After Illumi flew away on the Dragon, Leo withdrew his gaze and looked down at the giant egg in his hands.
Then, a question suddenly occurred to him, and the smile on his Face froze.
"I forgot to ask, how do you hatch this egg?"
He turned his head to look at Kalluto.
"Do you know?"
Kalluto shook his head.
"I'm not sure either. I don't know much about this egg, only that it has been kept in the Zoldyck Family for over eighty years."
Leo raised an eyebrow.
Over eighty years?
It's interesting that this egg could be kept for so long without hatching.
He looked at the egg in his hands, his gaze becoming serious.
Kalluto thought for a moment.
"Hmm—let me ask big brother Milluki. He might know."
He took out his phone and dialed Milluki's number.
The phone rang several times before it was answered.
"What is it?"
Milluki's voice came from the other end, languid and filled with the impatience of someone who had been disturbed.
"Big brother Milluki, do you know the incubation method for the Dragon egg at home?"
"I don't know. Don't bother me."
"Big brother Milluki—"
"I said I don't know. I'm playing a game, don't disturb me."
Milluki was about to hang up when Kalluto's voice turned cold.
"If you don't tell me, I will smash all the precious figures and game consoles in your room."
There was silence on the other end of the line.
A few seconds later, Milluki's voice rang out again, his tone much more honest than before.
"...I'll tell you. You promise not to touch my things."
"I promise, go ahead."
Kalluto answered readily.
Milluki sighed.
"That egg is a Phantom Beast egg. It's said to be called 'Azure Dragon', and all the Dragon beasts of the Zoldyck Family are its kin."
"As for Phantom Beasts, they are a very rare type of creature, said to possess certain special abilities. The incubation requirements for each type of Phantom Beast egg are different, which is why it is especially difficult for them to appear in the world."
Milluki paused, then continued.
"Currently, in the entire Hunter world, Phantom Beasts haven't been seen for decades."
Kalluto glanced at Leo and turned up the volume on the phone.
Milluki continued.
"I remember Grandpa saying that the current environment and resources of the human world are not enough for Phantom Beasts to be born."
Milluki said while typing on his keyboard.
"So, to make a Phantom Beast appear, there is only one way left: artificial incubation!"
"The incubation condition for the egg in your hand is that you need to channel Nen into it and feed it the owner's blood to establish ownership. You cannot change people halfway through; otherwise, the incubation will fail, and you will have to start over. Grandpa once tried to incubate it and was almost drained dry, and the egg was only one-third filled, so he had to give up."
The sound of typing came from the other end of the line.
"That's it. Nothing else, I'm hanging up."
"Mm."
The call ended.
Kalluto put away the phone and looked at Leo.
Leo looked down at the egg in his hands.
Azure Dragon, Phantom Beast, requires channeling Nen and blood.
Even Zeno was almost drained dry; this thing is much more formidable than he imagined.
He associated this with the Nanika hidden by the Zoldyck Family. It was mentioned in the original work that when the V5 brings back a 'Hope', they also bring back a calamity.
The Five Great Calamities: Gaseous Lifeform Ai: Danger Rank: A.
Gaseous lifeform, exists by attaching itself to human "desire". Ability: Causes loss of reason by amplifying human desires, even triggering mutual slaughter; survivors are often mentally deranged.
Weapon Brion: Danger Rank: B+.
Spherical plant weapon, guards ancient ruins, possesses memory and offensive capabilities. Ability: Can actively attack intruders, destructive power reaches Rank A, once wiped out V5's elite forces.
Two-tailed Snake Hellbell: Danger Rank: A.
Snake-like monster, inhabits the swamps southeast of Lake Mobius. Ability: Spreads "killing intent", transmits through sound (bell ringing), causes targets to fall into madness and slaughter each other; only 11 out of 1100 expedition members survived.
Human-rearing Beast Pap: Danger Rank: A.
Mysterious creature located in the mountains northeast of Lake Mobius. Ability: Implements "equivalent exchange of happiness and life"—demanding happiness requires paying the price of life; only 7 out of a 1000-person investigation team survived.
Undying Disease Zobae: Danger Rank: B+.
Characteristic: A disease disguised as "Hope", the infected do not die but are in extreme pain. Ability: Causes people to fall into "infinite despair", as if consuming themselves to sustain life; the infected do not need to eat anything and can live self-sufficiently for fifty years.
The Five Great Hopes: Triple-Eyed Water: A water that can serve as the base liquid for all liquids.
Endless Stone: An Ore that can generate electricity when submerged in water; a bead-sized piece can generate 20,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity.
Herb That Cures All Illnesses: A plant that can cure all diseases, repair cells, and cleanse toxins.
Longevity Food Nitrogly: Food that can bring ultimate longevity.
Alchemical Plant Metallion: A special alchemical plant named Metallion, purpose unknown, was not brought back to the human world.
This is the origin of the Five Great Calamities of the Hunter world.
But Nanika clearly does not belong to the Five Great Calamities known to the V5.
Therefore, there is only one possibility: Nanika is the Sixth Calamity, and it is highly likely that Maha Zoldyck brought it back.
As for the Chimera Ants, they are only Rank B, while the minimum standard for the Five Great Calamities is Rank B+. As for human ratings: humans (individual) are Rank C, and human (nation) comprehensive rating is Rank A- to B+.
It was also mentioned in the original work, a dialogue between two V5 officials.
Supervisor: The book "Journey to the New World" records signs of humans traveling to the New World being twisted into ropes and dying, but the corpses here were all found in the human world.
Another person asked: Do the deceased have travel records to the New World?
Supervisor: That's exactly why we have a headache; because many of the deceased are well-known figures or have blood relations, some say it was the work of the mafia.
Leo combined the statements of Kalluto and Milluki with the fragments from the original work and had a bold conjecture.
Nanika might be Ai, or a lifeform similar to Ai, but it is certainly not the one controlled by the V5. The Five Great Calamities brought back by the V5 have all been sealed away to prevent the human world from suffering huge destruction or being destroyed.
The Zoldyck Family has always hidden the existence of Nanika, not letting anyone know.
If the V5 knew that the Zoldyck Family had something suspected to be one of the Five Great Calamities, they would never ignore it.
It is impossible that they would let the Zoldyck Family keep it themselves; the Zoldyck Family does not have that much Face and power to handle it entirely on their own.
Then, if the Zoldyck Family is hiding a "calamity", they must also be hiding a corresponding "hope".
Leo looked at the Phantom Beast egg in his hands, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
He was 80% sure that the "hope" hidden by the Zoldyck Family was the very Phantom Beast egg in his hands—Azure Dragon.
He was already starting to look forward to what special characteristics this Phantom Beast would have once it was born.
He had hit the jackpot; a casual interest had led to obtaining such a good thing.
"Let's go. Let's head back first."
Leo said to Kalluto.
Kalluto nodded, took out the transmission medium, and dialed Ashir's number.
Five seconds later, a portal slowly appeared, and the two stepped through the portal and disappeared from the spot.