A Choice of Two

Choosing to board this airship was precisely because I valued the timeliness that direct travel offers.

If I were to disembark midway, I'd have to consider the time lost due to changing transport.

This is usually measured in days.

Meaning, it could delay me by several days, thus affecting my objective in the Gugan Jade Great Country.

After considering it, Moro still decided to change his travel plans.

Anyway, he didn't expect to accomplish anything on this trip to the Gugan Jade Great Country; at most, he was just scouting the path.

If he could get an opportunity to make a move as an observer, then being on the sidelines, he could consider whether to enter the fray and seize the chance depending on the situation.

But this possibility was extremely low.

Even getting a glimpse of a duel between experts from afar was already a difficult feat.

Ultimately, if one's strength isn't sufficient, sometimes it truly means being unable to move an inch.

Based on this premise, all choices and decisions had to be compromised accordingly.

Moro stood up and walked towards the table where the telephone was placed, picking up the itinerary notification form next to it.

Opening it, his gaze swept over the location markers for the flight path, directly heading to the special reminder for the mid-flight refueling station.

It stated that the airship would arrive at the first refueling station around noon tomorrow.

"Tomorrow noon..."

Closing the itinerary notification form, Moro looked out at the night sky again.

If he couldn't catch the chase and hunt drama between Silva and the Phantom Troupe, he could at least rely on Argo's intelligence capabilities to do something, more or less.

The premise being—

That he could contact Silva, and whether Silva would accept intelligence assistance from an outsider.

And given the Zoldyck family's foundation, they likely had their own exclusive channels for tracking and intelligence.

It was even possible that Silva had already engaged with the Phantom Troupe.

Gazing at the night sky, Moro silently gave up his usual training for the night, returned to the sofa, and closed his eyes to meditate.

When he had free time and wasn't training, Moro would meditate, constantly constructing the future extension routes for "Deceptive Flying Stars" in his mind.

This had become a habit for him.

He could vaguely sense that after his death and rebirth, the emergence of the Deceptive Flying Stars ability was too natural and simple.

So simple that he took it for granted that the birth of Deceptive Flying Stars didn't seem to occupy any Nen capacity.

This meant that even if he developed other ability effects for Deceptive Flying Stars later, he probably wouldn't feel difficulty or obstruction due to potential factors like Nen capacity utilization.

For this possibility, and to accurately develop rarer ability effects…

Moro would meditate regularly.

At the same time, during meditation, he could further improve the stability of "Ten."

Time ticked by, second by second.

"Hmm?"

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Moro suddenly opened his eyes and sharply looked towards the cabin door.

Just now—

He had felt an unreserved fluctuation of aura.

Lower deck of the airship.

It was late at night, and most passengers had already fallen asleep, with only a few still lingering in the bars on the upper and lower decks.

For Kashiwara, late night was the best time to invade shadows.

Because as long as the target was asleep, the time required to invade their shadows would be significantly reduced.

Based on this mechanism, Kashiwara planned to stay up all night on the first day, trying to gain control over as many people as possible.

Once he gained control of all the passengers on the lower deck, he could then infiltrate the upper deck and wait for the opportune moment to act.

"Need to be patient... ensure the mission's success."

Kashiwara, like a maggot, burrowed into the shadow of a passenger, repeatedly performing the same operation.

As of now, he had already gained control of nearly 50 passengers.

And just as he was preparing to target the 51st passenger, he suddenly felt an aura fluctuation coming from the upper deck.

"A Nen aura, so blatant, who could it be...?"

Kashiwara's body emerged from the dark shadow, his eyes looking up at the cabin ceiling with surprise.

At the same time.

Inside Kang Jae's cabin.

"Saff, wake up."

Talia woke the silver-haired woman.

Saff was not the silver-haired woman's name.

And as the third princess of the Gugan Jade Great Country, according to the admittedly harsh laws of royalty, Talia shouldn't have addressed her by her true name. Doing so would have meant a death sentence for breaking the law.

However, some situations demanded urgency, and the silver-haired woman wasn't some mindless Celestial Dragon.

In her eyes, adopting a false name during extraordinary times was not an unacceptable act.

"What's happening?"

Awakened by Talia, Saff sat up in bed and calmly inquired.

Standing like a javelin at the door, Kang Jae heard Saff's question and answered for Talia, "Someone is making a show of force against us."

"A show of force?"

A hint of confusion flickered in Saff's azure eyes as she calmly stated, "Isn't that rather pointless?"

"Ah, normally, it would be pointless, but..."

Kang Jae looked at the door, his words trailing off as he suddenly didn't know how to explain it to Saff.

No matter what happened, once the variable of Nen abilities entered the picture, one could no longer adhere to normal ways of thinking.

The unknown opponent, who was currently releasing their aura, had clearly come with killing intent, yet they were going through the trouble of making a show of force...

Thinking from the perspective of Nen abilities, it wasn't impossible that the opponent possessed a defensive-type ability.

If they were to act rashly, it might worsen an already unfavorable situation.

With that in mind...

The unavoidable decision to board the ship today was precisely the outcome the enemy had meticulously planned, aiming to put them in a position where they had no choice but to respond.

Kang Jae frowned at this thought.

On one hand, they had to ensure the client's safety, and on the other, they were losing all room to maneuver due to the unfolding situation. It was truly too passive.

To the point where they now lacked even the space to probe for information...

That being said, they couldn't do nothing.

Right...

He still had to explain the current situation to Saff. Ah, this was a headache.

Within mere seconds, Kang Jae's mind was churning like a storm.

While Saff was aware of the existence of Nen abilities, her understanding was, at best, superficial.

In Kang Jae's opinion, explaining it properly would take more than just a few words.

He wasn't good at "explaining" things in the first place...

Seeing Kang Jae fall silent mid-sentence, Saff didn't get angry.

Beside them, Talia seemed to sense Kang Jae's difficulty and helped Saff understand from her own perspective: "The show of force is just a trigger. They want to force us to choose between 'countering' and 'observing'."

"I understand."

Saff nodded gently and calmly said, "But since the other party is prepared, wouldn't any choice be the outcome they desire?"

"That's precisely the problem..."

Talia's expression grew serious.

She and Kang Jae both knew one thing: although the opponent's targeted actions still maintained a sliver of restraint, the interwoven constraints kept them in a constant state of passivity.

"So, isn't there a third option? For example... you don't have to worry about my life."

Saff said this with a completely calm expression, as if discussing something trivial.

"!!!" Talia.

"..." Kang Jae.