Chapter 53: An Unexpected Visitor

After all, the threat of the Phantom Troupe was merely an undercurrent flowing through the underworld. By day, Yorknew City remained exceptionally vibrant and bustling, hyped up by various auctions of all sizes.

Beyond the large-scale, luxurious auctions tailored exclusively for upper-class elites, the flea markets and bazaar auctions were also remarkably entertaining.

On September 6th, at an open-air bazaar auction on the eastern side of Yorknew City.

Wearing a duckbill cap and Superman glasses, and dressed in a T-shirt printed with the manga character "Evil Hero: Armored Dragon" and three-quarter pants, Heather strolled leisurely, blending into the crowd.

There were plenty of small commodities and antique counterfeits along the street, but Heather merely purchased a few out-of-print, solitary editions of manga specific to this world. During his search, he took a fancy to a military short sword styled after the ancient Balote Empire and began haggling with the vendor. Both were masters of the craft; one quoted historical precedents to prove the short sword's worth, while the other brandished sharp wits and tongue to desperately drive the price down from various angles.

Their bickering grew so heated that it even drew cheers from a crowd of onlookers. Just as the haggling reached its absolute peak, two people suddenly popped out from the spectators and decisively bought the short sword on the spot. Their speed and efficiency left both Heather and the vendor slightly stunned.

Robbed of the back-and-forth momentum of bargaining, Heather and the vendor curled their lips in frustration with nowhere to vent, and could only bid each other a disappointed farewell.

Strolling and browsing as he went, it was nearing noon.

Places catering to commoners and tourists, like the open-air bazaar auction, permitted licensed food vendors to enter. Heather found a wildly popular food truck named [The Mangal], stood in line for a little over ten minutes, and purchased today's recommended set meal.

[The Mangal Interstellar Set]—half a portion of meatballs sprinkled with shredded cheese and homemade spicy sauce, a massive sandwich stuffed with a medium-cooked fried egg, fried bacon, a smashed beef patty, and homemade spicy sauce, a small box of corn salad, and a large cup of iced juice.

Holding his meal box, Heather found a nearby public standing table, speared half a meatball, and popped it into his mouth. Hm, the spicy kick had a lingering aftertaste; it seemed this homemade spicy sauce was the secret behind the food truck's explosive popularity.

He then picked up the sandwich and took a huge bite. The meat juices overflowing from the smashed beef patty combined with the semi-solid egg yolk—delicious.

Just as he was eating with great gusto, another person approached, placed an identical [The Mangal Interstellar Set] on the table, and stood beside him.

"...I wouldn't have expected a big shot like you to come to a place like this." Heather shoveled two spoonfuls of corn salad into his mouth without even lifting his head.

"You recognize me? What an honor."

"It'd be stranger if I didn't recognize you. A two-star ruin hunter who excavated the Ruruka Ruins, one of the world's top five Nen users, the vagabond among the [Zodiacs]..."

Heather picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth, then turned to look at the man beside him: "Ging Freecss."

The man standing next to Heather was about 1.7 meters tall, dressed in loose-fitting, light-colored robes, wearing a dark blue scarf, and topped with a duckbill cap wrapped in numerous strips of cloth. With his stubbly beard, he looked just like an ordinary middle-aged uncle, but his eyes were extraordinarily sharp.

The father of *Hunter x Hunter* protagonist Gon Freecss, one of the world's top five Nen users with unfathomable strength, Ging Freecss.

Heather picked up a large paper cup and took a sip of the icy juice: "What brings you here? Let me make it clear first: if you're looking for a fight, forget it. If possible, I don't want to make any more moves before January next year."

"Ah, I'm not here to pick a fight, you can rest easy on that score."

Ging also picked up a sandwich and took a massive bite, chewing with bulging cheeks:

"I'm here for the [Weapon] in your possession."

"Absolute Authority?" Heather glanced at him sideways. "Don't tell me you're foolish enough to try and wrest the [Sword of Fire] from its wielder by force?"

Ging swallowed the food in his mouth and raised a palm: "Of course not. I've carefully studied Eudora's myths and legends. Though I'm not as knowledgeable as you, the wielder, I have a fair grasp of the traits of 'Absolute Authority.' I came to find you because I feel you and I are cut from the same cloth."

"Oh? How so?"

"Both you and I have our own unique insights and pursuits regarding the [Dark Continent]."

Ging tossed the sandwich back onto his tray and looked at Heather: "There's one thing I forgot to mention: *Those Vanished Legendary Weapons* was written by me."

Heather's hand, just about to bring a sandwich to his mouth, stiffened. He turned his head to look at Ging: "...'Aurum' was a pen name?"

He didn't believe Ging would lie about something like this; ancient culture and ruin exploration were Ging's areas of expertise and his greatest pride.

Ging smiled. "Aurum, in a certain ancient language that is now almost completely lost, means [Gold]."

Tch, it was clearly Latin, wasn't it? Heather placed the sandwich back on the tray, picked up a napkin, and wiped his hands: "In that case, we certainly have something to talk about. Is there a good place for it?"

"Yes, follow me."

The two left the open-air bazaar auction, made several twists and turns for about ten minutes, and arrived at a secluded alleyway.

Tap, tap, tap!

Ging knocked three times with an irregular rhythm on a shabby door in the alley. About ten seconds later, a sluggish voice came from behind the door: "Bitter Night."

"Three-Leaf Flower."

*Click*, the sound of a bolt loosening came from behind the door.

Ging pushed the door open and stepped inside, and Heather followed.

Upon entering, one was greeted by a faint scent of incense. The interior possessed a rustic wooden structure, and the cramped furniture along with casually piled sundries and books made the room feel somewhat claustrophobic. A short, hunchbacked old woman wearing a beaded sweater and a shawl slowly extended a single finger toward a corner of the hallway: "Room [14] is vacant. Need tea?"

"No thanks, Granny Todoroko, we'll handle it ourselves."

Ging dismissed the old woman and crooked a finger to signal Heather to follow. As the two stepped into the dark, damp hallway, doors emitting a faint fluorescent glow stood uniformly in the darkness, arranged in two parallel rows that seemed to stretch on endlessly.

"Don't touch unrelated doors."

While warning Heather, Ging searched for the door to Room [14]. The numbers on the doors were not in sequential order; they were chaotic and entirely without pattern. Heather could even spot numbers in the thousands.

"Found it, come on." Ging led Heather to push open a door marked with the number [14]. From the outside, the interior of the room was pitch black.

After entering, Ging closed the door. At that exact moment, the room suddenly brightened.

This was a spacious lounge. A warm fire blazed in a rustic and elegant fireplace, two rows of plush striped sofas and several cushions were placed close to the fireplace, and not far away stood a long table with three high-backed chairs. The room was generally oval-shaped, with over half the wall chiseled into neat bookshelves filled with various kinds of books. A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling, and directly above the fireplace was a clock embedded in the wall.

"Granny Todoroko is a veteran powerhouse of Nen. She is a Materialization-type Nen user, and what you saw is her Nen ability, [Memory Storybook]."

Ging walked over to the bookshelf and began searching through the volumes without turning his head. "I can't reveal the specifics, but she used her Nen to remodel her old house into a unique [Nen House], with corresponding doors across every continent. You just need to pay her whatever she requires to rent a 'room.' This is a room I frequently rent here; it's a great place to read books, think, and chat with friends. Ah, found it."

Heather raised a hand to catch the book tossed to him; it felt rather heavy. He flipped it over to look at the cover, where metal and rivets were fastened along the edges, and a large [E] dominated the dead center of the cover—

*New Continent Journal: East*!