On a bustling street, shops lined up, crowds swarmed.
A young man with yellow hair was weaving through the crowd but suddenly stopped. After a moment, he merged into the flow ahead.
The youth had a baby face, with a thin black snake tattoo on his neck.
In a coffee shop, a middle-aged woman in professional attire was browsing a magazine. Ten cups were lined up on the table… nine were empty, while the remaining one still had cold coffee.
Suddenly, a slight vibration came from her inner pocket.
The middle-aged woman put down the magazine, took out a small communicator out of the camera's view, glanced quickly, and her brow suddenly furrowed.
"A rare vacation, gone just like that."
The middle-aged woman sighed softly.
Her lips were so thin it was chilling. When still, it seemed like she had no mouth. Even when speaking, its presence was extremely low, as if she were mouthless.
In a warehouse at a certain dock.
An old man sat on a cargo crate. The air was filled with a pungent smell of blood.
Near the base of the cargo crate lay over twenty corpses. Each person died from a single stab wound to the back of the head.
The old man held a long, thin ladies' cigarette in his mouth, fiddling with a small communicator in his hand.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5... 88, 89! Hmm, 89 more days until retirement."
The old man smoked while muttering.
"So, this target is the leader of the world's highest expert group. Just hearing about it gets the blood pumping, though currently he's just a cripple."
The baby-faced youth, the middle-aged woman, and the old man shared the same thought.
These three were assassins from the Blackstone Family, also the closest to this assassination target, so this commission was first given to them.
Because the client was rather special, the Blackstone Family valued this operation. Besides deploying these three assassins, more members would follow from the base to the city where the Hunter Association was located.
…
Yorbian Continent, a restaurant in a southern town.
The owner stood behind the counter, trembling as he looked at the only occupied table of customers.
Among them, the appetites of two burly men made the restaurant owner, with over thirty years of experience, feel utterly terrified.
Just then, a kitchen hand hurried over, leaned close to the owner's ear, and whispered, "Boss, Sada is also exhausted. Now only Jinta and Kita are still battling at the stoves, but the serving speed can't keep up. What should we do?"
Hearing this, the owner looked on the verge of tears.
The business that came knocking was about to become unbearable. This was truly a rare sight in a lifetime.
This table of customers was none other than Machi's group, though Menchi and Buhara were also present.
The ones battling were undoubtedly Uvogin and Buhara. As for Machi and Nobunaga, their appetites were acceptable but not as exaggerated as those two.
Compared to the others, Menchi ate very little.
After all, accustomed to delicacies, without necessity, even though this restaurant's food tasted decent, she couldn't eat much.
If not for indulging Buhara, Menchi wouldn't be sitting here at all.
"Uvogin, still not full?"
Machi seemed to have overheard the owner and the kitchen hand's conversation, tactfully reminding Uvogin.
Whether Uvogin understood or not, he replied indistinctly, "Almost there."
During this period, they had been chasing Chimera Ant remnants, from the Mitene Union to the Yorbian Continent. Throughout, there wasn't a moment's rest. Forget sleep… eating properly was certainly out of the question.
Now that things were finally resolved, naturally, they wanted to eat heartily.
This sentiment was oddly shared by Buhara and Uvogin.
Menchi rested her cheek on one hand, sidelong glancing at Machi.
Since sitting down, she had mostly been observing Machi, her gaze harboring hidden hostility.
The latter ignored her attention, eating her meal nonchalantly.
After this matter was resolved, Menchi and Buhara were returning to the Association… not for rewards but to rendezvous with Law.
As Association's members, going there naturally wasn't a problem, but Uvogin, Nobunaga, and Machi were different.
"Are you sure you want to travel with us?"
Seeing the meal was almost over, Menchi looked at Machi and suddenly asked.
"Yes."
Machi glanced at Menchi and replied succinctly.
"You're A-class wanted criminals," Menchi reminded.
Nobunaga lifted his eyelids slightly. Uvogin was still focused on eating. Machi showed no reaction.
"You'd better not go. Recently, a supernova Blacklist Hunter has emerged. It's dangerous."
Listening to Menchi's words, Buhara subconsciously slowed his chewing, cautiously watching Menchi and Machi.
"No need for your concern," Machi said flatly.
"Oh, okay."
Menchi switched the hand supporting her face and asked pensively, "I'm curious. What exactly did Law see in you?"
Upon hearing this, Buhara almost choked, fortunately he had slowed his eating earlier.
Uvogin involuntarily stopped chewing. Nobunaga looked at Machi with interest.
"Well, you can ask Law," Machi replied.
"Haha."
Laughter suddenly echoed within the restaurant.
…
Nique was locked up again.
This time, his prison wasn't the Hide-and-Seek but an ordinary room.
If he wanted, he could 'escape' anytime.
But he didn't dare.
He obediently sat on the room's chair, eating grass that Knuckle had picked from the green park.
Eating it was like chewing wax.
"Why did you have to pick artificial turf?"
Nique said with a look of utter speechlessness.
Natural green grass from the wild is definitely more delicious, everywhere exuding the scent of freedom.
Suddenly, Nique straightened up, looking towards the door, his posture as obedient as could be.
The door was forcefully opened, and Knov and Morel strode in.
Knov looked relatively calm, but Morel's face was full of unconcealed anger.
Nique looked at the two, instinctively shrinking his neck, feeling a bad premonition.
"I will never agree to this."
Morel said angrily, then looked at Nique.
Even with sunglasses blocking his eyes, Nique seemed to feel the sharp gaze.
Knov also looked at Nique and said calmly, "You want Nique to act as a witness and provide testimony?"
Morel turned to look at Knov and said gravely, "Isn't that the only way?"
Knov raised a hand to his forehead and sighed, "Don't forget, he's a Chimera Ant. Moreover, regarding his follow-up processing, the Chairman hasn't given instructions yet, which means this matter is on hold."
Hearing this, Morel frowned deeply, feeling a surge of anger in his chest with nowhere to vent.
"Um, can you tell me what happened?" Nique cautiously looked at the two. If they hadn't mentioned him, he wouldn't have asked.
Hearing Nique's words, Knov and Morel looked at him again.
After a moment's silence, they decided Nique had the right to know and explained the reason.
It was nothing more than higher-ups selectively ignoring the contributions made by Law and the others.
Although not finalized, the general trend had formed.
Both Morel and Knov had fought on the front lines, so they knew how difficult it was to take down the Royal Guards and the Ant King.
Compared to Law and Ging, their roles in this operation were almost negligible. How could they have the nerve to claim the lion's share of the credit?
Therefore, what Morel thought of was how to overturn the higher-ups' trend so that Law and the others could receive their due rewards.
After listening to Morel's account, Nique's face twitched.
If he had to act as a witness and be sent to a review hearing, it would be like stepping into the light to die!
...
Kukuroo Mountain, forest.
The massive three-headed dog, Mike, crouched on the ground. Before his paws stood Killua.
From behind a large tree about twenty meters away, a tall, slender figure emerged… it was Illumi.
Sensing Illumi's appearance, Killua slowly turned around, calmly looking at him.
Mike seemed to sense something, got up, and slipped back into the depths of the forest.
"Putting yourself in danger voluntarily isn't a good habit."
Illumi's hands hung naturally at his sides. Numerous pinheads adorned his shirt and sleeves.
"Oh."
Killua responded coldly, already assuming a combat stance.
Drawing Illumi here was naturally to settle things once and for all.