Chương 48: Neon

Light Nostrade was ambitious. He never ignored a chance to climb higher. In the future Aren remembered, the Shadow Beasts were wiped out during the Yorknew incident. When the Ten Dons prepared to hire professional assassins, Light ordered Kurapika to join them because Kurapika had already captured a member of the Phantom Troupe. Light wanted the underworld to hear the Nostrade name. He spoiled Neon and placed Dalzollene, one of his strongest men, by her side as a protector.

From the outside, it looked as if his daughter's safety mattered more than his own. The truth was uglier. Light's obsession centered on Neon's Nen ability: Lovely Ghostwriter. He used her power to seize money, status, and influence. In his mind, accurate prophecies could eventually let him control the world around him and reach the level of the Ten Dons. That was why losing Neon's ability drove him close to collapse. Light thrived with the wind behind him and surrendered quickly when it turned.

Aren had not stopped Feitan for Light. He stopped him for Neon. Not for the depraved reason someone might imagine. Neon was four years old. Aren valued her ability. More precisely, her talent. Future Neon Nostrade would become a collector of human body parts: bones, organs, preserved remains, and even fossilized excrement. Her personality would be innocent and spoiled at the same time. She could be cold toward strangers, yet attached to those close to her. That personality suited Aren well enough.

Her Nen ability was Lovely Ghostwriter. It manifested through prophetic poems. The ability could predict a target's next month in an abstract poem divided into four stanzas, with each stanza corresponding to one week. Activation required the target's full name, date of birth, and blood type. If the target was not present, a recent photograph was also necessary. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

If a poem predicted misfortune, following its warning could avoid the outcome. The restriction was that Neon could not predict her own future. That was probably a form of Restriction and Pledge. Lovely Ghostwriter was one of the rare time-related Nen abilities in Hunter x Hunter. The most important point was how Neon awakened it. Many people would call her a natural Nen user. Aren did not think that explanation was precise.

From what he remembered, Neon watched a fortune-telling program called Galaxy Grandma and became fascinated with divination. One day, her Nen ability awakened by itself. She did not deliberately open her aura nodes. She did not learn basic Nen. Even when she appeared later in the story, she did not understand the system behind her own power. If Aren's memory was accurate, Neon's talent might rival or even surpass that of Tserriednich Hui Guo Rou, the Fourth Prince of Kakin.

Tserriednich's talent made ordinary geniuses look ridiculous. After learning that Nen existed, he began awakening it naturally even though Theta deliberately gave him misleading instructions. She had no intention of helping him gain power. Her improvised training still worked because his talent forced it to work. Soon afterward, Tserriednich developed a time-related ability of his own. With his eyes closed while maintaining Zetsu, he could see ten seconds into the future.

After opening his eyes, he could change his actions inside those ten seconds while everyone else continued perceiving the original version of events. Theta once shot him in the head. Tserriednich saw the future and moved aside. Theta still perceived the bullet killing him until the ten-second interval ended and reality overlapped with the future he had changed. In the right hands, that ability approached invincibility. Neon and Tserriednich were two human body collectors with time-related abilities.

Aren found the coincidence strange.

'Did collecting body parts come with a special talent bonus?' Even Tserriednich still needed exposure to Nen before awakening his ability. Neon appeared to skip that step. The only comparable case Aren could think of was Alluka. But Alluka's power belonged to Nanika, an existence tied to the Dark Continent. Aren believed that connection had entered the Zoldyck Family's orbit through an earlier expedition and surfaced generations later. Strictly speaking, Alluka did not simply awaken a human Nen ability.

Neon was different. She was human. Purely human. Even if her talent did not surpass Tserriednich's, Aren suspected it could stand beside his. Neon reminded Aren of the Hogyoku from Bleach. She became interested in fortune-telling and awakened the exact power she desired. That alone justified stopping Feitan. Like a certain blonde who only looked like a little girl, Neon shone in Aren's eyes. A raw gemstone. A once-in-a-generation talent.

'I've decided.'

'I'm taking Neon as my student.' Light held Neon tightly and stared at the Troupe.

"You can take anything you want," he said.

"Just don't hurt the three of us." The surrender was calculated. Light understood that he could not resist. He also knew that as long as Bart survived, he could rebuild somewhere else. When resistance was impossible, he chose the path with the smallest loss. Chrollo's polite smile returned. Before he could speak, Aren raised a hand. Chrollo stepped aside without complaint. As long as the Troupe obtained identities and lodging, Aren could handle the details however he liked.

"Don't misunderstand," Aren said.

"We called this a trade. We have no intention of taking your things for free." He smiled.

"I heard you have a conflict with the Fanobi Family. We can solve it." Light's eyes changed.

"We can even help the Nostrade Family replace Fanobi as the rulers of this town. You just saw what we can do." The words sounded like a devil's whisper to Light.