I'm extremely interested in Nen abilities.

……

In a sparsely populated suburb, on the rooftop of a cheap apartment building, Kurapika lies on the roof, enjoying the breeze and watching the blue sky and white clouds drift by.

Beside him were three jars containing solution and fiery red eyes.

No one knew what he was thinking. Not long after, a black dot flew in from afar in the sky. Kurapika stood up, materialized a dolphin bookshelf, took out the sixth volume, "Resurrection," stored the three bottles containing the Scarlet Eyes solution inside the book, and waved his hand to disperse the book and the dolphin.

The owl flapped its wings and landed on Kurapika's outstretched arm.

Kurapika removed the rolled-up envelope from its beak, hoping the so-called treasure map inside was intact.

He jumped from the roof to the balcony, opened the French windows, and went back into the house.

Arriving at Jingyang's room, he knocked on the door and quickly opened it. There was no need for confirmation; Jingyang certainly knew what had happened. After all, the owl that delivered the message was under Jingyang's control.

"Holy crap, what is this—okay, what is this?"

The room was filled with all kinds of packaging boxes, and the ribbons of gifts that had been violently torn open were also scattered everywhere.

In front of Jingyang, a gift box was being opened, containing a peculiar sculpture full of geometric shapes. It was unclear whether it could be considered an artwork, but considering the jewel inlays on it, Xiao Di didn't mind and accepted it with a tap on the bulging-eyed fish.

Jingyang thoroughly enjoyed unpacking the boxes. These people who associate with the underworld are incredibly generous with their gifts; there were countless pieces of jewelry, paintings, and art collections. However, Jingyang's appreciation of art was limited. He would have preferred them to just give him gold bars or banknotes—it would be easier for him to count them.

"You've come at the right time, Suzaku. I hereby formally appoint you as the chief financial officer of the Akatsuki." Jing Yang said solemnly, sitting cross-legged. "You'll be in charge of disposing of the confiscated items, and then set up an organizational account to deposit the money."

Kurapika handed the envelope to Jingyang.

He didn't comment on being appointed as the financial manager, but the way he stared at Jingyang puzzled the latter.

"What's wrong?" Jingyang asked.

"You should know that there's a chance you'll run into the Phantom Troupe at this wedding. Even if you don't, there's a good chance of bloodshed from a bunch of mixed gangsters gathering there," Kurapika asked. "And you know about the so-called 'Dying Will' in your heart, yet you still want to go to this wedding."

"Jingyang, do you actually want to absorb more death energy to make your body more mature?"

Chapter 192 Where is this post office?

"Whoosh!"

The sea breeze carries a slight saltiness, white waves lap against the shore, creating countless shimmering spots under the sunlight, and a cool breeze caresses the face.

Paliston loosened his bow tie and simply ripped it open.

With a slightly flashy, smooth suit hanging on one arm and a suitcase beside him at his feet, he stood calmly and comfortably in the deserted seaside harbor, gazing at the horizon in the distance.

He seemed to be waiting for someone. He wasn't anxious; he was remarkably patient. He had been searching for this for half a year—though not with much focus—so a little more time wouldn't make a difference; he could simply enjoy the seaside scenery.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of waves breaking and engines coming from the sea along the right-hand coast came from the sea.

It is a small fishing boat.

The fishing boat stopped in Paliston, and soon a middle-aged man wearing a fisherman's hat emerged. He had wrinkled, ruddy skin, thick body hair, and a messy beard that looked like it hadn't been washed in ages. He looked the blond man on the shore up and down, who looked like he was about to start working in the red-light district. He spat a mouthful of phlegm into the sea and asked in a rough voice, "So, you're the one who wants to go out to sea?"

Paliston smiled and said, "It's me."

He leaped onto the deck with the ease of a stroll, landing firmly on his feet. This agility made the captain take him a little more seriously, reminding him, "Sailing out to sea here isn't simple..."

“I know.” Paliston placed the suitcase on the deck and walked toward the cabin. “So, I bought this ship.”

"Buy?" the captain wondered, opening his briefcase to find the pungent smell of fresh banknotes hitting him, making his heart pound. The briefcase was piled high with stacks of Jenny banknotes; the old captain roughly estimated the total value to be at least a hundred million. "My ship isn't worth that much!" he slammed the briefcase shut, raising his neck and shouting.

“Tuition fees are included.” Paliston gripped the helm with interest in the control room. “Don’t worry, I learn very quickly.”

The captain closed the door and came in, muttering, "How fast can it be? The situation at sea is too complicated. Things can change in a minute. Just knowing how to sail a ship won't do you any good! If you encounter a big storm, even if you don't end up as a sea monster or a fish, just losing your way and running out of food and water will be enough to make a delicate city boy like you suffer..."

Paliston wasn't annoyed and laughed, "It's alright."

The sea breeze blew in through the window, filling the cabin. He gazed at the undulating horizon in the distance. "I'm pretty lucky. I always manage to reach the places I decide to go."

--------

"Jingyang, don't you actually want to absorb more death energy to make your body more mature?"

Faced with Kurapika's accusations, Jingyang couldn't help but shout, "Slander! This is slander!"

Kurapika seemed not to hear him and continued, "Given your situation, it's even strange that you would choose to go to the Heaven's Arena. Don't you think so? The Heaven's Arena is a holy place that gathers countless fighters and fighting enthusiasts from all over the world. Even if we only consider the floors below 200, there are thousands of fighting matches every day. Even if there is only a very small probability of death or injury, it is still a huge risk that cannot be ignored for you."

"As long as the death or injury doesn't happen on the first floor instead of the 200th floor of the Sky Arena, then once someone causes a death on the arena, there's a high probability that the so-called death energy will be absorbed by you. And you can't predict this kind of thing; you can't control or stop this process."

Jingyang sat among a pile of empty gift boxes that had been opened, raised his hand and said, "Let me prove my innocence. You haven't forgotten, have you? Back in the Sky Arena, Xiaodi and I were usually not in the Sky Arena for at least 22 hours out of 24. We would only go there for a short while each day, and after winning, we would climb a few stairs and leave."

Xiao Di sat beside him and nodded, corroborating Jing Yang's statement.

Kurapika looked at Jingyang, "According to you, if your heart absorbs too much death energy, it will undergo a qualitative change, causing your body to grow uncontrollably at an accelerated rate. You might go from looking like me at twelve, thirteen, or fourteen years old now to looking like you at twenty, thirty, or even thirty or forty years old in the blink of an eye. You can't predict, control, or stop this process and its outcome..."

"Can't you hear me? I already told you, I have a contingency plan!" Jing Yang said, dissatisfied. "How could I be so unlucky as to have someone die on one of the arenas on one of the floors during the one or two hours we're in the Sky Arena, or even less than an hour? If I'm so worried about this and that, then I shouldn't go out at all. There's always the possibility of a car accident on the street that could hit someone and kill them right in front of me... Speaking of going out, I always avoid places like hospitals and markets!"

"Look, I have a contingency plan!" He wagged his index finger.

“If you absorb too much death energy and your body uncontrollably turns into that of a man in his thirties or forties,” Kurapika said calmly, “that’s equivalent to losing twenty years of your life in the blink of an eye. Compared to such a huge potential loss, even if you only spend less than an hour a day in the Heavens Arena, it’s an unimaginable and unbearable risk.”

If you know that going to a certain place could shorten your lifespan, who would go there? Even if you only stay there briefly, and even if the probability of shortening your lifespan is very low, who would be willing to take such an unnecessary risk?

Kurapika sensed from Jingyang's actions that... he knew it was unwise to recklessly head towards a place where death energy was highly likely to appear, so he made a so-called contingency plan to avoid appearing unwise. But deep down, Jingyang actually hoped to absorb more death energy, hoping his body would "ripen" again. And this was precisely what Kurapika didn't understand.

Unless, as Jingyang just said, his body is young, but his thoughts and self-awareness are not actually the same... Kurapika stared intently at Jingyang.

“Okay, maybe you’re right. Maybe I do wish I could grow up again,” Jingyang said. “I made a promise with Xiaodi that if the death wish in my heart can’t be resolved even after my body matures to over thirty, then I will definitely find a way to resolve it. Maybe it’s because of this promise that I feel there’s still a lot of room for maneuver and compromise between now and thirty, so I’m not in a hurry? I’m not a psychology student, so I don’t really understand.”

Xiao Di nodded again. Jing Yang had indeed made that promise to her.

"Death wish?" Kurapika looked puzzled and confused. "What do you mean by 'if it can't be solved, then you'll definitely find a way to solve it'?"

He astutely seized upon this self-contradictory statement: "Do you actually have a final backup plan to resolve this? A method you wouldn't choose unless absolutely necessary?"

*Snap* Jingyang snapped his fingers. "That's right."

The so-called method, of course, is "Wishing Princess" Alluka. After transforming into Black Gon, who had almost burned himself out and was in a half-dead state, Alluka was able to restore him to his original state. So, eradicating this little problem in his heart would be a piece of cake for the omnipotent "Wishing Princess," wouldn't it?

As for how to get Alluka, the Zoldyck family's cryptic advisor, to help, and whether he might lose his life along the way... that's why it's the last resort, the only method he'd want to avoid as a last resort! When he had to choose this method, Jingyang figured he was already at his wit's end, had exhausted all options, so what did he care about danger or possibility?

Xiao Di said, "That's why we're going to the Dark Continent."

Kurapika pondered for a moment, then looked over.

“Nitromethorphan,” Droplet said calmly, “you don’t really think you’d go looking for this kind of immortal rice just for your sake, do you?”

Kurapika immediately misunderstood, taking Nitromi of the Dark Continent as the so-called final backup plan that Jing Yang had just mentioned.

The death energy corrodes the body, causing it to grow at an accelerated rate and resulting in a loss of lifespan... Indeed, as long as one can obtain the longevity rice, the lost lifespan might be able to be made up for.

"Little Di, you're so sharp-tongued."

These words were not spoken by Kurapika, but rather by Jingyang jokingly teasing Xiaoshi.

Xiao Di didn't react much, and was even a little confused. How is telling the truth considered being sarcastic?

The two started exchanging glances again. Watching this scene, Kurapika suddenly wondered if Jingyang's subconscious desire to grow at an accelerated rate again might be because of Shizuku.

"So, your interest in the True Martial King's treasure is also because of the Longevity Rice?"

Kurapika inquired, "If our speculation is correct, those suspected Buddha statues left by the True Warrior King on other continents outside the Kingdom of Kakin might all contain Nitromote from the Dark Continent, just like the one we found."

“That’s right!” Jingyang slapped his thigh. “There might be treasures from the Dark Continent in the other Buddha statues too! Old Wei is so generous, he certainly won’t let us go empty-handed.”

"Hey! No wonder so many people are eyeing Old Wei's treasure. Could it be that this guy buried all the idols and national treasures somewhere? Where's the treasure map? Oh, it's in my hands."

Jingyang slapped his thigh in surprise, realizing that the treasure map was right in his hand.

He casually tore open the envelope, pulled out an old treasure map that looked like parchment, and smoothed it out on the floor in front of him.

"This is……"

Little Drop looked at the treasure map. "A world map?"

The so-called treasure map spread out in front of them, although it looked old and like an antique, had patterns drawn on it that were no different from the six continents that you could buy on the street nowadays—even the scale was not quite right!

Jing Yang blinked. "Looks like we really need to use some advanced technology. Zhu Que, come and take a look."

Kurapika said, "It needs to be redrawn."

He rolled up his sleeves to show the two lines of the character "神" (divine) on his arm, which had been worn down by the natural metabolism of his skin. The character "神" is a whole, and especially these two lines, once damaged, it loses its effectiveness.

"Give me a pen!" Jingyang reached out his hand, then withdrew it. "Oh, I don't need a pen."

Just as he was about to roll up his sleeves and get to work, Xiao Di released a set of jade pendants from the bulging-eyed fish beside him.

This was one of the sets they liked best when they opened the gift box, and Xiao Di, who loves jewelry, happily accepted it.

“Draw it here.” Xiao Di picked up three jade pendants with flat surfaces. “Don’t worry about them wearing out.”

"Alright." Jing Yang accepted with a smile and began to work.

Kurapika also took one, condensed his energy on his finger, and began to write the character "God" on the surface of the jade pendant.

Xiao Di wasn't very skilled, so she picked up a jade pendant, glancing at Jing Yang's movements from time to time, before bending down to draw on her own jade pendant.

Ten minutes later, all three of them successfully drew the characters, and the same two lines of the character "神" were drawn on each of the three jade pendants.

As long as one holds the jade pendant and concentrates one's energy on it, one can trigger the characteristics of the character "divine"—Jing Yang held the jade pendant, concentrated his energy in his eyes, and with the assistance of the character "divine," what he saw before him suddenly became clear, as if the clouds had parted to reveal the blue sky. He also saw white dots of light appearing one after another on the six continents of this seemingly rough "world map."

Xiao Di also noticed the changes on the treasure map and couldn't help but wonder, "Are there so many treasures?"

Jing Yang recalled the five men, suspected to be sent by Kajinfang, who had followed the treasure map letter not long ago but were shaken off by the tool he controlled...

“These are probably not treasures,” he said, “but national treasures.”

"All the Buddha statues that were left outside of Kajin?" Kurapika understood immediately.

"Get ready, we're leaving tomorrow." Jing Yang reached out and pressed his hand on the treasure map, pointing to the nearest glowing dot on the map. "We'll find out when we get there."

Before they went their separate ways to rest, Kurapika asked from behind, "Jingyang, why do you think that what's in your heart is the thought of death?"

Jing Yang thought for a moment, then pressed his hand to his chest and replied, "When this thing appeared, it was most likely the corpse of my birth mother's woman, right next to me."

What a huge amount of information!

Most likely, it's her birth mother? A corpse? Right next to you? Kurapika froze on the spot.

Jingyang smiled, waved, and left.

That night, he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

Perhaps Kurapika is right; he does subconsciously desire to absorb more death energy and for his body to mature again.