Chapter 6: Lumin
Arthur was noncommittal about the possibly false information from Musse.
He had too little information.
He didn't know if the woman who might be the biological mother of his current body was a Nen user during her lifetime, nor did he have a clear understanding of the identity of the person in front of him. He could only say he knew nothing.
Most importantly, Arthur's "Star Mark" allowed him to either control the other person's body with his own consciousness or command them from an observer's perspective. The common point was that he could only control the other person's body, not their thoughts.
In short, Arthur could make the other person say what he wanted to say, but he couldn't make them reveal information that only existed in their mind, which he himself didn't know.
Arthur was self-aware.
With his current level, interrogating a trained desperado was too difficult. If he wasn't careful, he might not get any information from the other side and instead reveal his own secrets...
Thinking of the spoils he had already gained, a pile of cash and a Hunter License, was enough to be satisfied.
Forget it, let's leave it at that.
With this in mind, Arthur chuckled, "What an imagination! That baby boy cried non-stop along the way, so I tied a stone to him and threw him into the sea. When your comrades come looking tomorrow, you can tell them to dive in and fish him out."
"Aren't all my companions dead?" Musse gave Arthur no chance to extract information. The next second, his body, out of his control, stood up from kneeling and followed Arthur.
Arthur didn't expect to get any real information, and even if Musse answered, Arthur couldn't verify its truth. Conversely, regardless of Musse's response, Arthur would assume that Musse still had accomplices who would come to the scene...
With his hands in his pockets, Arthur led Musse to a windowless room in the cabin.
"Go in."
Arthur said, "Don't come out without my order."
As Musse obediently stepped into the small room, he marveled once again at the bizarre Manipulation Type Nen ability of this kid.
From his personal experience, this kid could completely strip away his consciousness for full control or retain his consciousness for directive control... Such a convenient and free Manipulation Type ability was almost too perfect.
"And such a perfect Manipulation Type ability..." Musse sat on the floor, expressionless, watching the door slowly close. "There must be some kind of restriction!"
Bang, Arthur closed the door, and the cabin was silent again, with only the sound of the waves outside.
...
"Can I move now?" Inside the room, Musse immediately realized this fact. He muttered to himself, "He has three modes of operation! Complete control by stripping my consciousness, directive control while retaining my consciousness, and remote control while retaining my consciousness. Before closing the door, he was actually using the last one!"
It's even more perfect...
"But unfortunately, I'm also a Manipulation Type. When you touched me before, it was equivalent to me touching you. At that moment, both of us met the conditions to activate our abilities!" Musse raised his hand, placing his palm against the door. "As a child, you're already excellent. But you should have killed me immediately... Secret Window Bird!"
...
How should I kill this guy?
After leaving the door of the room where Musse was temporarily held, Arthur frowned, pondering this question.
The other person had his "Star Mark," which meant they had gained passive self-healing. Arthur himself had benefited from this ability's passive effect before, recovering quickly even after a bullet pierced his neck, though it left him more exhausted. But it was clear how impressive and wonderful the "healing power" of his "Star Mark" was.
"Is there something wrong if I can't effectively kill the enemy because my own Nen ability has too much healing power?"
As he walked, he encountered the big tiger approaching. That guy seemed to have called the tiger's name before, something like "Crescent Moon Tiger"? What a lousy name... Arthur reached out and gently peeled off the thick scab covering the injured eye of the Crescent Moon Tiger, like removing a film. The Crescent Moon Tiger blinked its restored eye and affectionately rubbed its big head against Arthur's hand.
"Crescent Moon Tiger should be your species name, right?" Arthur patted the tiger's head with a smile. "It doesn't sound good. I'll give you a name, let's call you 'Lumin'! Haha."
Lumin naturally didn't understand the meaning of the name, but it seemed quite happy and affectionately rubbed against Arthur's face.
"Alright, alright, that's enough. Where's your initial aloofness?" Arthur scolded, "Recover yourself."
Lumin blinked innocently.
Arthur reached out, touching the white belly of Lumin. If he lifted a certain area of fur, he would see a rose-gold Pentagram imprinted there.
"Star Mark" hidden rule: As long as Arthur's hand touches the mark, it will automatically be removed.
Lumin took a step back, avoiding Arthur's hand.
Arthur took a step forward, and Lumin retreated again.
"Addicted to being controlled?" Arthur chased, and Lumin ran, as if they were playing.
Finally, Arthur remembered the important task. After wandering with Lumin away from the corridor, he returned to the cabin's lounge at the initial entrance and summoned the Wild Wolf hidden in the shadows.
Arthur restored the consciousness of the Wild Wolf, then pointed in the direction of the corridor they came from, ordering, "Stay here. If that guy from earlier leaves the room without permission, kill him."
The Wild Wolf growled in agreement, agilely leaping back, choosing a spot opposite the door to crouch, staring with wolf eyes at the tightly closed room door.
Arthur touched the back of his neck, where the "Star Mark" he had placed on himself was under the collar of his short-sleeved shirt.
"I don't even know the limit of this thing's self-healing power..." he muttered to himself, turning towards the cabin's main entrance. "Can it recover from a decapitation? What about a heart explosion? How severe must the injury be to reach the boundary of being incurable? Hmm... maybe I should test it on that guy in the room tomorrow?"
He squeezed one of his spoils, the Hunter License. Killing a murderer should grant him immunity with this thing, right? He remembered the Hunter License had many privileges!
"Click."
Arthur stepped on something and looked down to see it was a branch.
Picking up the branch, Arthur sat down directly inside the door. In case of any situation, it would be convenient to retreat. Lumin yawned humanely, flicked its tail, and lay down beside Arthur.
Arthur comfortably lay on the warm body of the big tiger.
He examined the branch, plucking a leaf from it and playing with it in his hand...
This branch had grown from the leaf he had picked to perform the Water Divination Method.
A single leaf had grown into a branch. What would it do next? It was hard to imagine. Would it take root and grow into a towering tree?
Not only was it unscientific, but it was also downright unscientific!
Arthur's eyes were somewhat gloomy, his thoughts unconsciously returning to the moment he woke from a brief coma before Musse appeared...
****
"I've grown taller?"
Arthur looked down at his sleeves and rolled-up pant legs... The clothes on his body seemed to have "shrunk" a bit.
He stood in front of Lumin and the Wild Wolf, comparing the change in his line of sight, confirming one thing: Whenever there was death nearby, whether human or animal, a strange aura would seep into his heart... And when his heart accumulated too much of this strange aura, he would fall unconscious, and his body would grow as if it had been ripened!
Is this a blessing or a curse?