The hospital security guard was also a Nen user.
For ordinary people, aura naturally leaks outward, drifting above their heads like wisps of smoke.
Nen users, however, instinctively maintain Ten, preventing their aura from dispersing.
Although Ivan's own Nen was currently sealed by the powerful post-mortem aura surrounding him, that didn't prevent him from observing the aura of others.
The guard made no attempt to hide the fact that he was maintaining Ten.
From Ivan's perspective, that suggested two possibilities.
One possibility was that it was a warning—a silent message telling Ivan not to cause trouble inside the hospital.
The other was that the guard lacked confidence in his ability to conceal his aura and assumed Ivan would see through any disguise anyway.
Regardless of which explanation was correct, one thing was certain.
The moment Ivan entered the hospital, the guard had already noticed the death Nen clinging to him.
The fact that the guard hadn't attacked immediately meant he probably hadn't yet determined Ivan's purpose for coming here.
After all, this was death Nen, not normal Nen.
Still, Ivan understood something clearly.
From this moment forward, he would absolutely become a priority subject of observation.
Yet the presence of a Nen user working night security at the hospital entrance only strengthened Ivan's suspicion.
This hospital definitely had problems.
During his journey here, Ivan had already spread the infection further.
He now controlled forty-three small dinosaurs.
Eight of them had been sent to track the truck convoy.
The remaining thirty-five had hidden themselves around the hospital, ready to rush in if Ivan needed support.
Without drawing attention, Ivan began filling out the registration form.
The name he wrote was Bince.
For the contact number, he used the phone he had taken from the street thug earlier.
The phone hadn't been reported lost or disabled yet.
Ivan didn't know whether the thug had simply forgotten or hadn't noticed.
Either way, Ivan kept it on him partly in case Wilgai tried to contact him, even though the possibility was small.
As he finished writing the phone number, Ivan's pupils suddenly shrank.
The guard had taken out his own phone and was dialing.
"Sorry, Mr. Bince," the guard said calmly as he extended the phone toward Ivan.
"When we receive outside visitors, we need to confirm whether the registered information is correct. I hope you understand."
His tone sounded polite.
But the gesture clearly gave Ivan a choice.
If you're here to cause trouble, you can still leave now.
If you're really here for medical treatment, answering the call shouldn't be a problem.
Ivan set down the pen and smiled faintly.
"Of course. That's reasonable."
As he spoke, he took out the thug's phone and waited.
The guard pressed the green call button.
A moment later, the phone in Ivan's hand rang.
Ivan flipped it open and showed the incoming number.
"Is this enough?"
The guard smiled.
"Thank you for your cooperation. Please go ahead."
Ivan nodded and slipped the phone back into his pocket before walking into the emergency hall.
But once he turned his back on the guard, his expression grew more serious.
Because the phone he was holding now had Nen attached to it.
A trace of aura had appeared the moment the call connected.
It had been attached silently to the phone.
This was clearly the guard's Nen ability.
But what exactly did it do?
Ivan walked toward the registration desk.
He could still feel the guard watching him.
But when he glanced back, the guard had already returned to the booth.
He sat down casually and twisted open a thermos to drink some tea.
The relaxed, practiced motion suggested he had done this job for years.
Ivan couldn't help thinking the man looked like someone who had skipped decades of detours in life.
Since the guard wasn't staring directly at him anymore, the problem must lie with the Nen attached to the phone.
It was likely some kind of surveillance ability, possibly combined with tracking.
An Emission-type ability, perhaps.
Emission's neighboring categories were Enhancement and Manipulation.
When the guard had handed him the registration form earlier, Ivan had noticed the thick calluses on the man's hands.
That suggested a combat style leaning toward Emission with Enhancement training.
Of course, because Emission users could learn both Enhancement and Manipulation at 80% efficiency, it was still possible the ability incorporated manipulation effects.
Either way, the phone now felt dangerously hot in his pocket.
But now wasn't the time to confront the guard.
Ivan could tell the guard had done this on purpose.
It was a deliberate test.
At the registration desk, Ivan presented identification.
Fortunately, he had prepared for that.
As a field investigator, carrying false identification was standard practice.
The name on the ID matched the one he had written.
Bince.
Once he received the registration slip, Ivan headed toward the emergency doctor's office.
Just then, the car alarms in the emergency parking lot suddenly started blaring.
One after another.
The noise was deafening.
Inside the security booth, the guard frowned and stood up.
But as he walked toward the exit of the emergency building, he glanced at Ivan several more times.
Ivan, however, had already arrived outside the doctor's office.
He stood there obediently, as if preparing to knock.
The guard looked away and hurried outside.
At that moment, Ivan quickly pulled the phone from his pocket and placed it outside the doctor's office door.
Then he spun around and dashed into the nearby stairwell.
The Nen was attached to the phone.
If Ivan's assumption was correct, the ability had two effects: tracking and observation.
Observation required a medium.
More precisely, the ability likely required both observation and positioning.
Otherwise, when Ivan noticed the aura on the phone but remained silent, the guard should have already made his next move instead of confidently returning to the booth.
And Ivan wouldn't have felt the sensation of being monitored from afar.
So what was the observation medium?
Ivan started from the guard's role.
What was the most important tool inside a security booth?
The surveillance monitors.
Ivan's gamble was simple.
The guard located the phone by sensing the aura attached to it.
But the observation itself relied on the security cameras inside the booth.
The emitted aura on the phone transmitted images to the monitors instead of directly to the guard's eyes.
If Ivan guessed wrong—
the guard would immediately react the moment Ivan dropped the phone and chase him.
But if he guessed right—
then as long as the phone remained there, the guard would need time to realize something was wrong.
That reaction delay was the window Ivan needed to play hide-and-seek inside the hospital.
The car alarms outside had been Ivan's doing as well.
The dinosaurs he left outside weren't decorations.
Now on the second floor, Ivan's destination was clear.
The morgue.
He had already considered this possibility the moment Corea mentioned the Third Hospital.
The reason he targeted the morgue was simple.
This investigation involved the missing daughter of a wealthy businessman.
If she had been transported here from the Dorley Hotel, the most likely outcome was that she was already dead.
And if she was dead—
this hospital's morgue would be the most logical place.
If she wasn't dead, however—
then Ivan would have to search ICU wards, inpatient departments, or other suspicious areas.
And that would drastically expand the scope of his search.
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