Assignment and the Manor

The leaden clouds grew darker, casting all of Meteor City into shadow.

After leaving the church, Carl quickly pulled ten Bomb Pomegranates from the pouch at her waist and handed them to Hisoka.

"Want to make another big haul?"

As Carl spoke, she flicked the topmost pomegranate. The pulsing sound beneath its skin made Hisoka's pupils narrow to slits.

"Go on~"

Hisoka picked up a Bomb Pomegranate and ran his fingers over the patterns on its skin, asking with interest.

"Bring my master here, and I'll give you ten more. How about it?"

Carl thought for a moment, then held up one finger to Hisoka.

Ten Bomb Pomegranates to have Hisoka make the trip for him-he thought it was a bargain!

"Ten..."

Bungee Love wrapped around the fruit like spider silk. Once the pale purple Nen Aura had seeped into the little branch at its top, Hisoka slowly tucked the fruit into his clothes.

"Teacher Lianke told me to follow you to protect you... If anything happens to you, she'll punish me."

"Ten more." Carl pulled open her black robe. The bag of bombs at her waist gave an unpleasant creak as its contents were squeezed together. "Enough for you to blow the Mist Forest into a crater."

Hisoka licked his lips, his Adam's apple bobbing with a hungry sound.

"Lianke hits hard. If I go back alone..."

"Thirty! Thirty is the most I'll give you!"

Hearing Hisoka's interest, Carl abruptly shoved the pomegranates in her hands into his arms.

"Then... deal~"

Feeling the unusual texture of the fruit in his arms, Hisoka's face briefly lit up with desire.

How long could one ride take? He could hardly wait to get more Bomb Pomegranates!

"Hey! Wrong way! The station's over here!"

A moment later, as Carl watched Hisoka's retreating figure, she suddenly realized something was wrong.

"This way! Over here!"

As though he had heard the voice behind him, Hisoka stumbled, then quickened his pace even more.

Before long, he vanished at the end of the street.

"Is that guy... really going to catch a ride?"

Full of doubts, Carl turned and headed for Sarasa's home.

After leaving Sarasa safely with her adoptive mother, she went to a secluded, deserted corner.

"Enter the manor."

With a hum of warping spacetime bursting in her ears, hundreds of meters of amber-colored land appeared in the void.

"Phew~"

After taking several deep breaths, Carl waved a hand and summoned the manor panel.

[Manor owner: Carl (level 50)]

[Space unlocked: farm]

[Fields available for planting: 450]

[Current mature crops: 53,960 Bomb Pomegranates, 10 Nen Komugi plants, 2,799 Qi and Blood Pumpkins.]

[Crop seeds: 100,000 Bomb Pomegranate seeds, 810 Nen Komugi seeds, 1,260 Qi and Blood Pumpkin seeds]

Looking at the enormous number of Bomb Pomegranates on the panel, Carl sat down cross-legged and pondered.

Old Will was dead, and that was that. He didn't attach much importance to a stranger's death.

His earlier behavior had purely been out of consideration for the Phantom Troupe, fulfilling his share of responsibility as a companion!

Over the past month, he hadn't upgraded the manor because the Phantom Troupe had been living there.

He had done so to avoid undermining the lie he had woven-that the manor was a conjuration of his Nen Ability.

After all, even a fool could tell something was wrong if he expanded the land by that much all at once!

"Now that the Phantom Troupe's gone out too, this is the perfect chance to upgrade the manor!"

Carl rubbed the soft flesh of her chin, her gaze slowly sweeping over the empty rows of farmland.

As time passed, the situation had changed again!

Meteor City was so chaotic and dangerous now that he needed to hurry up and farm to level up. How could he have time to slack off?

He could make up an excuse whenever he needed one!

"Hum."

"An increase in farm owner level is available. Please confirm: increase, yes or no?"

The system's mechanical voice rang out.

Carl rose to her feet and gazed at the amber-colored rows before her.

"Increase. Submit 5,000 Bomb Pomegranates."

Hum!

Standing at the edge of the amber-colored fields, Carl looked around. The earth seemed to surge and boil like the sea, slowly stretching outward beneath the great sun overhead.

The fields beneath her feet expanded at a visible rate until they were twice their former size.

Before, the Phantom Troupe's bedding had been laid in front of the warehouse, leaving a path about a meter wide.

Now it was hundreds of meters from the warehouse, right in the middle of the new land.

"A tenth of my stock is gone."

Sensing the changes in the manor, Carl suddenly felt a pang.

More than five thousand Bomb Pomegranates might have looked like only a tenth of what he had in storage, but he had painstakingly grown, harvested, and saved every one of them...

"Hum!"

"Manor owner's level meets the requirement. The fish pond is now officially open."

Boom!

Before Carl had time to react, a tremendous crash rang out through the manor.

A flood of memories shot straight into Carl's brain like arrows!

In the last thing he saw, an image of countless stars falling seemed to flash before his eyes.

An unknown amount of time passed. When Carl blearily opened her eyes, a thick fog had already enveloped the northern part of the manor.

A trail wound like a tree branch from the warehouse all the way into the depths of the fog.

Following the guidance she had inherited, Carl walked along the path, step by step into the fog.

Although the white mist obscured her vision, the feel of the pebbles beneath her feet told Carl that she was still moving forward.

After Carl had counted to fifty-nine in her head, the fog before her suddenly dispersed.

The rushing sound of the tide swept toward her, carrying a salty, briny smell, and a vast blue ocean appeared before her eyes.

A boardwalk made of grayish-brown planks stretched across the golden beach, leading straight out into the depths of the ocean.

Tap!

Without hesitation, Carl crossed the beach and strode onto the boardwalk.

She continued straight ahead.

After about a hundred steps, a small fishing spot appeared before her.

A crystal fishing rod lay across a faded teak stool, the iridescent light flowing over its shaft seemingly waiting quietly for something.

Following the inheritance in her memories, Carl took a few steps forward and sat on the little stool, naturally picking up the rod.

"Hum~"

With a system notification, a panel appeared before Carl.

[Dimensional Fish Pond tip: Don't skimp on baiting the spot if you want to catch a big fish!]

[This fish pond connects to dimensional space. Items from different worlds can be caught (unrestricted).]

[Basic bait: 1/10,000 fruit. Advanced bait: 1/1,000,000 fruit. (Bait can catch only one fish at a time!)]

[Basic fishing net: 1/100,000 fruit. Advanced fishing net: 1/10,000,000 fruit. (A fishing net can catch five kinds of fish at a time!)]

{Item with the highest catch rate today: plants}

"You... I..."

Staring at the bait on the panel, priced in units of ten thousand and up, Carl swallowed.

He had actually been quite happy that the manor had gained a new ability, but looking at the prices of the bait, he found it hard to stay happy.

Just try it once~

Basic bait doesn't cost much fruit~

Just once~

The urge kept echoing through Carl's mind.

Splash!

A moment later, the hook, tied with red bait, landed in the sea, sending ripples spreading outward.

An emerald-green halo three meters across spread through the waves, centered on the hook.

According to the inheritance, Carl knew that when a fish entered the halo, she could lift the rod and claim her catch.

It'll be fine. I'll definitely catch something good~

Sitting upright on the wooden stool, Carl reassured herself.