He stood slowly, testing his balance.
No broken bones. Not even soreness.
Either my body adapted faster than I expected, or I underestimated how much reinforcement Ten and Gyo actually give.
Either way, it had worked.
Conrad looked around. He had landed in open grassland. About five kilometers away stood the city and its airport, and the airship was still descending, alarms flashing faintly along its hull.
He moved quickly away from the landing spot and into a small dip in the terrain where he wouldn't be easily seen.
Once there, he checked the Red Diamond again. Still intact.
He took a moment to settle himself, then suppressed his aura and slipped into Zetsu.
The last few minutes replayed in his mind.
This was no longer theoretical. He had crossed a line and there was no going back, and from here on, mistakes would cost him far more than money.
He didn't regret it.
Survival comes first.
He started walking toward the city.
Blueberry City came into clearer view. It was clean and modern, not large but well developed, nowhere near the hub that Yorknew was, but busy enough to blend into.
As he walked, he went over his next steps. First, sell the Red Diamond, but not directly.
He would need a broker, someone discreet.
Second, leave the city quickly. Blueberry was only temporary, and Yorknew was still the goal.
He adjusted his coat to keep the diamond hidden and secure.
The airship would land soon and the investigation would begin, but by the time anyone realized someone had jumped, Conrad would already be gone.
A faint smile crossed his face.
This worked.
Twenty minutes later, he stepped fully into the city. He took out the phone he had bought earlier and checked the date and time carefully, comparing them with what he remembered of the series timeline.
From what I collected in Zaban City, using the hotel computer to get on the web… there's about one year until Gon catches the Lord of the Lake and gets permission to take the Hunter Exam.
It wasn't exact, but it was close enough.
First priority: a bank account.
Cash was dangerous.
Carrying large sums would draw attention, and once he sold the Red Diamond, the amount would be too large to handle physically.
He needed a proper way to move money quietly.
He walked into a local bank branch, and the process surprised him.
There was no citizenship check and no background questions.
The clerk asked for a first name and surname, and that was all.
"Conrad Everest," he said calmly.
The clerk typed it in, asked him to confirm, and within minutes an account existed.
He received a card and basic access information, deposited 100,000 Jenny, and kept the other 50,000 in cash.
This world really does run on money, he thought, remembering Leorio's words.
Next he found a small, quiet coffee shop on a side street, the kind of place people went to rest, talk in low voices, or think.
He sat near a window and ordered a black coffee and a simple dessert. When the coffee came, he took a slow sip.
Now came the hard part.
I need to turn the Red Diamond into money, and I need to do it fast.
Holding onto it was dangerous. Every hour that passed raised the chance that someone would start tracing unusual activity.
The diamond's owner wouldn't sit still, and the news would spread quietly but quickly.
Conrad knew better than to be arrogant just because he could use Nen.
New Nen users were notorious for that, taking risks and getting themselves killed.
Nobunaga had said as much to Luini, a member of Hei-Ly's family who got drunk on his new Nen ability and was killed by Nobunaga for it.
He couldn't sell the diamond openly. He needed someone who dealt in valuables and didn't ask questions.
Yorknew would have been ideal for that, but he wasn't there yet.
Even a smaller city like Blueberry would have connections, though, because black markets existed everywhere, full of people who bought cheap and sold elsewhere.
He didn't need the full two hundred million Jenny, and he understood that clearly.
If I get half, that's already more than enough.
Even a hundred million would buy years of freedom. He took another sip and leaned back slightly.
Speed over profit.
That meant accepting a loss in exchange for safety.
He glanced around the café again.
No one in it stood out, which was fine. He wouldn't find a buyer here, but he could gather information.
He finished his dessert slowly, keeping his movements relaxed.
His mind stayed sharp, though his body showed no tension, because he didn't want to look desperate.
After paying, he stood up and left.
Somewhere in this city, or connected to it, was someone who would buy a Red Diamond without asking where it came from.
His next task was to find them before the diamond brought trouble to him.