The battle concluded, though in truth, neither Law nor Saiyu had gone all out. But sometimes, that's how fights are… you don't need to exhaust every last ounce of strength or reveal every trump card to determine the winner.
Law crouched beside Saiyu, gripping his heart tightly, twisting and distorting it without any sign of loosening his hold.
The ruined theater hall echoed with Saiyu's incessant screams.
A heart should be a fragile thing, easily crushed with just a bit of force… but a heart hit by God Hand was an exception.
Thus, the heart's endurance was nearly limitless, meaning the pain it could inflict had no upper limit and could escalate continuously.
Moreover, a heart extracted by God Hand transmitted pain at several times the normal intensity.
In other words, once Law seized someone's heart, even terms like 'excruciating' or 'living hell' would fall short of describing the experience.
Right now, Saiyu had only endured a minute of this pain-filled hell, yet he was already hoarse from screaming, his entire body drenched in sweat.
"You have two choices."
Law said, loosening his grip just enough to let Saiyu catch his breath.
"First, endure this pain until you die. Second, answer every question I ask truthfully. Don't even think about lying… your heart is in my hand, and it's the most natural lie detector there is."
"Once you've answered all my questions, I'll grant you a quick death. Choose."
Law glanced at Saiyu's abdomen, which was bleeding profusely, but made no move to stop it. After all, with Saiyu's physical resilience, he could hold on for at least another hour.
No matter which option Saiyu picked, Law had no intention of letting him live.
Saiyu, now reduced to a limbless torso, lay on his side, chest rising and falling weakly, his face ashen with despair. In a broken voice, he whispered, "I... choose the second one."
Law nodded, unsurprised by Saiyu's choice. After all, his interrogation method was arguably the most terrifying in the world… even Feitan, the master of torture, would have to admit defeat.
"First question: Who sent you?"
From there, Law fired off several more questions, all of which Saiyu answered truthfully. The entire process took only ten minutes.
Beyond Netero, Pariston, and the team aiming for the Dark Continent.
"Kill me."
After answering all the questions, Saiyu said lifelessly.
Law didn't respond. Instead, he stood up and summoned his book… its black-and-white cover adorned with the image of a cross, four Chinese characters, and a row of numbers: 6258.
Holding the book open with one hand, it automatically flipped to Saiyu's page. Law pressed the heart into the page as an illustration, then decisively crossed it out.
Saiyu's body convulsed, his eyes dimming instantly as blood gushed from the stumps of his limbs.
At that moment, a wisp of black smoke seeped out of Saiyu's corpse. Instead of attacking Law, who stood right beside it, the smoke drifted toward the golden staff lying not far away.
Law watched the black smoke's movements with familiarity. Over his six years of traveling, he had often helped people exorcise lingering resentment left behind by the dead in exchange for lodging.
He knew that for a deceased person to leave behind a resentment required a certain degree of opportunity.
Saiyu had succeeded in leaving behind a grudge… and his conjured Nyoi Bo along with it.
The black smoke reached the spot where the severed hand lay and suddenly morphed into a pitch-black Nen Monkey, picking up the fallen staff.
The Nen Monkey was as thin as a bamboo pole, with elongated limbs. The moment it touched the Nyoi Bo, the weapon turned black, radiating an aura so chilling it could freeze a person's soul.
It threw its head back and roared, yet no sound came out.
The black Nen Monkey brandished the staff and lunged at Law with lightning speed, swinging the now-thickened Nyoi Bo down toward his head.
Swish!
Law calmly stepped back, dodging the staff strike that shattered the ground beneath him. Then, with a push of his foot, he launched himself into the air toward the Nen Monkey, his palm covering its face before slamming it down with brutal force.
The Nen Monkey was thrown backward, crushed into the ground by Law's hand with a deafening impact.
'White Smoke Font.'
Law murmured in his heart with an expressionless face.
His palm seemed to open into a bottomless void, instantly absorbing the Nen Monkey.
Clang.
The Nen Monkey vanished, but the Nyoi Bo remained, clattering onto the floor.
After absorbing this resentment, the average value of his six major Nen Categories rose by 0.5%, pushing his total to exactly 75%. Only 5% remained until he reached 80%.
Though the increase seemed small, progress wasn't easy to come by.
"Not a bad haul."
Law murmured before turning his attention to the Nyoi Bo on the ground. Black patterns flowed along its surface, its ends capped with rounded heads.
He bent down and picked up the staff, which is now adorned with black markings. The White Smoke Font immediately provided a brief description.
[A weapon materialized through Nen, named the Nyoi Bo. Depending on the amount and intensity of Nen infused, it can grow long or short, thin or thick, soft or hard.]
'Keep it, or absorb it?'
Looking at the Nyoi Bo in his hand, Law thought about it and decided to keep it. After all, a Post-Mortem conjured Nen Object was a rare item.
"Tch, buy one, get one free?" Kuro, in his panther form, had already secured Killua and now sauntered over with a teasing remark.
Law tossed the staff at him and said casually, "Hold onto it."
Kuro opened his massive jaws and swallowed the staff whole.
Law then walked over to Saiyu's corpse, rummaging through it until he found a phone. He turned to Kuro, "Dispose of the body."
"Can't we just leave it here?" Kuro scowled.
"Quit whining and eat it already."
As Law spoke, he activated his Domain, gathering the spilled blood and severed limbs before stacking them together with Saiyu's torso.
"Do I have to eat it?" Kuro grimaced at the sight of the corpse.
"I don't have time to argue." Law walked quickly towards the unconscious Killua and said coldly: "That explosion earlier will draw the police. We can't stay here for long."
With that, he lifted Killua and headed backstage.
Kuro gritted his teeth, 'Fine, I made a hundred pages today anyway. Might as well'.
Like a child forced to drink bitter medicine, he reluctantly gulped down the neatly packaged remains of Saiyu before catching up to Law.
…
A few minutes later, police cars arrived at the Shakespeare Grand Theatre. An elderly security guard stood at the entrance, his face pale with fear, while a crowd of onlookers, drawn by the explosion, gathered nearby.
Officers in full gear disembarked, stealthily infiltrating the theater.
A few minutes later, the police surveyed the wrecked auditorium and the explosion-damaged stage, all filled with confusion.
…
Half an hour later, Law returned to the hotel suite with Killua and sent a message to Silva.
Killua was still in a coma, and Law put him in bed.
Killua remained unconscious, his limbs twisted into grotesque angles, which is proof of Saiyu's brutality.
"Need to realign and set the bones."
Law raised a finger, Aura gathering at its tip. With a precise cut across Killua's skin, God Hand activated!
Inside his conjured book, a new name appeared: Killua Zoldyck.