Chapter 40: Probing x Awareness

The thing he had been worried about had happened.

And it was a blatant act of aggression, carried out with complete disregard for the reactions and lives of the passengers.

The moment that overwhelming aura erupted, Moro's first reaction was to head to the airship's cockpit to assess the situation.

By the time he reached the vicinity of the cockpit, he heard a tremendous crash that echoed throughout the entire airship.

Moro had no intention of investigating the cause behind the deafening noise, nor did he want to be dragged into whatever was unfolding.

His only concern was whether the airship could land safely.

However, after probing the area with his "En", he realized that the airship's captain and other crew members were most likely being manipulated.

This was arguably the worst possible outcome.

"Sir, please return to your room immediately and wait for further notice..."

Suddenly, an urgent female voice came from the other side of the corridor.

Moro followed the sound.

A young woman in a flight attendant's uniform was walking quickly toward him with a look of deep anxiety.

Moro's gaze swept past the flight attendant; she seemed completely normal, but...

He abruptly raised his hand, held up his index finger, and condensed a normal-sized nen sphere the size of a marble at his fingertip.

Then, ignoring whatever reaction the flight attendant might have, he flicked his finger sharply, sending the white nen sphere shooting straight toward her.

The very instant the nen sphere left Moro's fingertip, the flight attendant's physical movements suddenly froze. She tilted her head back slightly and rolled her eyes up into her head.

Seeing this, Moro narrowed his eyes.

The next moment.

The nen sphere flew past the flight attendant's ear, striking the wall at the end of the corridor with a soft thud.

This was merely a completely ordinary nen sphere used for testing...

While it could certainly inflict injury on an ordinary person, it would struggle to pierce even a basic aura defense.

And from the very beginning, Moro had no intention of actually hitting her.

Yet the flight attendant's reaction caught Moro completely off guard.

Thud!

With her eyes still rolled back, the flight attendant's body tilted sideways and she collapsed to the floor.

Moro, who had been closely observing the situation, acutely noticed that just before she hit the ground, the shadow cast by the light above vanished into thin air.

And as the shadow disappeared, the flight attendant's life force was instantly extinguished, turning her into a corpse.

"Manipulation type."

Moro instantly confirmed his previous guess. His peripheral vision drifted toward the cockpit door not far away, and then back to the corpse on the ground.

The ability to control the flight attendant seemed to be connected in some way to shadows.

Moreover, the person being manipulated showed no difference from a normal human, whether in words, actions, or the natural aura dissipating from their body.

If not for the flight attendant's almost reflexive defensive response, probing out the truth immediately would likely have required a ruthless mindset of killing rather than letting anyone go.

Yet it was precisely that stress response from the flight attendant that deeply concerned Moro.

The advantage of a Manipulation-type nen user usually lies in using their puppets to accomplish various tasks.

In other words, they shouldn't care about the puppets' lives at all.

Because aside from suggestion-type and condition-type manipulation abilities, other coercive manipulation abilities effectively stripped the target of their life the moment control was established.

Therefore, the scene that had just played out felt profoundly incongruous.

Even though there was no need to worry about the life or death of the puppet, the ability was withdrawn with absolute decisiveness just as the attack was about to land.

It was almost as if—

They were worried or afraid of a certain consequence occurring?

For instance, would the damage inflicted on the puppet be directly reflected back onto the nen user?

Could it be a soul-invasion type of manipulation ability...

This type of ability could directly hijack a target's body, achieving a flawless disguise while fulfilling real-time needs for sensory feedback and speech functions.

In return, as a restriction, they might have to bear the risk of "direct damage transfer."

If this possibility held true, it could more or less explain what had just happened.

To further confirm this hypothesis...

Moro once again condensed a nen sphere at his fingertip and flicked it forward.

Whoosh—

The small nen sphere struck the corpse's head with a soft, muffled sound.

A moment later.

Blood began to seep out from beneath the corpse's head.

"The ability really has been revoked."

Moro shifted his gaze back to the cockpit door and thought to himself: The attacker is targeting Kanzai, but they also controlled the flight attendant to stop me... Are they looking for an opportunity to deal with me, or do they simply not want me entering the cockpit?

Lost in thought, Moro released his En and walked up to the cockpit door.

Fortunately, as an Emission-type nen user, he could master advanced applications like "En" with relative ease, and it was now playing a critical role.

The reason he had tested the flight attendant earlier was due to the commotion created by the attacker and the fact that his En had already probed the situation inside the cockpit...

"Two people, still no reaction."

Moro smashed the lock on the cockpit door and pushed it open.

With a single glance, he spotted two figures in captain's uniforms standing before the airship's control console. They were undoubtedly the captain and first officer of this airship.

Moro silently observed the captain and first officer, noting a faint trace of aura lingering around their bodies.

Then his gaze dropped down behind them.

Illuminated by the cockpit lights, the shadows that should have been cast behind them were completely absent.

Tap, tap—

Moro shifted his steps and moved to the side of the cockpit.

Yet despite his arrival, the captain and first officer, clearly under manipulation, showed no reaction whatsoever, acting merely like mechanical puppets following a routine.

Moro stopped in his tracks. From his angle, he could see the captain and first officer blindly operating the airship's navigation, their eyes completely devoid of pupils, showing only whites...

This was evidently the effect of an ability that drove its puppets via direct commands.

"Two different modes of control?"

Moro stared intently at the two puppets before the control console.

One mode involved invading the soul to seize direct control of the target's body, achieving a flawless disguise, albeit seemingly at the cost of immense risk.

The other mode turned people into puppets acting strictly on commands, though the white eyes and lack of shadows instantly exposed the truth.

"If they refuse to show their face, tracking them down is going to be quite troublesome."

Moro frowned.

En was an exceptional tracking technique, but using it severely drained both mental and physical stamina.

With battle already breaking out on Kanzai's end, using En to systematically search every corner of the airship for the hidden Manipulation-type user was entirely impractical.

In truth, if only he knew how to pilot the airship and land it, things wouldn't be this complicated...

..........

Inside a cabin on the lower deck.

A man was tied to a chair, plunged into a deep, unnatural sleep.

Light poured down from above, casting a long silhouette against the floor.

Suddenly.

A figure crawled out of the pitch-black shadow out of nowhere—it was Luyuan.

"I've been noticed..."

Luyuan's expression turned somewhat ugly.

Had it not been for this unexpected complication, his ability would have allowed him to slowly gain control over every ordinary person on the airship, turning the entire vessel into the domain of his "Shadow's Haven."

Then, at the opportune moment, he could activate the control triggers one by one and capture Moro in a single sweep.

Who would have guessed that two other factions would start fighting on the airship.

This unforeseen variable completely disrupted his plans, and what's more...

The target was extremely sharp and might have already figured out the mechanics of "Shadow's Haven."

The difficulty of capturing the target alive had undoubtedly just skyrocketed.