necessarily Manipulation. Sometimes even Enhancement can mark people. For example, after leaving a mark, it could strengthen teammates or provide healing. Things like that."
"And since John Smith is a Manipulator and has already applied a Manipulation ability to himself in advance, thereby becoming immune to interference from other Manipulators' abilities, then obviously what you're calling a dream is by no means the result of a Manipulation ability." Bisky analyzed calmly. "If I had to speculate, I'd guess this is Conjuration."
"The opponent conjured a dream world. Then made it intangible through In."
"Conjure an entire dream? That's an entire mountain summit. Everyone was pulled into it. What kind of Nen user could do this?"
In the front mountain hotel, Gel's clone spoke doubtfully.
"What if the entire mountain was carved with Nen script inside and out?"
Pyon clicked a button on her laptop.
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