One line... two lines... three or four lines... fading away without a trace in the heart...
Roy opened his mind and accepted these gifts, but as a cost, he was forced to experience a hundred lives...
Sometimes he became Aaron, with a backpack, going to school hand in hand with his grandparents... Sometimes he became Mike, the handsome school heartthrob enjoying the affections of all... Sometimes he became Joshua, returned from studying abroad and forced to inherit a billion-dollar business empire, commanding great respect...
But more often, he was... a sanitation worker sweeping the streets in the biting cold at 4 AM... a factory worker screwing bolts on a production line day and night... a bald man over forty supporting both parents and children, suffocating under mortgage and car loans... an old vendor pushing a cart, selling goods along the street... a white-haired old man preparing a table full of dishes, eagerly awaiting his children's return...
Joy and pain intertwined, lightness and heaviness coexisted... When the young man opened his eyes again, "the past" flitted away like fleeting clouds, vanished into the world with a long exhale.
"Whoosh~" The propellers sliced the air, tightening the skin on his face.
Zeno stood with hands behind his back next to Roy, admiring the sea of clouds being split by the airship, curling away in waves, and at a certain moment, he tilted his head and looked over... The young man, wrapped in a peculiar aura of both maturity and naivete, gave a slight smile, momentarily leaving Zeno dazed.
"Grandfather, are you going back?"
The mission target has been eliminated... "Shouldn't I get half of the commission?"
After all, he was the one who acted.
Heh—
Zeno snapped back to reality, turned around, and walked away...
The kid who hasn't even grown all his hair yet, already thinking about his meager retirement fund, dreaming!
With the terrorists cleared, there was no need for special guards in the cockpit, Tsubone arrived, carried Zeno, and transformed into a machine, flying away towards Kukuroo Mountain.
Wutong had followed Zeno up earlier and now silently stood behind Roy, suddenly hearing him say, "Wutong, I'm giving you a task..."
He looked up to see the young man gazing at him with anticipation, saying: "Hire an intern butler, requirements... must be able to 'fly', can 'swim', can 'off-road', and — cannot be worse than Tsubone..."
Wutong: "...."
Feeling overwhelmed,
he was just an ordinary little butler, not a wish machine like Nanika,
he reluctantly replied: "Yes."
"Buzz..."
Tsubone carrying Zeno turned into a black dot on the horizon in an instant, disappearing from sight,
Roy watched for a while, then said, "Let's go."
He led Wutong to another cabin and leisurely enjoyed some red tea.
Half an hour after the commotion, the airship reestablished contact with the ground tower and resumed normal operations... notifying passengers they were less than an hour and a half away from the Heavens Arena, to prepare for inspection and questioning by the police headquarters.
After such a big incident, it's unavoidable to make a trip to the police headquarters for a statement, Roy didn't want to be entangled in these "common matters," so he decided to disembark the airship before it landed.
Seems like those belonging to the Zoldyck family don't like taking the usual path.
Seeing the airship about to land, a slender figure clung to the window, head down, feet up, sliding down, startling Roy, almost spilling hot tea on his head.
Illumi stared at him with dead-fish eyes for a few seconds, then let go and swiftly slid down along the rope...
The rope was made from dozens of knotted sheets...
It's unclear where he found them,
seeing Illumi land and disappearing with Dark Step... Wutong cautiously asked Roy, "Young master, shall we also go?"
Adhering to the principle of "waste not, want not," Roy didn't argue, opened the window, grabbed the rope, and flipped outside... Wutong followed closely behind, exiting the terminal and boarding a taxi, only then remembering their luggage was still at the pickup point.
"Young master, the hotel we booked might not be available..."
"Then go straight to the Heavens Arena, I have money and a room there."
Upon reaching the 100th floor at the Heavens Arena, you can open your private room, he's saved enough pocket money over the years, more than enough to cover emergencies.
As for luggage left at the airport, arrange for another butler to fetch it.
"Buzz—" he instructed the driver to go directly to the Heavens Arena, Wutong took out the coins previously used as weapons to pay the fare, then followed Roy onto the elevator, heading straight to the 199th floor.
The elevator attendant wore a pink professional suit, sporting a head of beautiful fiery red short hair, was startled at the sight of them, pointing at Roy's nose, exclaiming, "Aren't you that... who?"
"Ilo."
"Yes, Ilo!"
Ilo was the pseudonym Roy used years ago when registering at the Heavens Arena.
After a long time, seeing the elevator attendant's face again, Roy felt a familiar warmth, he smiled broadly, sensing more sharply this time the "Nen" aura emanating from her body.
Evidently, without some skill, you can't survive here, in the future... Gon and Killua suffered here because of it, being harshly scolded by the elevator attendant as the door shut.
"Long time no see, many people have been looking for you!" the elevator attendant rattled off some names, including Haseki Dorou, Wing, and a few older Nen users from above the 200th floor, all rising stars in the Heavens Arena in recent years.
Roy believed that news of his arrival would quickly spread without needing to notify anyone... After exchanging a few words of courtesy with the elevator attendant,
he led Wutong to his private room, room number—1991.
Room one on the 199th floor.
"Creak~" The door opened, Roy took off his shoes, sat cross-legged on the sofa, and began processing the "gifts" brought to him by the departed souls.
As per his professional habits, Wutong first checked if the room had cameras, making sure no one was spying, he reported to Roy, then took his medallion to retrieve the prize money he accumulated at the Heavens Arena over the years, to purchase clothes and living supplies.
After he left, as it became evening, the sun setting, a few rays of dusk light shone on the young man's somewhat firm jawline, highlighting his heroism.
Roy closed his eyes, his mind focused on the interface, deciding to gradually distribute the "30 Life Energy points" into "Constitution."
With Minamino Guangzhi as a prior example, he knew better than anyone how painful "growth" could be, the extent of the pain,
thus Roy feared that adding too many points at once might cause him to faint from pain, so he started with just three points.
Beginning to allocate points....
"Hiss——"
Inhaling sharply,
familiar agony like ants biting...
Bone and muscle tearing... accelerated hematopoietic stem cell division... mitochondrial growth... thickened and expanded blood vessel walls... hair shedding and regrowing....
All these changes coalesced in a moment... the pain nearly made Roy faint again...
Just then, the doorbell rang, a childish voice proclaimed to be a delivery girl outside,
a small flat-chested girl pushed a small cart, her two golden ponytails swaying playfully...