Hunter x Hunter: The Sun Breathing Zoldyck - 138

Chapter 138: Gas Life-Form Ai × Curse Transfer

"Why would you ask that?"

Zeno’s gaze was deep as he turned to look at the boy. "What did you see in the illusion?"

A false reality, or a real illusion?

The Life Energy from Sagin, Gul'dan, and Dassault sat plainly in the interface. Roy fell silent for a moment, then answered honestly.

"Pig-Headed Men."

"And?" Zeno asked.

"Souls," Roy said. He had no idea how to explain Life Energy to Zeno, so he could only call them "souls." Gripping the railing, he looked out over the shimmering lake. "It feels like those things are real. Not as simple as a memory."

When falsehood is taken for truth, truth turns false. When nothing becomes something, something becomes nothing.

The world was material, and yet empty. Just like dark matter: it had no electromagnetic presence, took part in no interaction, could not be touched or observed, and yet its mass and gravitational effects proved it existed. It lay beyond humanity’s basic understanding of what "matter" meant.

"Great-grandfather said he 'lived-dead,' but I do not think he is really dead," Roy said quietly. "I think he is still alive."

Zeno did not bring up the curse.

Hands clasped behind his back, he watched a tour boat drift by with a father and son aboard. The boy was scooping at the water with a little net under his father’s patient guidance. A flicker of memory crossed the old man’s eyes. "You saw the Magic Eye at home," he said. "Its structure is simple, not as active as a human brain. But…"

"It carries your Grandfather Zigg’s memories. At the very least, it is a living thing."

"So calling him alive is not exactly wrong."

Roy frowned. "With you and Great-grandfather both there, you still could not stop Grandfather from mutating back then?"

"He never came home. How would we stop him?"

"What?"

That could not be right. According to the original account, when Netero first explored the Dark Continent, he had been hired by the Republic of Mimbo to search south of Lake Mobius for the legendary "source of all liquid," the Three-Greats Water. On the way, they trespassed into the domain of the Gas Life-Form Ai and almost suffered total annihilation.

They had only survived because Grandfather Zigg made a wish to one of the mysterious Ai. That wish sent them back alive.

As the price, Nanika later appeared. If, as Zeno was saying now, Zigg had never returned, then without Grandfather as a vessel, Ai could not have left its territory to reside in the Zoldyck bloodline as Nanika. Alluka would never have been born.

"It was a Nen beast," Zeno said, as if sensing Roy’s confusion.

"The Biscuit Soldier was a game card your Grandfather Zigg acquired in the past. He raised it into a Nen beast."

"It was the one that brought back the Magic Eye and your grandfather’s last words."

He paused, then looked Roy squarely in the eye. "When you go home, visit your Grandfather Zigg more often. Everything you want to know is there."

Roy said nothing. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Zeno, letting the wind blow over them as they watched the scenery. The sun dipped toward the horizon. Evening clouds spread across the sky, setting the whole dome ablaze in crimson. After a long while, Roy nodded.

“Grandfather, you played the game too, didn’t you?”

"Yes."

"Did you clear it?"

"No."

"How far did you get?"

"Giant King City, Dragun," Zeno said with a hint of regret. "I had the good fortune to witness the giants in person while traveling with your Grandfather Zigg. Unfortunately, I was not paying attention and got kicked to death by a passing dog."

"Uh…"

"Go ahead and laugh," Zeno said.

Roy pressed his lips together. "I am not laughing. It just sounds a bit… exaggerated."

Sol tilted its head toward him and flapped a wing over its beak with a soft puff.

Zeno’s eye twitched.

He poked Roy in the side and put on a mock scowl. "Brat, you are a frog at the bottom of a well. You have no idea how big that world is. On that continent, never mind a dog, even an ant can kill you."

That, Roy, believed. A so-called "strongest human" had been forced to self-detonate and trigger a nuke against the Chimera Ants. That said enough.

Roy patted Sol’s head, hinting for it to give Grandpa some face, then nodded in all seriousness. "You are right, Grandfather. I will do as Great-great-grandfather says. No matter what, I am never going to a place like that."

Zeno stared at him without changing expression, every line of his face spelling out, "You think I believe that?"

Roy rubbed his nose, let out an awkward little laugh, muttered something about it getting late and needing to prepare for tomorrow’s test, then turned and slipped away.

The setting sun chased his back, draping him in a cloak of sunset light.

After Roy disappeared, Netero drifted over, sleeves billowing, and came to stand beside Zeno. "Enough staring," he said quietly. "I know you are itching to go."

"But too bad. There is no ship for the likes of us old fossils in this new age."

"In the end, it still has to be left to the youngsters."

"Do I look that old to you?" Zeno glared. "Did you forget? I am thirty years younger than you."

"Want to spar?" Netero narrowed his eyes and let his sleeve fall, pulling out the volleyball.

A breeze stirred the eight characters across Zeno’s chest - "One Kill Per Day, Active for Life" - making them dance. He had not "opened his account" today. Using this old geezer for a warm-up did not sound bad.

He lowered his hands from behind his back.

"Fine. Let’s spar."

Bang.

The inn door swung shut behind Roy.

After saying goodbye to Zeno, he returned to his room, sent Rika back to hers, and told Gotoh to stand guard at the door.

First, he opened the interface and began absorbing the 40 points of Life Energy he had pulled from Sagin and Gul'dan.

Once Physique rose, his tolerance grew with it. Compared to the slow, incremental absorption back in Heavens Arena, Roy could now endure the pain much better.

As usual, he stripped off his outer clothes and headed for the bathroom.

Sol, still traumatized from being forcibly held under the water last time, flapped frantically and refused to go in. Roy had no choice but to leave the bird on the bed.

Alone, he started allocating points.

One by one, the prompts chimed, and the forty points of Life Energy dropped to zero.

The familiar agony surged up. Roy braced his hands against the wall and bit down on his lip, forcing himself to stay conscious.

It felt like being thrown into a furnace for a complete remolding.

He could "see" every part of his body changing.

First the heart, then the liver, gallbladder, spleen, and lungs. Then bones. Then the blood vessels. Then muscles. Then skin. Even hair fell out and regrew.

He opened his mouth and blew out a long breath of turbid air, then lifted his eyes to the mirror again. His build had not changed much, but his height had jumped by another two centimeters.

[Prompt: Physique: 131.8 → 171.8 (Note: baseline human = 1)]

[Manifest Aura: D (270/10,000) → D+ (3,600/10,000)
(Note: Grading uses Chimera Ants as reference. Ordinary Ant = E, elite squad leader = D, Division Commander = C, Royal Guards = B-, Ant King = B+)]

[Potential Aura: D (430/10,000) → C (120/100,000)]

[Evaluation: A sturdy young apple tree, eager to bear fruit.]

His breath fogged the mirror in a film of moisture. Power surged inside him like a fountain. The deficit in his mental energy filled in an instant.

Roy straightened and flexed. Crack, crack, crack. New joints popped like roasting beans, as if they were cheering and welcoming their master’s rebirth.

In that moment, Roy had a clear feeling. If he ran into the Pig-Headed General again, even if he still could not win, he could at least last a few more exchanges. He would not go down in just a handful of blows, his head smashed to paste by a flying hammer.

He turned on the shower. Water rushed down. There was still oil and shed hair on his skin that needed rinsing off, so he raked a hand through his hair and stepped under the spray.

His gaze dropped to the back of his hand.

He froze.

At some point, a mark had appeared on his smooth skin.

It was shaped like a disc, with a string of numbers clearly engraved on it.

Counting down.