Part 45: Freedom X And X Power

The dust danced through the hot wind of the deserted place of the far countryside. No one lived there... anymore. Everything is quiet and only the breeze is breaking the silence.

But that didn't bother him at all. The dancing dust didn't touch her skin, since he was completely covered with thin clothes all over his body, and the only thing that can be seen from him was his hiding eyes.

He can see his destination from afar, and one hour of walking will get him there. He's tired and exhausted, but he didn't mind and still trying to reach for the place.

After an hour, he finally made it. In front of him was an abandoned bunker with cracked and rotten walls. He couldn't see anything on the other side because of the huge walls between the structure and him.

"Ughhh..."

Suddenly, he heard a voice. A voice of a man in pain, trying to catch his breath to live. A voice of a man near death.

Without any hesitation, he followed the crying voice and ran to the corner of the wall. He's tired and exhausted, but he didn't mind. He didn't mind at all. His morality won over him, and couldn't be able to ignore those people who need help.

He finally made it, and what he saw made his eyes widened. A cold sweat dropped in his face as a sign of confusion and fear filled his heart.

In front of him, was a man lying on his back, bathe in his own blood, staining the dirty ground in red. His other arm was missing from his body, causing the blood to rush out.

The chopped arm was being thrown away from him, causing trails of blood. But there's something different from it. It wasn't just any normal arm. It was cursed and ugly. It was distorted.

"L-Let me call for help!" The man covered in clothes stuttered between his shout. He grabbed his phone with his shivering and scared hand. He tried to type a number in it, but he couldn't be able to even press the 'call' button out of fear.

"I-it's fine..." The injured man spoke with his damaged throat, couldn't be able to speak properly because of his injury.

"D-Don't say anything! Hang on, I'll stop the blood loss!" The alive man said, as he removed his scarf out of his face and started covering the part where the ugly arm was chopped off.

It didn't take long to stop the blood from rushing out of his body, but his skin started to wrinkle and became pale. It's too late for him. No matter how many clothes the man will sacrifice to wrap it in the injury, there's a lot of blood loss, and his body started to become cold.

He couldn't do anything to keep him alive. He just sat down and waited for him to die in front of him. His mind was full of despair and no hope. It was too late.

"H-Hey..." The dying man spoke, shivering between his words. The former didn't have a choice but to listen. "W-What's your name...?"

The man's eyes widened as the question didn't seem to make sense. But he still answered, trying to fulfill the man's dying wish.

"It was Grenno."

"G-Grenno..." The man spoke, with a wide smile on his face. The former was surprised even more. How can he smile when he's on a verge of dying?

"C-Can you be... my friend... d-despite my ugly arm?" He asked.

The man didn't answer for a while and just shocked at the man's face. He was still smiling, smiling warmly in front of him.

He nodded, answering the question. The former just chuckled despite not having much air anymore. Like it was the best day of his life. Like he was the best friend he ever had.

"T-Thank you... for setting me free..."

And then, he never heard anything from the man. Now he was certain that no one lived here... anymore. Everything is quiet and only the breeze is breaking the silence.

***

SECCO RASVIN

"The Philene Village. They're here."

As I heard the name of that place, I couldn't help but gasp and my eyes to be widened. The familiarity in its name stroke my mind and memory.

"Philene Village. You'll know everything once you go there."

It was the same place Binolt told me about when I asked him about my arm. He told me to go there to know everything. I can't be wrong this time. I'm confident that's what I heard from him.

"What's the matter?" Grenno asked me, causing me to go back to reality. I just lowered my head, embarrassed of my spacing out behavior. "Do you know that place?"

I nodded as an answer, still lowering my head.

"M-My friend told me that place before," I added. "He said that I can find everything once I'll go to Philene Village."

Java's still on the phone, and just listening to my talk about how I got the information about the place from. I told everything about Binolt and our short encounter with him in the Greed Island. I also told them that his Nen ability was actually the reason behind his knowledge. I just don't want them to suspect Binolt that he's one of those guys that they're after.

After half an hour of discussion, Java ended her call and bid goodbye to us. The atmosphere is still heavy but this time, it's more awkward since we're the only ones who are inside the bunker. It made me uncomfortable than before, and I don't know why. Maybe it's because of what I knew.

I still couldn't absorb everything that I just heard earlier, but at the same time, I'm curious and determined to know everything. If I want a complete answer about my arm, then the Philene Village is a perfect place to investigate.

Grenno stood up from sitting down on the chair and started walking towards the glass transparent door of the room we're at. I just followed him using my eyes since he didn't give me some tasks to do.

"Come with me." He said in a tiring voice while one of his hands rubbed the back of his head. His eyebrows are still attached to each other, but this time, he doesn't look angry to me compared to before. I stood up and followed him out.

We ended up in a long corridor with multiple doors with the same design displayed on both sides of the translucent walls. And since it's a translucent wall, I can see the silhouette of the objects inside each room. Seeing this amazing architecture made my jaw drop insight. This is just like what I saw in the movies!

After a short walk in the corridor, we stopped at a door that was still the same as the others. A fingerprint scanner was attached to it, similar to the securities we passed through during my first day inside this bunker. I was amazed at these devices, but right now, I'm starting to get used to them since I can see them almost in every corner of the bunker.

He put his thumb in the scanner and flashes of green lights beamed through his finger in a back-and-forth motion. After a few seconds, the screen above the scanner flashes a group of words written in robotic style:

*Identity verification: Grenno von Desimir*

And that's the first time I knew about Grenno's last name. After reading it, I couldn't help but think that it was a surname that came from a very wealthy family, and my theory of him being a con artist is started to fade away after I'm not seeing enough evidence. I guess he's a good guy after all, both legally and morally.

The door opened before us and we started entering it. The room wasn't that wide like the others but it's wide enough to fit multiple file drawers to sort many documents and papers. In the middle of the wall, opposite to the door we just passed through, was a large whiteboard, filled with writings in markers, and plenty of torn newspapers and photographs being pinned.

I tried to look closer at the photos, trying to identify the people that were being taken shot, but unfortunately, I couldn't be able to recognize one of them. Until I saw someone in the photos that I didn't expect to see. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped in shock.

That curly short hair, that brown skin, that blue suit with tribal patterns all over it. I can't be wrong. I'm sure it's him.

*"And if possible, I would like you to avenge us!"*

He was the guy who went to us to seek help against Genthru. Suspicions and theories started to come up in my mind. Why is he in one of Grenno's photos? What is Grenno's motive here? What will he get from him?

I didn't move in my position and still staring at the photo of him, in shock at the fact that he was here, pinned on Grenno's whiteboard of conspiracies.

I wanted to ask my companion about my unexpected discovery, but I don't know if he's gonna be fine with me asking about things. It's true, he's a nice man, but sometimes, a nice man is hiding a dark side.

"What's wrong?" He approached me from behind, still having his tired voice in between his words. He looked at the photo in front of me and his eyes formed into slits, trying to inspect the photo I was looking. "Hmm... do you know this guy?"

And he got me before I was. I nodded in his question to confirm it. It looks like you couldn't hide anything from him, or it's just that I'm just a person that was easy to read.

"We met at the Greed Island." I started. "He was being threatened by a player killer named Genthru. So he sought help from us."

After seeing him in one of these pictures, I'm started to grow suspicion on him. I knew that he was just acting to call for help at that time, but he didn't do any harm to us for a while so I just shook it off. I hope my friends are alright while playing the game. I'm started to get anxious about their condition.

"What?!" Grenno spoke, with his shocked face that you wouldn't expect that it came from him. He moved his face closer to me, so I leaned backward "Then you missed your chance, dummy!"

"M-Missed my... chance?" I stuttered while asking him a question. I was surprised by his sudden yelling that I couldn't be able to understand what he was saying.

He stopped leaning closer to me and stood straight. Both of his arms crossed under his chest, as an irk mark was visible on the top-right of his forehead. His eyebrows are closer to each other than before.

After a minute of growlings and quiet shoutings, he finally calmed down and released a sigh.

"Fine. I'll explain it to you." He said in his problematic voice, still couldn't be able to accept what he heard from me. I still don't know what he meant by missing my chance. Did I do something wrong while I'm in the game?

"Listen. There's a Nen Beast attached to your arm, which means it was made by Nen. If you can remove that Nen from your arm, you can be free from its curse."

"H-How can I do that?" I asked.

"The only way I know how to remove your arm..." He paused, trying to collect all of his words and arrange it properly in his mouth. I gulped as I wait. He will finally say it. This is it. This is the time that I've been waiting for. The way to remove my arm.

"Is by the help of a Nen Exorcist."

"Nen Exorcist?" I thought I'll be surprised by his answer, but it turned out, I was in the stage of confusion. What is a Nen Exorcist?

"They're the Nen users that can be able to remove Nen from people. The most common Nen users that can place Nen to others are the Conjurers." He started explaining the term. Suddenly, I remembered Bisky said about the users that can remove Nen from others. So this is what she meant by that. "But they're very rare and only about ten Exorcists exist in the world."

"And one of them is that guy you just met in the game." He added, as his anger issues started to come back in his face. His eyebrows started to touch each other and the irk mark in his head appeared.

But I just ignored his expression, and just focused on what he said.

What?! That guy was an Exorcist, the only person who can remove my arm?! And I didn't even know it, so I missed the opportunity!

I almost fainted with the sudden revelation and just kneeled on the floor, disappointed with my actions before. A tear almost fell from my eyes but I successfully stopped it.

I'm so stupid. I wish I would've known that from before, or else, I could've just asked him to remove the Nen Beast from my arm.

"That guy shouldn't be able to help us for a while since he was busy avoiding threats in the game," Grenno said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"T-Then... what should we do?"

He didn't answer for a while and just stared at the filled whiteboard in front of him, his eyes turned into slits. I didn't interrupt him, since he was thinking so hard.

"Well... there's this one guy I know where, but it's far away." He spoke, his eyes are still the same and just continued staring at the whiteboard. "His name is Pisacco. He's residing in Neo Green Life, also known as NGL."

"NGL..." I muttered at myself, trying to remember the place in my mind. I don't recognize that place before, and I'm not very fond of the geography class since I was a kid, so I couldn't be able to remember everything I learned from that subject.

"And it's a dangerous place right now. So you must get ready." He started to lecture me with advice. I just listened to his words, hopefully, it'll help me out somehow. Knowing that that place is dangerous, I'm started to get nervous and worried about my situation. Now that Gon and Killua weren't here, I must do this on my own. I have to be strong.

"Don't worry. I'll train you. In exchange, I'll examine your arm for my research every time." He said, which made my eyes widened and sparkled, a hint of happiness and excitement can be seen in my face.

"Really?" I asked with full of enthusiasm. I couldn't believe he was willing to help me with my training.

"Sure. But I'm stricter than Java. So don't expect privileges." He said with his eyebrows almost touched each other. I couldn't help but smile widely at his answer, and my heart started to beat faster.

This is it. This is my time to get stronger. Combining all that I learned from Master Java, Bisky, and Grenno, I'll be strong enough to protect my friends and to remove my arm.