"Tap..."
Roy walked straight past the little beggar, slowly leaving with the knight's squire who had called out to him...
After he went far away, the street that had fallen dead silent resumed its previous clamor...
A few children who had fled turned back. Seeing Roy leave, they were visibly stunned, then rushed back in a swarm. They lent a hand to pull the little beggar up from the ground and said, "Hey, Paramon, you're so lucky you didn't get kicked to death like Jerome!"
Jerome was also one of their beggar gang. At the end of last month, because he was fighting for a piece of wheat cake, he accidentally brushed against Andrew. In return, Rongergon smashed him to death with a shield. At that time, white, yellow, and red matter spilled all over the ground. The person was flattened into a meat patty, almost making the other children throw up their overnight meals from the day before...
Therefore, the little beggar went even further than Jerome today by directly bumping into him, yet surprisingly, nothing happened to him. Many onlookers, such as the cart-pulling uncle and the mushroom-selling aunt, couldn't help but sigh... Paramon was lucky.
The little beggar named Paramon recovered from his daze. He hazily glanced in the direction Roy had left, only to feel a cold dampness in his crotch. Looking down, he realized he had wet himself. He quickly squeezed his legs together so no one would notice his awkward state. Fortunately, after the crowd secretly sighed for a while, they suddenly met the malicious gazes of the slave traders and scattered like startled birds. No one had the time to care about him.
Left behind, Paramon yelled, "Wait for me," while awkwardly clamping his legs together. He ran in a comical, bizarre posture, escaping the slave traders' line of sight and disappearing into a secluded alley...
"Whoosh..." A gentle breeze rose, blowing away a white cloud in the sky.
Amidst the muddy and filthy environment, it seemed only the azure sky overhead could bring Roy a little comfort.
The boy's silver hair shifted into brown locks that draped down his back. Red light surged in his pupils as he cast a faint glance forward. The knight's squire, whose back was turned to him, wore a somewhat stiff expression. Through Andrew Cooper's memories, he recognized the man as Dunn, a guard serving Lord Edmond Belberg, and also a Nen user.
'Judging from his [Blood Energy] and Nen aura, he is obviously much stronger than the cart-pulling uncle and the mushroom-selling aunt...'
[Eye of Truth] flickered... A string of information subsequently surfaced in Roy's mind...
Roy raised an eyebrow, quietly taking note of the word [Void]. He then looked up... Dunn was silently leading the way, not saying a word, completely uninterested in chatting with Roy. Roy could vaguely see an inexplicable sense of familiarity from the other party, suspected to be [Divine Protection], but the feeling... didn't quite seem like it. It was very strange...
"Step..." The two walked one after the other, neither paying attention to the other. Amidst an eerie silence, they soon arrived in front of a luxurious villa.
A large open space had been cleared in front of the villa, paved with exquisite floor tiles. Adjacent to the tiles was a straight asphalt concrete road, telling a story... The current Bandle City, or rather the Principality of Samir, was not entirely as backward as Roy had previously imagined. It just indirectly proved the fact that—
Advanced things were all controlled by those in high positions and rarely flowed down to the bottom!
"Good afternoon, Lord Dunn!" The guards stationed at the villa immediately straightened their chests and took off their hats in salute upon seeing Dunn.
Dunn was about thirty years old, wearing an open vest with his waist tightened by a slender leather belt. He nodded to the men as usual, waited for the villa gates to open, and led Roy straight inside.
Maintaining the appearance of Andrew Cooper, Roy recalled his various behaviors when frequently entering and exiting the villa while inconspicuously glancing at the guards at the door. Most of them were at the "E" level, which was about the level Gon and Killua were at when they first opened their Aura Nodes. Of the Four Major Principles—[Ten], [Zetsu], [Ren], and [Hatsu]—they had probably only mastered the first two. They were still quite a distance away from unlocking [Hatsu] and completely developing their own Nen abilities. Obviously, they lacked... proper guidance...
As the boy's eyes flickered, he adjusted the hem of his clothes, lifted his foot, and strolled into the villa courtyard with Dunn. As soon as he entered, he could hear decadent music faintly drifting out from the villa's glorious hall...
Occasionally, he could also hear a certain man's heavy breathing and lewd laughter coming from inside.
This instantly pulled Roy back to the scene he had seen in Ribery Garcia's mind... The noble Viscount Garcia, along with his captain of the guard, conquering Lady Garcia together...
Roy slightly lowered his eyelids and took a deep breath. He listened as Dunn West opened the door, turned back to look at him, and said, "Please."
Roy nodded and stepped into the villa's living room. The first thing he saw was a pot-bellied middle-aged man swirling a red wine glass. In front of him, several young boys and girls dressed in revealing clothes were singing and dancing... Their private parts were deliberately covered with light gauze, faintly discernible, both mysterious enough to prevent one from seeing completely, yet leaving one wanting more...
Roy imitated Andrew Cooper, waiting quietly to the side without interrupting... He waited until the man finished the wine in his glass and waved his hand, signaling Dunn West to take the young boys and girls away, leaving only one young boy held in his arms. Only then did he hear him sigh leisurely and say, "Andrew, none of them are as slutty as your wife."
Edmond Sand gently stroked the young boy's back, let out a burp, and tilted his head to look at Roy with a half-smile. "You're a lucky kid to have married a good wife who caught Lord Simon's eye. Otherwise, the cushy job of collecting departed spirits wouldn't have fallen to you."
Lord Simon... Deputy Commander of the Security Force... Roy searched Andrew Cooper's memories, and a man with a massive hooked nose couldn't help but surface in his mind. The other party had a slender figure, always wore a monocle, and his smile... always sent a chill down his spine, indescribably sinister...
Roy placed his right hand over his chest and bowed humbly to Edmond Sand. "It is all thanks to Lord Edmond's cultivation. Without you, there would be no Andrew today."
"Hehehe... Don't say those polite words. After all, we can be considered friends who have entered the same [Hole]," Edmond Sand said with a wicked smile. "Your wife is also my wife. If you can handle the errands well, I will also look good in front of Lord Simon."
"Yes."
"Alright, tell me, how is the progress?" Edmond Sand lazily shrank back into his chair, propping up his chin and tilting his head to look over... Roy thought of Old Mark, thought of Madam Nora, thought of Little Matty whose skin was peeled off to make a wine flask, and those men and women, fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers who willingly fed themselves to magical beasts just so their children could enter the city to enjoy a good life...
Suppressing the anger gradually welling up in his heart, he said, "According to Lord Edmond's instructions, eleven have already been collected."
"Eleven?" Edmond frowned, his face instantly falling. "Why so few? What about the premium goods? How many premium goods are there?"
Premium goods... meaning the departed spirits of Nen users...
There was a difference between [Mortal] and [Nen]. The soul strength of an ordinary person was obviously inferior to that of a Nen user who had opened their Aura Nodes and awakened their Nen abilities... Even with [Post-Mortem Nen], an ordinary person could not compare to a Nen user...
Roy searched Andrew Cooper's memories and instantly understood what [Premium Goods] meant... He lowered his head and said, "Apologies, Lord Edmond, none have been collected yet..."
"Whoosh—"
The atmosphere in the living room instantly cooled down, as if someone had pressed the mute button...
After a moment, Edmond Sand smiled.
He nodded gently. "Hmm."
Ignoring Roy, he suddenly asked the boy trembling in his arms, "Why are you shaking? Are you scared?"
The boy's back was bare, and he was only wearing a pair of triangular briefs on his lower body. He tremblingly squeezed out a smile and said, "My Lord, I am not."
"Nonsense, you are clearly scared!"
"My Lord, I am not."
"Still lying!" Edmond's expression suddenly changed. He reached out and grabbed the boy's neck. [Ten] directly attached to his thick palm. Right then and there, he lifted him up by the neck like picking up a little chick. With the naked eye, one could see... the boy's cheeks rapidly turning purple. He struggled, desperately kicking his legs and slapping Edmond's arm... like a drowning person on the verge of death, ready to sink to the bottom at any moment...
"Ghk... Urgh..."
Edmond seemed to finally remember Roy. He tilted his head to look at him again and said, "Andrew, do you think he looks like you?"
Roy's body trembled. When he looked up again, the anger in his eyes could no longer be suppressed. It instantly turned red and spewed forth!
"Sizzle!" [Laser] fired!
Two scorching lasers suddenly shot from Roy's eyes straight at Edmond Sand!
Before the man could recover his senses, it instantly severed the fat hand he used to grip the boy, causing him to wail miserably and squeal like a slaughtered pig!
"Thud." The boy whose neck had been gripped fell limply along with a severed hand. Finally able to breathe a mouthful of air, his knees gave way, and he collapsed directly onto the floor... He let out heavy, ragged gasps of "Hah... Hah...", seemingly still not recovered from the fright. He blankly watched Roy, who had saved his life, flash his figure and instantly turn into a ray of sunlight. He only felt his vision blur, and with another glance, he saw...
He stepped on Edmond Sand's fat face with one foot, the red light in his eyes almost dyed blood-red by anger!
"Why?"
"Why did you have to scare me?"
"Don't you know I'm timid and can't handle being scared?"
"Crunch." The foot crushed the facial skin, then pressed down on the facial bones... Edmond Sand's miserable screams grew deafening... It soon alarmed Dunn West, who hadn't gone far, and the dozen or so guards stationed at the villa!
As soon as Dunn West reached the outside of the corridor, his expression changed. "Lord Edmond!"
He abruptly turned around and rushed back into the living room, followed by a swarm of over a dozen guards holding various weapons!
Crazy! The door burst open! When they saw Edmond Sand being stepped on by Roy, who had transformed into Andrew Cooper, Dunn West and the guards were collectively stunned. With another glance, they shouted and charged over!
"Andrew Cooper, do you know what you're doing?"
"By the [Thunder], damn it... let go of Lord Edmond!"
"Don't come any closer!" A sudden sharp shout stopped Dunn West and the others in their tracks. Roy narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling a tyrannical fluctuation of Nen aura coming from beneath his foot. His figure flashed, and borrowing the sunlight, he transformed into light once again and retreated to the side. Suddenly...
Edmond Sand, who had been stepped on by him and lost a hand, abruptly swelled up!
Various liver spots slowly surfaced on his chest, head, arms, and thighs. His body expanded rapidly, turning into a massive [Bloated Corpse] in the blink of an eye. Finally, unable to hold on, it exploded with a boom!
"Boom! Don't anyone come closer! I'm going to tear him apart alive!"
Suddenly, an angry roar accompanied the explosion of the [Bloated Corpse], shooting out countless Nen bullets carrying a putrid stench. They abruptly merged again, condensing into a putrid torrent that washed toward Roy...
Red light surged in Roy's pupils as [Laser] instantly switched to [Eye of Truth]. He fixed his gaze... A stream of information subsequently surfaced in his mind.
Roy frowned and took another two glances at the word [Void]. He keenly discovered... Edmond Sand, who was charging toward him right now, just like Dunn West who was watching like a hawk from the side, was suspected to have experienced one, or even two or three... [Divine Protection]!
Then the question arose.
They were all abandoned people spat upon by [God], forced to eke out a living in the Uzuki Forest... Where did the [Divine Protection] on them come from?
Many doubts surged into his mind, a tangled mess that couldn't be unraveled...
Roy simply hardened his heart and stopped thinking about it. He directly unleashed [En], dispatched the [Heart Bugs], and simultaneously opened his mouth to exhale a breath of drowsiness, instantly enveloping the entire villa, including the living room, garden, and rear corridor. He was heard saying:
"Sleep."
[Dream Domain]... Activate!
"Buzz..." An invisible fluctuation spread out like water ripples...
Sweeping past Edmond Sand, who had transformed into a putrid torrent, causing the torrent to pause.
Sweeping past the spectating Dunn West, causing his expression to turn hazy and making him instantly stumble.
Sweeping past the guards, causing the weapons in their hands to drop with a clatter. Their legs gave way, dropping like flies, and they collapsed to the ground with thuds...
Not to mention those pitiful young boys and girls who hadn't opened their Aura Nodes, the birds, insects, and fish... Any living creature that met head-on with a pair of pupils inscribed with a massive word "Sleep" stiffened, and then obediently lay down...
"You... you're not Andrew Cooper!"
"Lord Edmond, be careful, this guy isn't Andrew Cooper!"
"There's something weird about his Nen aura!"
**3. Updated Glossary**