Leaving

Professional matters should be handled by professionals.

This is the consensus every nation holds regarding certain phenomena.

Thus, even the five most powerful nations in the world, when faced with relatively thorny issues, directly commission the Hunter Association to resolve them.

And "Starry Sky Gazing" had enveloped the entire scenic area, with something as dangerous as "Balance" inside its space—the threat level it posed could no longer be ignored.

So, it was all but certain that the nation would ask the Hunter Association to step in.

Before that, Cheadle, as one of the parties involved, had a duty to first report the specifics of this incident to the Association.

However, she would omit the secret about Moyu, simply stating that everyone except her was trapped within the space of "Starry Sky Gazing."

The call she placed was answered after several dozen seconds.

"Hoh hoh."

As soon as the line connected, Netero's signature laughter came through the phone.

Hearing that familiar laugh, Cheadle instinctively tensed up.

Because she was about to lie to the chairman she had always admired and respected.

"Chairman, there's something I need to report to you."

Cheadle got straight to the point, doing her best to keep her voice calm to mask the turmoil inside.

"Hoh, such a formal opening—must be something important."

Netero's surprised voice came from the phone: "Then I suppose I'll have to set aside what I'm doing and hear what you have to report."

"Chairman."

Cheadle hesitated upon hearing this: "If you're busy with something urgent..."

"Hoh hoh."

Netero said with mock seriousness: "It's just a challenge to down a liter of carbonated drink in one go through a twenty-meter straw—hardly anything urgent."

"... "

Cheadle paused, a vivid image of Chairman Netero indulging in his playful antics flashing before her eyes, and she let out a silent sigh.

Then she directly recounted what had happened here to Netero.

Throughout the entire process, Netero remained silent, listening attentively to Cheadle's report.

"Hmm..."

After hearing the report, Netero let out a thoughtful hum.

Cheadle said nothing, waiting nervously for Netero's response.

For someone with such high self-standards as her, concealing part of the truth in an important report felt like a deliberate mistake.

"Cheadle."

After a moment, Netero's unhurried voice came through the phone: "Sometimes, you can't push yourself too hard."

"Ah."

Cheadle's breath caught slightly.

She caught the hint in Chairman Netero's words—what she had tried so hard to hide had likely been noticed anyway.

"Hoh hoh."

Netero chuckled, seemingly unconcerned by Cheadle's actions, and said seriously: "In any case, I'll head over to your side now."

"Huh? Chairman, you're coming personally?"

Cheadle was taken aback.

The Association was brimming with talent these days, so no troublesome commission ever required the chairman to handle it himself.

She had reported this to the chairman only to ensure the Association was prepared in advance—she never expected him to come in person.

"After all, it's a rare Nen space left behind after death. If we don't deal with it quickly, it'll be even more troublesome once it turns into a 'Secret Realm.' Besides, as you said, that Post-Mortem Entity's threat level is nothing to scoff at either."

Netero rarely shed his playful attitude and tone.

"I understand."

Cheadle's expression turned serious, then she abruptly shifted the topic: "One more thing—what do you plan to do about the remnants of the Qinglin Squad, Chairman?"

"... "

Silence fell on the other end of the line.

After a long pause, Netero's slightly resigned voice came through: "Though they were once my former comrades, they've now completely left the Association, so the Hunter Bylaws can't be applied to them."

The phrase he used wasn't "the Association's former comrades," but "my former comrades."

This was because—

Before Netero assumed the role of Hunter Association Chairman, he too had been a member of the Qinglin Squad.

"I understand..."

Cheadle didn't press the topic further, lowering her voice. "I'll wait here for you to arrive."

After a few more casual exchanges, they ended the call.

That night.

Netero took the Association's private airship to the location where Cheadle was.

Meanwhile.

Wearing only a pair of boxers, Moyu walked along a small path toward a nearby village.

Halfway there, passing a farmhouse, he stopped. Using the faint night light, he looked into the yard.

In the middle of the yard was a clothesline propped up on wooden poles, hung with many garments.

Moyu paused, closed his aura nodes, and slipped into the yard in a state of Zetsu.

He glanced at a large yellow dog sleeping by the gate, then carefully took a set of clothes roughly his size from the line. He left a large-denomination bill behind and quietly slipped out of the yard.

After putting on the clothes he'd "bought" from the farmhouse, Moyu quickened his pace, using the cover of night to reach the village.

It was already deep into the night.

The village, lacking any entertainment facilities, was dead silent. Not a single person was on the road, and lights were rare.

Moyu first went to the general store, slipping several bills through the crack in the door.

This was Hawk's tab for cigarettes and alcohol, originally due to be settled at the end of the month.

Then, Moyu went to the butcher shop and the grain shop one after another, paying off Hawk's debts in full.

After finishing these tasks, Moyu turned and silently left the village without looking back.

"212 Tulip Street, Laxiang City, Suibian Law Firm, Liz..."

That was the information written on Cheadle's note.

According to Cheadle, Moyu was supposed to find this person named Liz, who seemed to be a professional lawyer.

"Laxiang City."

Moyu carefully stored the note.

He wasn't sure if Cheadle had covered everything in her instructions, but he felt it was necessary to keep the note safe.

After all, the "handwriting" on the note was the strongest evidence of his identity.

"I have more than enough travel expenses, but the problem is..."

Moyu glanced at the remaining money and muttered to himself in some distress, "Does Cheadle know that I don't have an ID Card?"

Having stayed indoors for a year, spending most of his time reading at the Temple, Moyu had no idea where Laxiang City was, let alone how far it was from here or how to get there.

But with sufficient travel expenses, those weren't insurmountable problems.

What really stumped Moyu was—

He had no ID. In a sense, he was a pseudo-Meteor City native.

So even with enough money for the trip, he couldn't buy a ticket to Laxiang City.

"Let's head to the nearest city first and see if there's a place to forge documents."

Moyu roughly picked a direction.

Before leaving, he turned back to look at the Nen Space standing in the night.

Starry Sky Gazing...

He roughly understood the principle of the ability.

As far as Nen Exorcism went, the most important method wasn't transferring the Nen, but the process of sublimating it.

In that process, the risk the Nen Exorcist bore was failing to digest the transferred Nen before a specific "countdown" ended, causing the Nen to backlash against them.

As for Elena's Starry Sky Gazing, after absorbing Nen into the space, it used a "time-slowing" mechanism to eliminate the time limit, giving ample time to digest the transferred Nen.

Now, with the ability having grown stronger after death, its strength seemed to have increased further...

The space's area went without saying, and now even "living beings" could be stored inside. As for the "time-slowing" mechanism, after being further enhanced, it had likely approached the level of "time-stopping."

So—

That was why Hawk's "Nen," which had been isolated outside, hadn't disappeared.

Ah, right.

That Nen Exorcist...

Moyu glanced back once more, silently mourning in his heart.

The first arc is finished. Time to start planning the second arc...

Yeah, same problem as always—no outline, never thought about making one. Just building freely on the foundation of creativity, doing my best to flesh out the story, and digging into all the bits of the original that were only hinted at.

Readers who've stuck with me this far should be able to tell—this Hunter x Hunter fanfic I'm writing is different from the last Gourmet Hunter one. It's more targeted at original series fans, which is why I threw in so many original setting details in the first arc.

After all... when I wrote that last Hunter fanfic, the audience for Hunter fanfics was pitifully small. To get better results and more subscriptions, I leaned toward a style that would attract readers who hadn't seen Hunter x Hunter...

As for this one, I believe that as long as I guarantee quality, you all won't let me down and will give back in return.

Of course, I sincerely hope I can manage to make it readable even for those who aren't original series fans.