"That's right—there really was a bespectacled guy with the two of them… Looks like he was teaching them the fundamentals of Nen."
"So your bout with Kastro is already over?"
"That fellow… rather disappointing, really. I'd lost interest in him long ago, but he kept pestering me, so I obliged him—reluctantly."
"Let me warn you… Gon is my apple. If you keep hovering over him, you'd better not entertain any funny ideas. Otherwise—even if it's you—I won't show mercy."
"Heh, I'm not into that sort of perverted pastime."
…
May arrived. Xiang Nan returned to the Ten Dons' compound under Edi and began an intensive round of training.
1. Body first. His physique had improved enough for him to sit down in earnest and draw out a larger aura pool.
2. Insight second. Following Linne had broadened his understanding of Nen—of life‑energy itself—so he was experimenting with ways to weave that new insight into practical combat skills.
Even so, he still got on the phone with Hisoka during that time—asking, as usual, about Gon and Killua and how far they had climbed in Heaven's Arena.
Xiang Nan rarely contacted Hisoka, yet every call seemed to revolve around Gon.
To Hisoka, that obsession looked pathological—as if Xiang Nan, too, had taken a "special interest" in the boy.
"Trying to drag Gon onto your battlefield and raise him to your liking? If that's the case I'm delighted…" Hisoka chuckled.
"He's not suited for it," Xiang Nan replied.
"The Spiders are on the move again. Chrollo had Machi call me—next full‑member assembly in Yorknew. Mafia business, apparently. Did you leak something?" Hisoka asked.
He had joined the Phantom Troupe for one reason: to fight Chrollo.
Any opening, he would seize it; Chrollo had been in his sights for ages.
"You underestimate him. Even if I said nothing, the Spiders have ears everywhere underground. Mafia and Meteor City are already tied together, and the Troupe's lived in the underworld for years—they've got all the channels they need," Xiang Nan said with a faint smile. "Nice fake cigarette holder, by the way. Well disguised, but it seems Chrollo still doesn't trust you completely—he's keeping a wary eye on you."
"Hehehe…"
Enjoying the hidden mockery, Hisoka laughed. "You didn't tell him about my… issue, did you? Whatever else, you and I are closer than he and I will ever be."
"I'm not interested in your squabbles—but here's a heads‑up: you picked the wrong 'apple.'"
"You think I'll lose?"
"I do."
"Just trying to get under my skin?"
"What do you think?"
"Yorknew has your fingerprints on it, doesn't it? You're with the Ten Dons now. If a chance crops up during the job, how about calming a few Spiders for me—give Chrollo and me a one‑on‑one. Call it a little cooperation."
"I'm already cooperating with him—longer than I've cooperated with you. Staying out of your mess is the biggest concession you'll get from me," Xiang Nan said coolly.
"So he'll step onto the battlefield too? In that case… no rush," Hisoka murmured, an eerie smile creeping across his face.
"You two can tear each other apart all you like, but once my game begins—if we're teammates, even temporarily, and you strike at one of our own, be sure of this: I'll kill you without hesitation."
Xiang Nan's voice went ice‑cold.
"How heartless… I was only joking," Hisoka smirked.
"See that you were."
Click. Xiang Nan hung up.
Almost no one knew he had become one of the Shadow Beasts—information classified even in the underworld. But with Hisoka's link to Illumi, any intel he wanted was easy to obtain.
That bastard had been watching him all along.
Gon and Killua had already stepped through the gate of Nen and reached the 200th floor of Heaven's Arena. They would soon fight the spinning‑top user, then Gon would face Hisoka.
On Kurapika's side, Nen training should finish by July, after which he would join the Nostrade family.
Come September, the Yorknew City arc would be in full swing.
Leaning against a palace wall, Xiang Nan watched several Nen users from the Ten Dons' private force sparring in the distance.
Elite bodyguards must train at high intensity every day—fail and they're replaced. With the Ten Dons' money they could recruit gifted Nen users from around the world; competition was brutal. As commander of that force, Xiang Nan trained and tested them himself.
What occupied his mind now was the timeline: from Gon entering the Hunter Exam to ultimately losing his Nen and returning to Whale Island—the start of the Kakin Succession Contest—barely three years pass.
For Xiang Nan, a transmigrant, far more than three years had elapsed since he arrived, but beyond that three‑year mark the world's fate would be unknown to any "player."
Unlocking canonical plot points during those three years was the only guaranteed window.
The Extinction Game reset every six months or so; he was level 6 now. If nothing went wrong, by the end of the canon events he'd just scrape level 10—only the starting line for the wars between worlds.
"The future is hazy and shifting. All I can do is project from known lore and character traits. Togashi never finished the manga—that's bad for players compared with self‑contained worlds, but it leaves an even wider range of possibilities… pros and cons both."
Closing his eyes at the thought, Xiang Nan reopened them to the distant trainees.
Mafia and military alike value loyalty—to a nation, or to an organization. At the Ten Dons' level, the bar is still higher. Yorknew would erupt soon; most of these men would likely die. Better to fold them into his Pandora's Box and refill the Republic of Padokea with fresh blood—free "inheritance."
Since becoming a Shadow Beast, he had shown just enough strength to make this unit submit. In the underworld, people obey power.
When Mia rose to become a Ten Don, her bodyguard corps could be "bought" from Meteor City, but Xiang Nan valued the current force more: like regular soldiers—easy to control. That had always been his base requirement for subordinates.
Hands in pockets, he turned away.
His thoughts were already elsewhere: the seventh round of the Extinction Game was about to start. He would lead Manman and the others to yet another world.
He wondered—what sort of experience awaited them this time?
Such is the curse of a player: you cannot be everywhere at once. Besides unlocking events and gathering resources, you must also clear missions; otherwise, Xiang Nan really might have gone to Heaven's Arena himself, to watch those two brats—Gon and Killua—grow with his own eyes.