"I refuse."
Loki’s response plunged Kurapika into silence. The phone line remained eerily quiet, broken only by the faint sound of Kurapika’s breathing. His increasingly rapid breaths betrayed his struggle to suppress his mounting anger.
A long silence followed, until Kurapika finally managed to regain control of his emotions. In a voice carefully modulated to maintain a semblance of calm, he asked, "Why? Regardless of the reason, I understand your decision, but I won’t be going."
Loki cast one final glance at the phone before declaring, "I won’t be using this phone again. Goodbye." With a sudden, forceful movent, he crushed the phone in his hand.
A burst of fla erupted, instantly consuming the shattered remains of the phone before he casually discarded the ashes to the ground.
"They’re your friends, aren’t they?"
Pakunoda, entering the room at that mont, carrying a tray with bread and coffee, had overheard the exchange between Loki and Kurapika.
She glanced at the incinerated remains of the phone on the floor, then placed the tray on the glass table. Folding her arms across her chest, she observed Loki with a thoughtful expression.
"Strictly speaking, they’re rely acquaintances, not friends," Loki responded, taking a sip of his coffee. Coffee and bread were his favorite beverage and food, a fact known to Pakunoda due to her having accessed his mories.
Pakunoda, who had been standing by the doorway, observing Loki for a considerable period, finally withdrew her gaze. She shook her head slightly. "Actually, you don’t need to seclude yourself like this."
Loki looked up at her, a hint of surprise in his tone. "What did you say?"
"Nothing!" Pakunoda replied dismissively, before turning and leaving the room.
Loki set his coffee down, his expression thoughtful. His decision not to rescue Gon and Killua stemd from several factors. This situation was entirely unforeseen in the original storyline, a deviation caused by his own actions. This alteration, in Loki’s view, was highly undesirable. The change ant he had lost the advantage of his prior knowledge of the plot.
While rescuing Gon and Killua once wouldn’t be a significant problem, it was clear that this wouldn’t be a one-off occurrence. If Loki were to acquiesce to Kurapika’s plan and participate in the rescue, it would inevitably lead to further attempts by others to exploit the situation, using Gon and Killua as leverage to threaten him due to the recently issued wanted poster.
Therefore, rescuing them would be a re palliative asure, failing to address the root cause of the problem. Once was enough; twice would be excessive. Loki had no intention of becoming their personal bodyguard.
To resolve the issue definitively, Loki concluded that the most effective course of action would be to do absolutely nothing. This would send a clear ssage to all those who sought to manipulate him: capturing his friends or acquaintances would be utterly futile as a ans of leverage.
As for the fate of Gon and Killua, Loki reasoned that, being the protagonists of the story, they would likely survive unscathed. The thought of the protagonists eting an untily end, however, did hold a certain morbid fascination for him.
Taking a bite of his bread, Loki frowned, a thoughtful expression settling upon his face. "Regardless of whether Gon and Killua live or die," he muttered to himself, "those annoying pests will eventually find ."
The prospect of being relentlessly pursued by a horde of incompetent individuals filled Loki with a sense of weary exasperation.
Ding! A notification sound echoed through the room. "Oh? Looks like I’ve got a new mission," Loki remarked, his tone laced with a hint of amusent.
A ssage appeared on his screen: ’Mission Activated: Global Enemy I. A declaration posted on professional hunter websites invites everyone to hunt you. Your location will be revealed, and you must remain there for 24 hours or more. Mission Reward: The more enemies you kill within the ti limit, and the stronger they are, the greater the reward.’
Loki’s composure faltered slightly. This was unexpected. Was this genuine, or so elaborate hoax? He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of doubt. However, the minimum reward was an A-Class item, a fact that piqued his interest.
Loki had no idea what an A-Class reward entailed, let alone anything of lower grade. He couldn’t help but wonder if the reward for a lower-grade mission might be sothing as trivial as a simple brick!
Stuffing the last bite of his bread into his mouth, Loki rose to his feet and headed towards the downstairs area. He had only encountered A-Class missions twice in his entire career.
The difficulty of triggering such high-level missions was self-evident. Therefore, regardless of the probability of obtaining an A-Class reward, it was an opportunity worth pursuing.
Moreover, Loki was eager to deliver a stern warning to those foolish enough to attempt to challenge him, those who dared to compare themselves to an elephant.
He intended to impart a simple yet profound truth: ants, no matter how nurous, remain ants, even when amassed in great numbers. The notion of ants ever hoping to bring down an elephant was nothing short of ludicrous.
Loki descended the stairs, his movents purposeful and decisive. Pakunoda, seated in the downstairs living area, ticulously cleaning her revolver, looked up in surprise as Loki passed by. She noticed his preparations to leave.
Pakunoda paused, a hint of curiosity in her tone. "Are you going out?"
"Yeah, just going for a little stroll," Loki replied casually, his tone betraying nothing of his true intentions.
Upon hearing Loki’s response, Pakunoda let out a soft chuckle, a sound that caught Loki’s attention. He turned to look at her, a questioning expression on his face. "What’s so amusing?" he inquired.
"Nothing at all!" Pakunoda replied, shaking her head, her eyes twinkling with amusent.
Loki, unable to decipher the source of Pakunoda’s amusent, felt a pang of bewildernt. Just as he was about to turn away, she spoke again.
"Didn’t you say you didn’t care?" she remarked, a knowing glint in her eyes.
"I’m not going to rescue them," Loki clarified, his tone firm and unwavering. "Regardless of whether they live or die, those individuals will inevitably find a way to locate . It’s far more efficient for to proactively reveal my location to them."
Upon hearing Loki’s explanation, the amusent in Pakunoda’s eyes deepened. In her estimation, Loki was nothing more than a proud and sowhat stubborn young man.
While he outwardly professed indifference, his actions clearly revealed a deeper, more concealed concern for Gon and Killua’s fate.
Under Pakunoda’s curious and sowhat knowing gaze, Loki felt a wave of discomfort wash over him. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Pakunoda’s gaze held a deeper, more complex aning than t the eye.
"I’ll accompany you," Pakunoda offered, her voice soft yet firm.
"No need," Loki responded curtly, his tone leaving no room for argunt.
"Very well," Pakunoda conceded, a thoughtful expression settling upon her face. "However, I trust you’ll allow to remain here alone while you are away."
Pakunoda’s statent inadvertently touched upon one of Loki’s primary concerns. The prospect of leaving Pakunoda alone in his residence, particularly given the possibility of her escaping with Chrollo, though admittedly remote, was a risk he was unwilling to take.
Without uttering a single word, Loki watched as Pakunoda rose to her feet and approached him. "Let’s go," she stated simply, her tone leaving no room for further discussion.
Pakunoda pushed open the door and stepped out into the corridor, leading the way. Loki, his gaze fixed upon Pakunoda’s retreating back, followed silently without uttering a word.
In an area of Yorknew City where construction was still underway, Pakunoda turned to Loki, her expression serious. "Are you truly certain about this?" she asked, her voice laced with a hint of apprehension.
"Yes, do exactly as I say," Loki responded, his tone firm and unwavering.
"Have you lost your mind? You should avoid being so ostentatious, especially given your current circumstances," Pakunoda countered, her voice laced with concern.
"I said, do as I say," Loki repeated, his voice laced with a hint of steel, leaving no room for further discussion.
Seeing that Loki was resolute in his decision, Pakunoda wisely refrained from further protest. She raised the video cara she had recently purchased, aiming it directly at Loki.
anwhile, Kurapika, having been abruptly disconnected by Loki, utilized the power of his Naless Ring of Souls to locate Loki’s current position. The Naless Ring of Souls allowed Kurapika to pinpoint the location of anyone he had physically touched within a limited tifra.
However, the effectiveness of this ability diminished over ti and distance, rendering it ineffective for individuals he had not recently encountered.
Despite these limitations, locating Loki wasn’t particularly challenging for Kurapika.
Basho, at the wheel of the car, observed Kurapika’s grim expression from the passenger seat. Kurapika’s face, devoid of any color, appeared almost ghastly.
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