Chapter 41: Morrow's Discovery

The shadowless domain features two operational abilities:
The first is stealing a shadow and controlling actions through commands, known as the Puppet Manipulation Technique.
The second is invading the target's body through the spirit to control it, known as the Decapitation Shadow Technique.
Moro's deduction was entirely correct.
While Deer Plain was using the Decapitation Shadow Technique, any harm inflicted upon the controlled body would be directly mirrored onto Deer Plain himself, up to and including death.
That was why Deer Plain had reacted so violently to Moro's probing attack, instantly revoking his ability and thus forfeiting any subsequent opportunities.
Recalling that hasty maneuver a moment ago, Deer Plain could not help but feel a pang of regret.
He carefully replayed the scene in his mind: had he been calm enough at the time, he would have noticed that the trajectory of the Nen sphere was actually slightly off.
Therefore, had he only maintained his composure and allowed the deception to continue, he would have had a chance to achieve his objective.
But it was too late to dwell on that now.
"Though it failed, still..."
Deer Plain lowered his head and cast his gaze downward, his right thumb continuously stroking the hilt of his blade as he thought about Moro's purposely misdirected Nen sphere.
Faced with uncertain circumstances, does he actively avoid killing the innocent by mistake when possible...?
This point can be exploited.
Deer Plain pushed down the regret in his heart.
Although the characteristics of his ability might have been exposed, he still had room to maneuver.
With that thought, Nen erupted from Deer Plain's body. He stepped directly into the pitch-black human silhouette at his feet, sinking straight into the shadow and vanishing without a trace.
His "Shadow Flow Technique" allowed him to travel freely among the shadows of ordinary people within a certain range, but this ability could not coexist with the Puppet Manipulation Technique.
Because those controlled by the Puppet Manipulation Technique cast no shadows.
By the same token, the moment he revoked the Decapitation Shadow Technique, the controlled individual would die instantly and lose the shadow that enabled him to use the Shadow Flow Technique.
This was precisely why someone had to be tied to a chair inside that room.
Diving into the shadows, Deer Plain used the ability of the Shadow Flow Technique to select his next target for the Decapitation Shadow Technique—
A security guard on the airship!
At that moment.
Inside the airship's surveillance room.
A security guard stared at the numerous surveillance screens in front of him with a tense and anxious expression, holding a walkie-talkie as he continuously reported the situation to his colleagues.
Suddenly, however, the expression on the security guard's face, along with his mouth and limb movements, came to an abrupt halt.
Deer Plain had invaded and taken over the security guard's body using the Decapitation Shadow Technique.
Click.
Deer Plain switched off the walkie-talkie and instead turned on the broadcast microphone.
"Attention passengers, attention passengers. The airship is currently under attack by unlawful elements, but our security personnel have brought the situation under control. Please do not worry."
"To further ensure the personal safety of all passengers, please proceed to the upper deck control room as soon as possible. I repeat, please proceed to the upper deck control room as soon as possible!"
Using the security guard's body, Deer Plain broadcasted the announcement across the entire airship, then switched off the microphone and raised his head slightly to look at the display screen showing the interior of the control room.
He had currently planted control triggers inside just over fifty people.
Without activating the switches, these individuals remained normal people unaffected by any abilities, while also serving as stepping stones for his "Shadow Flow Technique."
And through the public broadcast, Deer Plain had solved the difficult problem of how to herd these people toward Moro.
Along with the passengers he hadn't yet managed to bring under his control.
It was entirely foreseeable that—
A massive crowd of passengers would flood into the control room.
In this way, he could maximize the effectiveness of his potential puppets amidst the chaos.
This was a virtually unanswerable move targeting Moro.
Unless Moro turned ruthless and slaughtered all the passengers and staff to eliminate the potential threat.
"You rushed straight to the control room the moment it happened in order to land the airship, didn't you..."
Staring at Moro on the surveillance monitor, Deer Plain muttered to himself, "I won't let you succeed. Now, let's see how you plan to handle this... Huh?"
Glued to the surveillance screen, Deer Plain abruptly saw Moro look directly toward the camera's viewpoint.
In a daze, Deer Plain felt as though his eyes met Moro's.
He noticed me...
Realization dawning, Deer Plain's gaze suddenly sharpened, and the next moment he saw the surveillance image shudder violently before turning into a wall of static.
Moro had destroyed the camera inside the control room.
"..."
Deer Plain furrowed his brows.
Though he believed his strategy was virtually unbreakable, a nagging intuition told him things wouldn't be that simple.
.........
Inside the control room.
Moro hadn't paid much attention to the content of the broadcast just moments ago.
"How bizarre."
What concerned him far more was the targeted nature of the opponent's actions.
Would they go to such great lengths simply to prevent him from interfering with the airship's navigation?
Possessing such abilities, wouldn't it be far better utilized against Kanzai?
Hm?
No...
Something was wrong.
Something didn't add up.
Moro looked up at the smashed surveillance camera.
Judging by the initial fluctuation of the aura and the general direction of the loud noise, it was basically certain that someone had made a move against the client Kanzai was protecting.
That was Kanzai of the Zodiacs, after all...
To target a bodyguard hunter of that caliber, they had actually diverted their forces?
And on such a massive scale!
This sudden realization made Moro understand that the person controlling the captain and broadcasting the message moments earlier probably wasn't aiming for Kanzai's client at all.
Therefore—
They were targeting me right from the very beginning!?
"Almost got misled."
Moro's expression shifted slightly.
Had that bodyguard hunter not been Kanzai, he might not have been able to conclude this with such certainty.
Realizing this, Moro shifted his gaze to the controlled captain and co-captain.
He had observed them carefully just now.
The force controlling the captain duo was a command-type manipulation ability.
This type of manipulation ability usually only manifested on puppets.
The captain and co-captain before him were already dead.
Until the manipulator issued new commands to them, they would only act in accordance with their current instructions and exhibit no other behaviors.
This temporarily dismissed Moro's notion of letting the airship land safely, and he no longer intended to remain in the control room.
Originally, he had planned to stall the Emission-type manipulator here.
What led him to that decision was his belief that there were inherent flaws within that Emission-type ability user's power system.
An ability with such excessive versatility might raise the ceiling of its application methods, but it also inevitably required shouldering multiple corresponding restrictions.
Two modes of operation, coupled with advantages in the "number of objects controlled"...
Moro deduced from this that the user of this manipulation ability must bear the cost of a multiplied consumption of Nen.
If Deer Plain could witness Moro's various deductions regarding the current situation from start to finish, his heart would undoubtedly turn cold.
You must remember—
He was in the shadows, while Moro was in the light.
The information received by both parties was asymmetrical.
Yet Moro was able to pierce through the chaos and discern the truth.
Thud—
Having changed his mind, Moro pushed open the door and stepped straight out of the control room before the passengers came flooding in.
Then, expanding his En, he headed toward the location of the previous aura fluctuation.
He needed to check on Kanzai's situation to decide his next move based on how the circumstances evolved.
Moreover, considering the worst-case scenario, he had to mentally prepare himself to deal with an "airship crash."
Just as Moro was approaching Kanzai's location, the En he had projected outward suddenly gave feedback of encountering "Nen."
"Hm?"
Moro abruptly turned his gaze toward the outer observation deck.
On the floor of the observation deck, roughly ten meters away, lay a long string of cryptic symbols radiating the sheen of Nen.
"Divine characters?"
Moro couldn't read divine characters at all, but he could barely recognize them—perhaps one of the few perks of being an otherworldly traveler.
Why... are there divine characters here?