Value

It was late at night in September.

The area in front of the screening room was silent. The night wind blew in through the broken stained-glass windows, chilling Carl to the bone.

"What were you standing there for? After something this serious happened, why were you still in Meteor City? Didn't you know to run to the Mist Forest?"

"Old Will was already dead. Why did you bother with his body? Didn't you know how to run?"

"If the enemy had been lying in wait inside the church, would you have died alongside Old Will?!!"

The door to the screening room stood open, and Lianke's reproachful voice kept coming from within. Carl stood rooted in the doorway, disheartened.

The Phantom Troupe members weren't at Sarasa's house, and they hadn't come back to the church either. Where could they have gone?

So they really had gone after revenge the very day they found a lead...

"Sigh..."

Carl slowly stepped inside and immediately spotted Lianke at work by the wooden table. Pale purple Nen threads fluttered through her hands, dancing over the corpse like butterflies.

Every inch of split skin the butterflies' trailing wings passed over healed. Aside from its deathly pale color, it was no different from a living person's skin.

"Payment."

Hisoka leaned against the wall with his arms folded, then held out a hand to Carl.

"Everything in this pocket is yours..."

Catching sight of the big red lump on Hisoka's head, Carl reached into her black robe and handed him the pocket full of Bomb Pomegranates.

Nothing more needed to be said.

"Here."

Hisoka's patent leather boots ground over the dried blood on the floor as he tossed her a pure gold brooch, sending it tracing a dark arc through the air.

"I found it under the corpse. One of your companions probably left it for you."

With that, he picked up the pocket and headed out the door.

As they passed each other, a voice barely louder than a mosquito reached Carl's ears. "Teacher has a lot of connections in Meteor City. Maybe you should ask her for help."

Though Hisoka hadn't entered Meteor City during the year he had spent with Lianke, he had seen plenty of people from there come to visit her.

Since Carl had paid so generously, he didn't mind sharing a bit of information with his junior.

"Sss..."

As the Nen threads in Lianke's hands vanished, the pale purple butterflies dancing above the body broke into tiny fragments and scattered.

Once the fragments had completely merged into it, Old Will's corpse was whole again. It looked as though he were simply lying on the wooden table, asleep.

"A crow..."

Carl caught the pure gold brooch and rubbed her fingertips over the black crow design on its back.

Was there a group in Meteor City that used a crow as its symbol?

Lianke walked up to Carl and smacked her fair, delicate palm against the young boy's forehead.

"What are you spacing out for, brat?"

The scent of iris wafted over on the wind and brushed Carl's face.

The slap snapped Carl out of her recollections. She hurriedly turned the brooch over to show the crow design.

"Master, do you recognize this crow design?"

Though she didn't know whether Hisoka's words were reliable, Carl could only pin her hopes on her master now.

After all, with the original owner's limited knowledge alone, she could never find the Phantom Troupe!

"It's a black market mark. And it's called a death bird!"

Lianke reached out and took the brooch, poked the black mark on it, then looked at Carl.

"Take Old Will's body and come back to the Mist Forest."

"Meteor City is getting more chaotic. It won't hurt to go back sooner."

Lianke returned the brooch to Carl, patted the young boy's head, and spoke sincerely.

"I don't know how Old Will died, but revenge isn't something a brat like you should be handling."

"Your only task now is to come back to the Mist Forest with me and get a good night's sleep."

She knew Carl wanted revenge, but that wasn't something a child should be handling.

For the sake of their nearly ten years of friendship, all she could do was mend his body for free. At most, she could also help bury him!

Revenge?

Plenty of people were closer to Old Will than she was. It wasn't her place to take revenge.

"I have some companions. They might have gone to the black market on their own to look for the killer."

Carl opened her mouth, then lowered her head.

In all her life, this was the first time she had ever asked someone for help.

But she had no choice. She didn't even know where the black market was, so she could only pin her hopes on Lianke!

"Sorry to trouble you, Master, but could you help me bring them back?"

"Companions? The black market? Finding people?"

Lianke looked at Carl in bewilderment.

She understood those three terms separately, so why couldn't she make sense of them together?

"The black market is a huge marketplace. Everything sold there is stamped with this mark."

Pointing at the black death bird on the brooch, Lianke asked in confusion:

"Even if your companions got into the black market, how would they find the killer?"

"There are plenty of people selling gold jewelry at the black market. What could they rely on to find the killer? Intuition?"

"Besides, it's nighttime, and the black market is full of all sorts. Your companions aren't looking for the killer-they're restocking the black market!"

"This is ridiculous!"

With that, Lianke took Carl's hand and spoke sternly.

"Come back to the Mist Forest with me. There's no need to save those companions of yours."

"What if my companions are all Nen users?"

Hearing the meaning hidden in Lianke's words, Carl didn't hesitate. She promptly told her about the Phantom Troupe.

When all was said and done, the Phantom Troupe had no value!

And something without value naturally wasn't worth anyone else's trouble.

"Impossible!"

"Do you think awakening Nen Aura is as easy as handing out candy?!"

"Natural-born Nen users are one in hundreds of millions. Meteor City producing even one like you is already a miracle!"

"I opened their Nen for them."

Carl spoke up suddenly.

"So what if you opened their Nen for them?! Opening Nen..."

Lianke's voice cut off abruptly, her emerald pupils contracting. What had she just heard?

"What did you say?"

"Opened their Nen? Who told you to open other people's Nen?!"

Carl sighed and repeated herself.

"I taught myself, and I've already successfully opened my companions' Nen."

"Hisoka can vouch for me."

She knew this was hard for Lianke to accept, but the facts were right there and couldn't be erased.

"..."

Looking into Carl's sincere eyes, Lianke felt her worldview crumbling.

If Carl dared to call Hisoka in to confirm it, then what she said was most likely true-because Lianke was one hundred percent confident that Hisoka wouldn't lie to her.

But... that was opening someone else's Nen!

For someone without the aptitude, such an act was no different from murder!

Carl had dared to try something like that after teaching herself, and had even succeeded...

Did this world make any sense anymore?!

"How many?"

Lianke put an arm on Carl's shoulder and bent down.

"I'm asking you, how many Nen users are there among your companions?"

She no longer wanted to discuss what Carl had done. The most important thing now was to confirm how many geniuses were waiting for her!

That was right! Geniuses!

Anyone who survived a single Nen opening in one day was already exceptional among ordinary people!

If they could awaken their Nen Aura on the first try, what else could they be but geniuses?!!

"Ten."

Seeing the unusual fervor in Lianke's eyes, Carl answered truthfully.

"Ten?!!"

Before the word had even faded, Lianke suddenly seized Carl by the shoulder and dragged her out the door.

"Go, go, go! I'll take you to the black market to get them out!!!"