A person was hidden in the shadows of the passengers.
It might sound incredible, but Nen abilities made such a thing possible.
Kanzai, with his sharp eyes, could see through Moro's disguise, but he couldn't detect the person hidden in the shadows.
This was not an oversight.
Rather, this ability could evade detection from "Gyo."
The Nen ability user hidden in the passengers' shadows was Kahara from the Ryuo Kingdom.
According to the original plan, after obtaining Shinra, the famed sword, he was supposed to return to his country with his companions.
However, the leader had given him a task:
To find out the reason and method behind Shinra's disappearing Nen.
So he had been keeping an eye on Moro, and finally, he had found a suitable confined environment to make his move.
"Shadow Has No Home"
This was Kahara's secret art.
It was, in fact, a Nen ability; it was just that the Ryuo Kingdom referred to special abilities as secret arts or ninjutsu.
The effect of Shadow Has No Home was that Kahara could freely move through the shadows of "unenlightened humans within a certain range."
This range limit mostly referred to volume.
And the entire volume of the airship happened to be within the range where Kahara could use his shadow-traveling ability.
In addition to his shadow-traveling ability, Kahara had another ability that leaned towards the Manipulation type.
After drilling into a target's shadow, as long as he met the condition of "sufficient invasion time," he could gain control of the target, thus achieving "two" modes of manipulation.
One was to directly hide in the target's shadow and control the target through soul invasion, or rather, to possess the target's body.
The other was to take away the target's shadow, making them a humanoid puppet that acted according to commands.
Currently, Kahara was hidden in a passenger's shadow and was not in a hurry to act.
This airship would take three days to reach the Guganyu Kingdom.
Although it would land midway to refuel, passengers were not allowed to disembark during the entire refueling process.
This meant Kahara had three days to complete this mission.
With ample time, he could first invade the shadows of more passengers, thereby quietly developing a group of puppets.
This was also the fundamental reason he had waited for this confined space.
It allowed him to safely collect puppets without worrying that Moro would leave midway.
In a sticky, pitch-black shadow space.
Kahara's body remained still within it, expressionless, patiently waiting for the right moment.
...
Inside a VIP cabin.
Kanzai stood by the door, answering the robust female bodyguard's question:
"That young man is a Nen ability user; he employed a disguise."
"Hmm!?"
The female bodyguard, named Talia, narrowed her eyes at his words.
She had been influenced by Kanzai to suspect Moro might be problematic, but she hadn't been able to see through Moro's disguise.
Kanzai folded his arms, his expression calm:
"I didn't sense any malice, but we can't let our guard down. Among all the passengers, he's the only Nen ability user. It's always right to be extremely cautious and meticulous."
"..."
Talia looked at Kanzai, hesitating to speak.
On the sofa inside the cabin, the woman, who had already removed her mask and sunglasses, cast a fleeting glance.
"What's wrong?"
Kanzai raised an eyebrow, somewhat puzzled by the female bodyguard's reaction.
Talia hesitated for a moment but ultimately chose not to correct Kanzai's incorrect use of the idiom, merely shaking her head and saying,
"Nothing."
Kanzai felt a sudden sense of bewilderment.
This professional hunter, exceptionally sensitive to "potential threats," seemed unusually dull when it came to arithmetic and language.
Not paying too much attention to Talia's strange reaction, Kanzai's gaze shifted to his employer, who had long, silken silver hair, sitting on the sofa.
This employer was a royal princess from the great Guganyu Kingdom.
Initially, when he took on this escort mission, Kanzai didn't think much of it.
He had taken on similar commissions to protect royalty and nobles before, usually just escorting them from one country to another.
The greatest risk he might encounter during such missions was nothing more than an attack by another Nen ability user.
But this time was completely different.
Had he known earlier that this escort mission would get entangled in the messy business of a royal power struggle, Kanzai would absolutely not have accepted it, even if Chairman Netero himself had assigned the commission.
He found such convoluted power struggles to be the biggest headache...
But since he had already accepted the commission, out of professional integrity, even if it caused him a headache and he resisted it, he had to approach the task with one hundred percent professionalism.
Fortunately, this female employer was very normal; she basically had no bad habits like arrogance or haughtiness and was even able to recognize the current situation, cooperating well throughout the journey.
However...
When facing attacks, this female employer was as calm as a robot.
The various dangers that came her way seemed like trivial matters in her eyes.
Kanzai could sense a contradiction within this female employer.
She seemed to believe that dying "on the path forward" was a natural outcome.
Therefore, when facing deadly danger, there was an almost indifferent serenity that made it difficult for Kanzai to discern even a trace of resistance from her.
Yet, she firmly believed that as long as she could survive to the end, she would inevitably be able to realize her immense value.
Beneath this contradiction, some of her will and thoughts resembled those of a pure observer, watching herself walk a thorny path as if it were none of her concern.
After spending some time together, Kanzai felt that this female employer possessed some indescribable quality.
Whether from the perspective of the commission or his personal feelings, he hoped this female employer would live.
Knock knock—
The cabin door was knocked.
Talia immediately positioned herself in front of the silver-haired woman.
Kanzai, meanwhile, walked to the door and opened it to a three-finger-wide crack.
Outside the door.
A waiter in a uniform pushed a dining cart, smiling:
"Hello, your meal has been prepared..."
"Just leave it."
Kanzai said plainly.
Seeing this, the waiter still smiled and said,
"Alright. If you have any other needs, you can contact the service desk using the phone in your room."
"I know."
Kanzai looked at the waiter outside the door expressionlessly.
The waiter seemed accustomed to various guests' reactions and left with a smile.
After the waiter left, Kanzai pushed the dining cart with dinner into the room.
The silver-haired woman turned and sat at the dining table.
Talia placed the exquisite dinner dishes one by one onto the table, then she looked at the silver-haired woman, who nodded gently.
Talia immediately picked out a portion of the food and put it into her mouth.
As she chewed, her entire mouth was enveloped in a steam-like Nen aura.
"Normal."
Swallowing the food, Talia tried another dish.
"Normal, normal..."
She tried every dish until the last one, and there were no problems.
But when Talia picked up a flute-shaped glass, she detected a colorless, odorless, highly potent poison from its rim.
"There's a problem."
Talia put down the flute glass, her expression unchanged.
The silver-haired woman reacted calmly to this.
Kanzai glanced at the silver-haired woman and couldn't help but sigh.
Before deciding to board this airship, they had released a lot of smoke screens.
It was all for camouflage, yet it had been completely useless.
It's truly endless...
Kanzai ran his hand through his spiky hair.
(End of chapter)
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