Liam controlled Jaku to quietly approach a waiter leaving the exhibition hall with an empty plate. Lowered his head. Pecked out a feather from the bird's body. The base was stained with a trace of blood. Under Jaku's weak aura, it transformed. Flew toward the back of the waiter's neck in the shape of a five-pointed star. Quietly landed.
Contrary to Liam's expectation, the Star Mark didn't take shape.
Failed.
The five-pointed star blood line left traces on the skin of the waiter's neck. Slowly flowed down as he walked away.
Doesn't he feel that? It should be itchy.
Liam landed on the ground beside the wall. Quietly watched the waiter walk away. When the man passed the corner, Liam suddenly felt the latter's aura disappear.
This wasn't Liam using En to control Jaku's body. His skill hadn't reached that level yet. Only when a target used Zetsu to seal off their own aura at such close range would you need En for detection. Otherwise, for someone like Liam who'd practiced Nen for a long time—whose normal senses had become extremely sharp—a living person's aura suddenly disappearing at normal distance, or someone else's line of sight suddenly focusing on you, he'd notice.
But just now, after the waiter turned the corner, his aura vanished.
"My Manipulation failed for two reasons: one, the other party's already been manipulated by someone else. Two, the other party isn't human at all."
Liam thought this through.
"If it's case one, then unless the ability manipulating the waiter can teleport him, it's most likely case two. But why did he disappear as soon as he turned a corner?"
"Because I used my ability on it—what's the reaction?"
"Try another waiter."
Liam was thinking this when he suddenly found the feather he'd pecked out had floated back. Grew back from where it had been plucked.
Star Mark self-healing.
Liam recalled when the head of the wild wolf he'd controlled originally fell off. The severed head slowly moved toward the severed neck under the Star Mark's control. It obviously hadn't regrown another part of the body from the part carrying the mark.
"If there are residual limbs, they get recycled first. If there are no residual limbs, it takes more time. Slowly grows back."
In the previous duel with Wing at Heavens Arena, Liam had lost an arm. If the broken arm had been completely destroyed, who knows how long recovery would've taken.
Regrowing from a stump and regrowing from nothing are two different concepts.
"Find an opportunity to test it?"
"Who should I look for?"
[Aren't the waiters alive?]
Kurapika transmitted through the ring. [How many waiters did you test with the Star Mark?]
[Let's say eight. Four of them, like the first one, can't be marked with a star.] The little gray bird stood on his shoulder. As night deepened, Kurapika's employer took a walk, ready to return to his room.
Kurapika asked as he walked, [What about the other four?]
[I didn't touch the other four. Just followed them to see what happened. Control variable method!]
[What?] Kurapika was confused.
Liam then explained the initial anomaly—the waiter disappearing as soon as he turned the corner.
As expected, Kurapika had a sharp mind. Immediately understood Liam's intention. Obviously, Liam was confirming the reason the waiter disappeared around the corner.
[So, what's the result?] he asked.
[All eight waiters disappeared.] Liam said slowly.
[In other words, their disappearance has nothing to do with you.]
[It may not be unrelated.]
Kurapika thought carefully. [You said they disappeared around corners, which means the condition that triggered their sudden disappearance wasn't being attacked by someone, but—]
[—Not being seen by anyone.]
The two voices sounded in each other's minds almost simultaneously.
At the same time, in the hotel corridor, a waiter at the front corner carried a tray with several bottles of wine. Passed by everyone quietly and calmly.
On Kurapika's shoulder, the little gray bird's head twisted. Looked at the man's back.
[Is he one of the people you followed?] Kurapika asked.
[Yeah.] Jaku retracted its gaze. Lowered its head and preened its feathers. [Now it's confirmed they didn't disappear. Just moved.]
[The condition is that as long as they're not seen by anyone, they'll find an opportunity to disappear quietly.] Kurapika analyzed for a while. Soon felt speechless. [But they reappear. Still as waiters. What's this for? Simply to save time walking?]
Half a day passed. No response from Liam came to his mind.
Kurapika glanced sideways at the little gray bird on his shoulder. The little gray bird also twisted its head. Called out to him. "Chirp?"
Kurapika immediately understood. Liam's consciousness was no longer in the bird.
"Kurapika, you're in charge of the front entrance." The bodyguards began coordinating. Assigning tasks. They were responsible for night shift. Had to be on duty until seven a.m. tomorrow.
[I have something. Talk later.] Liam's voice finally bubbled up.
Kurapika's eyes were calm. He nodded. Planned to check the situation himself after seven tomorrow morning.
As for Liam, the main reason he disconnected was because he saw Shizuku coming.
Late at night. The other martial artists who'd been eliminated long ago—those who'd insisted on staying and watching before—weren't there. All gone back to the hotel to rest and adjust.
Shizuku, on the other hand, had come back to the practice ground from the hotel under stars and moon. Sat alone on the sidelines.
The "soul" behind Liam's head looked over. [Go back to your room and rest. What are you doing here?]
Shizuku hugged her legs. Rested her chin on her knees. Looked at Liam from a distance. [I can't sleep alone.]
Liam's "soul" immediately shouted to the Sky Master sitting on the ground meditating in front of everyone. "As long as the 'soul' remains, it's not a violation for the physical body to do anything, right?"
The Sky Master sat with eyes closed. As if he didn't hear.
Liam repeated it twice more. Still no response.
Even if the 'Nen voice' I'm shouting in my current state can only be heard using Gyo, this so-called Sky Master should react, right?
Forget it. Stop pretending, buddy.
"Taking a break." Liam's body uttered actual words. After giving a perfunctory sentence to the Sky Master, he ran directly to Shizuku on the sidelines. Sat next to her.
Shizuku naturally tilted her head to meet his. Leaning against him. Suddenly remembered something. Looked at Liam's "soul" over there, still floating in the air. Then looked at Liam's body here. Said confusedly, "With so many perspectives, doesn't Liam feel confused?"
"Soul" Liam smiled. "There's no one else with my ability."
"Of course it feels confusing." Liam's body next to Shizuku said.
Then Shizuku herself—the look in her eyes changed. Smiled in Liam's tone. "But I won't. Because although there are a few more perspectives, there are also several 'brains' to help process it."
Poof. Shizuku recovered. Nodded thoughtfully.
The other struggling martial artists in the training ground were shocked by this change. But when they looked at John Smith's "soul" still "in place," they didn't know what expression to make.
Is this allowed? How does this count?
Tetsuro even broke his technique on the spot. His "soul" disappeared behind his head. His body woke up. He fell to the ground with a long sigh.
"John Smith's Manipulation seems to be the type that can completely control the body." Wing's "soul" thought silently while looking at the Sky Master in front of everyone.
Liam's physical body seemed to get up from class and say hello to the teacher before slipping out the back door. The Sky Master opened his eyes and looked at him.
This confirmed it. This so-called Sky Master with gray hair and a youthful face at least isn't deaf. But he couldn't hear Liam's "soul" calling him at first. Is it an act? Or is he artificially retarded?
Is it really a Nen clone?
Or simply a conjured humanoid Nen beast?
The move this guy used to knock everyone's "souls" out was undoubtedly Emission.
If it was Emission, whether teleporting from the foot of the mountain to the summit, or a Nen beast being released at ultra-long distance, it could be explained.
At this time, little Hart came over. He was frightened. His senior brother wasn't there. He'd stayed alone in the hotel room. Accidentally saw the black skeleton drawn by John Smith last night—swallowing the sleeping Senior Brother Wing's aura—and was so frightened he rushed over, crawling on the ground.
When he arrived, he realized Shizuku was already here.
Under the night sky, the massive peach tree tens of meters high.
Flying in the night were endless peach petals, gathering into ribbons, flowing above everyone's heads.
On the endless grass, crowds of people—densely packed like zombies—appeared again.
Liam, in the crowd, regained consciousness almost as soon as he entered. Turned around. It was Shizuku. With a thought, he activated the Star Mark on her body. Woke her up.
There are many ways to wake her up. I could probably just shout to Shizuku in this "dream." After all, this is a dream-like ability. Shizuku carries a Star Mark and wasn't really controlled by the other party. Of course, the easiest way is to shake Shizuku awake in the outside world. Treat it like she dozed off.
Shizuku blinked. The bizarre dream reflection images on her body quickly diminished.
Most of the people around them were martial artists. The dream scenes reflected on them were basically related to the ongoing "competition of willpower."
Liam and Shizuku quickly looked toward the destination in front—where everyone was wandering. The tree suspected by Bisky. The subject that left the peach petal marks on Wing and Hart's heads. One of the cooperative abilities mixed with this strange dream.
This time, no stone Buddha appeared under the huge peach blossom tree.
"What method did the President use to avoid being pulled into the dream?"
On the other side of the crowd, Pyon and Gel were also among them. They also noticed no one was under the peach blossom tree this time.
"Maybe he used willpower to resist the 'sleepiness'?"
"This dream ability is probably Conjuration. It can't be so silent and unconditionally pull people in. The real manipulation on targets pulled into it is probably hidden in the dream. That peach blossom tree... Just because of the interference of this conjured dream, and with the President's strength, as long as he's alert, he won't be easily affected."
Pyon and Gel made eye contact for a while. Soon they each used their own tricks. One disguised herself with a false duplicate and stayed here. The other shed a layer of snake skin—also left a false clone in this so-called dream.
After escaping from the dream, they recalled the scene and suddenly felt strange. Did we see a ball of fire? What was that?
Whose dream projection is that?
A fire ignited on the grass. Corpses lay scattered on the ground among the embers. Everyone wearing the unique clothing of the Kurta Clan. The only thing that was the same: everyone's eye sockets were black. Eyes gouged out. Some people even had their entire heads chopped off. One boy had his neck broken, but his head was missing.
Liam and Shizuku quickly noticed the movement here. They couldn't think of anyone who could project dreams on their bodies to such a large range—except for Kurapika, who had endless anger and hatred hidden in his heart.
Liam was about to activate the Star Mark on Kurapika to wake him up. But when he got closer, he realized Kurapika had woken on his own.
His eyes were red. He stared at the scene in front of him expressionlessly. Especially the headless boy's body. He stared at it for a long time.
This situation was something Kurapika would never forget. Every day. Every night. He dug it out from the corners of his heart constantly. Even though it was bloody, he forced himself never to forget this anger and hatred.
"Heh heh heh, hahahaha!"
Suddenly, strange laughter came from above the three of them.
Liam, Shizuku, and Kurapika looked up. Saw the old beggar they'd seen before—sitting on the peach tree dozens of meters high.
The old beggar sat on a branch. Overlooking the bloody scene of the Kurta Clan's destruction that hadn't yet dispersed around Kurapika. He looked into Kurapika's fiery angry eyes without hesitation. Clapped his hands and feet. Laughed strangely. "Gyahahaha! Let me just say—you're like a work of art! Gyahahaha!"
He laughed louder and louder. So much that even the peach tree shook. The peach petals floating in the sky became chaotic.
The dream shattered. Everyone woke up.
At the door of the front mountain hotel room, Kurapika held onto the door frame. Felt like he was in a trance. But the dream just now was so real.
He turned to look at his colleagues in the room. Found they were in the same situation. Seemed like they'd just spaced out for a moment. Looked dazed. Leaned against walls and sofas. Nodded off. Didn't feel anything unusual.
At the back mountain practice ground, Liam and Shizuku opened their eyes at the same time. Before they could say anything, they heard a very miserable scream.
Why is it this Conan plot again?
Liam turned around. Saw this time it was a bit different—because the one who screamed was none other than Hart, waking from his dream.
The black skeleton Liam had seen before pressed Hart to the ground. The black skull came close to Hart. The eye sockets, nose holes, even ear holes—seemed to have some kind of devouring force. Sucking the aura from Hart's body away.
The "souls" of other martial artists were stunned. Disappeared one after another.
"Help, Senior Brother!!!" Hart shouted. Twisted desperately. Couldn't break free.
Wing didn't hesitate. His "soul" disappeared. After his body woke up, he recovered after a short pause. The ground was crushed under his feet. He rushed over like a cannonball.
Liam's "soul" also dissipated. He condensed his Spirit Gun on his fingers. Aimed at the black skeleton suppressing Hart.
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