Saiki Kusuo turned and walked away as the two innocent kids left. Without needing to think too hard, he already knew Killua and Gon were going after Nobunaga and Machi. The gears of the story hadn't really shifted because of him so far—maybe that was a good thing.
At this time, Phinks and Pakunoda, who were originally following Nobunaga, would switch to tailing Gon and Killua instead. Should he follow them too?
What, chase after Phinks or Pakunoda who were themselves chasing Nobunaga? That would be like a whole chain of people tailing each other, like a snake eating its own tail. Predator chasing prey, then another predator in the back. Too ridiculous.
Besides, even if he hid his aura, nen users on the Phantom Troupe's level all had beast-like senses. Their awareness was at least stronger than Kurapika's. With them on high alert, they'd definitely notice if he tried following.
Back in his original world, even delinquent Arai had noticed him easily.
In this area, he really wasn't as good as the naturally gifted Killua and Gon.
Saiki Kusuo thought about what to do. Maybe he should use transformation to fully disguise himself…
Just as he was considering it, his phone rang. It was Milluki.
"Big bro! Where are you now? Are you anywhere near me?"
Usually before asking that, you should say where you are first.
"I'm in Yorknew City, downtown at Lan Grass Shopping Street! Not far from the underground auction! Oh yeah, the auction tomorrow…"
As Milluki rambled on nonstop, Saiki Kusuo stayed silent, already thinking about whether to transform into a woman or an animal. Would the Phantom Troupe just kill animals on sight? Probably not, Pakunoda definitely wouldn't. In the manga, she even liked cats—though to Saiki Kusuo, cats weren't cute at all.
"…Right! What I wanted to say!"
Finally getting to the point, Milluki. So, he was going to say he was happy about being out traveling for once? Or maybe just where the good food was, or where the even better food was.
"I found a super popular dessert shop! The line is huge. What do you want me to get you, big bro?"
Teleportation
Next time, say that first. Saiki Kusuo appeared next to Milluki. Milluki was indeed standing in a long line, with people in front and behind. Since the auction was temporarily closed but not canceled, there were still plenty of people hanging around nearby.
Saiki Kusuo's sudden appearance was a bit noticeable. After half a year of spending time together, his relationship with Milluki had become much more casual. He reached out, took the hat from Milluki's head, and put it on himself to make himself less noticeable.
In front of them was a small dessert shop, and the sweet smell was already in the air. So that's how it is, a hole-in-the-wall place. One of those shops that looks plain on the outside but surprisingly tastes good.
Judging from the thoughts around him… yeah, people seemed excited about it.
"Big bro, what do you wanna eat?" Milluki held a small binoculars to check out the items in front. "Other than what's in the ads, I also wanna try dorayaki, hehe. Big bro, take a look!"
Saiki Kusuo blinked and handed Milluki a paper with his order written on it.
"What the—?! It's already printed out? Big bro, you knew about this place before, didn't you?! You didn't tell me!"
[Nope. The stuff I want is already checked. Get me one of each.] There were still people lining up behind, and Saiki Kusuo had no plan to cut the line, so he turned to find a seat.
The plot is moving forward now. Better not interfere, huh? Guess I'll just kill time with desserts for the next few days? Yare yare, that's not great.
Not long after, Saiki Kusuo was eating a smooth pudding. The perfect mix of caramel and pudding, simple but just right, captured his taste buds and made him show a very satisfied expression.
[Knew it, big bro loves pudding the most. I bought the other six! Hmph, this way big bro can eat as many as he wants without fighting me for them!] Milluki's thoughts.
Nice work, Milluki—though you bought a bit too many.
No one in this Hunter world seems to make coffee jelly. Compared to pudding, jelly is bouncier and clearer. If possible, Saiki Kusuo would really like to eat it again…
"Beep beep beep."
A message came in. Saiki Kusuo glanced at it and saw it was from Shalnark. And not just Shalnark—Killua had also left him a message at some point.
First, Killua's message:
Brother Kusuo! Make me a fake ID that says I'm 20. I'm going to the casino to make some cash!
…
You've got time for this but not for a mission? Even if you walk into that casino, you're not walking out with 10 billion. I guarantee it—even if you're Killua Zoldyck.
But since this is part of the story, and if the family allows a 12-year-old Killua to gamble, then maybe I should help a little. Otherwise, who knows where he'll go instead? Might cause some butterfly effect.
Now, what does Shalnark want?
Saiki Kusuo still preferred chatting online. No mind-reading there. He had to rely on the words, and when the other person wasn't clear, he had to reply and ask.
People find chatting boring, but for Saiki Kusuo, because of "telepathy," it was an oddly interesting experience.
Shalnark: Doctor Saiki! Still in Yorknew City?
Saiki Kusuo: 1
Shalnark: Actually, I stayed up last night and made a simple chat app. It's in internal testing now. Wanna try it?
Oh, well, since this system was built by Shalnark, making an app on top of it would be easy for him.
And right now, an app is exactly what they need. The phone wasn't going to hit the market yet; it was just for internal Zoldyck use, and the software was also being slowly developed internally.
Saiki Kusuo: Sure.
[Testing done. Send that file.] A thought from somewhere, buried among countless others.
Shalnark: [file]
Saiki Kusuo tapped it, downloaded, and installed.
[Oh crap, there's a bug! Boss, delete that and send the right one. This time it's perfect!]
[No rush.]
Shalnark deleted a message.
Shalnark: [file (2)]
Shalnark: Sorry, sent the wrong one earlier. This is the right one. You didn't open the other one, right?
Shalnark: [/bows]
Saiki Kusuo ate his cake, wondering why Shalnark sent a bowing emoji. Normally he would've sent a cheeky laughing one.
And from the start, it felt like the thoughts in his head were somehow syncing with the phone messages. Was that an illusion? There were too many people around—probably just his imagination…
[The entire phone was hand-built and custom-made. No way to mass-produce it yet.]
[Can't Kurapika copy it and then take it apart to make more?]
[Boss, that's a good idea… but am I going to have to make twelve phones? I'm really worried Uvogin will break them!]
[With Uvogin's big hands, maybe we need something stronger. If we can make a few, just for the intel team, that's fine—like three or four units…]
[But Uvogin…]
[…Nothing is decided yet, Shalnark.]
The mood suddenly turned gloomy, seriously.
Saiki Kusuo lowered his head. He had already noticed—inside the coffee shop behind him, Shalnark was on his laptop with Chrollo sitting in the corner. And the person who had just sent him a message was clearly Chrollo using Shalnark's touchscreen phone.
[If we only need a few, it'd be best to just get them directly.] Chrollo thought.
The phone buzzed again with message alerts. Saiki Kusuo quickly hit mute.
But that kind of frequent, evenly spaced alert sound had already been noticed by the other side. After all, the mafia was currently putting out bounties on Phantom Troupe members everywhere. Chrollo and Shalnark were out for another reason, but they were also fishing for clues about Uvogin.
Both of them glanced outside.
The dessert shop had no extra seats, so Saiki Kusuo and Milluki were sitting on a bench near the door by the roadside, the bench covered with all kinds of sweets.
There were some decorations blocking the view between the bench and the coffee shop, and Saiki Kusuo was wearing a hat, so they didn't recognize him right away.
If they step out, they'll be spotted, right?
What will the Spiders decide?
Because Saiki Kusuo and Milluki were sitting in a spot that seemed a little hidden, the two Spiders stayed seated but subtly shifted their legs.
Shalnark: [Go around from outside. There are two targets. They'll likely split and escape in two directions.]
Chrollo: [Climb out through the upper window. If they can wall-climb or do rooftop tricks, the terrain here makes capture harder. Better use some abilities…]
They're planning to catch us? Just for looking a little suspicious?
These two are so paranoid!
Saiki Kusuo pressed down his hat, grabbed Milluki, snatched up the shopping bag full of desserts, and instantly teleported!
Two people—gone in a flash?
It was like screaming "we're guilty!" Chrollo and Shalnark rushed to the door but only saw the bench covered in empty dessert wrappers, and the four puddings that Saiki Kusuo didn't manage to grab in time.
At the hotel, the moment Saiki Kusuo realized the puddings were missing, he really wanted to teleport back.
Would it really matter if they found out he was in Yorknew? His whole family was in Yorknew—two more people wouldn't make a difference, right?
Saiki Kusuo used clairvoyance to check on his puddings.
"The shop said the last six puddings were bought by a really tall chubby guy with squinty eyes. What do you think, boss?" Shalnark asked Chrollo.
"Still eating sweets? Doesn't look like mafia-trained people. Maybe someone following us to sell info. Check if our pictures got posted on the intel network."
Shalnark immediately logged into the site with his Hunter License.
Seeing all this, Saiki Kusuo quickly wrote two reports and posted the photos of them sitting in the coffee shop to the Hunter intel site.
Instant profit—sixty million.
Chrollo was worth forty million, Shalnark only twenty.
That money came fast. Turns out the Phantom Troupe's pictures can be valuable too.
The reason the prices were so high now was because the mafia kept raising the bounties to keep the auction running smoothly—especially for the boss.
Saiki Kusuo and Milluki slowly finished the rest of the desserts. Thinking tonight would probably be busy, Saiki Kusuo handed his phone to Milluki and went to take a nap.
Milluki knew who Shalnark was—one of the off-record senior tech guys from the past six months. Every proper Zoldyck was skilled in negotiation and deals, and Milluki, who was familiar with phone-related work, ended up chatting with Shalnark.
Saiki Kusuo slept straight until six in the evening. The sky outside was already dark. Milluki handed Saiki Kusuo the freshly made Killua ID.
[Killua's actually going gambling? I'm telling Mom about this! And he even asked Brother Kusuo for help—Brother Kusuo didn't take a single cent! Seriously, Brother Kusuo! This kind of fake original ID costs more than a normal fake one. He should've charged Killua at least ten million!]
Milluki had a million complaints, but he still obediently finished the favor like a good kid.
But really, Milluki, the lowest price for this kind of work is just two million. Don't rip off your own brother so hard.
Saiki Kusuo took the ID. Even though he just woke up, his mind was crystal clear. First, he used clairvoyance to check Uvogin's safety—he was fine. Then he searched for Gon and Killua. Yare yare… those two kids were already alone in a room with Nobunaga.
They were captured by members of the Phantom Troupe. Nobunaga likes Gon because he's an Enhancer, and wants to recommend him to join the Troupe. So now the three of them are alone in a room.
As long as the two kids don't fight back, nothing bad will happen. They can relax.
[By the way, Milluki, how did the deal with Shalnark go?]
"He wanted the most basic payment, two hundred million, plus four phones. Then Shalnark has to write some basic software as payment too, and some extra stuff…" Milluki's eyes drifted a little as he spoke.
[Like a video player app, themes for desktops and icons…]
Saiki Kusuo: I bet you're the only Zoldyck who uses these features.
Yare yare, whatever, as long as Milluki's happy. And besides, two hundred million is already in the bag.
Saiki Kusuo stood up, straightened his clothes, and put on a black suit jacket. Who knows why Milluki wanted to look so formal—or maybe it's just because everyone here wears suits—anyway, Milluki even ordered a pair of suits for the two of them.
Saiki Kusuo put on his clothes and teleported.
Right after, he ended up under the hotel where Kurapika was staying…
Wait, why am I on the rooftop?
Saiki Kusuo was silent for a moment. Yare yare, his psychic powers were still a little unstable. But it's nothing serious.
Saiki Kusuo looked down.
Last time, he got caught following Kurapika because Melody could hear his thoughts. But now, in this crowded hotel, with so many noises, a psychic's heartbeat wouldn't stand out at all. Even its speed would sound like an average person's.
Saiki Kusuo slowly went down.
Inside, Kurapika walked into a private bathroom and took out his phone to make a call.
Good timing. Is he calling Hisoka and then going for a private talk? Saiki Kusuo noticed the next room was empty and teleported inside to listen.
"Pairo… how's everyone doing with Nen training?"
"Don't worry, Kurapika." A cheerful voice came from the other end of the call, along with a lot of background noise.
— It's Kurapika!
— Tell him Ito learned Nen!
— Pupil can knock down a tree with one punch now. We even used that tree to build a library…
Clearly, it was very lively on the other end.
Kurapika listened to the noisy voices, but for once, he smiled and completely relaxed.
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