"Very convenient Divine Character," Ron murmured. "And it can be combined with others. For example, Seal together with Lock."
Obtaining the Divine Character *Seal* allowed Ron to eliminate a large number of designated cards from his research list, because he could now tell at a glance that many of them had been created using Seal.
Card #034 — Universal Survey. Similar in function to Kurapika's ability to discern truth from lies.
Card #035 — Chameleon Cat. No research value.
Card #036 — Recycling Room. Ron had held high expectations for this, but after a few trials, he discovered its repair scope was extremely limited. His interest vanished.
Cards #037 through #045 — all Nen abilities.
Card #046 — Gold Dust Girl. "A girl who sheds gold dust from her body—500g of gold can be harvested from her daily bath. Very shy, she rarely leaves the house."
This card could continually produce gold. Useful to many, but meaningless to Ron. He had long since moved past the stage of needing money.
Card #047 — Sleeping Girl. "A girl who sleeps in your stead. You can be active for 24 hours without sleeping while she sleeps for you."
This caught Ron's attention. Its numbers were rare, and Ron had not yet obtained it. Even if only a Nen ability, it was an excellent one. He was definitely interested.
Beyond those, only two more cards held his attention: Levitation Stone and Plastic King.
The Levitation Stone, when exposed to sunlight, could float and support considerable weight. One carat was enough to lift a full-grown adult. If it wasn't just an ability but a real mineral, its value would be immense.
The Plastic King was extremely practical. "Recombine the parts of this 1:1 scale model kit to build any kind of vehicle. Fully functional, fuel not included."
It could be assembled into any kind of vehicle and would actually function. Durability wasn't an issue — with Nen to reinforce the structure, it would be sturdier than real machines. As for fuel? Ron had no concerns. Between Sumas and the Divine Character like Seal, he could carry vast reserves.
Ron glanced at the Ark Nen Spirit. Five metal plates were laid beside it, each carved with a Divine Character:
Kei — Contract
Lock — Lock
Sei — Restraint
I — Shift
Fū — Seal
Leaving Sumas, Ron returned to Greed Island. He drew a spell card.
"Use Accompany — Masadora!"
He soon found a player he had traded with before.
"I need three cards: Sleeping Girl, Levitation Stone, and Plastic King."
"All right. When I have news, I'll contact you."
Ron nodded. Then he opened a channel to Biscuit.
"Biscuit-senpai, are Gon and Killua with you right now?"
"They're not. Why?"
"I need to leave for a while. I'll use Magnetic Force to return."
"You can use it now."
"Good."
Ron produced a Magnetic Force card.
"Use Magnetic Force — Biscuit!"
At once, a surge of aura wrapped around him. His body lifted into the sky, drawn swiftly toward Biscuit's location, and before long he descended in front of her.
Greed Island wasn't truly vast. It only seemed large in the original events because so few players were admitted. The game had only 100 consoles, each allowing up to four players. At most, 400 could be online at once. And in reality, the number was even smaller — consoles could break, or some groups used a console for just one player. Like the one Morena had taken.
"It seems someone on Greed Island noticed our actions," Biscuit said. "The other day, I felt a hidden gaze on me. It probably wasn't a player."
"The GMs of the game?"
"Most likely."
"Looks like your guess was off, Biscuit-senpai. Ging does care about someone trying to crack his game."
That was part of why Ron had wanted Biscuit involved. He had no real ties to Ging, but Biscuit was different. Her seniority in the Hunter Association was high. No matter what Ging's team thought of Ron, they wouldn't act too harshly with Biscuit present.
"I don't know what their stance will be," Biscuit said, shaking her head. "But since we've already deciphered a Divine Character, if they truly minded, they'd either confront us outright or eject us from the game."
"Their current silence means we can keep researching."
"By the way, Ron — what's next on your agenda?"
"I'm interested in the Sleeping Girl card," Ron replied. "I want to research it."
"All right. I'll help you with that. Afterward, shall we move on to Blue Planet?"
"That works."
Biscuit enjoyed cracking mysteries, but gemstones were also her passion. Researching Blue Planet combined both.
"How are Gon and Killua's studies going?" Ron asked.
"They've learned quite a lot," Biscuit answered. "Shu, En, In, Ken, Ko… basically everything except Ryu. Next comes proficiency and developing their personal abilities."
Both boys had already begun to form their own skills, though still at a very basic stage. Most Nen users, once they had a foundation, developed derivative abilities on top of it.
Like Ron, whose base was the Observer's Intention, from which he created his Nen Beasts — themselves an extension of that principle. Later, he added Second Shadow.
"I heard you suggested they read more manga and play games?"
"Yes."
"So what are your thoughts on their potential abilities?"
Ron considered.
"I can't say for Gon. I don't know him well enough. Killua, though, is clearly suited for lightning-based techniques. That path has many possibilities."
In Ron's memory, countless characters had wielded lightning as their power — even his own Nen Beast, Uchiha Sasuke, counted among them. If possible, he hoped Killua could grow even stronger than in the original timeline.