The shell itself looked sturdy and thick, but strangely, when they opened it, they found almost no shell meat inside, just shriveled, mummy-like remains and some dried seafood fragments. The blood-colored pearl sat quietly among these "mummies," radiating an eerie, captivating glow.
Naturally, such a strange find was handed over to the auction house for examination. The auction house even has people with nen abilities who conducted detailed tests and experiments.
They discovered that this blood-colored pearl can absorb the life energy of nearby living creatures to replenish itself. The deeper the blood color, the more life energy it has taken in.
If you wear the pearl, it can slow down aging and improve your appearance, as long as you regularly feed it life energy. In other words, it transfers the life force of others to the wearer, a rather sinister power. Rumor has it that this blood-colored pearl was eventually sold off by a high-ranking V5 official, but no one knows where it is now.
After the whole blood-colored pearl incident, the auction house in Carter Port quickly gained a strong reputation, becoming famous across all six continents. Even now, many people still come here, drawn by its growing prestige.
The auction house recognized this surge in popularity and expanded several times, turning into a massive complex. The building now has three floors, each serving a distinct purpose.
The first floor is a marketplace where people can trade with each other, paying only a small rental fee to the auction house. The second floor houses the auction rooms, one large and two smaller ones, where bids are placed on various items. The third floor is reserved for entertaining guests, authenticating goods, and handling other related matters.
In a place like this, where countless items change hands daily, it's no surprise that many of them have connections to death. As soon as you step inside, you notice how different it is from the outside.
Outside, people usually just lay a cloth on the ground and sell whatever they have, but here, vendors have their goods neatly displayed on counters. Most visitors inside are tourists, dressed casually in short-sleeved shirts with beach-style prints, just like Larry. They're here mainly out of curiosity, exploring the unique atmosphere.
Though Larry appeared to be casually browsing, he was secretly instructing Gengar to search for traces of the lingering death aura. Hidden in the shadows, Gengar's scarlet eyes gleamed faintly, almost as if they could pierce right through people.
Thanks to his keen sensitivity to the death aura, Gengar soon found something, a blue jellyfish resting on a stall, covered by a transparent lid. Several items on the stall were protected this way, allowing people to see them clearly without posing any danger. This setup suggested that these items were unusual.
The jellyfish itself was motionless and clearly dead, but its death was peculiar. There were no external injuries, as if it were simply asleep. What caught the eye was a dense aura of death clinging to its blue surface, visible if you focused hard enough.
Just as Larry was about to ask the price, a low, slightly feminine voice interrupted, "Boss, how much for this jellyfish?"
Larry glanced sideways and realized the person was someone familiar, an "acquaintance" he recognized from the original story.
The man wore a loose purple robe, somewhat like Fujitora from One Piece. He appeared thin and pale, almost malnourished, with his hair tied back in a ponytail.
The most striking thing about him was his empty sleeves, marking him as a "one-armed warrior," much like Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones. Jaime had lost his sword hand, and the absence of it became a turning point in his life, forcing him to change how he fought and how he saw himself.
This man was Shoot McMahon , a member of the original ant expedition team and, like Knuckle, a disciple of Morel. Shoot specialized in hunting UMAs, unconfirmed mysterious animals.
Usually proud and confident, he tended to become timid when panicked. Larry couldn't shake the feeling that Shoot's presence here wasn't a coincidence. For some reason, he reminded him of Cluck he had encountered before. Clearly, Shoot showing up here was no accident.
Shoot's indifferent eyes fixed on a jellyfish trapped inside a transparent container. A subtle but intense focus showed in his gaze, allowing him to sense something was off about the blue jellyfish.
"Did you finally find it?" a bold voice called from behind. It was Morel, carrying a large pipe slung across his shoulders, accompanied by another disciple, Knuckle.
Morel didn't exactly hold the pipe; instead, he rested his hands casually on either end, much like Wukong from Journey to the West. The pipe was wrapped in a long, wide cloth, making it look more like a massive hammer than a traditional pipe.
No matter where he was or when, Morel always wore sunglasses, and his bronze skin marked him as a man of the sea. His usual attire was a light-colored suit paired with black trousers. He had no eyebrows, a square nose, a square jaw, and impressive muscles, definitely a big, imposing figure.
Knuckle stood nearby, looking even more unusual. His square crew cut, fierce expression, and thick eyebrows gave him the look of a tough delinquent straight out of a Japanese manga. He had a rough personality, wasn't one for details, but carried a strong sense of justice.
Like Gon, he has a natural connection with animals and shows great care for small creatures like wild dogs. This compassion is what led him to become a beast hunter.
"Yes, there's a clear sense of danger about this," Shoot said in a grim tone, pointing to the blue jellyfish displayed on the stall.
Both of Morel's apprentices are quite unusual, their outward appearances don't match what's inside. Neither Shoot nor Knuckle look like the kind of people you'd immediately trust; their styles remind one of emotions like anger and jealousy.
Yet, beneath that rough exterior, they both have a strong sense of justice. They proved themselves well during the Ants arc.
"It seems the information might be accurate," Morel remarked, glancing at the blue jellyfish. The intense aura of death around it was definitely out of the ordinary.
"We need to be mentally prepared," Morel said in a deep voice, and immediately, the expressions on his two disciples' faces turned serious.
Suddenly, a voice called out, "Oh? I don't know what this is about. Could you tell me if it's convenient?"
Hearing this, Morel and the others turned toward the sound. When Morel clearly saw Larry's face, his pupils shrank beneath his sunglasses, and he instinctively gripped the large pipe in his hands tighter. These small gestures revealed the unease stirring inside him.
"I didn't expect you to show up here!"