Water? Water. Water!

Hummm~

Carl kept her eyes closed as pale golden Nen Aura circulated constantly through his body. Every inch of muscle infused with Nen Aura sang with joy.

The boost Nen Aura gives the body is actually this effective... no wonder those Nen users can take bullets head-on at the drop of a hat!

He could feel that the parts of his body tinged with pale gold were unusually active, a boundless sense of power welling up from them.

Next, I need to find a teacher for everyone.

Carl slowly opened his eyes. Even now, he still couldn't bring himself to trust everything he had learned about Nen Aura in his previous life.

More precisely, he would rather find a teacher with plenty of experience than rely on the unverified knowledge he remembered.

More than thirty years of experience across two lives were enough for Carl to understand the difference!

It's about time I went out.

Bracing himself with one hand, Carl got up from beside the wall.

Chrollo, who should have been beside him, had long since left. He was the only one left in the warehouse now.

"Please, Nobunaga, I'm begging you! It's my one request of a lifetime!"

"Get lost! Why didn't you say so earlier?"

The clamor outside the warehouse carried through the oak door and reached Carl's ears clearly.

"Why does it feel like Uvogin's voice is getting louder and louder?"

Rubbing her aching ears, Carl headed out of the warehouse, curious.

Uvogin had even resorted to saying it was his one request of a lifetime. Carl wondered what on earth was going on outside.

The moment she pushed open the door, she saw Nobunaga straining to hold Uvogin back like a mother wolf guarding her cubs. Behind him stood half a cup of clear water with a wheat leaf floating in it.

"You can't drink that much!"

Uvogin's bronze back arched like a predator's. White Nen Aura covered his body, and his straw sandals plowed two furrows into the ground.

"Even if I can't, I'm not giving it to you!"

Nobunaga refused to yield an inch. Nen Aura surged around him, and he even pushed Uvogin back bit by bit.

"Are we leaving?"

Seeing Carl approach, Chrollo looked up and asked.

The Phantom Troupe had been in the estate for a while now, and he was a little worried about what was happening outside.

"No rush. First, tell me what they're doing."

"Testing the effects of Nen Aura. The wager is Nobunaga's half cup of clear water."

Chrollo sighed, a note of resignation in his voice.

His fingertips rubbed the cracks in his wooden cup. Two fairly deep scars marked his thick calluses-souvenirs from when he had stabbed three adults to death for half a cup of filthy water at the age of ten.

"In Meteor City, clear water like this can be traded for ten lives."

"..."

Carl stood dazed for a long moment at his words.

He had spent so long in the estate that he had truly forgotten the circumstances in Meteor City-clean water was an especially scarce resource there.

For Meteor City, located deep within the mountains of garbage, water was an extraordinarily precious resource to begin with.

As for the ordinary residents living there, never mind clean water like this; even muddy water was beyond their reach.

After several rounds of recycling, "Meteor City clay-pot water," with its natural stink, was the only water they had access to.

Even then, they had to pay enough valuable garbage just to qualify to exchange for it.

A helpless orphan like Carl's original self could get a pitiful amount of water, barely enough to survive!

After a long silence, Carl bent down and scooped up a handful of yellow earth.

Moist soil spilled between her fingers, carrying the earthy smell unique to dirt.

With a thought, she summoned the water jug into her hand.

Without hesitation, Carl abruptly turned the jug upside down. Under everyone's horrified gazes, clear water poured out in a silver chain.

"Are you crazy?!" Pakunoda, who was standing nearby, dropped to her knees and scooped at the puddle in vain.

The liquid slipped through her trembling fingers and soaked into the ground below. In the summer when she was seven, she had watched her younger sister die of thirst in their shack.

The shadow of that event had followed her throughout her childhood. Countless times, Paku had woken in the middle of the night and wept aloud under her blankets.

Chrollo's pupils shrank to pinpoints. He didn't understand why Carl would suddenly do such a thing.

"The water in the estate won't run out." Carl frowned and handed the jug to Chrollo.

He had no intention of wasting resources, but his companions' behavior had made him realize something: the difference between children who grew up in Meteor City and children from the outside world sometimes really was more than just a mountain of garbage.

More than that, perhaps, it was the inferiority they felt in their hearts!

How could clear water compare to human lives?

How could clear water deserve to be compared to human lives?

Human lives... how could they be so worthless as to be measured against clear water?!

"It won't run out..." Taking the jug and watching the stream that showed no sign of stopping, Chrollo murmured,

"I really hope that someday, Meteor City can be like this estate too..."

Carl sighed and helped Pakunoda up from the ground.

Everyone gradually gathered in a circle, silently watching the long silver chain beneath the jug.

After a long while, Chrollo righted the jug, and the silver chain broke off.

Paku's golden hair was speckled with beads of water that had yet to dry, each one reflecting the faint light flickering in Chrollo's eyes.

After a long while, Sarasa suddenly made the Cleanup Squad gesture. Her energetic voice tore through the gloom. "Things will get better! Just like Chrollo said!"

"Of course! I've got the strongest fists around!" Uvogin pounded his bulging chest muscles and grinned.

"I'll become the strongest samurai!" Nobunaga's blade flicked up a spray of water, tracing a silver arc through the air.

Machi gripped Paku's hand, and together they raised their right hands.

"I'll become the best botanist too."

Carl smiled and raised his right hand, making the declaration that best suited his original self.

As long as she could drive away the inferiority in everyone's hearts, the water she had poured out wouldn't have been wasted!

Chrollo's gaze swept over every glowing face before settling on Carl.

The boy slowly made the squad's gesture, his voice as soft as if he were touching a fragile dream. "I'll become a leader worthy of this hope."

After a long moment, everyone exchanged glances and burst out laughing.

"'The strongest samurai,' huh~" Uvogin cleared his throat, mimicking Nobunaga's tone.

"Don't imitate me, you idiot!" A vein bulged on Nobunaga's forehead as he shouted at Uvogin.

Even as he spoke, he charged at Uvogin. Before long, the two were rolling around on the ground together.

"Those two really get along well." Phinks rubbed Feitan's hair and laughed heartily.

Feitan jabbed his elbow into Phinks's ribs, and amid the latter's exaggerated scream, the heavy atmosphere shattered completely into glittering pieces across the ground.

"Let's go take a bath!" Machi took the jug from Chrollo and turned to Sarasa and Paku.

"Okay!" The two girls exchanged a glance and readily agreed.