Machi pulled the Nen lines, which had been stretched three times as a signal for their return, and quickly reeled them in from where they had sunk into the water.
Machi’s Nen lines were inversely proportional to their length. This time, she had used more “Nen” than usual to create them. Even though the lines exceeded a hundred meters, they were strong enough to bear the weight of two adults.
Guided by the Nen lines, Kurapika and Melody surfaced and swam towards the shore.
“Leader, any gains?” Shalnark immediately approached.
With a diving mouthpiece still in his mouth, Kurapika found it inconvenient to speak. He gave Shalnark a thumbs-up and then gestured downwards.
Shalnark understood and nodded. He shouted towards the two figures locked in fierce combat in the distance, “Phinks, Feitan, it’s time to withdraw!”
Feitan and Phinks’ barrage of attacks had fully drawn the aggro of the giant monster in the water. As they retreated, the monster pursued them relentlessly, leaping out of the water. It twisted its body and, like a snake, continued its movement on land.
Having witnessed the monster’s incredibly high defense, everyone lost the will to fight. With Feitan and Phinks covering their rear, they quickly evacuated the ruins.
The ground trembled. Even after running out of the ruins, the monster’s roars could still be heard.
The diving masks, snorkels, and flashlights were casually discarded along the way. Melody conjured a bath towel out of thin air, placing it on her own head first. She then tossed one to Kurapika, who was soaked from head to toe, another to Phinks, who was half-drenched, and…
Melody’s gaze lingered on Feitan, seemingly unsure if he needed one.
Feitan extended his hand towards her.
Alright, it seemed he needed one too. Melody tossed him the towel.
After this exploration of the ruins yielded some results, they returned to the hot spring inn, which served as the Phantom Troupe’s temporary base. Melody eagerly took the stone slabs found underwater from the game inventory and handed them to Kurapika before rushing off to bathe and change out of her wet clothes.
She used a hair towel to absorb the moisture from her hair until it no longer dripped. Then, Melody conjured a hairdryer and pressed the power button. Amidst the hairdryer’s noise, a large hand enveloped the one Melody was using to hold the hairdryer. A male voice, filled with laughter, spoke close to Melody’s ear, “I’ll help you.”
Melody released her grip. Shalnark held the hairdryer in one hand and supported Melody’s long hair with the other, moving the dryer back and forth along the direction of hair growth to ensure even heating.
Feeling reassured by Shalnark’s skillful handling, Melody closed her eyes, enjoying his hair-drying service.
After her hair was dry, Shalnark requested a kiss as a reward. Instead, Melody placed a bottle of hair oil in his hand.
“…” Shalnark’s smile faltered for a second before he stretched out his tone with a hint of grievance, “Alright—”
Those hands, which had manipulated countless mechanical parts, were equally deft when doing other things. Melody, feeling drowsy, simply rested her head on Shalnark’s lap, dozing intermittently.
Picking up the comb Melody had left nearby, Shalnark carefully began to comb her hair. The comb’s gentle strokes against her scalp were like a mother’s loving caress, making Melody relax even further. In the serene atmosphere, time itself seemed to become tranquil.
If only there weren’t Troupe matters…
Usually, one didn’t realize the preciousness of time. But when needed, it suddenly elevated to a rare commodity. This was the inconvenience of “office romance.”
There was no help for it. Melody guarded her private life fiercely. Outside of Troupe activities, she would vanish. Although she possessed a vocal apparatus that could help her speak, she seemed to dislike using it, never answering or making calls. Messages were sometimes replied to, sometimes not, and the response time was inconsistent.
Shalnark had tried several tracking methods, but she was no pushover. Her departures were like a bird taking flight, leaving no trace behind.
Information was severely lacking. The Leader only knew she had a black-haired younger brother named “Illumi,” but that was over ten years ago. Whether her brother was alive or dead was uncertain. In any case, Melody’s background definitely held some stories.
“Found it!” Shalnark’s spirits lifted as he sat up straighter at the computer. “Leader, take a look, is this it?”
Putting down his book, Kurapika rose from the sofa and joined Shalnark to look at the scrolling records on the webpage.
Under Kurapika’s direction, they pinpointed certain keywords within the records and then conducted separate searches and screenings. In the vast ocean of the internet, inconspicuous buoys were successively located and identified. The apex of the Phantom Troupe’s intellectual prowess, the Spider’s Head and the Spider’s Brain, joined forces, and there was almost no prey they couldn’t track.
And Melody? Being investigated was undoubtedly unpleasant. Arbitrarily investigating a member's affairs could affect the Troupe’s harmony. Shalnark’s investigation of Melody was purely a personal endeavor, and he felt he couldn’t involve other members.
Moreover, Shalnark didn’t actually want to know much. He just wanted to know her possible whereabouts.
It was a bit like being a stalker. Well, if you had a girlfriend who was often unreachable, you’d inevitably wonder where she was and what she was doing.
“The three diverging paths are all meaningful,” Kurapika mused, gazing at the stone slab in his hand. “It seems there is such a stone slab at the end of each path.”
Following the investigation, the whereabouts of the remaining two stone slabs had begun to emerge. The decision to be made was whether to “continue acting together” or “split into two groups.”
“Split into two groups,” Kurapika quickly decided.
Kurapika and Shalnark would each lead a team, and joining which team was entirely voluntary. Seeing Feitan walk towards Kurapika’s side, Melody recalled the shredded white fabric on the bedroom floor and thought Feitan might indeed be truly angered.
She had meant it kindly… Alas, the human heart is unfathomable. Would she face subtle retaliation later? According to some fan theories, Feitan seemed to be quite vengeful. In the original work, when the Phantom Troupe first appeared, Feitan remembered the exact date of the previous Troupe gathering with great clarity. His memory was indeed excellent.
Under Shalnark’s guidance, Melody and the others discovered the hideout of the group stealing from the ruins. The opponents’ strength seemed unremarkable on the surface, and they were in the wilderness, with no need to conceal themselves. Thus, the group ceased hiding their presence and walked openly into the opponents’ field of vision.
“Excuse me for a moment,” Shalnark displayed the photos of the stone slabs and politely inquired of the fellow thieves, “May I ask if you have or have seen any stone slabs like this?”
Without warning, several unwelcome guests suddenly appeared in their secret hideout, causing the faces of the thieves, who were gathered around the campfire preparing to enjoy their dinner, to change drastically. Some immediately looked towards the sentries, while others gripped their weapons, staring intently at Shalnark and his companions. The previously relaxed and pleasant dinner atmosphere immediately became tense and confrontational.
The apparent leader of the thieves stepped out from the crowd, glanced at the photo, and said, “Our target is treasure. We wouldn’t even spare a glance at these broken stones—no impression.”
“Then may we examine your packages?” Shalnark asked with a broad smile. “Perhaps there’s something we’re looking for.”
“We said we don’t have any, so we don’t,” the leader of the thieves’ veins bulged on his forehead. “Don’t push your luck.”
“Pushing my luck? No, we are merely engaging in friendly negotiation,” Shalnark shrugged helplessly. “For the sake of being fellow travelers, if you refuse to cooperate, we’ll have to resort to forceful means.”
“…Fellow travelers?” the leader of the thieves’ brow furrowed into the character “川.”
The娃娃脸 youth before him appeared harmless yet exuded a subtle sense of danger. As for his companions, the one without eyebrows looked like the strongest fighter, while the other two were petite women who might possess some skill.
Are they bluffing? Or are they holding back?
This combination of four people lacked any intimidating presence in their appearance. Some of the brothers were already staring at the two beautiful women, anticipating a fight and the pleasure of enjoying beautiful women who practically walked into their laps.
Unable to confirm the other party’s background and unwilling to lose face in front of his brothers, the leader of the thieves quickly withdrew his scrutinizing gaze and issued Shalnark a final ultimatum. “Since we are fellow travelers, I can still give you a choice. Disappear before my eyes, or you all stay here.”
“Okay,” Shalnark nodded cheerfully. “Then we’ll choose to stay.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the thieves’ group adopted ready stances for combat.
“You’ve made the wrong choice,” the leader of the thieves sneered, drawing his sword. “Kill them!”
A one-sided slaughter.
However, the prey turned out to be themselves.
After making their choice, surrender or any other option ceased to exist. The people who had been sitting around the campfire, laughing and cursing each other just minutes ago, all lay on the ground as corpses.
“Sigh, it still took a bit more effort than expected. Wouldn’t it have been better to cooperate earlier?” Shalnark found the stone slab in one of the backpacks and shook his head with slight regret at the wide-eyed, deceased leader of the thieves. He then stepped over the flowing blood, his footsteps light, and called out to his companions, holding up the stone slab. “I found it!”
“Oh!” Phinks, demonstrating a virtuous act of returning lost property, dropped the backpack he was holding and walked towards Shalnark. The backpack full of Jenny coins scattered onto the ground.
Machi also immediately stopped her search.
Only Melody quickly walked over and [picked up] all the Jenny coins.
Afterward, Shalnark and the others regrouped with Kurapika and his group. They collected all three stone slabs, solved the puzzle, and cleared another ruin of extremely high value. “Extremely high value” referred to its exceptional historical research value.
The prolonged continuous mission triggered by a brooch finally concluded. In the end, the main financial income from this Troupe activity surprisingly came from those unlucky groups of relic thieves.
Meruem recalled that in the Yorknew City arc of the original work, when asked if there were any traitors within the Troupe, Kurapika replied, “Money, fame, status. Do you think anyone among us would ever be satisfied with such superficial things?”
Melody admitted that they did not, but… Melody had a strong pursuit of money. She still had 89 billion in debt to repay!
Kurapika, who treated money as dirt, made it impossible to repay her debt through Troupe activities.
Only in Machi’s embrace, and among the game items [collected] along the way, was there a lingering warmth.
Shalnark’s excessive attentiveness was abnormal. Melody did not believe her charm was high enough to make the Spider’s Brain infatuated without reason. Their current relationship was at best based on mutual attraction to each other's looks, having slept together only a few times. There wasn't much genuine affection; was the title of boyfriend and girlfriend just a game?
Unsolicited attention often meant ulterior motives. If one were to say what was most likely to be valued by the Troupe, it would only be Nen abilities.
Melody recalled that before the strategy for re-exploring the ruins was finalized, Kurapika had asked her if her Nen ability could affect the giant monster if someone helped her.
Hmph, fat chance. If the game inventory could freely collect pets, Melody would have long since become a Pokémon Master instead of participating in Troupe activities here.
Shaking her head, Melody mouthed, “Too big. And it’s alive.”
According to the original work’s setting, Kurapika’s four conditions for stealing Nen abilities had to be completed within one hour, one of which was: “Ask a question related to the target's Nen ability and receive an answer.”
Troupe activities often provided opportunities to use Melody’s ability. Revealing the limitations upfront this time served three purposes: firstly, to demonstrate trust in the Troupe; secondly, to indicate the limited practicality of her ability, thereby reducing Kurapika’s desire to steal it; and thirdly, to increase the difficulty for Kurapika to find reasonable excuses to probe her Nen abilities indirectly.
Currently, the Troupe members primarily categorized Melody’s Nen ability as for “transportation.” The limitations they were aware of were:
1. It must be sufficiently close to the target.
2. It cannot directly affect liquids.
3. The actions of “acquiring” and “removing” can only correspond to a single target at a time, and cannot affect multiple targets simultaneously.
4. It cannot affect “living” targets.
5. It cannot affect targets that are too large in size.
Looking at it this way, the “Impossible Portable Pocket” from the original work, which could store anything, dead or alive, in one go, and the “Peeper” from the original work, which could store any inanimate object in one go, were both more practical than Melody’s “transportation” Nen ability.
Even without comparing them to those Nen abilities, Melody’s Nen ability outwardly appeared to be as useful as a chicken rib.
Personality greatly influenced the formation of Nen abilities. To justify possessing such a chicken-rib ability, some Troupe members, in the presence of other members, would spare no effort to demonstrate that her ability was entirely used for carrying various luggage, such as clothes, shoes, bags, and cosmetics. She paid great attention to her personal image, changing into a new outfit every day. Not only Shalnark, but Phinks also jokingly called Melody a “spoiled young lady.”
Melody hoped that Kurapika, who enjoyed stealing Nen abilities, thought the same. Thinking optimistically, Shizuku, who possessed the “Peeper,” was a Troupe member, and Kurapika hadn’t stolen her Nen ability. Perhaps Kurapika also believed in the principle of “not fouling one’s own nest”?
Yes, if Kurapika purely saw the Troupe members as his Nen ability library, with himself as the sole center of the Troupe, it would contradict his original intention for establishing the Troupe. According to the original work’s setting, he always believed the Troupe’s existence was more important than his own.
No, the worst-case scenario could not be ignored. One must guard against others.
Shalnark was a loyal supporter of Kurapika and the Troupe. Everything he did would certainly not harm Kurapika and the Troupe, but that might not be the case for Melody, whom he had met by chance.
Melody knew she shouldn’t try to outwit the Spider’s Brain. Her intelligence was average, and the only self-preservation measure she could take was to maintain a cold shoulder and keep her distance.
After the Troupe activity concluded, Melody, as usual, left immediately, giving Shalnark no chance to ask her to stay.
The other members also said their goodbyes. Shalnark lingered behind alone, sighing, “Looks like I won’t see her for a while again.”
Previously, Shalnark had never said such things after Troupe activities. Kurapika understood that Shalnark was referring to Melody.
“Is she very busy? Or… is she intentionally avoiding us?” Kurapika made a guess.
“I think she’s… dodging me?” Shalnark crossed his arms. “She’s very sensitive. Leader, she’s the kind of woman who will suddenly run away from bed.”
Kurapika looked at Shalnark with a subtle expression.
“?” Shalnark froze for a moment, then quickly waved his hands to explain, “I didn’t do anything strange! Leader, you have to believe me on this!”
“I believe you,” Kurapika said in a steady tone, then lowered his head and chuckled softly.
“…” This was only making things worse.
Ruffling his gelled bangs, soft black hair cascaded down to cover his forehead. Kurapika, smiling at this moment, looked like a university student. He patted Shalnark’s shoulder. “I truly believe you.”
Raising his other hand to cover his mouth, Kurapika couldn’t help but laugh silently for a while longer.
“Leader, your sense of humor is really strange,” Shalnark recalled a certain comedy manga Kurapika enjoyed. That manga was extremely exaggerated in its parody, leading to polarized reviews from readers. Readers who liked it considered it a masterpiece, while those who disliked it found it crude and boring.
“Compared to you, perhaps Feitan’s situation is more reasonable…” Kurapika stopped smiling and appeared to be in thought. “If necessary, Shalnark, find a loophole and attach an antenna to her, how about that?”
“Spare me,” Shalnark raised his hands in surrender. “She’ll definitely hate me if I do that!”
“As a new playstyle, how about letting her accept it willingly?” Kurapika suggested seriously.
“Leader…” Shalnark felt that if they didn’t get to the main topic soon, they would be sidetracked to somewhere unknown. “I wanted to say, remember to call us if anything comes up in the future.”
“Okay,” Kurapika nodded.
“Thank you, Leader!” Shalnark waved cheerfully to Kurapika and bid him farewell. “Goodbye.”
Watching the back of the last Troupe member disappear into the horizon, Kurapika’s smile gradually smoothed out, his expression becoming indifferent, as if nothing in the world concerned him.
The evening breeze blew, and the equal-armed cross tattoo on Kurapika’s forehead was partially hidden by his scattered hair. With his hands in his pockets, he gazed at the sky in a relaxed manner. Then, as if remembering something, he suddenly curved his lips.
“Let’s go find the next one.”
The spider’s footsteps never cease.