The Church Meeting

As Sid had said, Su Wu made up for the three days of training he'd missed afterward, and then some.

He had no complaints about the intensity of the training. The only problem was that he still hadn't managed to land the Black Flash he'd been dreaming about.

"Am I really this unlucky?" Su Wu sat right down on the ground and looked at his fists.

There was nothing wrong with how he controlled his Cursed Energy, and his punches were fast and powerful enough. So why couldn't he use Black Flash?!

"You've made a lot of progress. Why don't you look happy?" Sid stood nearby, his towering figure casting a shadow over Su Wu. His puzzled expression made it clear he couldn't figure out what was going on.

Su Wu had made tremendous progress. At first, he'd been covered in wounds, so bruised and battered that he was completely unrecognizable. Now... although he still had a few scrapes and bruises, there was hardly a mark on his face.

The white-haired, blue-eyed boy, with black markings on his face, was sitting on a pile of rubble. Yet even there, he looked as though he were seated on a bone throne in a resplendent palace.

Just sitting there was enough to draw the attention of quite a few children and priests.

"Still not enough..." The White-haired boy suddenly tilted his head back, eyes half-lidded. His words made it clear he wasn't satisfied.

"This is nowhere near enough."

"I want even greater power. Something like..."

"Enough power to break through your or Uvogin's defenses with a single punch and pierce right through your bodies." He opened his hand, speaking with a touch of obsession, his gaze hazy.

He seemed dazzled by the thought of such great power, looking like a greedy soul who craved strength above all else.

In truth, he was just imagining how satisfying it would be to punch straight through a strong opponent.

"You really are hard to satisfy, you greedy bastard." Sid wasn't angry about the boy's goal, nor did he scoff at it dismissively. He just scratched his head, as if he didn't know what to say, then gave a wry smile.

"If I can't get stronger, there's no point." The White-haired boy pulled out a handkerchief and held it to his nose. A moment later, it was stained red with blood. His voice sounded muffled, but he was utterly serious.

He still remembered that on his first day in Meteor City, the system had warned him that the world was extremely dangerous.

Besides—Hunter World was vast and fascinating. Beyond the continent where humans lived was a forbidden land he wanted to see for himself.

Since he was already here, he might as well see the world. He'd start with a modest goal: travel around the world.

"Though I don't entirely agree with your thinking, if that's what you want, then work hard for it. There's no end to the road to strength, so keep at it." Sid first frowned as if troubled, but after thinking it over, he gave Su Wu a thumbs-up.

He would help Su Wu put together a training plan, but he wouldn't interfere with his way of thinking.

After saying that, he headed toward the church.

He was a priest stationed in District 12 long-term. Under normal circumstances, he didn't leave the district, and the church was where he spent most of his time.

The children, who had been waiting nearby, saw Sid leave and realized Su Wu's training was over for the day. They hurried over, hand in hand, like a string of gourds growing on the same vine.

"Thank you, sir!" they called out brightly.

Su Wu stared at them, baffled. What were they thanking him for? Had he done something good? No way. He could swear that ever since he'd arrived in Meteor City, he hadn't done a single good deed. All he'd done was fight and train.

"Tara and the others are back. Thank goodness the people from the Church were there to help, or we wouldn't be able to live like this." The children held hands. There were even a few more of them than when he'd seen them a few days ago.

Their bright, sunny smiles looked out of place beneath Meteor City's gloomy sky.

"...Ah." Su Wu thought for a moment, then remembered that the original mission had been to investigate the disappearance of the children.

But he'd gotten carried away killing people and forgotten all about them. He hadn't even remembered to let them out.

Pampas must have released them afterward.

"Get one thing straight: I'm not some kind-hearted person who'd save you." He waggled a finger in front of the children, a smile tugging at his lips as he spoke with casual cruelty.

"I couldn't care less whether you live or die," he said lightly.

Just as he hadn't even bothered to remember the children's names or faces.

He didn't care, so he couldn't be bothered to remember.

Unless they were strong enough to be worth remembering.

"We know we're not worth much yet, but this is our thank-you gift!" The children weren't the least bit hurt by his arrogant, cold attitude. Still smiling brightly, they held out three flower crowns, then ran off hand in hand before Su Wu could refuse.

The flower crowns were made from the plainest white flowers. The blossoms were tiny, but rather cute.

They were the most common flowers in District 12.

"...These kids are weird." Su Wu looked at the three flower crowns and felt nothing in particular.

He wasn't moved by the flower crowns, nor did the children's bright smiles leave him dazed.

Of course, that wasn't their fault. It was his.

He just found it interesting that the children could respond so cheerfully to his attitude and calmly admit that they had no value at the moment.

Even the children of District 12, despite being so well protected, believed in the idea of value.

They thought that only people with value could stay alive. That was why, at first, they hadn't even dared to ask Pampas and the others to help find their missing friends. They'd believed that people like them, with no value, would surely be turned down.

District 12 took them in, protected and taught them, but didn't hide this fact from them, either.

That attitude was strangely cruel and kind at the same time.

Su Wu mused idly as he stood up, flower crowns in hand. In the blink of an eye, he dashed into the church.

"Sid, those children gave you these flower crowns." As he spoke, he tossed all three of them to Sid.

"Why are there three? And why would they give me these?" Sid stared at the flower crowns in front of him, confused.

"The extra two are probably for you to wear as bracelets." Su Wu tossed off the words lightly, then vanished from the spot.

Sid didn't even have time to ask anything else. He could only stare at the flower crowns for a while before carefully putting them aside.

Meanwhile, Su Wu was on his way to District 1.

He planned to ask Pampas whether they'd found the person with the Teleportation Ability yet, and if they had, whether he could have a go at it.

If they hadn't found him, he'd urge Pampas to speed things up.

Pampas usually stayed at the church in District 1. Su Wu had always been able to find him there before, but today he came up empty.

"Not here?" The hall was empty and quiet, with nothing but tables and chairs.

He looked around once more, then fixed his gaze on one direction.

Walls couldn't block the Six Eyes. He saw dozens of figures gathered in a room inside the church.

Every one of them was a Nen user, their life force far stronger than that of ordinary people.

Through the Six Eyes, they stood out even more.

To the Six Eyes, the stronger someone was, the more vibrant their life energy appeared.

Pampas also looked remarkably vigorous to the Six Eyes.

Su Wu suppressed his own power and approached the room without a sound, intending to see what they were up to.