Dancing Alone Beneath the Moon

"Thud."

The sound came up from beneath the ship.

Bai Zhu swept his gaze over the pale-faced group, his throat a little dry.

"Congratulations, everyone. Last night, it was my custom ringtone. Tonight, it's become a public broadcast."

No one paid Bai Zhu any attention. Everyone was staring at the sea.

A few seconds later.

"Thud."

The second sound.

This time, it was clearer.

The hull trembled slightly. The metal clasps hanging by the deck struck the railing, producing a string of faint clinks.

Bai Zhu immediately looked at Morel.

"Morel, are you still using Zetsu?"

Morel lowered his pipe.

"Yeah."

Milluki's expression was awful.

"Zetsu doesn't work?"

Morel did not answer Milluki, because he did not know either.

He looked toward the distant sea and spoke only after two seconds.

"Pariston's rules only covered the first contact."

At the mention of that name, Bai Zhu felt his teeth itch.

"I knew it."

Morel continued.

"The response during the day was interrupted. It may have already left something behind."

Bai Zhu immediately pointed at Milluki's spare equipment case.

"Left it on whom? Let me make this clear—I haven't touched any equipment."

Milluki flipped over the detector.

"Not the equipment."

Gela Jiang added quietly.

"It's the area."

Morel nodded.

"It already knows we're nearby."

Bai Zhu drew a breath.

"So this isn't about whether we can hide our Nen anymore. It remembered our address."

Milluki could not help himself.

"Can you stop making something like this sound so mundane?"

"Then I'll put it another way."

Bai Zhu gripped the hilt of his blade.

"We've been added to some giant eyeball under the sea's contact list."

Milluki shut up.

Because that felt even worse.

"Thud."

The third sound landed.

The distant surface of the sea suddenly swelled.

A huge stretch of water