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The old man had Buddha-like ears. He pulled a volleyball from somewhere and said, "Young man, how about playing a game with this old man?"
"Thump... thump..." The old man dribbled the volleyball like a basketball. One look and you could tell his practice time wasn't just two and a half years.
Roy, who had stopped, started moving again. He couldn't be bothered with him. Brushing past his shoulder, he ran straight by. The morning sun was just rising, scattering the sky with rosy clouds, draping the young man in a "robe of dawn."
Netero chuckled... 'To be ignored... how long has it been since I've had this fresh feeling?'
He wasn't annoyed at all. He rolled the ball up his sleeve and into his robe. With no visible start-up motion, he just tapped his toes on the ground, and in the next second, he appeared beside Roy, running side-by-side with him along the river.
The Golden Crow, perched on Roy's head, bobbed up and down with the young man's movements. It tilted its head, curiously looking at Netero.
Netero squinted his eyes and smiled at it. He recalled the gilded fire that had burned nearly half of the Kiriko's territory that day. He reached out a finger to tease it, but...
Xiao Jin opened its beak and spat a tongue of fire, nearly singeing his hair.
"Ho ho... the little thing has quite a temper." It was a pun. The old man braved the flame and actually managed to stroke the Golden Crow's small head. It was unclear if he was talking about the bird, the person, or himself, the 'bird-man'.
"Swoosh—" Roy sped up, turning into an arrow loosed from a bow, and shot forward, leaving Netero far behind.
'Disturbing someone's peace so early in the morning. This old man has no sense of boundaries at all. What a nuisance.'
"Caw!" The Golden Crow, having escaped Netero's grasp, wiggled its backside, making a taunting gesture at Netero.
Netero just smiled. He left a series of afterimages and caught up, which made the Golden Crow stomp its feet in anger. It flapped its wings, frantically hitting Roy, "Caw... Caw..." urging him... "Faster... faster... faster..."
But it didn't expect to "stumble." Because Roy accelerated, it was almost thrown off....
'Dark Step?'
Netero's vision blurred. The young man used [Grandmaster Dark Step] and suddenly shot forward another large distance. This time, he didn't rush to follow. Instead, he carefully sized up the young man's back for a good while, and it gradually overlapped with that free-spirited figure from the past.
'So similar... truly your grandson, Zigg...' (Note: For convenience of address, great-grandson is also called grandson)
'Except for the hair color.'
A flash of reminiscence passed through Netero's old eyes. His two wide sleeves swung straight back. He was like a dragonfly. He tapped the ground, and when he reappeared, he was once again at Roy's side.
"Caw!" 'How did that annoying old man catch up again!'
The Golden Crow was exasperated. It turned and spat another tongue of fire at Netero.
But the old man waved his golden-glowing palm, and it was extinguished into nothingness.
Netero sized up the young man with great interest. "Can you go any faster?"
Roy didn't speak. He gazed at the red sun leaping from the horizon and took a shallow sip of the "sun's essence." "Total Concentration..."
His heart thumped—"Dong!"—and his heartbeat doubled. Blood flowed faster, adrenaline surged instantly, and his body temperature rose.
The next moment, he flushed red, like a motorcycle igniting. With a "Weng" sound, two long dragons of hot air shot from his nostrils.
In the next instant... he shot off again....
"CAW—"
The Golden Crow learned its lesson this time. It wrapped its wings tightly around Roy's head.
The man and the bird were like a gust of wind, leaving a white streak along the river... leaving Netero far behind.
The strongest human in the world was visibly stunned for a moment. When he looked again, he put his hands on his hips and laughed heartily. "Good kid! Wait for this old man!"
His playful spirit aroused, Netero's eyes glinted. He clapped his palms together. "Pa" Time seemed to freeze in that instant... Roy was clearly still running forward, but strangely... his body was flying backward, toward Netero. He could only watch helplessly as the distance between them continuously shortened!
[Heart Drop · Fist Listen]
The supreme state of martial arts!
When control over the body is pushed to the extreme, one can listen to another's heartbeat, confuse their mind, and greatly compress their perceived time, giving them the illusion of time flowing backward in an instant. It manifests as "advancing" becoming "retreating," and "retreating" becoming "retreating further."
"Thump... thump..."
In that instant, the world seemed to be left with only the sound of heartbeats.
The pedestrians on the street, the passing cars, the egrets skimming the river... all disappeared.
Only a straight line remained, with Roy and Netero at either end, the distance between them continuously closing as the "line" contracted.
"Caw?" The Golden Crow sat paralyzed on Roy's head. Its two beady eyes darted around, somewhat bewildered. 'How did its master disappear while running? That annoying old man is gone too... It's as if it was excluded from the state of "Fist Listen." But it can still clearly feel that it's being carried along for the run...'
"Ho ho... for a young man to have such a body at this age is already quite remarkable. But..."
"When it comes to controlling the body, kid... you're still far behind...."
A faint voice traveled from far to near... Roy had to admit Netero was right. Compared to him,
...he had a certain gap, both in "constitution" and in "control over power."
But... the old man seemed to be celebrating a bit too early...
'Celebrating at halftime is a major taboo!'
"Poof!" Two suns ignited in the young man's pupils. He activated the [Eye of Delusion Breaking] without hesitation!
'See through the false, restore the truest world... If perceived time is an illusion, then correct it... If the mind is deceived, then disperse the fog... If the world outside himself is silenced, then let the world reappear....'
"Beep beep..." The sound of car horns emerged...
"Whee—" An egret flapped its wings, skimmed the river, and snatched a fish...
"Caw—" 'You scared me to death! I thought you disappeared!' The Golden Crow had found its loyal master again. It tucked its wings and pressed against Roy's forehead.....
"Boop." "[Heart Drop · Fist Listen]," broken!
Netero's eyes focused, meeting the young man's backward glance. Those two great suns—they weren't the blazing sun, but they were more dazzling than it. They were exceptionally blinding, as if warning him... 'Human strength has its limits. But the sun... even if the world ceases to exist, it will still rise as usual!'
"Zhi ga." 'Ten kilometers daily, done!'
'Time taken: one minute and ten seconds.'
Roy stopped, let out a long breath, and did a high kick, resting his leg on the railing to stretch.
"Tap... tap..." Netero arrived shortly after, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him. He watched the morning glow scatter on the river, sending out sparkling ripples. It was just like when he reunited with Zigg in the Dark Continent, each sitting on a flying dragon, fishing by a lake, silently enjoying that moment of tranquility and peace...
After a long while, he asked, "Why do you want to be a hunter?"
A breeze blew, ruffling the hair of the old man, the young man, and the Golden Crow....
Netero turned his head to look at the young man, as if looking at the Zigg of the past, quietly awaiting the young man's answer.
In that instant, Roy thought of his father, Tanjuro, thought of the intelligence network, thought of the various benefits of a Hunter License.
After pondering for a moment, he said truthfully: "At first, it was to save people. Now... it's to save people, plus I want to see more of the world."
Netero narrowed his eyes. "You can never see all of the world."
"Then I'll just keep looking." Roy opened his arms to embrace the dawn. "As long as the sun doesn't go out, I won't stop. I want to explore the farthest edges of this world, to truly achieve..."
"I came, I saw, I conquered!"
"You've got a big heart."
"Can't help it. Was born with it."
"Ho ho..." Netero raised an eyebrow, teasing, "Is that so? Then later, I'll tell your great-grandfather exactly what you said today."
"We'll see if he doesn't break your legs."
Roy: "..."
'Beyond is just as insidious!'