"Cough, cough, my back—"
Dia, sent flying by the shockwave and Cheadle, felt like he had been airborne for at least five seconds before gravity finally pulled him to the ground.
Holding Cheadle, Dia could only land hard on his back. Unable to break his fall, he felt as if he had been hit by an ice cream truck.
This made him let out a Spider-Man-esque cry.
It was a good thing Cheadle was petite and didn't weigh much, otherwise he might have broken who knows how many bones.
Forcing himself to sit up, Dia hurriedly activated his Ripple Breathing to alleviate the pain.
After a long while, feeling like he could finally breathe again, he began to look around—
He was now in a passage. It wasn't completely dark; some sort of fluorescent moss provided a faint source of light.
The opening he had flown through had completely collapsed, turning into a pile of rubble.
What also unsettled him was a malevolent aura, invisible to the eye, seeping through the cracks in the rubble.
That evil aura made his eyes widen, and a thought instantly flashed through his mind:
'I can't stay here for long!'
So he grabbed Cheadle, wrapped her arms around his neck, and hoisted her onto his back, intending to head deeper into the passage.
It was only then that he discovered Cheadle's sterile suit had been dismissed, which meant she had fallen unconscious.
'Oh no, please don't be dead, sis!'
Dia felt a sense of dread. While grabbing her hand to channel his Ripple into her body, he gritted his teeth and walked into the passage.
Cheadle, who had only fallen into a light coma, felt a wave of heat enter her body in her semi-conscious state. The cells throughout her body suddenly became active, as if they had been awakened.
A short while later, the sleeping Cheadle felt her mind clear up. She shot her eyes open:
'Why am I shaking?'
And what met her eyes was her own arms wrapped around Dia's neck, while Dia was carrying her on his back!?
Dia, who had been walking with his head down, seemed to sense something and turned his head—
A pair of large, turquoise eyes were right next to his face, staring at him in disbelief.
Cheadle: ?
'She's alive!'
Seeing Cheadle finally wake up, the great weight in Dia's heart was lifted. He let out a long sigh of relief and released the hand that had been holding hers.
As long as Cheadle was awake, solving their current predicament wouldn't be a problem.
As Dia let go, Cheadle naturally slid to the ground. A hunter's instinct allowed her to maintain her balance the moment she touched the floor.
This also brought the stunned Cheadle back to her senses, her sharp mind once again taking control.
Her brain instinctively began to work at high speed.
When she noticed that Dia was still alive and well, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
'Thank goodness, he's not dead.'
Only then did she remember to look around and recall everything that had just happened.
But that did not include the memory of being carried on Dia's back like a child. She had decisively chosen to seal that memory away forever.
Soon, the experienced Cheadle regained her composure and immediately checked her own and Dia's injuries.
Fortunately, thanks to [Ken], she wasn't seriously injured. But what she found a bit strange was that Dia didn't have any major injuries either.
'Did I block it well enough?'
But this was not the time to dwell on that, because when she noticed the black Nen aura surrounding them, her heart skipped a beat.
'It's Post-Mortem Nen!'
The experienced Cheadle instantly identified the black Nen aura.
Knowing full well the terror of this thing, she almost immediately pulled Dia back and activated [Doctor Blythe] again!
The pure white sterile suit reappeared on her body. Only after feeling that the Post-Mortem Nen was being blocked outside her body did she breathe a sigh of relief.
But in an instant, she realized something was wrong.
She turned her head and saw that Dia, who not only had no Nen suit but not even a basic [Ten], was still alive and kicking after being exposed to the Post-Mortem Nen.
For the first time, a look of astonishment appeared on Cheadle's face:
"Dia, you don't feel any discomfort in your body?"
At this moment, Dia thought she was asking if he was injured, so he brought out the explanation about the Ripple that he had prepared long ago:
"Professor Cheadle, do you remember the new discovery I mentioned on the phone? This is it."
As he spoke, he clenched his fists, and a golden electric current spread over his entire body. And in Cheadle's eyes, the Post-Mortem Nen, which clung to them like maggots on a bone, was dispersed by the golden current like melting snow!
"The last time I fell from the sea, I found that as long as I maintained a specific breathing pattern, I would generate this kind of energy. Under the effect of this energy, my body's recovery speed and endurance are far beyond normal, but maintaining this energy consumes a lot of stamina!"
Dia then explained in detail the process of his "discovery" of this ability and named it [Ripple].
Cheadle's expression went from initial astonishment to gradual contemplation. It was obvious that there were lies in what this kid was saying!
But when she heard him say that maintaining this energy required a lot of stamina, she realized she had to first help this kid, who had woven a bunch of half-truths, get rid of the Post-Mortem Nen.
Otherwise, once his stamina ran out, death would be waiting for him!
Making a swift decision, Cheadle clapped her hands and spoke to Dia with a serious expression:
"Since time is of the essence, let's do everything quickly!"
"Dia, I don't know how much you know about 'Post-Mortem Nen,' but please believe me, you are in a very dangerous situation right now!"
"Please do as I say next. I will help you get rid of these things. This is to save you!"
Without waiting for Dia's reaction, Cheadle had already activated another one of her abilities—
[Clerk of Yorkshire]!
As Cheadle's hands boiled with Nen aura, an ancient-looking book appeared in her left hand, and a quill pen in her right.
'If I use my current amount of Nen, giving half of it away would probably not guarantee the ability can be maintained for 6 hours... I should borrow 75% of my Nen from my future self, at the cost of 12 hours of [Zetsu]...'
As Cheadle thought, she opened the book and wrote furiously on one of the pages, finally signing her name twice.
Then, the aura on her body suddenly surged by a large margin. The terrifying [Ren] made even Dia, who couldn't see aura, feel an astonishing presence.
But she didn't stop there. She turned to another page and began to write furiously again, then signed her name in the bottom left corner.
"Sign your name in the bottom left corner. You can write your first name and last name. As long as you believe in your heart that you are signing voluntarily, it will work."
Cheadle handed the book to Dia, demanding in an unquestionable tone that he sign his name.
What is this? An indenture contract?
Dia took the book in confusion and looked at it. It read:
"The undersigned, Cheadle Yorkshire, agrees to lend 50% of her Nen to the undersigned, Dia Diego, and agrees to share the right to use [Doctor Blythe] with the undersigned, Dia Diego, for a duration of 6 hours."
After reading it, Dia immediately realized that this was a Nen contract. From its content, there were no unfavorable conditions for him.
So, should he do as Cheadle said and sign his name?
Dia hesitated for only a moment before making his decision—sign!
If she wanted to harm him, she wouldn't need to go through all this trouble. She could just kill him and leave his body here, and no one would ever find it.
Dia took the quill pen and, with a flourish of his hand, wrote his name. Then, the quill and the book disappeared in a flash of white light.
What followed was a powerful, unknown energy!
'This is Nen! Such a huge amount!'
Dia felt the majestic energy within his body. This energy was different from the Ripple; it didn't have that warm, healing feeling, but he could feel a tenacious will hidden within that majestic power.
Dia, who had never felt such a stark difference in strength, was almost intoxicated by this sudden power.
At the same time, Cheadle, feeling half of her aura instantly disappear, loudly reminded him:
"Don't just stand there like a fool! Activate the ability quickly. It should be as simple as instinct!"
Cheadle's words snapped the dazed Dia back to his senses. As if by instinct, the aura throughout his body began to flow, covering his entire body in an instant.
The next moment, a pure white sterile suit was conjured from the aura covering his body.
Putting on the sterile suit, Dia instantly felt the omnipresent malevolence in the surroundings disappear without a trace.
So that malevolent aura was "Post-Mortem Nen"?
This is Cheadle's Nen ability? It can even defend against Post-Mortem Nen?
It was important to know that in the original work, people who were cursed with Post-Mortem Nen had almost no way to remove it other than finding a Nen exorcist!
And Nen exorcists were described as being so rare that there were fewer than ten in the entire world.
This miraculous Nen ability left Dia deeply shaken.
"Although I've only temporarily lent you this ability, and it will be taken back after 6 hours, you will also gain the ability to control Nen because of it."
Cheadle only breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the same sterile suit appear on Dia. Then, she said in a serious tone:
"Nen is an extremely dangerous ability. If used improperly, it can harm both others and yourself."
"So, after we get out of here, you must systematically learn the theoretical knowledge and practical application of Nen."
Dia naturally had no objections. This was the very reason he had come here with Cheadle. He immediately nodded his head like a pecking chicken.
After dealing with the urgent matter at hand, Cheadle turned her head and looked around.
Her brain instinctively began to work, carefully sorting through the events of this incident.
It was better not to think. The moment she did, Cheadle's brow furrowed.
Looking back calmly, the situation had been completely uncontrollable since the moment the officer suddenly spoke, and a host of suspicious points had appeared out of thin air.
Let's start the analysis from the very beginning. Cheadle didn't immediately think about how to get out.
With such a loud explosion, the people outside would definitely have noticed. Her friends in the outside world were probably already trying to figure out a rescue.