Chapter 152: Silva Smashes a Star x Grandpa Zzigg's Second Notebook
A mountain wind seemed to blow from the unknown... In the garden, grass bowed, flowers bent, listening to the wind and thunder in the silence.
After Roy's single slash, he stood there quietly, neither humble nor arrogant, his face devoid of joy or sorrow... Zeno, who had been watching the battle closely, frowned slightly. Then he heard the Oldest Master speak softly: "Look at the sky."
Whoosh~ Wind howled, clouds shattered...
Zeno and Illumi both looked up. Illumi's vacant eyes suddenly constricted, and his mouth dropped open in a rare display of shock!
It was a meteor!
"Did that child Roy slice a meteor out of the sky?" Zeno blew out his mustache. The boy was exaggerating.
To be precise... "Not sliced, but 'pulled'..." Maha's gaze was piercing, seeing the fire clearly. He watched the meteorite, dragged by the purple [Magnetic Dragon], burn into a fireball against the friction of the air, hurtling straight for the garden. He chuckled low. "Finally showing some improvement."
The old man smacked his lips. "A pity... the speed is a bit slow..."
RUMBLE~ The meteor descended. From a black dot, it grew to the size of a basketball, then became visible to the naked eye without Gyo. In just two seconds...
It fell with "heavenly fire" and the power of destruction... In this moment, the butlers and magical beasts scattered in every corner of the Zoldyck estate sensed it. They all looked up, screaming in panic!
At that time, Tsubone was having afternoon tea with Kikyo... Kastro was guarding the mountain path, reviewing his battle from yesterday... Gotoh stood by the pond, arms around a katana, eyes closed in meditation... Hearing the wind, seeing the sky, their jaws dropped, losing all composure...
"Is this... a natural disaster or... man-made?"
Those not present couldn't understand the magnitude of the event... The usually quiet, even deathly still Kukuroo Mountain seemed to "come alive" in an instant. Beasts fled, birds scattered in panic...
As the meteor drew closer, even blotting out the sun above...
Silva, holding his "Nen Whip," glanced faintly at Roy. The boy had exhausted all his Nen, barely holding himself up with "Snow-Walker." He was a spent force.
"You have the skill to pull it, but not the skill to deal with it." Silva took two steps forward, standing in front of Roy, facing the meteor. He put away his whip, subtly shielding the boy... The man said coldly, "Are you planning to destroy this home?"
Weakness washed over Roy like a tide. He answered truthfully, "I just wanted to create something of my own. I didn't think about hurting anyone."
So... a flash of inspiration from the strong becomes an unbearable mountain when it falls on ordinary people?
"You've grown stronger, but you've also grown less self-aware." The man turned his back to the boy, leaving a cold remark. Wind swirled beneath his feet. With a "Nen vortex," he launched himself from the ground, soaring straight towards the meteor!
Like a tiny ant charging a towering elephant. The visual disparity made everyone sweat for him!
"Heh heh heh... Your dad is right. You have epiphanies wherever you please, without considering the occasion..." Maha's low chuckle drifted over.
Zeno, leaning against the window frame with him, couldn't help but glance at the old man. He seriously suspected the Oldest Master was shifting the blame... You were the one who gave the boy a hint. The boy actually had an epiphany, and just lost control for a moment. Now... why is it all the boy's fault?
One could only say... when people get old, they really stop caring about face... Zeno suddenly thought of Netero. He had to admit, Enhancers were birds of a feather in some respects...
RUMBLE...
Three hundred meters, two hundred meters, one hundred meters. The meteor trailed a long tail of fire. Up close... only then did they realize just how massive it was!
It seemed to look down with disdain, mocking Silva's overconfidence, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot... It accelerated downwards, intending to crush him!
Mid-air, Silva opened his palms, condensing two "Nen Orbs." They didn't look particularly impressive, but... as he brought his palms together, aimed at the meteor, and fired!
BOOM! The "Nen Blast" turned into a thick "pillar of light," instantly hitting the "meteor." Then... before the eyes of Roy, Illumi, Zeno, Maha, the Zoldyck masters and butlers, and even the fleeing beasts and magical creatures, a spectacular "fireworks show" unfolded!
Crack... Crack... The meteor paused. Cracks spiderwebbed across its surface. A second later, it exploded!
Fire and dust turned into streaks of light, vanishing in mid-air...
The man floated down lightly, landing with his back to Roy, as if he had done something trivial.
He said, "Welcome home."
Hands in his pockets, he strolled away...
Roy watched his back disappear into the garden, down the path, all the way to the second-floor bedroom... He slumped, spreading his arms and lying flat on the soft grass, facing the sun, staring blankly.
This is [Stats]. Simple, brutal, unreasonable!
Father is like this. Razor scaring off the Spiders alone was like this. Even Grandfather Zeno's Dragon Dive, Netero's 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva... and the giant wreathed in black lightning he glimpsed yesterday from Great-Great-Grandfather...
All of them demonstrated just how important [Stats], or [Aura Quantity], were for a "Nen user"!
Tap... tap... Roy heard footsteps as he mused... It was Illumi.
My foolish, dear little brother lay down next to the boy and said, "Father asked me to tell you that at your age, he wasn't as good as you."
Roy remained silent.
Illumi rolled over to look at him, pulling open his collar to reveal his chest. "Can't you hear people's inner voices? Listen to mine, and you'll know if it's true."
"Get lost!"
"Okay."
Illumi rolled over, turning his back to Roy.
It was nearing noon, the sun was shining. The Zoldyck brothers lay side by side, sunbathing.
Not far from their feet, Milluki was being dragged like a dead dog by a small butler into the garden...
Further away, Tsubone was directing the butler team as they filed in to clean up the mess... The old butler, her pink pigtails swinging, occasionally glanced at Roy... The boy recovered a bit of Nen, rolled over, and stood up. Grabbing "Snow-Walker" in one hand and his cane sword in the other, under her watchful gaze, he slowly walked towards his bedroom.
It was noon. He was hungry. His stomach started to rumble... Gotoh had been sent to wait by the pond... The one pushing the food cart this time was Grandfather Zeno...
"Your Great-Great-Grandfather wants you to make something new for him to taste tomorrow." The old man hadn't eaten Roy's cooking in a long time and specifically requested the boy to cook.
Zeno, hoping to sneak a bite himself, went straight to Roy's bedroom without waiting for him. He pulled up a chair at the dining table, cut a piece of steak, popped it in his mouth, and tossed a book to Roy.
Roy sat opposite him, catching it with one hand. He grabbed a slice of pizza and ate while looking at it... The book was old. Handwritten on the title page were a few large characters—
Record of the West Continent
Roy's gaze instantly sharpened!
He knew clearly that the [Lake Mobius Islands] surrounded by Lake Mobius didn't have an "East" or "West" continent...
Unlike the "Yorbian Continent" or the "Azian Continent"... "East" and "West" referred specifically to—
The Dark Continent!
"This is the notebook your Grandpa Zzigg left behind when he explored the Dark Continent years ago. You can consider it the second volume to the one you have." Zeno spoke around a mouthful of food. Roy's eyes flickered, thinking of someone—Ging's ancestor, Don Freecss!
Legend had it that over three hundred years ago, he journeyed to the Dark Continent alone. After many trials, he wrote Journey to the New World, divided into East and West volumes.
The East volume was later found by the V5 and Ging, but there was no news of the West volume.
According to Ging's speculation, either it was lost, or... Don Freecss simply hadn't finished exploring, or hadn't written it yet. In fact... to this day, it wasn't even known if the man was still alive.
After all: The Dark Continent has "Nitro Rice," a miraculous crop that can greatly extend life and maintain a certain degree of "eternal youth"...
Roy stared at the Record of the West Continent in his hand, not opening it immediately. In his heart, he felt more and more strongly that Grandpa Zzigg wasn't dead. Or rather...
The "Gate to the Dark Continent" standing in his cognition connected to the real Dark Continent. And...
Zzigg's "Nen ability" [Re: Game of the Dead] was created based on the real Dark Continent... The reason he could repeatedly "resurrect" using "mental energy" was also because his "rebirth" and "transmigration" had activated the "Gate of Cognition"!
"The world is [Material], but also [Idealistic]. What you think is [Real] might be [False]. Similarly..."
The boy took a bite of pizza, narrowing his eyes. Memory may not be [False]. Thinking it's [False] is just 'thinking'...
"What are you thinking about?" Zeno sipped his cream of mushroom soup, glancing over... The boy smiled nonchalantly. "Nothing. Just feels a bit unreal."
"Tell me."
"Like how Great-Great-Grandfather clearly forbids me from going to the Dark Continent, yet gives me this book to read. It's contradictory."
"If he told you not to go, would you not go?" Zeno wiped his mouth with a napkin, shooting the boy a sideways glance. "Don't overthink it. Giving you the book is just so you have some information ahead of time for when you pay your respects to your Grandpa Zzigg. So you can enter the [Game] a bit more smoothly. As for..."
"The real Dark Continent isn't a place you can go just because you want to."
Indeed. Entering and exiting the Dark Continent required not only an exit permit from the Permit Agency but also a guide to navigate, the backing of major powers like the V5, and a ship sturdy enough... to survive the journey to the Dark Continent... This was evident from the fact that Beyond had spent most of his life preparing, even going so far as to plot his father's death.
But, I have a door.
Roy kept his expression neutral. "Grandfather is right to lecture me."
"Mm." Zeno gave a noncommittal hum and vanished, leaving only a sentence echoing in Roy's ears: "Since you're back, go visit your Grandpa Zzigg more often."
"Yes." Roy finished his lunch, put the book and the medal Netero gave him in a drawer.
He climbed onto the bed, intending to take a nap to replenish his drained energy, kill a few demons to accumulate some Life Energy, and... get ready before 8 AM tomorrow.
Hazy...
The boy passed through the multicolored dream tunnel again, arriving at the familiar Sea of Cognition. This time, he stood for a moment before the locked "Gate to the Dark Continent," then reached out and pushed open the "Demon Slayer" gate.
[Notification: "Life Energy" +2 +3 +5 +4...]
Demon after demon fell. In the hazy moonlight...
Roy looked down at the intel scroll by the light of the moon, and stepped into the territory of Mount Natagumo!
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