"I remember Grandpa said he has a special technique called Dragon Dive..."
In the courtyard of the Kukuroo Mountain villa, Killua, hanging on the electric grid looking bored, caught a glimpse of figures flying down toward the back mountain. He recognized one of them as Grandpa Zeno.
"I always feel like Grandpa's bragging. How can he make countless punches rain down from the sky like meteors?"
Killua's body crackled with electricity, but there was no pain on his face, only curiosity and doubt about what Zeno had described before.
"Killua, Grandpa never brags," his mother Kikyo replied from the side.
She wore a large sun hat and a waist dress like a Victorian lady. The most peculiar thing was the cold mechanical visor covering her face, looking like something from a sci-fi movie. It concealed most of her soft features, but the lower half of her face—rosy lips and delicate jawline—was exposed, revealing hints of beauty. You could see it reflected in her children's faces.
Not only Killua, but Kalluto, sitting across from her, was also handsome. Moreover, Kalluto was deliberately dressed like a girl by her, wearing a rare kimono, as quiet and beautiful as a princess from a storybook.
Kikyo was very satisfied. She liked daughters, but all she gave birth to were sons, so she could only compensate slightly.
There was a table on the grass. Next to it, Killua, the 7-year-old third son, hung on the power grid to practice. At the table, she and 5-year-old Kalluto were having afternoon tea and chatting.
"Mom has seen Grandpa's Dragon Dive with her own eyes," Kikyo said, drinking black tea. On the electronic visor covering her face, a red light spot like HAL 9000 lit up quietly. "When it comes time for you to practice, you'll naturally know what it's about."
"Oh." Killua was so shocked he looked peaceful, secretly curling his lips.
As Kalluto ate biscuits, he thought about the knowledge related to Nen that his mother had taught him during the two years Killua had left home to train at Heavens Arena.
No one in the family had told Killua even a few words about Nen yet.
The main reason was that their father had reached some kind of deal with eldest brother Illumi, agreeing to postpone Killua's Nen training.
On the other hand, it was also because the whole family believed that with Killua's talent, even if he delayed learning Nen for a few years, it wasn't a big deal and wouldn't affect his ultimate future.
The ability of Nen existed in the heart and was closely related to everyone's life experience.
Learning early or late might not necessarily determine final achievement.
Some people laid the foundation since childhood, awakened young and opened all their aura nodes, yet slowly disappeared into the crowd and failed to achieve much.
Some people became awakened halfway through middle age, but because of the accumulation in the first half of their lives, they soared into the sky once enlightened. This was the so-called late bloomer phenomenon.
Kalluto knew that eldest brother Illumi had planted a Nen needle in Killua's mind.
This couldn't be something that seriously affected Killua's psyche, otherwise none of their father, mother, or grandfather would allow it.
But it must have had some impact on Killua.
Illumi wanted to completely control Killua. The rest of the family also hoped Killua could break through the obstacles set by Illumi. Once successful, his future prospects might be truly limitless.
Kalluto thought this while eating biscuits silently and taking a sip of tea.
Suddenly, he heard a subtle sound from his mother's visor.
The red dots on Kikyo's laser-like glasses flashed. From her perspective, a surveillance screen was called up. The scene showed what was happening at their front gate.
If someone opened the second Testing Gate or above, she also received a prompt.
The people in the surveillance footage were three outsiders.
Three, four, and five Testing Gates were opened respectively.
Kikyo took a second look at the group of young men and women who pushed open the fourth and fifth Testing Gates, especially the latter.
Black-haired girl wearing glasses.
This reminded her of her own youth.
She had to admit, this girl's temperament was somewhat similar to when she was young.
The one who pushed open the third Testing Gate quickly left and headed into the mountains.
Kikyo didn't say anything. She would check on these situations, but it didn't mean she'd personally intervene. Having so many butlers and servants in the family wasn't just for show.
At this person's level, he didn't even need a formal butler. A trainee butler could probably handle it properly.
The bounty hunter who was properly handled was Seaquant. His head beaten into a pig's head, covered in wounds, he came back in despair.
In front of the Testing Gate, Liam, who'd been playing with Mike the guard dog like he was a puppy, looked at him and turned to ask Zebro, "Didn't you say we'd be treated as guests?"
"This..." Zebro couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
"It's okay. I had to force my way in," Seaquant's thin voice was even leaking air, probably because a few teeth had been knocked out. There were gaps in his swollen eyes, showing unwillingness and dejection. "She's just a little girl... much younger than you, but I actually..."
Oh, it was probably the trainee butler Canary who beat him.
That was the little butler girl who'd beaten Gon into a pig's head in the manga.
Liam thought the process was slightly different but the ending was still the same. Seaquant hadn't brought a hundred or so guys to the door this time, but he'd still been beaten half to death. The difference was that this time, he didn't have to stay as a gatekeeper for the Zoldyck family to save his life. As a guest, although it wasn't polite to force his way in, he'd been beaten already. The Zoldycks weren't so unreasonable as to kill him too.
This was a family of professional assassins. Killing was a chargeable matter. You had to pay extra for that.
Being beaten like this by a 10-year-old girl, Seaquant's self-esteem and self-confidence were obviously greatly frustrated. But fortunately, with the blows from Liam and Shizuku beforehand, he didn't seem to doubt life to the point of giving up.
After leaving Kukuroo Mountain, they had a meal together in a restaurant in a nearby town, and Seaquant left alone in taciturn silence.
Liam and Shizuku spent the afternoon wandering around as if they were traveling to relax, and finally looked at the outline of Kukuroo Mountain from a distance in the car heading to the airport.
In the end, he hadn't seen anyone from the Zoldyck family.
This was also normal. He had no friendship with this assassin family. It was impossible for them to come out to meet a stranger who opened some gates for no reason.
As for Killua, forget about whether that boy had the leisure to pay attention to the movement of a small Testing Gate in the huge Mount Kukuroo. Let's talk about whether Killua even remembered him. Liam didn't have much hope. After reading the manga, he knew that Killua, aside from his identity as a genius assassin, actually behaved like an ordinary kid. Sometimes he was quite childish.
For children, it was normal for passersby who'd met just once at Heavens Arena to be forgotten when they got home.
Killua was easy to deal with. The difficult thing was his "Wish Granter" Alluka, who Liam didn't know whether to call a younger brother or younger sister.
Even if Liam wanted to leave a final escape route for the troubles in his heart, he had to find a way to get in contact with Alluka, the all-powerful Wishing Girl.
Strictly speaking, he understood Alluka's situation better than anyone else in the Zoldyck family at this time except Killua.
Killua hadn't told his family all the rules about Alluka, or rather, Nanika's abilities.
Liam, however, knew everything about it. At least he was fairly clear about the rules of Nanika's abilities that had been revealed in the manga.
Nanika could be seen as the second personality hidden in Alluka, a foreign life form inhabiting his body.
Once certain conditions were met, Nanika could grant any of your wishes.
As far as the manga content Liam had read in his previous life, as of the latest point he'd reached, there was no sign proving there was a limit to the scope of Nanika's wish fulfillment.
Probably the kind that could satisfy any wish.
From Liam's point of view, it was outrageous that with such an invincible Wishing Girl, the whole Zoldyck family couldn't do anything about a small dual personality problem and hadn't solved it properly at all. Wouldn't it be nice to make a wish and let this child with dual personality develop a cloning ability?
Moreover, the manga had clearly stated how Killua learned the rules of Nanika's abilities.
He'd made a wish directly to Nanika and asked Nanika to tell him the secret about Nanika.
Liam didn't understand. Is it difficult to do it again?
The whole family was so smart, but they'd never thought of learning from Killua's childish yet advanced experience, finding an opportunity to make a wish to Nanika, and downloading a complete instruction manual for the "Wish Granter"?
As long as one could fully understand the rules and properly use Nanika's abilities, whether it was dual personality or other problems, there'd be a solution.
And the current solution from the Zoldyck family stood out in its outrageousness.
Liam shook his head secretly. But precisely because of the outrageous tactics of the Zoldyck family, even if he wanted to help, there was nothing he could do.
First of all, how would he meet Alluka?
The Zoldycks had locked up Alluka. How would outsiders know about him? Not to mention Liam, an outsider. It was still unknown whether Killua even remembered his precious brother/sister.
If it were other times, it wouldn't matter if Liam did good deeds without leaving his name. Just treat it as the fan mentality of a manga reader. He could check in as a souvenir.
But not this time.
If he wanted to help Alluka solve the problem, he had to let the Zoldycks know he was helping. Even if it wasn't to make them owe a favor, he could at least establish a friendship and make it easier to ask for help in the future.
So it was back to the beginning. He had to get to know Alluka first.
But Killua might not even "know" Alluka himself, so how could Liam?
If they followed the timeline of the manga, they'd have to wait until about 5 to 6 years later, in the Chimera Ant arc, when Killua pulled out the Nen needle from his head and then remembered there was an Alluka in his family. By that time, Liam was confident he could at least become familiar with Killua and even Gon. But what he wasn't confident about was whether his heart problem could last until then.
Time waits for no one!
Looking at the sea of rolling clouds outside the window, beneath which the outline of distant Kukuroo Mountain could be vaguely seen, Liam let out a low sigh.
At this moment, he and Shizuku were already on the return airship.
Seeing the emotion on his face, Shizuku was a little confused.
Liam held her small hand and said seriously, "I can't help it. In the end, I'll have to use my trump card."
"What?" Shizuku was confused.
Liam made up his mind. If it didn't work out, he'd just spend money.
Just spend money to hire the Zoldycks.
He was worth more than 2.5 billion Jenny now, so he could still afford to hire assassins from the Zoldycks, right?
He'd hire their third son, Killua, by name.
Or even more simply, he'd name the fourth child of the family, Alluka!
...It's a bit risky.
Then after hiring Killua, he'd find an opportunity to complain that he'd wanted to hire Alluka but failed.
Killua would definitely ask, "Who is this Alluka?" Then he'd snap his fingers. That's right! Alluka is my sibling. How could I forget?
Liam could act shocked. You can forget your biological sibling? Could it be that someone did something to your brain? Do you want me to check? Oh, I'll be damned. There's a needle in your brain. Let me help you pull it out. Is that okay?
Killua would gnash his teeth. You even know about Dragon Dive, but you don't know that my eldest brother Illumi plays with needles all day long like Acupuncture Master? You can guess what my good brother did to my brain!
After helping Killua such a big favor, that kid definitely wouldn't shut him out. When the time came, he only needed to learn a little from that other kid, Gon, and shamelessly follow Killua to the Zoldyck lair. Who am I to be afraid of? I'm Killua's friend! Hand over Alluka! Hand over Nanika! Alluka's life is also a life! Nanika's life is also a life!
The imagination was so beautiful and smooth that Liam couldn't help finding it funny.
Shizuku tilted her head to observe him.
Liam pinched her cheek and sighed. "Keep practicing! Too weak. Don't even dare go deep into Kukuroo Mountain. It's really embarrassing."
Even Seaquant had the courage to run into the mountains to fight the Zoldycks, but Liam, who was stronger, had stopped at the Testing Gate without moving.
Because he understood better than Seaquant how terrifying it was to face the monsters in the Zoldyck lair.
Zzigg, Zeno, Silva, Kikyo, Illumi. One by one, they were all abnormally strong. Don't even talk about them. Even Milluki, the shut-in second son, might not be his opponent.
The most important thing was that this group of people were professional assassins first before they were Nen masters.
The world's top professional assassins.
In front of the world's top assassins, a nest of Nen masters, Liam would never take risks easily unless he had sufficient ability to protect himself.
Did he want to pin his life and death on kindness or indifference that might or might not come from the Zoldycks?
If Liam was alone, he might have taken a gamble. Win big if the bet paid off. If he lost the bet, he might not die even with Star Mark protection. But he would never take Shizuku along with him.
Before his strength improved to his satisfaction, Liam wouldn't recklessly take Shizuku close to the depths of Kukuroo Mountain. It would be like stretching his neck closer to the blade. Whether the knife fell or not depended on the whims of the Zoldycks. Who could bear that?
And what kind of strength could be called satisfactory?
There were plans to get a Hunter License early next year. He'd ask Netero about it then.
The sky darkened, and the airship landed at Sky City Airport.
Under the starry night sky, Heavens Arena was like a brightly lit torch, standing straight before them.
The next step was to practice quietly and wait for the arrival of the Floor Master challenge.
"Let's go." Liam held hands with Shizuku and walked toward Heavens Arena easily without a backpack. At the same time, he used Ring A to contact Kurapika. Will this young man also trigger a domino effect? Find one pair of Scarlet Eyes, learn about the next pair, and be busy endlessly...
Jaku chirped and followed the two of them through the night.