When the warm sensation finally faded and the light dispersed, she slowly opened her eyes.
The very first thing she saw was the look on Kurapika's face beside her—shock, and heartfelt joy.
"Am I really... back to normal?"
Melody looked down at her hands and saw that they were no longer those short, stunted arms. In their place were long, normal, slender arms.
"I'm really restored?"
The moment Melody spoke, she realized that at some point her voice had already turned hoarse, and her vision had begun to blur. Tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes.
Leorio, Gon, and the others beside her all widened their eyes and hung their mouths open.
"This is unbelievable!!"
Just moments ago, they had watched with their own eyes as Melody, who had originally had that stunted figure and ugly appearance, was transformed by the golden light in Roy's hands into a tall, beautiful woman.
In truth, Melody's looks were only a little above average at best, but the intense contrast with her previous appearance created such a powerful shock that Leorio and the others ended up with that illusion.
At least, in Roy's eyes, Melody was still quite a long way off from his own wife, Android 18.
"Congratulations, Melody."
Kurapika draped a coat over Melody's shoulders, covering the sight of her old small clothes having been torn apart by her restoration.
He was genuinely happy for her. Looking back over the bodyguard group, Melody was the only one he could truly call a close friend.
Light Nostrade, who had taken in the entire scene from the side, also wore a look of shock. But very quickly, as an excellent investor, that sharpness in him made him immediately think of someone.
A top-tier tycoon with graying hair who had once come to him for a divination, and that tycoon's beloved, who had contracted a strange and severe illness and still seemed not to have been cured.
After confirming that she had truly recovered, Melody immediately looked at Roy and found that he was already smiling at her.
"Mr. Roy, thank you so much! Thank you!"
Melody was so overjoyed that she could barely speak coherently.
Roy only smiled and shook his head.
"Actually, I was just running a test to see whether this ability could remove Nen."
That was Roy's real goal all along. He wanted to find out whether Dende's Healing Technique could remove Nen.
Now the facts had proven that it absolutely could.
What Melody had suffered from was the curse of the Dark Sonata, a particularly troublesome Nen ability.
And Roy had removed it with ease. That alone showed that, at least on the Six Continents, Roy could fully take on the title of Nen Exorcist.
A Nen Exorcist was an extremely rare existence. Even within the Hunter Association, there was said to be only a single elderly female Nen Exorcist.
It was easy to imagine that if the name "Roy the Nen Exorcist" were ever made public—and if people learned just how effective his exorcism was—it would definitely cause a massive stir.
While Melody was still immersed in her joy, Gon asked in confusion, "What's a Nen Exorcist?"
After someone explained the whole matter from start to finish, everyone finally understood.
Then they all offered Melody their congratulations, and amid that cheerful atmosphere, Roy and the others chose to take their leave.
Light Nostrade watched their figures gradually disappear into the distance. Then he looked back at Melody, who had already returned to normal and was happily chatting with Squala, Eliza, and the others in the room. He pondered for a long while.
Then he first checked on Neon to make sure nothing was wrong, and after that returned to his room. From a drawer, he pulled out a business card with only a name and phone number written on it, then dialed the number.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Click.
"Who is this?"
A slightly tired but steady voice came from the other end of the phone.
"This is Light Nostrade. Do you remember me, Mr. Battera?"
"Light Nostrade?"
The person on the other end repeated the name, then immediately replied, "The Nostrade Family with the incredibly accurate divinations?"
"Yes, that's me, Mr. Battera. I was wondering, regarding your beloved's condition lately..."
"It's still the same as before."
The voice on the other end sank low for a moment, then abruptly rose again.
"Well, today I met a very remarkable person, someone with extraordinary healing powers..."
Back at their respective lodgings, everyone was occupied with their own thoughts.
After struggling over it for a long time, Leorio still decided that tomorrow he would go to the auction and get a good look at those great tycoons for himself, even if the experience shattered him completely.
Milluki, meanwhile, directly moved out of his old place and relocated into the hotel where Roy was staying. He simply wanted to be closer to his idol.
As for Gon and Killua, they continued their training through the long night.
"An intertwining of thunder and lightning, huh? So my way of thinking all this time really wasn't wrong."
Killua looked at the stun baton in his hand and, without the slightest hesitation, flicked the switch on once more.
In the room next to Killua's, Gon stared at his own hands.
"Rock, Paper, Scissors?"
He twisted his waist a little as he thought about it.
As for Roy, he simply made a brief phone call to old Luke, who was currently riding high, and asked about the recent development work on the manga.
On old Luke's side, they had already started considering producing the very first theatrical film for Dragon Ball.
After confirming that nothing strange had happened, Roy righteously refused old Luke's suggestions about a meeting party with wealthy heiress fans, as well as requests from a certain kingdom's princesses, queens, and royal consorts who wanted to dine with him, and then hung up the phone.
When he turned around, Android 18 was looking at him with a smile that was not quite a smile.
"What's wrong? Why refuse those wealthy heiresses, and those princesses and queens? It's only meeting them and having a meal, isn't it?"
On the surface, Android 18's smile was warm and gentle, but Roy felt a piercing chill.
He immediately changed the subject.
"We still have a lot of work to do next. How could I possibly indulge in that sort of romance right now? Don't forget, I still promised to help you earn those 50 billion Jenny!"
The moment money was mentioned, Android 18 instantly forgot the previous topic and immediately turned as gentle as water.
"Roy, you're so good~~~"
As she spoke, she moved closer to Roy, blew softly against his earlobe, and then...
(End of Chapter)
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