Nostrade Manor.
The building directly opposite the entrance in the center of the estate is the core of the Nostrade Manor. Kevin and the others reside there. This building has five floors and is equipped with all kinds of functional rooms.
Among them is a dance studio. Just a week ago, this place was merely a storage room filled with miscellaneous items. Perhaps when this building was originally designed, the architect had a wonderful vision. For instance, imagining that the rich man living here had children or a wife who loved dancing, or that the family simply needed such a space. Light probably once had similar aspirations, fantasizing that Neon would love dancing. But the reality was that Neon was a lazybones. Before Kevin and his group arrived, Neon was developing in the direction of being spoiled. Her hobbies were divination and buying clothes. After Kevin arrived, the curtain rose on Neon's "hellish training."
Now, this dance studio has been cleared out.
A graceful figure was dancing within it. The morning sunlight spilled in through a row of floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the dance studio like a golden hall. Kevin sat to the side, watching with a smile.
Dancing in the center was none other than Melusine, her legs now recovered. Ever since her legs returned to normal, Melusine's favorite thing to do was engage in various leg activities. Running, mountain climbing, and dancing were all her favorites, as if she wanted to fully utilize the legs that hadn't been used for over a decade in this short amount of time.
Melodious music flowed slowly all around, filling the entire dance studio. Accompanied by the rhythm of the music, Melusine was just like a butterfly dancing in the hall. As the song ended, Melusine spun and fell into Kevin's arms.
"Did you have enough fun dancing?"
"I'll never have enough." Melusine said with a smile, gently caressing Kevin's face.
"Then we'll wait for next time. We have important business today." Saying this, Kevin stood up and picked Melusine up.
"No, put me down. I want to walk myself."
"You sound like a child." However, Kevin still complied and put her down.
Upon reaching the door, Melusine began to fret. A row of various shoes was lined up at the doorway.
"Which pair do you think I should wear?"
Besides being passionate about leg-related exercises, Melusine was also particularly interested in all kinds of shoes and socks. She couldn't walk before, so naturally, she didn't have that need. Now, wearing beautiful shoes and socks had become her hobby. Kevin gave his full support to this hobby of hers. Must say, this hobby is great!
However, Melusine, having trouble choosing, eventually put on cotton slippers. A bit of a pity.
The two made their way to the living room.
Light was sitting on the sofa drinking tea, flipping through the newspaper in his hand. Kurapika and the other two were also sitting on the sofa nearby, chatting about something. Seeing Melusine, Neon stood up, walked over quickly to take her arm, and pulled her aside to whisper.
Kevin sat down and picked up his teacup to take a sip.
"How is the situation?"
Light nodded. "Battera is indeed in urgent need of medical resources, but it seems not for himself, but for someone else. However, regardless, he has begun to make contact with me, though he seems very cautious. He also has Nen users acting as bodyguards by his side."
This was information revealed by Dalzollene, who is responsible for protecting him at close range.
Kevin nodded and said, "Then you tell him: if he wants treatment, he must bring the patient. No need to bring them to the manor; a hospital in the city will suffice. No matter what the illness is, before I see the patient, I cannot guarantee a cure, so I must at least examine them."
Light nodded; this was within his expectations, and he had replied to Battera exactly like that.
Kevin then looked at Kurapika.
Kurapika returned the Hunter license and said, "According to the information I found, this wealthy man has been recruiting various Nen users and Professional Hunters to clear the game. This situation has been going on for many years, but there is still no one who has cleared it. The reward he offers is not low, but not high either, considering he employs many people. However, he offers a fifty-billion reward for clearing the game, plus the fact that those who meet the conditions can enter the game for free, which makes many people willing to join. Although it's unclear which specific card he wants from the game, it is certain to be a healing-type card."
Besides this, Kurapika also learned a lot of information about the game, but currently, they haven't even obtained the game console, so this information is of no use for the time being.
"Hmm, let's leave it at that for now. We'll make plans once the rich man's patient arrives."
After this matter was discussed, Pairo said, "The sales of the potion have begun to expand steadily. According to records, every member has purchased it at least twice. Recently, many Hunters or Nen users heard about it and came to the physical store to buy the potion, but the purchase limit is limited. So recently, there have been situations where Hunters have attempted to rob the potion halfway. Just in these two months, Locke has encountered two interceptions."
Hearing this, Kevin couldn't help but frown.
Kurapika and Pairo are very talented; they spend most of their time training at the manor and occasionally take turns guarding the store. Gowen, who joined in the last few months, also participates in the rotation besides training. This makes everyone's time relatively more relaxed. But if they have to send people to follow Locke to transport the potion, that would be a bit troublesome. Letting Locke be responsible for transportation is fine, but if they keep ignoring it and let him frequently encounter interceptions, it would be too dangerous.
Have to admit, Locke's Nen ability is indeed not good for combat, especially when ambushed, making it easy to fall into a disadvantage. During the two interceptions, Locke only successfully counter-killed once, and the other time, he barely escaped.
Kevin underestimated the attractiveness of his potion and overestimated the bottom line of these Nen users. Can't buy it, limited purchase? Then rob it. They have no psychological burden; one of the robberies even occurred in a city block, leading to the deaths of at least three ordinary civilians. As for so-called deterrence, it is almost meaningless to Nen users. There are not a few paranoid people with low moral standards among Nen users.
Moreover, when returning before, Kevin intended to take Kurapika and Pairo to Heavens Arena to look around. That counts as a small trial ground for them; fighting a few matches on the 200th Floor is almost a traditional project for those of them who teach students. However, the problem lies here too. Because of the potion store, personnel allocation became a problem. If they take Kurapika and Pairo, they have to take Neon. In this way, only Rosana would be left at the store. Rosana's Nen ability has strong functionality and is fine for self-protection, but lacks offensive capability.
It's not that he doesn't want to recruit people, but Kevin now understands that whether it's Professional Hunters or those Nen users who can only be considered amateurs, their strength is not very good. If the people recruited are untrustworthy and weak, what's the point? Unless the Nen ability has other special functions. Just like the professional breeders in the manor, although their strength is not strong, their Nen ability is exactly what Kevin needs.
"Should we consider—going to Meteor City?" Light suggested. After all, he has only been a company president for a year, having spent most of his life in the underworld, and his mindset hasn't fully shifted yet.
"Meteor City?" Kevin frowned; he seemed to have heard of this place.
Kurapika and Pairo looked grave and remained silent. Light then realized that their enemy seemed to have come from Meteor City.
"I remember now. It's that 'dump,' right?"
Light nodded. "In the past, underworld gangs from all over loved to recruit people from there."
Meteor City can be said to be a malicious product jointly created by various countries. The personnel registration systems of various countries are extremely strict, not at all like what should exist in this era. Even though conflicts between countries are constant and wars between small countries are frequent, there is yet such an internationally universal personnel information registration system. As long as one is born in the human world, one must be registered. Moreover, the network information protection is extremely tight, far exceeding the technical standards of this era. It is obvious that various Nen users are involved. And those government officials, people with privileges, and people with channels can easily query the information of the people they want through this system.
Kevin suspects that such an information registration system itself is a condition for some kind of Nen ability. Especially after learning about the Dark Continent, this suspicion is even stronger. But everyone's information can be queried, which is very inconvenient for some politicians. Someone has to do some shady things. But after doing the dirty work, information is easily found, which is really too troublesome.
Thus, the accident of Meteor City came into being. Any "trash" not needed in the human world can be thrown there. Besides real trash, abandoned items are also included. This even includes infants. In other places, even abandoned infants must be registered; only infants abandoned in Meteor City do not need to be registered. In other words, it is purely a gathering place for unregistered people; those who come out of it have no information registration and will not leave any registration records. It is the most suitable place to serve as a source for shadow operatives. If one says this is not intentional, Kevin would write his name backward.
Therefore, various dark organizations, global underworld gangs, assassins, and criminal groups all treat Meteor City as a talent market and go there to recruit people every year. For the people of Meteor City, these organizations are also good places to go. Because Meteor City is a place where the strong prey on the weak, with no moral bottom line to speak of. They don't care at all about various murders and crimes. It can be said that both sides hit it off immediately.
It is hard to imagine that such a place would exist in such a modern era. The famous Phantom Troupe is the most famous of the criminal organizations that came out of Meteor City, and has become a benchmark for such organizations. The slogan they left behind after committing crimes has also become a famous quote used by Meteor City to deter external forces. However, in Kevin's view, this has no practical significance. Because in the eyes of the big powers that really need Meteor City, the Phantom Troupe is like a ridiculous ant.
Recalling these, Kevin waved his hand. "Forget it, forget it. Let's forget about that kind of place; it hasn't reached the point where we absolutely have to recruit people there. Let's just recruit normally. Send the recruitment information to the [Thousand Ear Association] . Dalzollene, you are responsible for this."
"Ah? Yes." Dalzollene did not expect that he would have this task.
Then Kevin looked at Gowen behind him. "You are responsible for testing the strength and character of the recruited personnel. The strength requirement cannot be weaker than Dalzollene, or the Nen ability must have practical value. As for character, as long as they are not too terrible, they can be accepted."
Gowen nodded; this was not a difficult task for him. This time, Kevin intends to recruit a group of people properly to completely solve the problem of insufficient personnel.
After Light made contact with that rich man, the action was very swift. Not two days later, Light found Kevin again.
"Battera has arrived. He bought a hospital in the city and renovated it. Now it is heavily guarded, and the patient should have been sent in."
Hearing this, Kevin was a bit surprised, then nodded. It seems the other party is indeed very anxious.
"Then lead the way."
The two took a car to the city center and walked into a hospital. This hospital's appearance was no different from usual, but Kevin keenly noticed that it was covered in hidden sentries. The defense was indeed tight. It seems the patient inside is crucial to this rich man.
After getting off the car, they walked into the hospital under the guidance of bodyguards. A middle-aged man who looked extraordinary came up to greet them. It was the rich man Battera.
"Mr. Nostrade, who is this?"
Light shook hands with him and introduced, "This is my partner, Kevin Carpenberg. A One-Star Professional Hunter, and also the doctor responsible for the treatment this time."
Hearing that Kevin was a One-Star Hunter, Battera's eyes lit up. Although he had previously invited star Hunters to help with treatment, hearing Kevin's identity still made him feel much more at ease. This is the reputation effect of the Hunter Association. Although a star Hunter cannot necessarily guarantee successful treatment, this identity at least indicates that Kevin has the ability.
"This Mr. Carpenberg—"
"Don't be so polite. Just call me Kevin." Speaking, Kevin didn't talk nonsense and said directly, "Let me go see the patient first. I have to check if it can be cured. If possible, we will talk in detail; if not, saying more is useless."
Battera nodded and directly took the two into a luxuriously decorated ward. A pure and beautiful woman was lying on the hospital bed.
Is it his daughter?
"This is my lover."
Oh, so it's his lover. The age gap between the two is quite large.
Subsequently, Battera began to narrate. At first, he talked about the symptoms, and as he talked, he started telling the story of how he met and fell in love with the woman on the bed. As a rich man, Battera is naturally not a fool, and he has never lacked women around him. So when he first met this woman, he did not reveal his identity, and he had no intention of revealing it at all. He fell in love with her while hiding his identity like this. It was only after confirming her feelings that he confessed everything.
However, the result was beyond his expectations; besides being angry, the woman was more happy. But she was still very annoyed because of his deception and wanted to leave him. This instead made Battera feel that this woman truly loved him, so he launched a fierce pursuit and won her back with sincerity.
As for how much of this is true, Kevin cannot judge; after all, this is someone else's private matter.
But later, the woman fell into a coma due to the illness and became the current vegetable state. This made Battera extremely sad, and he has been looking for a way to save her.
"I originally wanted to clear the game [Greed Island] . After clearing it, I could bring out three cards to use. One of the cards is called [Breath of Archangel] , which can only be used once, but it can cure any illness, including acquired physical disabilities, organ loss, and other problems."
Kevin listened calmly. He became more and more curious about this game. If what was said was true, how was this achieved? Can Nen ability really reach such an unimaginable level? Just how deep is Jin's understanding of Nen ability, who is at the forefront of the world?
"Then let me take a look." Saying this, Kevin walked to the bedside and took out a potion from his belt. Obviously, Light and Battera had communicated beforehand and did not stop him.
Since this woman was in a vegetable state, Kevin used a syringe to inject the potion into her body. This potion had only been used on Melusine before, used to probe the condition inside an enemy's body. As the potion took effect, Kevin integrated Nen into the woman's body in front of him.
Half an hour later, Kevin opened his eyes.
"It is a neurological disease, and the problem area is in the brain."
No wonder no one has been able to cure it, and no one dared to treat it. If something went wrong, who would bear the responsibility? However, there should be someone among Hunters who can cure it, but Battera didn't find anyone and had no channels. Essentially, this is the same type of illness as Pairo's before, only more severe than Pairo's, and the location of the disease is also trickier.
"It will take some time, but curing it is no problem."
"Really? That's great. That's really great. I—"