A fish in a locked room.
Liam's brain immediately connected the dots. Indoor Fish. One of the abilities Chrollo stole in the Yorknew arc. Sealed in his book, Skill Hunter. The Nen fish could only exist in completely enclosed spaces. It could bite off chunks of a person's body without causing pain, bleeding, or death.
But the moment someone opened the door, breaking the sealed room condition, the fish would vanish.
And the victim would die instantly.
"Is this your Nen beast?" Liam asked, pointing at the massive white fish floating above the fat man's slumped body. Then he gestured toward the ceiling. "There are security cameras in this hallway. Did you avoid them on purpose?"
Pariston's smile didn't waver. "Why would I avoid them? I didn't go inside. Besides, he's not injured, is he?"
His tone was light, casual, but something about him felt wrong. Like his face was covered in shadows despite the hallway lighting. An aura of malice hung around him like cologne.
"Guess something for me," Pariston said, still smiling. "Can he hear us?"
Liam noticed O.Zee flinch on the sofa, shoulders trembling.
"Yeah, he can hear us," Liam said flatly. "But he's not screaming or begging. Did the fish eat his mouth? His throat?"
"Who knows?" Pariston shrugged.
"O.Zee. The wife-murderer from that trial everyone's been talking about."
Liam's head snapped to the side.
Chrollo stood there, book in one hand, expression calm. Like he'd been there the whole time.
When did he—
Liam's eye twitched. His brain scrambled to process what was happening.
The Indoor Fish was Pariston's ability. But in the manga, Chrollo stole it.
Which meant...
Skill Hunter only steals Hatsu. The developed abilities. Not the underlying Nen.
That made sense. In canon, Pariston became Vice President of the Hunter Association. He wasn't a Nen-less civilian. So after Chrollo stole a Hatsu, the victim still had their aura, their foundation, their Nen categories. They just couldn't use the stolen technique anymore.
But if Chrollo steals the fish right now, it'll vanish. And O.Zee dies. Right here. Right now.
Chrollo stepped up beside Pariston, studying the fish with mild interest. "What an artistic ability. You can consume someone without blood, without immediate death. The injury's already occurred, but it's delayed. There must be a trigger. When the condition is met, the victim dies. Is it the sealed room?"
Pariston glanced at the young man, smile unwavering. "When I see beautiful things, I can't help but want to destroy them."
He adjusted his tie. "Mr. O.Zee murdered his wife. Brutally. Thanks to my legal defense, he walked free. I imagine he's quite proud of himself. When I heard he was on this flight, I thought about how happy he must be. How beautiful that happiness is."
Pariston's smile widened. "And I wanted to destroy it."
My god, this guy.
"He can still hear you," Liam reminded him.
"That's what makes it beautiful."
Chrollo paused, considering. Does this man think being hated is wonderful?
Liam stared, dead-eyed.
In the manga, Pariston had confessed this to Ging. Most people felt happy when they were loved. Pariston was one of the rare few who only felt happy when people hated him.
If Hisoka was a fruit farmer, nurturing strong opponents for future battles, then Pariston was a chaos gremlin who tortured people for fun and basked in their hatred like sunlight.
I hope you meet Ging soon and he punches you in the face.
Liam turned and walked away. He didn't care whether Chrollo successfully stole the ability or not. Not his problem.
"Humans are so interesting," Chrollo murmured, smiling faintly.
He turned to Pariston, as if noticing him for the first time. "You're Lawyer Pariston, aren't you? I'm a fan of your work."
Liam walked through the viewing area, where a handful of sleepless passengers sat wrapped in blankets, whispering to each other or staring at their phones. Outside the windows, clouds rolled past in blurred streaks.
He frowned.
The restless feeling from earlier hadn't gone away. If anything, it was worse now. Something about the ship felt wrong, but he couldn't pinpoint what.
He scanned the viewing deck. Couples cuddled under blankets. Solo travelers scrolled through their phones, occasionally laughing at something. Everything looked normal.
But it didn't feel normal.
Liam rubbed his face. "Whatever. We land tomorrow morning anyway."
He started walking back toward his cabin.
"Pariston's victim dies the moment someone opens that door," Liam muttered to himself. "The fish vanishes, the guy with half his body eaten drops dead. I need to be off this ship before anyone finds the body. Last thing I need is another death energy spike."
He passed through another corridor, footsteps echoing softly.
"Wait."
Liam stopped.
"If Chrollo steals Pariston's ability, the fish disappears immediately. Which means O.Zee dies right now. Which means—"
He turned, looking back the way he'd come.
Did Chrollo actually manage to steal from that psycho? Can he even steal from someone like Pariston?
Liam shook his head and kept walking.
When he reached his cabin and opened the door, the lights flicked on.
Shizuku sat up in bed, glasses off, purple eyes heavy with sleep. Without the frames, she looked softer. Almost vulnerable.
"You okay?" she mumbled.
"Yeah. Go back to sleep."
She lay back down without argument.
Liam closed the door, locked it, and leaned against the wall.
Something's still wrong.
Throughout the ship, in the dimly lit corridors and common areas, small orbs of Nen floated silently through the air.
Some were fist-sized. Others as small as marbles. They drifted through walls, across floors, phasing through solid matter like ghosts. Passengers walked past them without noticing. Security guards patrolled right through them.
In one of the bathrooms, an orb passed through a stall door.
Inside, Rowan sat hunched on the toilet, face gaunt and hollow. His skin looked gray, drained of blood. His eyes stared at nothing.
His lips moved soundlessly, repeating the same words over and over.
"Phantom Troupe... Phantom Troupe... Phantom Troupe..."