Ian's Ambition

The dilapidated building seemed to have been infused with new life, like a sacred behemoth slowly awakening.

Countless magnificent, lifelike angel sculptures stood guard around the Holy Son on the cross, his face indistinct, inside the church.

The lofty dome was solemn and majestic, as though dotted with stars.

The children watching from nearby were far from the only ones stunned by this miraculous sight.

Even Chrollo and the others gaped at it all, their eyes wide with disbelief.

They had imagined that Ian could work miracles.

But when Machi, Uvogin, and the others once again witnessed this creative power beyond human ability and beheld the grandeur of a hall built from an artistic treasure of another world,

They admitted they had been awestruck all over again.

Their faces were flushed with excitement.

It was like when they had first met Ian and discovered what a wonderful surprise it was to eat until they were full, thanks to the Multiplication Liquid.

Ian, whom they had come to accept, had created a miracle for the children of Meteor City too.

Just then,

Feitan slowly awoke on Franklin's back.

Before he could say anything, he witnessed everything around him change at a breathtaking pace. Wracked with pain and too weak to move, his pupils contracted to pinpricks, and his mouth fell open.

"Th... that guy did this..."

Hearing him, Franklin came back to his senses, turned to glance at him, and spoke softly.

"Yeah. He wanted to leave the kids a gift, so he did all this... It's just..."

For a moment, the good-natured Franklin couldn't find the words to describe what Ian had done.

He turned to look at the person responsible for it all.

Seeing the figure walking around with a strange device propped against his face, Franklin hesitated, then murmured,

"It's like he's standing in the light. He's completely different from us, even Chrollo..."

Feitan's expression changed slightly at his words, but he too fell silent.

Though he didn't know what had happened while he was unconscious,

At that moment, he acknowledged that Franklin was right.

The small figure in the distance seemed to radiate a light they could never reach.

Ian knew nothing of this.

He had simply wanted to do it, so he did...

Chrollo, Pakunoda, and the others looked after this group of Meteor City's children. It couldn't be easy, and Ian hoped to help them however he could.

Ian carried the pink Set-Building Machine outside the church, one step at a time.

Wherever the Set-Building Machine's beam fell,

The ruined walls slowly changed, as if their former glory had been summoned back from the depths of time, only to be surpassed.

The massive walls rose higher and higher, and sculpture after sculpture, rich with humanistic character, slowly rose from the weed-choked square outside the church.

When Ian lowered the Set-Building Machine and looked at the utterly transformed scene before him, his eyes lit up and his lips curved slightly.

"Now that looks more like it..."

With that, he studied the fountain topped by an angel sculpture in the center of the square and shook his head.

"Too bad the Set-Building Machine can't create flowing water. It'll just have to stay dry."

In Meteor City, even ordinary drinking water often had to be exchanged for "resources."

Suddenly, something occurred to him. He turned to the children in the distance, who were afraid to approach and anxious that their dirt might defile this sacred hall, and smiled.

"My mistake. This place is too solemn. You're still kids; playing is what you like best."

He then aimed the Set-Building Machine at the center of the square, and before long, he had created several cute slides and pieces of playground equipment.

The children gazed longingly at the strange playground equipment, but they weren't the only ones.

Even Machi's eyes lit up. She couldn't resist climbing up and sliding down the rainbow slide, laughing with delight.

"This is so much fun!"

Then she waved to the children hiding around the square and called out with a laugh,

"Hey, Lian, Ika, Boone, what are you waiting for? Bring the others over to play!"

Clearly, Machi was familiar with some of the children too.

Soon after she called out, groups of children emerged from the corners and approached the playground in the square.

But

Although they stared longingly at the equipment, they first looked to Chrollo and Pakunoda for permission.

In the children's eyes, Chrollo and Pakunoda were basically the big brother and big sister of their whole group.

They might not trust anyone else, but they would always trust that Chrollo and Pakunoda wouldn't hurt them.

"Go on and play. It's a gift from your big brother I... Ian."

Pakunoda spoke gently to the children, though she hesitated slightly when she mentioned Ian. After all, they had only known him for half a day.

Having known him for only half a day, they couldn't understand why he would go this far for them, or rather, for the children.

With their big sister's permission, the children couldn't hold back any longer and rushed over.

"Wow, brand-new big toys!"

"What's this? You can slide down it! This is so much fun!"

"Sister Machi, hurry up and climb! Lian's going to pass me!"

"What? Little Boone, you dare rush me? I'm going to slide down with Lian in my arms. You can slide down by yourself."

"I'm sorry, Sister Machi!"

The children seemed born knowing how to play on such big toys. Even though they had never seen anything like them before, they knew what to do as soon as they got on.

Ian stood to one side, smiling as he watched the lively scene.

His lips curved even higher when he saw Machi set aside her usual composure and maturity among the children.

Without a doubt, he liked watching such warm, harmonious scenes.

As for all the fighting and killing, it was no fun at all.

People fought and killed one another for pointless reasons, only to end up not knowing whose benefit they had been working for.

If everyone could sit down and negotiate a solution, each giving a little ground, the resources they had were more than enough to make the world a better place.

In his previous life, he had been an ordinary person with a vision but no say.

In this life, though, it seemed he... might have the ability to reshape the world to his heart's content.

At the thought, Ian's lips curved slightly, and a profound ambition appeared in his clear black-and-white eyes.

Meanwhile,

"So this is what playground equipment from the outside world looks like? I've seen it in books..."

Chrollo watched the children at play, then turned to Ian.

"Franklin and I once tried to make some for everyone, but the materials were all scrap we'd picked up, so they broke after only a little use."

Ian paused, then smiled.

"That's a shame..."

"This kind of thing is common in the outside world, but unfortunately, this is Meteor City."

"It seems that apart from garbage, the world is very stingy with everything it gives Meteor City."

Chrollo fell silent for a moment, then turned to look at the children and spoke softly.

"Yeah..."

"What a... stingy bunch..."

It wasn't clear whom he meant. After a moment's hesitation, Chrollo continued calmly,

"Actually, even though you've built this church, they won't be able to hold on to it. Especially if we leave, it'll be a disaster for them instead."

Ian nodded thoughtfully.

"Mm..."

"That's why you'll need to put in some work. Uvogin said you've had contact with people from the Elder Council..."

"Before we leave, give them the church as payment for protecting the children. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Chrollo nodded.

That was what he had intended to do all along.

After a moment of silence, he couldn't help asking,

"Was everything you just did really done with a Nen Ability?"

Without waiting for Ian to answer, he continued, his gaze distant as if recalling something.

"I've seen the guards around the elders. Even from far away, I could still feel the dangerous aura they gave off."

"Maybe they'd only need a few seconds to kill me."

"But... I still don't think they could do what you just did."

Ian smiled faintly. He neither denied nor admitted it, saying only,

"Who knows? Maybe... Nen Abilities are the power to create miracles."

Chrollo had no intention of pressing further. He simply gave Ian a serious look and said softly,

"That's true."

After the church was rebuilt, the group didn't leave right away.

They rested for the night.

Chrollo needed to find an elder he knew and make a deal concerning arrangements for the children's future.

After all, once they left, the children alone couldn't possibly hold on to the church.

It might even get them killed.

Everything was proceeding according to plan.

But at noon the next day, Chrollo brought back bad news.

"Uvogin was captured by the Third Elder's people!"