"Cough, cough, my back-"
Sent flying by the shock wave and Cheadle, Dio felt as though he had spent at least five seconds airborne before gravity finally dragged him down.
With Cheadle in his arms, Dio could only land flat on his back. Unable to break his fall, he felt as though an ice cream truck had slammed into him.
He let out the same cry as Spider-Man.
Thankfully, Cheadle was petite and light. Otherwise, who knew how many bones he would have broken?
Dio barely managed to prop up his upper body, then hurriedly started his Ripple breathing to ease the pain.
Only after a long while, when he felt he could breathe a little easier, did he raise his head to look around-
He was in a passage. It was not completely dark; patches of what looked like fluorescent moss provided a faint light.
The opening he had flown through had collapsed completely, leaving a heap of rubble.
What also unsettled him was an invisible, malevolent presence seeping through the gaps between those rocks.
That sinister presence made his eyes widen, and a thought flashed through his mind:
I can't stay here!
He grabbed Cheadle, looped her arms around his neck, and hoisted her onto his back, intending to head deeper into the passage.
Only then did he notice that Cheadle's sterile suit had vanished, which meant she had lost consciousness.
"We're screwed! Please don't tell me you're dead!"
Dio immediately sensed trouble. Holding her hands, he channeled his Ripple into Cheadle's body while gritting his teeth and walking farther down the passage.
Cheadle had only slipped into a light coma. Half asleep and half awake, she felt warmth enter her body, and every cell suddenly sprang to life as though activated.
Before long, the sleeping Cheadle felt her mind clear. Her eyes snapped open:
"Why am I swaying?"
What greeted her eyes was the sight of her own arms around Dio's neck-and Dio carrying her on his back!?
Dio, who had been walking with his head down, seemed to sense something and tilted his head-
A pair of large emerald eyes stared at him in disbelief, right beside his face.
Cheadle: ?
"She's alive!"
Seeing Cheadle finally awake, Dio felt the weight lift from his heart. He let out a long breath and released the hands he had been holding.
As long as Cheadle woke up, getting out of this predicament would be no problem.
When Dio let go, Cheadle naturally slipped to the ground. Her hunter's instincts let her regain her balance almost the instant her feet touched down.
That also snapped the stunned Cheadle out of her daze, allowing her sharp mind to take control again.
Her mind instinctively began racing.
When she noticed that Dio was still alive and kicking, she could not help feeling relieved herself.
Thank goodness. He's alive.
Only then did she remember to survey their surroundings and recall everything that had just happened.
Except for the part where Dio had carried her like a little child. She had already decisively chosen to seal that memory away forever.
The experienced Cheadle quickly regained her composure and immediately checked both herself and Dio for injuries.
Fortunately, thanks to [Ken], she had not suffered any injuries. What puzzled her was that Dio had no serious injuries either.
Did I shield him that well?
But this was not the time to dwell on that. When she noticed the black Nen Aura surrounding them, her heart jolted.
"It's Post-Mortem Nen!"
The experienced Cheadle instantly identified the black Nen Aura before her.
Knowing how terrifying it was, she grabbed Dio and hastily retreated almost as soon as she recognized it, activating [Dr. Yorkshire] again!
The pure white sterile suit reappeared on her body. Only when she felt the Post-Mortem Nen being kept outside did she breathe a sigh of relief.
An instant later, however, she realized something was wrong.
Turning her head, she saw that Dio, who had neither an aura suit nor even basic [Ten], was still perfectly lively despite coming into contact with the Post-Mortem Nen.
For the first time, astonishment appeared on Cheadle's face:
"Dio, do you feel unwell anywhere?"
Dio thought she was asking whether he was injured, so he offered the explanation for Ripple that he had prepared long ago:
"Ms. Cheadle, remember the new discovery I mentioned over the phone? This is it."
As he spoke, he clenched his fists, and golden currents spread over his body. Before Cheadle's eyes, the Post-Mortem Nen that clung to him like maggots to bone was dispersed by those golden currents, melting away like snow!
"After I fell into the sea last time, I woke up and discovered that maintaining a particular breathing pattern produced this energy. It makes my body recover much faster and endure much more than usual, but keeping it up takes a lot of stamina!"
Dio then explained in detail how he had "discovered" the ability and named it [Ripple].
Cheadle's initial astonishment gradually gave way to contemplation. Clearly, parts of the boy's story were lies!
But when she heard that maintaining the energy required a great deal of stamina, she realized she had to free this boy and his pile of half-truths from the Post-Mortem Nen first.
Otherwise, death would await him once his stamina ran out!
Making a swift decision, Cheadle clapped her hands together and addressed Dio solemnly:
"Since time is short, we'll make this quick!"
"Dio, I don't know how much you know about 'Post-Mortem Nen,' but please believe me when I say you're in a very dangerous situation!"
"Follow my instructions. I'll help you get rid of this stuff. This is to save your life!"
Without waiting for Dio to react, Cheadle activated her other ability-
[Yorkshire Registrar]!
As Nen Aura surged around Cheadle's hands, an antique-looking book appeared in her left hand, while a quill appeared in her right.
With my current amount of aura, lending out half probably won't let me maintain the ability for six hours... I'd better borrow seventy-five percent of my aura from my future self, in exchange for twelve hours of [Zetsu]...
As she thought, Cheadle opened the book and wrote rapidly on one of its pages, finishing by signing her name twice.
Then the aura around her suddenly surged. That terrifying [Ren] radiated such power that even Dio, who could not see aura, could feel it.
But she
did not stop moving. She turned to another page, began writing rapidly again, then signed her name in the bottom left corner.
"Sign your name in the bottom left corner. Your first name or surname will do, as long as you consider yourself to be signing voluntarily."
Cheadle handed the book to Dio and instructed him to sign his name in a tone that brooked no argument.
What's this? An indenture contract?
Puzzled, Dio took the book and read:
"The contracting party, Cheadle Yorkshire, hereby agrees to lend fifty percent of her aura to the contracting party, Dio Diego, and to share the right to use [Dr. Yorkshire] with the contracting party, Dio Diego, for a duration of six hours."
After reading it, Dio immediately realized this was a Nen Ability contract. Judging by its contents, it contained no terms detrimental to him.
So, should I sign my name as Cheadle asked?
Dio hesitated for only an instant before deciding-Sign it!
If she wanted to harm him, there was no need for all this fuss. She could simply kill him and dump his body here, and no one would ever find it.
Dio took the quill and signed his name with a flourish. Then both the quill and book dissolved into white light and disappeared.
What followed was a powerful surge of unfamiliar energy!
So this is Nen! What an enormous amount!
Dio felt the immense energy inside him. Unlike Ripple, it had no warm, healing quality, but he could sense a tenacious will within that vast power.
Having never experienced such a staggering difference in strength before, Dio almost lost himself in the power that had suddenly flooded into him.
Meanwhile, feeling the aura inside her instantly drop by half, Cheadle called out a warning:
"Don't just stand there! Activate the ability! It should be as easy as following your instincts!"
Cheadle's words snapped Dio out of his daze. As though guided by instinct, his aura began to flow, covering his entire body in an instant.
A moment later, the aura covering his skin materialized into a pure white sterile suit.
As soon as Dio put on the sterile suit, he felt the omnipresent malice around him vanish without a trace.
So that malevolent presence was 'Post-Mortem Nen'?
This is Cheadle's Nen Ability? It can even protect against Post-Mortem Nen?
In the original story, people afflicted with Post-Mortem Nen had almost no way of removing it other than seeking out a Nen exorcist!
And Nen exorcists were described as so rare that fewer than ten existed in the entire world.
That miraculous Nen Ability left Dio deeply awestruck.
"Although I'm only lending you this ability temporarily, and it will return to me after six hours, you'll also gain the ability to control Nen through this."
Only after seeing a sterile suit identical to her own appear on Dio did Cheadle breathe a sigh of relief. Then she spoke sternly:
"Nen Abilities are extremely dangerous. If used improperly, they can hurt both you and others."
"So once we get out of here, you must systematically study the theory behind Nen Abilities and how to use them in practice."
Naturally, Dio had no objections. This was precisely why he had come here with Cheadle, and he immediately nodded like a bobblehead.
With the urgent matter dealt with, Cheadle turned to survey their surroundings.
Her mind instinctively began working, carefully sorting through the events of this incident.
She might have been fine without thinking about it, but once she did, her brows suddenly furrowed.
Looking back now that she had calmed down, the situation had spiraled completely out of control from the moment that officer suddenly spoke up, and a whole host of suspicious details had emerged out of nowhere.
She would start her analysis from the beginning. Working out how to escape was not Cheadle's first priority.
An explosion this large was sure to have been noticed outside. Her friends out there were probably already working on a rescue.
Before you continue