Pyon shook her head, and her rabbit ears twitched as if waving in the wind. Thanks to Larry's special ability, they could walk freely down the street without drawing unwanted attention.
People around them might notice there were others nearby, but they wouldn't be able to tell who they really were, just two ordinary individuals. Considering Pyon's status as one of the Zodiacs and Larry's growing fame, it was better to stay low-key.
Otherwise, Larry would likely be surrounded before he could even take a few steps. His reputation had spread across all six continents, reaching its peak after the recent martial arts competition. Today marked the third day since that event ended.
After receiving a call from Pyon, Larry decided to head to Yoshi Island to investigate in person. Unfortunately, Menchi couldn't join them because she had other things to do. It was the annual food competition, and she needed to return to help Linne.
Remarkably, a whole year had passed since their last participation. Last year, Menchi competed as a contestant; this year, she was part of the staff.
After defeating the invaders, saving the audience, and winning but forfeit afterward, Larry's fame skyrocketed. His already well-known name echoed even louder across the six continents, reaching a level where it seemed almost impossible to find someone who didn't know him.
Larry's reputation had grown to rival that of Chairman Netero himself. One of his impressive skills, known as his breath-masking ability, was surprisingly simple in concept. He had used it before at Carter Port.
Essentially, this technique allowed Gengar to suppress the presence of both Larry and Pyon, making it difficult for others to perceive or recognize them when they appeared together.
While many knew their names, seeing them in person wouldn't immediately ring a bell. This ability proved especially useful for celebrities like them.
Because this technique was mainly intended to fool ordinary people, Gengar didn't expend any aura to maintain it. Those with strong enough Nen abilities could still detect Larry and Pyon normally.
"Alright, I'll give it a shot," Larry said, shrugging as he focused on the surrounding rocks.
Suddenly, a message flashed in his mind from his shadow, Marshadow had sent it. The rock to his left hid a dark aura deep within.
"Hmm, the smell of darkness…" Larry furrowed his brow and fixed his gaze on the rock, examining it carefully.
On the surface, it looked like any ordinary stone, with small pits and patches of mud clinging to it. It gave off a fresh, earthy scent that made it seem completely natural.
In an instant, Larry's eyes were enveloped in a thick layer of focused aura! He used Gyo to analyze the rock, but still found nothing unusual. It truly seemed like a normal stone.
Yet, Marshadow's warning was not without reason, and Larry trusted him completely. As a Mythical Pokemon, Marshadow's senses far surpassed his own. Just because Larry couldn't detect anything didn't mean the stone was ordinary. So...
"Boss, do you sell this stone?" Larry asked, pointing to the rock on his left.
The stall owner, a middle-aged man who looked much younger than the elderly man sitting nearby on a pony, listened attentively as Larry awaited his advice.
The man hands rough and calloused, with dirt clearly lodged beneath his nails. Beside him lay the tools typical of a seasoned miner, safety helmets, mining picks, and other gear that spoke of years spent underground. It was obvious he had been mining for a long time.
Larry's eyes caught the fresh marks freshly chipped from the rock, and he felt a flicker of surprise.' Could he have mined these stones himself?'
The man's deep voice broke the silence with a simple, clear statement: "Twenty thousand." Then, after a brief pause, he added, "Cutting's on the house."
It was evident this middle-aged man was a man of few words. The stone itself wasn't large, about the size of a basketball, and priced reasonably at 20,000 Jenny.
Without hesitation, Larry pulled out the money and handed it over. The miner counted it carefully, slipped it into his pocket, and went straight to work on the stone using a specialized cutting tool.
A sharp, continuous cutting sound filled the air, "Zi! Zhi!…", as the man expertly sliced into the rock. His swift, practiced movements drew the attention of a couple of nearby customers who had been quietly inspecting other stones, curiosity naturally pulling them toward the unfolding scene. The miner handled the hard rock like it was a soft-boiled egg, the outer layer peeling away effortlessly.
Soon enough, something inside was revealed: a claw bone, about ten centimeters long, clearly belonging to some medium-sized beast. What caught everyone's eye, though, was how strikingly white the claw was.
Bones are generally white, sure, but this one glowed with a faint, almost ethereal light, several times brighter than ordinary bone. At first glance, it looked less like a bone and more like a piece of diamond, as if it had been digitally enhanced to look flawless.
Even the miner himself stared at it in disbelief, seemingly puzzled. Could this really be a claw?
The shape and details left no doubt, it was indeed a claw bone. Yet its unbelievable clarity, resembling pure diamond, made it seem more like an intricately carved artifact than a natural bone.
If the middle-aged man hadn't chiseled the claw bone out of the rock himself, he probably wouldn't have believed it was a skeleton at all.
Normally, a claw bone like this wouldn't be worth much, but something strange had changed, making it potentially very valuable.
At that moment, Larry used his Gyo again. He detected a faint, unusual death aura lingering on the claw bones.
Marshadow's warning had been right, there was definitely something off about these bones. Noticing Larry's serious expression, Pyon leaned in slightly, swishing the small tail decoration at his waist, and whispered, "Is there really something wrong? It just looks a little whiter, doesn't it?"
Although Pyon had tried using Gyo too, his power wasn't strong enough to detect the death aura.
"It's death aura," Larry said softly, eyes fixed on the pristine claw bone without blinking.
"Death aura?" Pyon's eyes widened as she took another, more careful look at the claw.
Death aura, as the name suggests, is a type of energy left behind after death. It usually appears in two ways. One, if a person with strong mental powers dies with intense attachments or regrets, their lingering energy can transform into death aura, which can then harm nearby beings. Two, some objects or materials are naturally born with death aura or can carry it, often originating from the Dark Continent.