Kaizen pulled out his phone.
The first number he dialed was Zeno's.
"Kaizen," the old assassin answered.
"Grandpa Zeno, I think I've gotten myself into a bit of a mess."
Zeno's eyebrows lifted slightly. He was well aware of Kaizen's strength. If Kaizen himself considered it troublesome enough to call, then this wasn't a minor issue.
"What kind of trouble?"
"I recruited a teammate during the Hunter Exam, and I'm heading to her hometown with her now. It's the village I mentioned to you last time."
"The one with Gogus?"
"Yeah, that one."
Kaizen continued, "After Gogus-san and his group arrived, I left to complete another job. Just wrapped that up... and then I got a call from one of Gogus's teammates telling me to run."
"..."
"Then I got an email. It said those things in the village—what Gogus-san called 'bugs'—they're being controlled by someone behind the scenes. Since I'd been to the village, they're afraid I might expose them. So they're targeting me now."
"Three people came after me not long ago. One was a B-level Nen user, the other two were A-level. I already took them out."
"From their conversation, I found out that the three I killed back in 503 were called the 'Three Dogs.' And now they've sent someone new."
"From what I gathered, the 'Four Beasts' are supposed to be stronger than the Three Dogs."
Zeno's eyes narrowed.
"Send me everything you know about these 'bugs.'"
"Got it."
"Where are you now?"
"Still on the airship."
"Is it safe?"
"For now, yes."
"Be careful. I'll start making arrangements immediately."
"Thanks. Sorry to trouble you, Grandpa Zeno."
...
After the call ended, Zeno contacted the Hunter Association.
"Chairman Netero."
"Zeno! Been a while. What's going on?"
Only someone like Netero would speak so casually to Zeno, who, to most Hunters and Nen users, was a senior among seniors. But Netero's status transcended generations.
Zeno forwarded the bug data to him.
"There's something here I need you to take a look at."
Netero scanned the intel. His eyes narrowed.
"So… how do you want to handle this?" Zeno asked.
But Netero didn't respond directly. Instead, he asked a question of his own.
"Normally, the Zoldyck family wouldn't care about something like this. Why are you getting involved?"
"Kaizen's caught up in it. He's being hunted."
"I see." Netero nodded. "Alright, I'll look into it and decide after I have a clearer picture."
...
Zeno returned to the mountain behind Zoldyck Manor.
"Great-grandfather, Kaizen's in trouble."
Click.
A door creaked open.
From the shadows, an old figure stepped out.
Maha Zoldyck. Though he looked like a fragile, elderly man, Zeno knew the terrifying strength hidden in that withered frame.
"What is it?"
Zeno quickly summarized the situation.
"The United States of Saherta, huh?"
Maha paused for a moment.
"Not a big deal. But let's go get Silva."
"Yes, Great-grandfather."
Zeno called Silva.
At that moment, Silva was speaking to Killua when his phone rang. He glanced at the screen, then answered. His expression quickly turned serious.
"I understand."
"Killua, I have to step out for a while. Wait here."
With that, Silva vanished.
...
From the mountains behind the Zoldyck estate, a massive winged creature soared into the sky—its speed rapidly accelerating.
Much faster than any airship.
Ordinarily, the Zoldycks wouldn't deploy this beast. So when the house staff spotted it flying overhead...
"What's going on?"
"Zeno-sama... Silva-sama... and even Maha-sama?"
"This must be serious."
Zeno was technically semi-retired these days. The current primary assassins in the family were Silva, Illumi, and Milluki.
Illumi and Silva took on high-level contracts. Milluki handled the low-end ones.
Kaizen, although he'd reached the level of an A-class Hunter, wasn't actively working as a killer yet. He was still focusing on training and improving his aura.
...
Even Gon and the others noticed the monster flying overhead.
Despite the distance, the oppressive aura it emitted pressed down on them.
"It's not any weaker than Mike's presence..." Gon muttered.
Canary looked up too, her face tense.
...
Kaizen made his second call. This time, to Tucker.
"Kaizen?"
"Tucker. Ever heard of the 'Three Dogs'?"
"...No—wait!"
Suddenly, there was some shuffling on the other end. Then a new voice came through.
"Kaizen... sir?"
"Nessley?"
"Yes. I know the Three Dogs."
Nessley's voice turned grim. "They're an elite Nen unit secretly trained by Minister Oster of Saherta. They're incredibly dangerous. If you encounter them, avoid conflict."
"They're already dead."
"...Dead?"
Nessley was stunned.
"They ambushed me. I killed them. But I found out they've now sent another team—called the Four Beasts. Know anything about them?"
Nessley hesitated, then said, "I've heard they're stronger than the Three Dogs."
"Kaizen... do you want help?"
"You guys probably aren't equipped to handle this."
"Not us," Nessley replied. "Dark Night isn't top-tier, but we're not weak either. Some of us are A-class Nen users."
"Then what's your angle?"
"No angle. Minister Oster is our enemy too."
Kaizen went silent for a moment.
"Send me everything you have on the Four Beasts. I'll kill them. You can use the opportunity to run your own operations. But I'm not getting involved beyond that."
He had no desire to entangle himself in the Revolutionary Army's affairs.
Whatever political chaos followed in the United States of Saherta wasn't his concern.
As far as Kaizen was concerned, once the Four Beasts were eliminated, he was done.
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