Bankai x Contagion
"Yes!"
A gunshot rang out, jolting everyone present on the edge of their seats...
Roy maintained a gentle smile as he shielded Kastro in front of him.
"Young Master, be careful."
[Entanglement]
Milky white Nen Qi swirled... The white-haired Sun-Earring Boy lagged behind Roy by half a body length, remaining on high alert. The instant the man in black pulled the trigger, he stepped forward, delivering a powerful punch that created a whistling sound, like a tiger's roar, instantly deflecting the bullet aimed at Roy's face!
"Bang!" The bullet flew backward, striking the man in black squarely in the face, followed by a loud "Boom!"
The man in black exploded on the spot. The shockwave emanating from him forced Kastro back step by step until he reached Roy. Only then did he manage to shield himself with [Entanglement], thus mitigating the damage from the explosion. This was only because he possessed the superior physical attributes of an "Enhancement.
If it were a non-combatant, such as "Kuhua" from Spider-Man, or... a girl peeking from a hilltop of garbage, this one move alone would be enough to kill or seriously injure her!
"Here it comes! It's Bolton's bomber!"
Shalnark Chrollo each had one side of the binoculars, sharing a single pair, and they saw clearly... The latter frowned and remained silent, while the former was excited and even somewhat envious, looking at the charming young man who was calmly enjoying his steak in the prayer hall, and said with no small amount of envy, "I wonder what Bolton said to those guys, that he could make Dian and his gang willingly act as his human bombs and die for him."
This ability to manipulate others and make them absolutely obedient... The Shalnark's eyes lit up, and he licked his lips... He wanted it so badly!
"Is it really willing?" Pakunoda leaned closer to Chrollo, peering through the binoculars with him... Dian, the man the Shalnark had spoken of, was pacing the edge of the battlefield, steel rod in hand. His long, narrow face was etched with fear and uncertainty... He was swallowing hard, occasionally stealing glances at Bolton behind him... He certainly didn't look like he was willing...
"Young Master, there's something wrong with these people."
Fear without retreating—even with their companions exploding right before their eyes, not a single one of them was scared enough to run away... This violates the most basic human understanding of fear!
Kastro calmed his surging Blood Qi, frowned, and stood in front of Roy.
A faint wisp of Nen Qi immediately welled up in his eyes. He activated [Condensation] and carefully observed... He discovered wisps of faint "Nen Qi" on each of these men in black. They didn't seem to be Nen user, but rather as if someone had implanted something in them, forcing them to do things that defied common sense.
"It's a brand."
You can also interpret it as... a bomb...
Roy's gaze passed over Kastro and he stared expressionlessly at the sinister-looking young man deep in the hall. He never expected that on his very first day in Meteor City, he would encounter the owner of the "Double Face".
[Double Face]: Holding "Sun" in the left hand and "Moon" in the right, the owner can imprint the "Sun" and "Moon" marks onto others. Once they come into contact, they will explode immediately, and the power will increase over time. It takes 3-5 seconds to complete.
Limitations: Must be used with both hands; prolonged contact can easily reveal the ability. In addition, after the death of the user, the "Nen user" not only does not disappear but becomes stronger. Once imprinted, the Nen ability will not disappear even if other abilities are used in combination.
In the original work, Chrollo used this ability to detonate the Heavens Arena, killing Hisoka.
However, there was a crucial prerequisite for Chrollo to do this: before his duel with Hisoka, he made thorough preparations. Using his Nen Ability "Skill Hunter," he borrowed the Nen Ability of Shalnark and Kuhua, and then, through his "Antennae," manipulated "God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand" to create numerous clones, forcibly restricting Hisoka's movement and ultimately killing him... And now...
Bolton sat in the hall, making no attempt to contact his men. So... even if he had pre-marked the men in black with the "Moon Mark," how did he manage to traverse spatial distances and deliver the "Sun Mark" to complete the necessary prerequisite of the "explosion"?
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Explosions erupted... steel bars and bullets rained down!
Even knowing the enemy would explode... Kastro had no choice but to get into a fighting stance and do everything in his power to protect Roy on either side.
A flick of the wrist and a kick—that's a "fist technique" and a "leg technique" imbued with "flames," clearly...
This Sun-Earring Boy is using the battle as a training ground to practice his "Flame Breathing" technique!
"Flame Breathing - First Form - Shiranui... Second Form - Ascending Blaze... Third Form - All- Blazing Universe..."
Walking through explosions... enduring trials in flames... gradually... a series of notification sounds appeared in Roy's mind, interrupting his thoughts...
[Hint: Your Believer "Kastro" is getting stronger... Power of Faith +0.1 +0.1 +0.1...]
[Note: The host can randomly allocate Power of Faith to any skill points to increase skill proficiency...]
"Boom!"
Another explosion rang out, the shockwave sending ripples through the air and ruffling the Sun-Earring Boy's dark hair.
Roy, in his silence, gradually came to a realization. Ever since his dream conversation with his great-grandfather Maha, which solidified his resolve to walk the path of "Faith," his path of "grasping and binding" had begun, and from then on...
As the "sun" that everyone believes in and relies on, whether he likes it or not, he is already deeply bound to Kastro, Gotoh, Rengoku Kyojuro, Shinjuro, and... Vanessa, Old Kohler, and others.
He is strong, they are strong; their glory is shared, their loss is shared, just like... his great-grandfather and his millions of former companions... From now on, he will no longer fight alone!
"Tread...
Footsteps sounded...
Amidst a hail of bullets and Light Sword...
Roy's Clone, Taiyi, holding a scripture, moved with a flick of his robe!
"Praise the sun, Toro, can you take care of what's outside?"
"Young Master, please go ahead!"
Kastro, with a palm strike wreathed in flames, killed a black-clad man who slashed at him from the side. Enduring the explosion, he smiled and said, "Before I die, I will absolutely not let anyone disturb Young Master."
Roy smiled gently, his feet sinking into the mudflats, and reappeared. He stepped through the encirclement and into the church, standing firmly in the dilapidated yet sacred hall!
"Nen user?" Bolton's narrow eyes, sharp and piercing, looked at him... Roy emerged from the Swamp Space, standing ten meters away, calmly observing him without saying a word. He opened his right hand, emitting faint glowing light, and instantly materialized Asauchi, which he then grasped in his hand.
"Wow... he's a Conjuration!" After swallowing the last bite of beef, Bolton threw down his knife and fork, stood up, and in an instant, unleashed his [Training], charging ruthlessly towards Roy!
"Boom!" A pungent, overpowering smell of gunpowder assaulted the senses...
Roy's jet-black hair flew wildly as he frowned, sensing... Bolton's training was different from his own, different from his father's; it was steadily improving, like stepping to the beat of a drum, increasing with each explosion outside the door. Suddenly, something occurred to him... He squinted at a corner of the side hall and calmly said, "I never imagined that the mighty Kakin Empire, instead of properly managing its own territory, would run off to a garbage dump to hustle..."
"His name is Ilya, right?"
"Go back and tell your mistress Morena, that Meteor City is a garbage dump, not a den of disease where she spreads the 'plague'!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The battle outside the door had reached a fever pitch...
A living being with independent consciousness is not, after all, the heartless puppet Chrollo used to deal with Hisoka... Not only does it lack control, but it also lacks the resolve to self-destruct like a puppet, which gives Kastro the opportunity to wage guerrilla warfare...
He was like a "flame assassin" walking in the shadows, constantly reaping the lives of the men in black. As their master, Bolton remained expressionless and indifferent, but after hearing Roy's words... his eyes narrowed and he suddenly glared at him!
Another middle-aged man emerged from a corner of the side hall, forming a pincer movement with Roy in the middle...
"What a brilliant [circle]!" The middle-aged man clapped his hands, his eyes fixed intently on Roy. "Who do we have here? It turns out it's you who's been trying to sow discord within me..."
Ilya, dressed in a well-tailored, fitted suit and with his slicked-back hair gleaming, made a dramatic entrance that immediately made Chrollo and the others watching from the mountaintop freeze in shock!
The Seventh Elder... "The Ruler"... Ilya!
It was him, like a mountain, who stood in the way of Boss Belus, stopping his dream of changing Meteor City through legitimate business from ever on!
However, limited by their limited perspective and vision, the young spiders, still as tender as blades of grass, could not have imagined that the so-called elders and mountains were unimportant to Roy. The Sun-Earring Boy, holding a scripture and dressed as a priest, smelled a familiar scent on Ilya and the sinister young Bolton a second before Ilya revealed himself—it was "Faith"!
"Viral" Faith!
"You actually know about Morena?" Bolton looked at Roy expressionlessly. "Then you should know even more that this place is paradise for us 'patients'."
"After all--
Bolton listened to the explosion, then shrugged and said, "Only here can you kill people indiscriminately without being held accountable, Your Excellency... what do you think?"
Morena, full name: Morena Brut, is the illegitimate daughter of King Nabis Hui Guo Rou of the Kakin Empire and his lover. She is also the supporter of the fourth prince, Tserriednich Twice- Hui Guo Rou, and the actual controller of the Ai-I-I family, one of the three major underground gangs in the Kakin Empire!
Nen Ability... [Contagion]: Can transmit saliva to a member through kissing.
The number of patients affected includes, but is not limited to Morena, with a maximum of 23 people. Killing someone will increase the level, increasing the total amount and power of the Qi.
When a patient reaches LV20, they can awaken their own unique "Nen Ability." Upon reaching LV100, they can even become Patient Zero (MEMBERO), possessing the ability to "infect" others, just like Morena, and develop their own unique infection group at their own will.
This method of "transmitting the virus" is remarkably similar to "Grace" in some ways!
Perhaps in Morena's mind, "patients" are "Believer," and "viruses" are "Faith." The reason she set a limit for herself... is that she can only withstand a maximum of 23 Believer, the [natural] backlash they would bring, and even...
Roy recalled Morena's future pronouncement on the Black Whale— "My only purpose in life is to destroy everything"—and her subsequent instigation of her Believer to indiscriminately wage war against various factions within the ship, leading him to deeply suspect...
She has fallen into a kind of "contaminated" and delusional state, and it seems that one foot is already on the verge of getting out of control!
His mind raced. Faced with Bolton's question, Roy didn't want to answer, nor did he bother to... If it were Tsugikuni Yoriichi here, he would probably angrily question him, "What do you take life for?"
But Roy wouldn't do that. Roy would only... answer the other person's question with the knife in his hand!
"Bolton, patient number 17, grade: IV41, Manifested Aura: C- (14581/100000).
"Ilya, Patient #5, Level: LV50, Manifested Aura: C"
(57414/100000)...
If we follow the original story 'Morena to those afflicted with the disease that the upgrade condition is killing an ordinary person to increase their level by 1...
Levels increase by 10 for a Nen user, 50 for a prince, and the number of people needed increases with each level.
By "normal standards," Bolton and Ilya each hold at least several hundred, perhaps even thousands, lives in their hands!
"Whoosh~" Sensing Roy's anger, the Short Blade turned red, ignited, and two long, raging fire dragons shot out...
Feeling the intense heat washing over him, Ilya said expressionlessly to Bolton, "Be careful, this guy's [Circle] can read minds. It's best to block it before you make a move!"
"No need for you to tell me." Bolton held up his hands. "Same as always, kill him, experience points split."
"Bang!" With "Sun" in his left hand and "Moon" in his right, Bolton clashed his fists together!
Preemptive strike... Just then, an "arrow" swept across the back of his hand, like a shadowy snake, seizing the three to five seconds between the three-second intervals between the [Double Face]'s attacks, and in a flash, it bit the "explosion" and headed straight for Roy's face.
Roy gripped the Asauchi, his eyes blazing Great Sun. With a perfectly timed strike, flames erupted, and the blade struck the arrowhead squarely... But then—
An explosion several times more powerful than the self-destruction of those "Bombermen" outside the door suddenly rang out!
The "Double Face" personally deployed by Bolton were far superior to the "human bombs" outside!
"Crash!" The steeple of the church trembled... rubble shook and dust fell...
Kastro, lurking outside the door and constantly entangled with the man in black... and the three little ones, who were hiding atop the garbage mountain and spying through binoculars, all turned their heads to look over...
Chrollo, Shalnark, Pakunoda —even the usually composed Chrollo couldn't hide his shock, witnessing a scene he would never forget.
The Sun-Earring Boy wielding the sword, after cleaving the blade and causing it to explode, gazed affectionately at the Asauchi in his hand, stroking the surface with his fingers, and murmured to himself, "Don't worry, it's my fault. I've been practicing swordsmanship too much lately. Be good... I'll make it up to you now..."
"Unleash the full Power of Faith, channel it all into your Swordsmanship!"
"Bankai!"