The first 18 chapters were edited and some things changed.
Chapter 19: En
On the north coast of Ghost Island, two birds with slightly green feathers perched on the railing of a long-abandoned small yacht.
The moment Arthur's consciousness occupied the minds of these two birds, he felt as if some invisible, intangible "foreign object" had fallen on him, like an inescapable spider web or a cold breeze brushing past...
"Could this be En?"
Through the eyes of the two birds, he quietly observed the inside of the ship in the darkness. At this moment, beams of light occasionally swept through the cabin, and the sound of footsteps echoed through the deck, indicating that someone was searching inside the ship.
And among these people... there was a Nen Ability user.
Moreover, it was a Nen Ability expert who had mastered a considerable range of En.
En is a derivative application based on the four major principles of Nen Ability: Ten, Zetsu, Ren, and Hatsu. Simply put, it is a technique that involves spreading one's aura to envelop the surrounding environment for sensing and reconnaissance.
Everyone's En is different. Some people only care about the area around them, while others can extend their En up to 300 meters, encompassing an entire building...
The shape of En can also vary; it doesn't have to be "circular". For example, Neferpitou, one of the Chimera Ant Royal Guards, had an En with constantly changing tentacle-like contours. The most outrageous En in the manga was undoubtedly that of the Ant King Meruem, who transformed his aura into countless photons that sprayed and scattered in all directions. Being touched by any of these photons meant complete exposure to him, and these photons would remain on the target, guiding Meruem...
The person maintaining En in the cabin seemed to have encompassed the entire yacht within their range.
The manga never explicitly mentioned how En is trained. Even though Arthur could use animals' eyes for reconnaissance, he hadn't yet prioritized practicing En. Therefore, he couldn't accurately assess the specifics of this En, its detection strength, or the target's true capabilities...
This was partly because Arthur was occupying a bird's body rather than being there in person, but it also highlighted his own lack of vision and experience.
He still needed more training!
Arthur thought to himself as he continued to control the two birds, observing in secret. He wanted to control the birds to fly into the cabin and listen to what these searchers were saying, but the raised bird claws hesitated.
He had a significant disadvantage.
He wasn't a bird.
The natural movements, postures, and reactions of birds... Arthur couldn't perfectly mimic them.
Being within this En, any behavior too different from that of ordinary birds could easily be detected by the owner of this En.
Arthur thought of another point.
The Star Mark imprints he placed on the five birds were all conveniently marked on their beaks.
Two similar birds with similar rose-gold pentagram marks on their beaks... If the observer had keen enough observation skills and knowledge of Manipulation Type Nen Ability users, they might guess that these two birds were actually controlled by another ability user hidden somewhere...
Arthur controlled the two green birds perched on the ship's railing, looking at each other and chirping, as if trying to issue operational commands using bird language...
Tap, tap, tap... Footsteps approached from inside the cabin, and at the same time, the previously omnipresent En quickly disappeared.
The two green birds turned their heads and saw a tall, steady-footed young man with a cauliflower-like hairstyle, accompanied by several subordinates with flashlights, emerging from the cabin.
...What a high-end Miyagi Ryota!
Arthur glanced at this cauliflower-haired young man. Judging by the traces of the disappearing En, it was this guy who had released it.
This "Miyagi Ryota" didn't look at the two idle birds in the night but instead turned his hands behind his back and looked toward the shore, speaking calmly, "Mr. Sloer, didn't we agree that you wouldn't interfere with our investigation on this island? In return, we won't interfere with Ochima's investigation."
Flap, flap, flap... The two green birds spread their wings and took off.
They flew away but didn't completely leave. Arthur controlled the two green birds to land on a nearby reef, positioned to observe both the "Miyagi Ryota" group on the deck and the group led by the so-called "Mr. Sloer" on the shore.
Sloer, a young man with a slightly balding head, seemed a bit annoyed by "Miyagi Ryota's" words, "I received a report from local fishermen about a suspicious ship here, possibly involved in a murder. How come, as an official of Ochima, I don't have the right to investigate here?"
Babimyna stood like a spear at the bow of the ship, slightly raising his voice, "Please mind your words, Mr. Sloer. Strictly speaking, this is the territory of the Kakin Empire."
Huh? What does that mean?
Arthur, who was using the eyes of the green birds to observe the small figure behind Sloer, couldn't see clearly in the dark.
Hearing Babimyna's statement, he couldn't help but wonder. Isn't Ghost Island supposed to be an island on the top left corner of Ochima's map? It's separated from Kakin by a vast sea. How did it become part of Kakin?
I've already surfed the internet, okay? Don't try to confuse me!
Sloer just smiled at this, seemingly not taking it seriously, "You see, that's precisely where our disagreement lies. I thought this occasion would be an opportunity to make this disagreement a thing of the past."
"I'll repeat the agreement we reached," Babimyna said. "Both parties will set aside disputes and can investigate what they want on this island for 20 days, without interference."
Sloer complained, "Most of the land on this island is managed by the Blanchet Company."
Babimyna replied, "Negotiating with them is your business, not mine."
With that, he turned and entered the cabin, leaving two armed subordinates to keep an eye on the people on the shore.
"..." Sloer touched his thinning hair, "Let's go."
"Why are we leaving? What's going on?" The small figure behind him seemed disappointed, complaining, "I was hoping to chat with the people on the other side!"
One of the men in black suits, hearing the small figure's words, couldn't help but ask curiously, "What do you want to talk about?"
The small figure replied, "I'm a bodyguard, so of course, I want to ask if they need to hire me too."
The others nearly fainted upon hearing this. Is this guy really a professional Hunter? Is there something wrong with his head? You want to work both sides?
The small figure got angry, "Don't look down on me! I'm really good. I could be a bodyguard for both sides all by myself!"
Sloer turned, sighing as he walked, "Mr. Kanzai, while we're not enemies with the people from Kakin this time, we're not allies either."
Kanzai responded with an "Oh," sounding disappointed, "Well, if that's the case, there's nothing I can do!"
The black-suited woman who had asked earlier summarized, "So he's just dumb, not greedy."
You said that too bluntly! The others couldn't help but look at her.
"Who are you calling dumb?!" Kanzai was furious, glaring at the woman, "What's your name again, glasses girl?"
The woman replied, "I'm Shizuku. I took this job because the pay is very high, so I thought I'd give it a try."
The latter part didn't need to be said... The others sighed.
"Alright, let's all get in the car." Sloer felt like he was going to lose more hair tonight, "Let's head back to West Town. After a day of travel by spaceship, train, and boat, you must be tired. Tomorrow, we have to negotiate with those vampires from the Blanchet Company... Sigh, Mr. Kanzai, the only person you need to protect closely is me. Everyone else can be considered enemies or potential enemies. Do you understand?"
Kanzai said, "You should have said that earlier. Talking to you idiots is exhausting!"
The group took a deep breath, swallowing their words, and got into the two SUVs, driving off into the night.
In the dust kicked up by the departing cars, a green bird followed closely, swooping through the car's taillights and landing on the roof of the rear vehicle.