Chapter 197: Razor and Ging's Past x First Display of Breathing Style
Among them were Razor, Gotoh, Elena... and Ging...
These images played like film reels in Roy's mind. His consciousness immersed, stepping into Razor's heart, the nearest one. In a vast wilderness, Razor's memories from childhood to adulthood were scattered everywhere. A tall man stood in the center, arms crossed, back to Roy, watching his memories replay one by one before him with an expressionless face.
He said lightly, "I wondered who it was. It's you."
Razor reached out and grabbed an image. It was him as a child, being beaten by his alcoholic father, taking the lash of the belt while his mother desperately shielded him in her arms.
"Cry... what are you crying for... damn you, if you two weren't dragging me down, I'd be living the high life!"
Smack... smack...
The father's curses... the woman's screams as the belt buckle hit her back, and the trembling boy in her arms, terror written in his eyes, appeared frame by frame...
Roy stood beside Razor, listening to him say, "If you want to hear my story, just ask. I'll tell you. No need to peek."
Roy said frankly, "Would you believe me if I said I didn't mean to?"
While physically in the Hunter world, his consciousness was in the Demon Slayer world. Watching the man in the image get tired of whipping, drag the woman into the bedroom by her hair, and lock the door, leaving little Razor banging futilely on it, Roy explained, "I just had a breakthrough and couldn't control it. Don't take offense."
"What ability is this?"
"Heart Worm. You should have realized by now. Anyone connected to me, I can invade their heart via the Heart Worm and read their memories and past."
"Pervert." Razor released his hand, letting the image fly away. He turned to look at the boy seriously. "I suddenly regret knowing you."
If any connection leads to memories and past being read, how is that different from running naked in front of the boy?
Roy shook his head. "It's not as exaggerated as you think. The deeper the connection, the more I can read. Like..."
Roy pointed to the alcoholic man who had just appeared in the image. "I can't see his memories or past."
"That was my dad," Razor said expressionlessly. "An alcoholic wife-beater, nothing worth knowing."
Roy nodded. "So, you killed him?"
"He courted death himself. And... I didn't kill him." Razor beckoned, and another memory image fell into his hand. It showed a woman cornered by four or five burly men, clutching her chest, screaming no, but having her arms forced open and clothes stripped off. She was abused for nearly two hours until the boy rushed home...
Naked like a ravaged rag doll, she saw Razor return, gave him a small smile, then... stood up, walked to the window facing the sun, and in the boy's widening eyes... opened her arms, closed her eyes, climbed onto the sill, and plunged headfirst... THUD!
With a muffled sound... the woman turned into a withered blood flower...
"Mom!"
Roy heard the boy's scream, saw young Razor rush to the window, grasping at empty air, and... in his despair, erupting with a storm of Nen!
He fell silent.
There are three ways for ordinary people to become "Nen users": one, born with talent, opening nodes through meditation; two, having nodes forced open by another Nen user; three, receiving extreme stimulation. Razor was clearly the latter...
"I killed him... him... him..." Razor let the image fly away. His hand dipped into his river of memory like a ladle, scooping out images... one by one, he killed the burly men who had humiliated his mother, cornered her, demanded the property deed, and forced her to jump... They were all his enemies.
"Hayes... Black... Maury... Thorne..."
The last one was killed just a few days ago, his head blown off by a Nen bullet. His name was... Adrian Reid!
Reportedly, he had become a somewhat famous gang boss. The image showed him writhing on top of his lover, only for Razor to crash through the window, grab him by the scruff of his neck like a chick, and punch him to death...
Clap clap clap... Roy applauded. "Well killed."
"I think so too." Razor smiled with relief. "My mom would agree if she knew."
"She would." Roy roughly finished viewing Razor's story. Suddenly he heard the man say, "Is it too late to break off our friendship?"
The panel notification sounded in his ear...
[Notification: Your "Potential Believer" Razor, due to heart-to-heart connection, "Loyalty" +5]
Roy: "..."
He gave Razor a strange look, then smiled teasingly. "Too late. Ging said the same thing."
"Heh heh heh..." Razor chuckled low in his throat. "I really got on a pirate ship."
"Who says otherwise?"
The boy winked. His consciousness gradually faded, withdrawing from Razor's heart. Via the Heart Worm, he entered Ging's heart.
Vebis, seaside hotel room 7403...
With [Feicha's Parrot] on his shoulder, eyes closed, Ging immersed his consciousness, appearing in his vast heart field. He stared blankly at the image of a boy with a spiky hairstyle, wearing a green tracksuit, carrying a fishing rod with a red bead, back turned to him, talking to his future self with stubble on his chin...
After a long while, Ging spoke softly to Roy who appeared beside him. "Honestly, I thought the Zoldycks, standing at the peak of assassins as the world's number one family, must have profound foundations, but..."
Ging turned to look at the boy. "I didn't think they were this profound!"
Ging's eyes gleamed as he scrutinized Roy. "If Silva Zoldyck and Zeno Zoldyck are like you, full of frequent abilities, that would be truly terrifying."
"You get scared too?"
"Of course."
Ging glanced at Roy sideways, pointing to the boy standing side-by-side with his "weather-beaten self" in the image. "Don't let him turn around. I don't want to see him yet."
"You know who he is?" Roy raised an eyebrow, looking sideways.
Ging crossed his arms and huffed. "Who else could it be but my son?"
The man rolled his eyes. "The dragon slayer eventually becomes the dragon. Predict the future, and be consumed by the future. Roy, you exposed your 'thread'."
Ging hooked his foot, lifting a thin thread connecting him and the young master. It was the thread of causality generated by the bond between Roy and Ging.
Indeed... "Worthy of being one of the world's top five Nen users," Roy praised sincerely. At least... "Razor didn't see it."
"He didn't see it because... he has no such cognition." Ging twisted the thread of causality. The milky-white thread looked no different from a Nen thread, but it couldn't be pulled or burned. Unless the memories connecting both parties were erased... it would exist forever until both perished.
Crack~ The three-second future prediction expired. The future image of Gon and Ging meeting at the top of the World Tree shattered like a mirror...
Ging exhaled with a complex mix of melancholy and regret. Looking at the boy again, his gaze was profound. "Razor doesn't know about 'Faith,' nor did he ever imagine... that you, Roy Zoldyck, would one day step onto the path of no return that is 'Faith'!"
"The dragon slayer eventually becomes the dragon. Since you can see it," Roy met Ging's gaze calmly, "it means you've stepped onto this path too!"
"You've read the Journey to the New World?"
"Have you been to the Dark Continent?"
"No."
"No."
In the boundless heart field, the man and the boy spoke simultaneously, then shut up simultaneously. As if seeing another self across time and space, equally adventurous and explorative. For a moment, both fell silent.
Whoosh... Images of Ging's past appeared one by one on the screen of his heart.
Warm scenes of him and Mito living on Whale Island as children... him catching the Master of the Swamp in the forest for the first time... bidding farewell to Mito, comforting the crying little girl, swearing he would return, but actually taking the Hunter Exam and exploring ruins, never returning for a long time... until Roy saw Ging help a woman out of an ice coffin... The image trembled...
Ging waved his sleeves, wiping it away.
That woman... Roy noticed Ging's anomaly and quietly memorized her appearance.
Ging said, "That's my wife. No need for you to see our private matters."
Sensing a rejection... Roy's consciousness faded, withdrawing from Ging's heart. Afterward...
Using the third and fourth Heart Worms, he toured the pasts of Gotoh and Elena respectively. Then, back to the Demon Slayer world...
The boy woke from his "meditation," surrounded by people.
Gyomei Himejima, Kyojuro Rengoku, Giyu Tomioka... Sanemi Shinazugawa, Muichiro Tokito, and the other nine Hashira.
Roy smiled and shared the method of cultivating "Nen" (Divine Power), the [Four Major Principles], with everyone. Slowly... absorbing and burying the residual images in his mind. A moment later, he began discussing the battle plan against Muzan Kibutsuji with Kagaya Ubuyashiki and the nine Hashira.
"I know Muzan Kibutsuji. He is actually a sensitive, suspicious, and cowardly person."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki could sit up on his own now. After a short rest, his body gradually regained the lightness of his youth, and his voice became stronger and faster...
"So, as I told Eiichiro-sama last time, based on recently gathered intelligence, he probably intends to hide again... waiting until Eiichiro-sama dies of old age before coming out."
Indeed, compared to the long life of demons, humans are fleeting like ephemeral flowers. Moreover... Roy currently had the fatal condition of the [Curse]... He had absolutely no intention or plan to outwait Muzan.
"Blue Spider Lily... let's see if he can refuse the temptation of becoming a perfect creature..."
Taisho Year 2, also Hunter Calendar Year 1987, April 27th, morning.
After holding the Hashira meeting all night and accepting the nine Hashira into his fold... Roy and Kagaya Ubuyashiki used the "Blue Spider Lily" to devise a battle plan with the nine Hashira. Leaving the Ubuyashiki estate that night, he casually killed a few demons, harvesting thirty points of Life Energy...
Then, through "Deep Sleep," he crossed the multicolored dream tunnel back to the Hunter world.
As usual, after his morning run, he took Gotoh to the hotel restaurant for breakfast, preparing for the departure to the undersea ruins to capture the "Elephant Tapir."
Today's breakfast: mashed potatoes with chickpeas, sausage and fried eggs with buttered toast, plus a bowl of fresh seafood soup. The boy ate slowly under Gotoh's service, ordering the butler to sit and eat with him, dispensing with formalities while traveling.
Scrape~ Chairs beside and opposite him were pulled out one after another by two men and a woman... Ging and Razor sat next to Roy, one after the other. They and Elena pushed up their blue-light glasses, all glancing at Roy.
The boy spooned mashed potatoes into his mouth, looking calm, as if oblivious to everything last night, treating their gazes as air.
"Cough..." A light cough broke the awkward atmosphere... Ging winked at Elena.
The woman looked deeply at Roy again, recalling his sudden appearance in her "dream" last night, which startled her. Organizing her chaotic thoughts, she used her Nen ability [Overall Control] to condense a blue screen and addressed everyone. "I've already rented a boat. We depart at 9:00 AM, expected to arrive at the target sea area at 2:00 PM. After that..."
Elena looked around. "It depends on everyone's means to withstand the water pressure and go deep into the seabed to enter the ruins."
Human diving ability is not unlimited. Due to water pressure and the scarcity of oxygen deeper down, or even the lack of oxygen at the bottom, just [reaching the seabed] is an impossible task for normal people!
Roy finished his breakfast, pulled out a tissue, wiped his mouth slowly, and glanced casually at Ging. He didn't believe Ging hadn't prepared after researching beforehand.
"[Water Avoidance]. This is a Nen ability I mastered before." Sensing the gazes of Roy and Razor, Ging took over from Elena, raising three fingers. "It allows me to move freely underwater, unrestricted by pressure and oxygen. Condition... including me, it can only carry two people."
Excluding him and Elena, that meant... Roy, Razor, and Gotoh had to decide on one person. The remaining two... had to find their own way.
"I don't need it." Whether water pressure or oxygen, ultimately, it tested cardiopulmonary function... And Roy, having mastered Breathing Styles, excelled in "cardiopulmonary function." To put it bluntly, even without "Sun Breathing," relying solely on the water-soluble nature of "Water Breathing"... Roy entering water was like a fish in water, effortless.
"The Young Master doesn't need it, and neither do I." Master and servant shared a mind. Roy thought of this, and Gotoh thought of it at the same time.
He echoed Roy. Beside them...
Razor looked at the two thoughtfully. "Are you relying on 'Water Breathing'?"
Ging and Elena raised their eyebrows. "?"
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you