Chrollo woke up. He opened his mouth and coughed a few times, but no seawater came out—none in his mouth or his stomach.
Was this a near-death illusion? Or was there really some kind of afterlife? He believed in souls, but to really *feel* it...
No, wait—there was sound.
He tilted his head and listened. He could hear rain. Heavy rain pounding on his body. He could also hear breathing... and a steady heartbeat right next to his ear.
Warmth, touch, and awareness—they were all still there.
"How did you know we were going to steal from Yorknew?" he asked.
Saiki Kusuo: ...Maybe he should've stayed unconscious a bit longer.
Chrollo opened his eyes and saw Saiki Kusuo's face. That pink hair was soaked, and rainwater was streaming down his cheeks and neck.
Both of them were drenched. The sky was covered in dark clouds, thunder and lightning flashing. Chrollo didn't feel weak at all. His strength was normal, as if none of that had really happened. Then he realized—he was being carried in Saiki Kusuo's arms.
He immediately tried to get out of his arms, but when he looked down—
The sea? Over the sea?
In the air? They were in the air?
…What???
[Relax. I'm just flying. If I go back to the ship, someone's gonna die.]
Chrollo: ...
Shocked, but... he could deal with it. Chrollo looked at Saiki Kusuo, who was clearly out of breath. He didn't look like he could hold on much longer.
"What now? What's going on?"
[I'll get you back to the ship first. Then, there's still something you need to deal with.]
Something to deal with?
Chrollo suddenly looked down and realized he was still holding *Skill Hunter*.
The burning page was still there—half burned already!
"You can't deal with this?"
[I'm thinking... I already got rid of the fire on the bandage. You can put the bandage away. Only the page is burning now... You should be able to use another ability. Just don't close the book.]
Saiki Kusuo clearly wasn't in good shape. He still hadn't fully recovered and looked totally exhausted.
He didn't want to teleport back to the ship—not even for a second. So, he flew through the wind and heavy rain, carrying Chrollo and searching for the ship. When he finally found it, he saw the upper part of the ship was already badly cracked. Not a good sign, but luckily, no one on board had noticed yet.
What now? If he used his restoration power, the ship might stop working. After all, this ship wasn't working a day ago.
With all this rain and water buildup, if things kept going like this, the ship was definitely going to sink.
Saiki Kusuo reached out toward the ship and pulled out the water that had leaked into the cabins. The imbalance from the water could be deadly—it had to go.
How do you stop a heavy rainstorm? Saiki Kusuo looked into the distance at the tornado. He'd always believed he could handle anything, but right now he actually had to stop and think—was it really possible to get rid of that tornado easily? And more than that, could he do it without the examiners watching from afar noticing?
"If you're thinking about how to stop the roof from leaking, I can handle that," Chrollo said. Saiki Kusuo had just put him on the boat, and he looked around before continuing, "But Saiki, I hope you focus on how to fix my book first."
Chrollo had seen Saiki Kusuo flying through the air, watched as he controlled the water and pulled it out of the boat with ease. He already had a clear idea of just how powerful Saiki Kusuo was.
Besides, the fire on the book had been started by Saiki Kusuo in the first place, so he should understand how it works better than anyone.
You're underestimating a psychic. That's what Saiki Kusuo wanted to say, but then he figured—if Chrollo could handle it, that wasn't a bad thing either.
And as for this fire burning the book, it's not like Saiki Kusuo had no clue what to do.
[Do you remember the page that caught fire? And where the person tied to it is now?] Saiki Kusuo asked. [I can't completely put out the fire on the book. If your ability links to the person who originally had the power, I should go find them and make them stop the fire.]
It made sense—abilities were often closely tied to their users. Chrollo stared at the page. There had been personal information written on it, but the fire had burned it away. Even so, he still remembered.
"This guy was from the Phantom Troupe in Yorknew. Codename: Sylan. He worked under the Ten Dons, just a low-level manager who barely made it into his spot. But he was also the heir to a rich Chinese family. I remember… I stole his Nen ability. So I doubt he's still in Yorknew. Most likely, he went back home. His family has homes in both Ruserl and Buburachin—it's the Qiansilan family. He'll be in one of their mansions!" Chrollo thought out loud, already planning which place to check first. Time was running out.
[…Got it.] Saiki Kusuo replied. It was amazing Chrollo could remember that much. He was exhausted, but he refused to let anyone else suffer because of him. He didn't know exactly what had happened, but when he'd woken up, Chrollo had nearly died—and now his power was about to be destroyed too.
If Chrollo had died as revenge from Kurapika, Saiki Kusuo wouldn't have stepped in. But if Chrollo died because of him… that was unacceptable.
[Right—the fire's still burning.] Saiki Kusuo suddenly reached out and grabbed the burning page. The flame made a sharp sizzling sound in his hand as it was temporarily put out.
[Ten minutes. I put it out earlier, and it came back after ten minutes. That's how long you'll have to use other powers. Don't let it burn any other pages.]
With that, Saiki Kusuo disappeared in a flash. Teleportation! He knew the closest city to Ruserl was Kakajo Temple. He'd fly from there to Ruserl, and then use his Thousand-Eyes power to find the family!
Normally, this would be easy. But right now, it felt like the last ten kilometers of a marathon—each step burned through what little strength he had left.
He flew, using Thousand-Eyes to search.
When he reached Ruserl, he quickly confirmed—Sylan wasn't there.
It was nighttime. As soon as Saiki Kusuo landed at the Qiansilan family's mansion in Ruserl, he realized something was off. It was unusually quiet.
Based on his guess, the guy should be on fire. There's no way something like that wouldn't cause a scene.
"Woof! Woof woof!" The guard dog at the gate barked loudly at Saiki Kusuo.
A guard dog? Saiki Kusuo looked up with a cold expression. He didn't even try to hide the pressure around him. Just one look—and the dog acted like it had seen some kind of demon. It instantly went silent, tail between its legs, desperately trying to crawl under its cage.
"Hey! Who's there?! This is Qiansilan family property!" Someone had heard the barking.
A butler. Perfect timing.
Saiki Kusuo stepped forward. In the next instant, he was already gripping the butler's collar.
[Sorry for bothering you so late. Do you have a photo of the Buburachin mansion?] Always be polite.
"Who are you?! What are you trying to do?! Somebody help!"
[No one can hear you anymore.] Saiki Kusuo projected the message directly into the man's head, changing the voice to a terrifying one to match his fear. At the same time, he blocked out all sound from the area, so no one could hear the man scream.
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