Finally, the thread of tension snapped. Mock took a deep breath and set down his weapon.
At the very last second, it seemed as though a change had come over the girl, but Pejjo's ability triggered before she could act, sealing her inside the film. Once that happened, there was no way for anyone to resist. Unless Pejjo projected a photo from the film and summoned it using [Pop the Art], she could never come out.
"I did it... it's my greatest masterpiece... Heh, hehehehe! This one shot... I'll keep it as a family heirloom for the rest of my life..."
With vacant eyes that looked as though he were high on drugs, Pejjo smiled faintly, stroking his camera as if it were a precious treasure.
"Hey, you know the deal. That is an item scheduled to be handed over to the organization. Don't go getting any ideas about keeping it for yourself."
"I—I know. Of course, I'll give the original to the organization. But I can make extra prints from the projected photos, you know? I just won't be able to use [Pop the Art] with those."
He said the words, but his attitude made it clear he was still lingering on the idea. After being put through so much trouble, Mock wasn't about to let their reward vanish. He pulled out his cell phone to send the mission completion report to the organization.
"...Hm?"
[Missed Calls: 200]
[New Emails: 900]
For a moment, he thought it was a malfunction. Upon checking, he found a massive number of calls and emails from unknown senders. The emails were all garbled text, making the content unreadable.
He clicked his tongue, wondering what was happening at a time like this, but decided to investigate later. He dialed the organization's contact person. Though he was using a standard line that could be intercepted, it wasn't a problem because all conversations were conducted in code. The contact person was someone like Mock, acting in a way that concealed their relationship with the organization.
"Hello, it's me..."
After a few seconds of ringing, the sound that came from the other end was a noisy, bustling clamor. He couldn't hear the other person's voice.
"Hello?"
There was no answer when he called out. Gradually, he realized the sounds he was hearing weren't just everyday background noises. Countless sounds like small pieces of metal rubbing together were layered on top of each other. It also sounded like a swarm of insects crawling around.
"What is happening?"
Listening closely, he thought he could hear faint voices of people amidst the cacophony. He heard a young girl's voice. 'Who are you?'—an overwhelming number of voices asked.
Mock hung up. Considering the possibility that the contact person had been attacked, he tried other contacts, but none went through. Or rather, they connected, but he only heard the same noise as before.
'Have all external communication methods been cut off...?'
It was hard to believe that every contact had been attacked at the same time. This meant there was a high probability that communication interference was being directed at their current location. The question was, who was doing it?
He felt that the girl's voice he had just heard over the phone was similar to the thing they had been fighting until a moment ago.
However, he rejected that thought. It should be impossible to escape Pejjo's ability once it had been activated. The subject was frozen in the time they were photographed and preserved. That was supposed to be the rule.
Regardless, the fact remained that danger was imminent. Someone was launching an attack. Mock braced himself, tightening his loosened focus.
But the burden on his old body felt incomparably heavier than before. It was fatigue. He had aged, and his prime as a Nen user had long since passed. Furthermore, because he had used more aura than necessary for the girl's torture, his remaining aura was at a precarious level. He didn't have the confidence to continue a fight of unknown duration against an unidentified enemy.
Moreover, he had to protect the dead weight known as Pejjo. He couldn't stop clicking his tongue more than usual. He called out to his dull-witted partner, who was still idly stroking his camera.
"Pejjo, get up. We're leaving immediately."
"Hey, Professor..."
"Hurry up. We might be under attack."
"Something's... something's wrong with my camera..."
A red, crystal-like object was sticking out of Pejjo's camera.
"You idiot! Throw that away right now!"
Surprised by Mock's roar, Pejjo dropped the camera as if letting it fall. The foreign object on the camera was a spiked sphere, shaped like a cactus.
"Where did that attack come from?"
"N-No, I don't know. It just grew out of the camera on its own!"
There was no way a normal plant could grow out of a camera in seconds. It was almost certainly an attack using Nen. Perhaps the girl had allies, or there was someone else using her who had infiltrated the island.
Looking around the room, a change was also occurring in the red insects the girl had been controlling. The insects were being completely absorbed into the crystal cacti. They looked like ants trapped in amber.
Since he didn't know what conditions triggered this ability, he couldn't act recklessly. At any rate, he decided it would be best to get out of this room.
"M-My camera..."
Pejjo was stumbling toward the camera he had dropped. Seeing him still failing to understand their situation, Mock's patience reached its limit, but he knew it was wiser to evacuate than to start screaming.
"Can't you release the conjuration?"
"I can't... Why...?"
"...We can recover the camera later. For now, let's just get out of—"
"No! My... cam... camera... precious... work... memories... so many... ah... ah..."
Mock raised his crossbow. The target of his arrow, Pejjo's body, was beginning to lumpy and deform. Red cacti peeked out from under his clothes.
"It... it hurts!! This really hurts!! It hurts, but it feels so good!!"
Pejjo turned around. His expression was—
"Professor... take it. My face. Take it... with the camera."
There was no time to even snap back an insult. The cacti grew rapidly. Pejjo's body was swallowed up as if being crushed. Even then, the growth didn't stop, getting larger and larger.
Mock abandoned everything and leaped out the front door. The dwelling built into the crevices of the rocky shelf groaned and creaked. It didn't take long for the cacti to burst through the walls and appear outside.
Red, gem-like succulents. Some swelled up roundly, some sprouted, and from those, new cacti grew. A natural beauty that would be charming if it fit in a pot, but having multiplied to a height he had to look up at, it appeared as nothing but an otherworldly monster.
"This is a Nen ability...!?"
It was absolutely impossible. No matter what category it belonged to or how heavy a vow had been placed on it, this was no longer an ability that could be handled on such a level. This wasn't something a human could do.
Before long, the cacti began to bloom. The buds opened, and something was launched from their centers. The projectiles embedded themselves into the trunks of nearby trees. They were small stones with the power of bullets. Considering they came from flowers, perhaps they were seeds. Small cacti were growing from where they landed. If hit, the damage would clearly be more than just a simple wound.
The flowers were blooming in full, aiming at the spot where Mock stood. However, avoiding them wasn't difficult. The seeds were only fired in the direction the flowers were facing. But even during this time, the growth of the cacti showed no signs of slowing down. As they multiplied and linked together like beads, they only continued to expand.
A flower that bloomed once would only fire seeds in one direction, but it continued to spit out bullets incessantly like a machine gun. There was no sign of them running out. If the growth continued at this pace, the number of flowers would soon exceed dozens or hundreds, raining down a barrage of seeds like a storm. He would be unable to dodge without finding cover. And there was no telling when the small cacti born from those seeds would begin their own rapid growth.
Mock ground his teeth. Rather than a product of Nen, this could only be considered a creature with such an ecology. He had never heard of a plant that couldn't be described by the mere words 'dangerous species.' If that were true, this island was undergoing severe environmental destruction by an invasive species.
To him, this island was worth as much as, or more than, his own life. He couldn't just flee the island by himself. That said, there was next to nothing he could do personally against the giant cacti. It was obvious without trying that his prized crossbow wouldn't be worth a damn.
His only option now was to request rescue from outside the island. It would be better to contact the Hunter Association rather than the government. They would likely assemble experts like Beast Hunters immediately. But if he did that, he would turn the organization into a total enemy. His contract was to let no one land on this island.