Gold's Nen Ability × The Voyage Bureau's Calamity Laboratory

Water Breathing... Is this some kind of technique I don't know about?

Razor glanced tentatively at Roy, Elena looked at him, then at Roy; the so-called "Water Breathing" was clearly the work of the Sun-Earring Boy.

The woman adjusted her blue-light glasses perched on her nose and recounted the various abilities Roy had displayed since they met—too many to count, utterly too many to list... He was like a glacier stretching across the ocean; just when Elena was certain that it was his Nen Ability, Roy would always manage to pull out another trick from somewhere else, leaving everyone speechless.

"Hehe, that's good." Jin's gaze lingered on Razor and Gotoh for a moment, before finally giving Roy a deep look.

Without saying or asking anything, the group ate breakfast, packed their bags, and boarded the ship that Elena had rented in advance, heading to their target sea area.

With a roar, the engine propelled the cruise ship through the waves, sailing away from the shore.

Roy and Kim each took a fishing rod, sat cross-legged at the bow of the boat, and began fishing.

The sea breeze blew a corner of his hood up, and Jin pressed down the brim. With a flick of his wrist, the red bead pulled the fishing line in a graceful arc as it fell into the sea. The man had just turned his head to look at the Sun-Earring Boy, who was using the Cane Sword [Moon Wane] as a fishing rod and extending the "Nen Thread" as the "fishing line." As always, he was honing his Nen Ability using [Hookless Fishing], which he had learned from his grandfather Jager's notes... The boy was only about ten years old, yet he had already displayed a superhuman maturity beyond his years.

"Roy, I understand you less and less."

Inside the cabin, Elena used the blue screen as a guide, directing the helmsman to adjust the course.

On the deck, Razor his palm as a knife, meticulously practicing [Water Breathing] while referring to the thin book.

Behind Roy, Gotoh held a handkerchief and carefully wiped the [Infinite Pistol].

Occasionally, a seabird would let out a soft cry... The Feicha's Parrot shoulder with the golden bird, glanced sideways at the Sun-Earring Boy and said.

"Caw!" The Golden Crow spread its wings and emerged from above Roy's head. Like a Fat Chicken, it found the spot where the Sun-Earring Boy's black hair was swirling and lay down, "Chirp--"

Feicha's Parrot fluttered over and landed right next to Little Gold on Roy's head. Its tiny, beady eyes narrowed, and it affectionately nuzzled Little Gold's chubby face, causing Little Gold's lips to twitch slightly...

"What's there to be confused about? Aren't you the same as always?" They've been in contact for two days, and aside from stealing Razor's Nen Bullet through Feicha's Parrot and exchanging a blow with him, Jin hasn't used any other methods, let alone Nen Ability...

However, given that the other party's surname Freecss, and his ancestor Dong personally ventured into the Dark Continent, leaving behind a book called "New Continent Travelogue" which was regarded as a guidebook by the Voyage Bureau- tei... coupled with the "Feicha's Parrot" above his head, and... Jin is always surrounded by Magic Beast Phantom Beast and phantom beasts whenever he appears, and even more outrageous is that he once rode on the back of a dragon, playing the Game of Jenga with several other enormous creatures that were no smaller than mountains...

Roy vaguely guessed that the other party's abilities might be related to "Magic Beast" or "Phantom Beast." Exploring ruins, uncovering prehistoric civilizations, and embarking on the path of a "Ruins Hunter" might not be without this consideration.

"No, we're not the same." Jin, holding a fishing rod, gazed at the sunlight shimmering on the sea and said absentmindedly, "Your situation is more difficult than mine."

"You need to control 'people,' but I..." The man flicked his arm, the red bead moved, and the fishhook pulled out a pike, which struggled to fly onto the deck. It was knocked unconscious by a sailor on the ship and became a potential lunch option for the group.

Jin tilted his head and smiled at the Sun-Earring Boy, "All you need to do is get along well with the animals."

"Human hearts are too complicated; you can't control them?"

"I can't control myself." Jin scratched his head. "I hate all that scheming and backstabbing... I prefer being with animals."

"Sakura." Jin reached out and beckoned. The parrot, Feicha's Parrot, reluctantly flew back and landed on the man's shoulder, nuzzling his hand affectionately. Its harmonious interaction with the animal reminded Roy of Kite. Kite had been accepted as a disciple by the man precisely because of her harmonious relationship with the animals around her.

As Kim once told Kite, "A person who is loved by animals is bound to be a good person."

Now it seems... Roy raised his Cane Sword, caught a pike, threw it onto the deck, and was knocked unconscious by a sailor's stick.

The Sun-Earring Boy agreed, saying, "It seems your Nen Ability is related to animals."

"Contract." Jin swung his rod again with a beautiful cast, watching the hook hit the water and splash up, and said softly, "I can choose any Magic Beast, Rare Beast, or Phantom Beast to form Contract with. All those who Contract with me become my partners, at my beck and call, and may even... lend me their innate Nen Ability."

Roy was taken aback. This was somewhat similar to his [Monster Compendium], the difference being that... Jin didn't need to kill monsters like he did to obtain their Nen Ability.

Conversely, through a [Contract], Jin's methods are more gentle, and as a [partner], he entrusts his Faith to the [partner], thus bearing less of the [backlash] from [nature].

"Since you're my friend and about to enter the secret realm... I want to inform you in advance. Knowing your enemy and yourself, and cooperating with them, will make the exploration relatively smoother."

Jin noticed Roy's surprised expression and explained, "Razor released Elena... you must have known about it last night."

The four Heart Worm correspond to... Gotoh, Elena, Razor, and Jin... Roy did indeed have a heart-to-heart talk with Elena, saying noncommittally, "Conjuration... I am Conjuration... You can understand it as..."

"A world stands behind me."

The world of Demon Slayer!

On the deck, Razor, who was using his hand as a knife and his eyes to practice "Water Breathing," had just used "Drop Ripple Thrust" to disperse the howling sea wind. His ears twitched, and he glanced at the Sun-Earring Boy... His eyes were filled with the same shock as Jin's!

"You're so carefree!" Jin tilted his head and stared blankly at Roy for a long while before uttering these words through the Dark Continent teeth.

Over the years, he has traveled far and wide, exploring both the heavens and the earth, wandering among ruins and lost civilizations. He asks himself if his experiences and breadth of vision are second to none, but... the concept of a world... aside from that longed-for place, Jin can think of no other.

And humans... no matter how strong, without being told, truly cannot imagine things beyond their own comprehension...

Roy didn't explain, nor would he explain to Kim, letting him misunderstand. With a flick of his wrist, he thrust the Cane Sword into the bow of the ship, then lay back on the deck, letting the sunlight stream down on him. He spread his arms wide, saying, "It's not that I'm big-hearted, it's that the sun is big."

Hunter has the sun... Demon Slayer has the sun... Even in that concrete jungle where he lived as a corporate slave in his past life, he couldn't escape the sun's rays...

The Sun-Earring Boy shielded his face with his hand, peeking through his fingers at the Great Sun casting its rays across the sky. A moment of silence followed, then Jin's suppressed chuckle broke the silence, growing louder and then becoming a hearty, cheerful laugh... startling a flock of seabirds...

"Ha... I now believe it's not that the Zoldyck so powerful, but rather that you... are just too unpredictable!"

Indeed... a completely unfamiliar world, but unsurprisingly?

After finishing a set of "Water Breathing" techniques, Razor a soft sigh of relief and sat down next to Roy. The three of them basked in the sun in different postures. After a while, they suddenly heard a woman pok her head out of the captain's cabin and say, "We've arrived."

"Buzz... Stop..." The engine immediately shut off, and the inertia carried the boat forward a few more meters, rising and falling with the waves, until it came to a stop on the sea surface.

"Let's go." Jin put away his fishing rod and slung it over his shoulder. With one hand outstretched, Elena came over and immediately shook his hand. Blue light emanated from their bodies, instantly forming a bright blue "Nen Qi" water sphere that perfectly enveloped them.

Jin Shicai looked at the group and asked, "Are you sure you don't need my help?"

Roy remained silent, but with a wave of his hand, he used [Magnetism Attraction] to grab the Cane Sword [Moon Wane] in his hand. He then took a step forward, leaving behind a trail of afterimages, before solidifying his form and leaping into the sea like a sharp sword, rapidly darting towards the seabed!

"Young Master, wait for me." With the Infinite Pistol in hand, Gotoh quickly followed, took a few steps, and in a flash, leaped over the ship's side and plunged straight into the water. The moment he touched the surface, it was as if he had become a different species, transforming from "human" to "fish." He pushed off with both legs together, kicking upwards like a fish wagging its tail, splashing up waves with an indescribable crispness!

"Such speed!" Elena, relying on her Nen Ability [Master of the Situation], radiated out a [Circle], encompassing gold,

Roy, Gotoh, Razor, and everyone else, including himself, were Marking and their images were concentrated on the small screen in front of him... visible to the naked eye...

As soon as Roy and Gotoh entered the water, they swam faster and more powerfully than the sailfish, which are known as "underwater rockets," plunging straight down to the seabed, as if... "they really weren't bothered by water pressure or lack of oxygen!"

I suppose... that's the power of that "Water Breathing" technique...

"Thump... thump..." On the deck, apart from the captain and sailors, two of the five people had vanished in an instant.

Jin Razor shouted, "Come with me, it won't cost you any Nen Qi."

Razor a white tank top that subtly revealed a ring of firm muscles around his shoulders, turned his back to Jin and Elena and jumped into the sea without looking back, saying, "I don't have a penchant for being a landlubber."

"Splash!" He plunged into the water, rushing after Gotoh and Roy. Although his movements were initially a bit clumsy, and he wasn't quite used to the sea yet, he forced himself to calm down and tried to change his breathing rhythm, moving towards "Water Breathing." Razor gradually found a sense of "merging with the water"...

Using its "hands" as "fins" and its "legs" as a "tail," it gently glides five meters into the sea, clearly becoming increasingly adapted to underwater conditions, or rather, to life underwater...

"Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh..." On the small blue screen in front of Elena, the symbols of Roy...

The three small white dots of Gotoh and Razor, shaped like sharp arrows, are about to peek out from the edge of the screen in the blink of an eye.

Jin raised his hand to adjust the brim of his hat, pretending not to hear the sarcasm in Razor's words, and turned to Elena, saying, "Let's go."

The group exchanged glances, and following Razor, Zuoyou and Elena jumped into the sea, their bodies enveloped in the blue water sphere. They pushed aside the seawater and, relying on the abundant oxygen inside the sphere, overcame the conditions of oxygen deficiency or even anoxic conditions, chasing after Razor, Gotoh, and Roy.

Five water lines were used to navigate the water, one in the front, one in the middle, one in the back, and one in the back. After about half an hour, we finally reached the bottom... Before our eyes came a magnificent Gothic-style cathedral-like building, like a mountain blocking our way. Even if we craned our necks, we couldn't see the top. We only caught a glimpse of it when we went into the water, and we were deeply moved and indescribably shocked!

"Who could imagine that such a complex would exist underwater?" Gotoh followed Roy and slowly came to a stop in front of the church.

Logically, at a depth of 10,000 meters, no light could penetrate, and the area would mostly be dark and lifeless... But this Gothic architectural complex radiates a soft glow from its entirety. The tiles and walls, made of some unknown building material or perhaps branded with some kind of [Illumination] God Script... not only radiate Illumination in one area, but also push away seawater to create a spherical space filled with fresh air, almost indistinguishable from the outside world, which is astonishing.

"This is the place my ancestors once mentioned, the place where the Elephant Tapir once appeared."

"Thump~" Following Razor, Roy and Gotoh landed, Jin and Elena arrived right behind them. The "water sphere" surrounding them burst with a "pop", revealing their figures.

"It's hard to find without a specific location." Razor took off his vest, revealing his muscles. He squeezed out the seawater with his hand and glanced at Jin.

Jin Sa Ran said, "That's why we need to explore."

The man surveyed the church before him with wide eyes and said, "This is the meaning of adventure."

Hunter must have prey, and for Jin, that prey... is ruins!

He brushed past Razor's shoulder, strolled over to Roy, and stood beside him, looking up at the church entrance, adorned with various reliefs: armored warriors wielding broadswords, women with severed arms and bare breasts, girls wearing flower wreaths and holding their mothers' right hands, Missionary holding scriptures and standing in the crowd, speaking loudly... a thousand faces, each unique... captivating in a moment...

It takes people back to an epic period of time that is little known...

"You've never been here before?" Roy admired the relief carvings on the door, and for some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity.

He frowned in thought, carefully searching for the source of that sense of familiarity.

Ting Jin said, "No."

"I only glimpsed a corner of it in the records of my ancestors."

Roy seemed lost in thought, and the feeling of familiarity in his heart grew stronger.

"Young Master, have you discovered something?" Gotoh pushed up her glasses and keenly noticed Roy's unusual behavior.

Jin, Razor, Elena all looked at him. The Sun-Earring Boy remained silent for a moment before saying, "Perhaps we'll only know once we're inside."

Huan's gaze then swept around, Razor. The three of them, in unison, went to the door, each extending a hand, mustering all their strength, and pushed hard...

"Boom!" The church's main entrance, which had been sealed for who knows how long, suddenly opened a crack, sucking the three people inside...

Meanwhile, far away on the third basement level of the Voyage Bureau, in the laboratory where those creatures twisted into various monsters due to the [Calamity] are kept... in the innermost corner against the south wall...

Encased in a jar, the monster resembled a tangled hemp rope, from which an eye emerged and blinked...

Images projected from the depths of his pupils startled the staff on duty guarding the laboratory, who immediately notified their superiors!

"Oh no, Calamity is brewing."