"Never thought you'd co looking for my help."
Three days later, in the capital of the small country where Omokage might be hiding.
Inside a café, Xiang Nan and a certain storyline character sat face-to-face.
That person was controlling a puppet with a lifeless expression, whose mouth opened and closed chanically––just like the person himself.
Indeed, as Xiang Nan had anticipated, it was Illumi Zoldyck.
He didn't want others to know about his search for Omokage, and as a professional assassin, Illumi was naturally bound to absolute secrecy about his client's identity.
This was out of Xiang Nan's trust in the Zoldyck family's resounding na.
Originally, Xiang Nan had planned to borrow so manpower from Kakin. Kakin Empire, being a powerful military nation, definitely had many Nen users in an army-type arrangent.
However, with the sort of cooperative relationship Xiang Nan presently maintained with Nasubi Hui Guo Rou, if the latter found a chance to accuse Xiang Nan of sothing, Xiang Nan had no doubt the Kakin king would instantly stab him in the back.
Therefore, he had to find external help.
Besides, Omokage was once a Phantom Troupe mber; Xiang Nan himself couldn't handle him directly, nor could he be sure of preventing the man from escaping. He needed soone who could guarantee success.
After so careful thought…in order to get things done fast, Xiang Nan spent money to hire a mber of the Zoldyck family.
"Careful with your wording. I'm your employer. You're working for . Don't call it 'helping out.'"
Although Xiang Nan couldn't see Illumi's expression, the puppet's wooden tone and manner of speech let Xiang Nan picture Illumi's attitude.
"Are you worried I'll continue pursuing you?"
"Relax—your earlier assessnt was correct. Those mafia families paid too little, and their requirents were low, so that job's ti-limit ended a while ago."
Xiang Nan massaged his temples.
Were it not for the system's protective block preventing him from taking action personally, he truly wouldn't want to deal with such a troubleso guy.
"Didn't your family ever tell you…that you have an awful personality which makes people dislike you?"
Taking a sip of juice, Xiang Nan spoke unreservedly in return.
"Nope. Everyone in our family gets along very well…"
"Ugh, spare . The only reason I found you is because, among the Zoldyck family, you offer the best cost-performance. To put it bluntly, you're the 'cheapest option.'" Xiang Nan's tone was sincere.
Hiring Silva or Zeno would cost a fortune and wasn't worthwhile.
Illumi's fee was more affordable.
Based on the difficulty of the job this ti, Illumi was capable enough.
Contacting the Zoldyck family was never really a secret in the underworld. Very few people, however, could actually afford them.
"From now on, shut your mouth. I don't want to hear you talk. Otherwise, our deal's off; I'll pay the breach-of-contract fee…you'll lose a precious long-term client."
Xiang Nan's voice was cool.
"Indeed, seeing how generous your paynt is, you do seem quite wealthy…a potential long-term collaborator. But if you want to keep quiet, that's extra. It wasn't specified in the original job request."
"..."
Xiang Nan felt, among all storyline characters he had encountered, this was the first ti he'd truly been annoyed.
"Five Million Jenny."
He nad a figure.
Just for staying quiet a short while, and you earn five million—like free money.
Hence, the puppet under Illumi's needle control promptly shut up.
Xiang Nan finally got so silence.
Barely one or two minutes later, though, the puppet started gesturing in sign language, apparently trying to communicate with him.
Xiang Nan ignored it.
About an hour later, a young girl walked into the café.
It was Manman.
Seeing her arrival, Xiang Nan got to his feet and departed.
He had already told Manman bits and pieces regarding Omokage. She recognized so storyline references but did not know much about Omokage himself, a "forr Troupe mber."
All three of them, plus Illumi's "puppet," left the café.
Illumi manipulated the puppet to make a few hand signals, then left first to begin the job. He would use the intelligence in hand to search for Omokage. It wasn't too difficult a task for him. Omokage's younger sister, Retz, was in this city. Additionally, the Zoldyck family's top-notch hacker in computing made it easy to gather info. They'd once even hacked the Hunters' website, not to ntion a national network.
Hiring the Zoldycks truly was convenient.
Although the fees were painful, the professionalism was second to none.
Xiang Nan and Manman returned to their hotel in the anti.
…
"That's the girl said to be Omokage's sister?"
In the hotel, Manman eyed the image—sketched from mory—of a blond, blue-eyed girl, full of curiosity.
This image was drawn, not an actual photo. The facial features weren't too precise. Otherwise, Manman wouldn't have seen it anyway.
"Mm…her na's Retz. But she died already. Right now, she's just Omokage's puppet. The reason Omokage's called the Divine Puppeteer is greatly tied to her. Retz was Omokage's first 'work.'"
After Xiang Nan said that, Manman pressed her lips together, looking displeased.
What kind of scum would do that to his own little sister?
Even if it was just a corpse…
"Such a person…"
Manman trailed off.
She could guess Xiang Nan wanted to recruit Omokage for so reason—his value as a powerful Nen user.
But that notion gave her a sour taste.
"Don't overthink. I want him to join 'Pandora's Box' purely because his Nen is special…or you can say it's extrely rare."
Xiang Nan clarified.
"Special?"
"Yeah…a Specialist, in other words. Among the six major Nen types, Specialist stands apart from the others in its fundantal nature. Simply put, Nen can turn your imagination into reality, but the perfect manifestation of that is often found in Specialists. That category's ability extres are the most outrageous—lowest floor, highest ceiling."
"Omokage's ability revolves around…souls."
Xiang Nan added.
"Souls…?"
"Mm." Xiang Nan nodded. "That's why I want him. Real reason: the 'Reincarnation Dinsion.' He's just a tool to , not a companion to be trusted. Since he was kicked from the Troupe, his skill is presumably weaker than the others. In an advanced scenario, I doubt he could survive once the Reincarnation arcs co into play in earnest, but for the early stage or if I need a scapegoat, he's good enough."
"If he won't cooperate, we can kill him…I'll just have Illumi do it."
"Alright."
Manman only half understood.
She gleaned that either way, Xiang Nan didn't plan to let Omokage live in the long run.
"You and I ca in on the sa wave of players, so we've spent about the sa length of ti in this world. I've continually had the Republic of Padokea's military gather data on us, the so-called 'Naless Town' people, including my interactions with other players. Based on that analysis, we can basically conclude sothing."
Xiang Nan's tone grew heavier.
"What's that?"
"After clearing the two fixed-format tasks in the fourth and fifth rounds, going from Extinction 5 to 6 is definitely a big checkpoint, extrely challenging…because up to now, we haven't seen any Extinction 6 players at large, nor do we see many high-level players active. It's not purely because they fear storyline characters, but also because among the current surviving player base, extrely few can reach Extinction 6."
"Recall those players from Kengan Ashura in the third round? They were at about Extinction 5 or 6. They forcibly broke through the dinsional barrier to appear in the Hunter world as the system's mission demanded. The squad leader, who already had so knowledge of the HxH storyline from prior visits, said that the 6th round basically leads us to the Reincarnation Dinsion."
"So soon?"
"Right. I can't be certain, but I suspect it. Telling you is so you can be ntally prepared."
~~~
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