From Chrollo's guess, he didn't think a young lady like Neon would like someone who seemed like a common pursuer.
But, as expected of the spider's brain, he had a flash of inspiration. He grabbed Neon's hand, holding the bouquet, and pushed Neon out of the mall without explanation.
The two left in an affectionate way, as if they were close friends who had known each other for a long time.
After the doors closed and everything was blocked from view, Chrollo suddenly let go of Neon as if burned, and bowed deeply with respect: "I'm very sorry, Miss... I just needed a lady to pretend to leave with me."
"Huh..." Neon was still stunned.
Chrollo's every move before was very forceful, then suddenly he became so polite, making it hard to be mad.
But it didn't make her like him more either.
"Because the other person made a move before the confession... This is saving face, right, haha..." Chrollo wore an extremely apologetic look, "I'm really very sorry. As repayment, you can call this number if you need anything."
Although the reason was a bit cliché, he didn't tell the whole lie in the first half, leaving it to others to fill in. The second half was the truth; his current behavior was to save face.
Saiki Kusuo clicked his tongue quietly in the distance. Chrollo guessed right.
Neon was a fortune teller and had an instinctive sense of truth and lies. If he had made everything up, Neon would have lost interest and left quickly.
Chrollo reached into his pocket. He had noticed a few cards inside his coat earlier. The size of the cards and the number in the small stack made Chrollo naturally assume they were business cards, especially in the suit of someone of this level of society.
He took a card out of his pocket, but when he was about to hand it over, he saw the gold-lettered "Zoldyck" in the corner of the card.
Huh? Huh?!
Faced with Neon's outstretched hand, Chrollo quickly pulled back his hand, hiding the words on the card.
Wait, does that mean Zoldyck business cards are handed out to everyone at this level?
Is their marketing that good? I thought they were going for a high-end Nen user image. My understanding of the Zoldycks is still too shallow.
Saiki Kusuo: We Zoldycks are not like that. Think carefully about whose coat you stole!
Chrollo: It's best not to give this card out.
Just as Chrollo was about to fall into another awkward situation, Neon waved her hand.
"I don't take business cards. My dad will take care of everything." [Although Dad always lies.]
Neon knew not to accept good things from others casually and not to get to know other people easily. The underworld was full of scheming, and her dad had painstakingly educated her to protect her as well.
Chrollo quickly put the card away. "Then, is there anything I can do for you?"
"Hmm..." Neon looked Chrollo up and down. "Do you know about the auction? Will it be held tonight?"
"Of course I know. It was announced earlier as temporarily postponed, but I just received inside information that everyone has been called to the auction site." Chrollo's voice was very soft and considerate. "Are you curious about the auction? Actually, the things auctioned... well, they're very surprising."
[Does he think I'm just a normal little girl?]
Neon tugged at her bangs. She really liked all kinds of bodies, especially strange organs. The man in front of her categorized the auction items as "surprising," which made her feel a little injustice for the things she liked.
"They get auctioned because someone likes them. I'll tell you a secret, mister. I'm actually a fan of body collection."
"Oh?" Chrollo wore a surprised look.
Now's the time to show off my vast knowledge.
Having common interests to talk about is the first step in quickly building a relationship.
Finally entering that familiar feeling of everything under control, Chrollo walked shoulder to shoulder with Neon. Just as he was about to start chatting freely, the door behind them suddenly opened.
"You really are here! Miss Neon—!"
"Melody, you really did it!"
Right, Neon's bodyguards finally arrived. Saiki Kusuo drank his beverage with satisfaction. Of course, Melody didn't figure out where Neon was right away. There were a lot of people in the mall, and Melody's ability to hear heartbeats was like mind reading; too many would be hard to tell apart.
But Saiki Kusuo guided her and easily found her.
Neon immediately abandoned Chrollo and ran. It was clear it would be hard for them to have alone time again soon.
Saiki Kusuo calmly went downstairs to the supermarket in the basement of the large mall.
He came to buy meat.
Those several pounds of meat he promised the black bear.
As a result, the supermarket didn't pass up this moment with so many people and was holding an event. Though there were fewer people in the fresh food section, there was plenty of meat. But the line to pay was very long, and people were cutting in line.
Geez, in this era without convenient smartphones for online payment...
Kusuo, who had always been a young master, was realizing a bit of the ways of the world.
No, this is what shopping is like for normal people! What about my wish to be normal?
Saiki Kusuo realized and pushed the shopping cart, patiently pushing the two large pork hocks to the back of the long line.
As for Neon's side, he could just use Clairvoyance to check.
Nearly half an hour had passed since Neon was found.
Clairvoyance!
[Neon is under a bridge, surrounded by dogs on both sides.]
I see, those are the puppies raised by one of the bodyguards. Good job, the Paw Patrol did good. Are Neon being caught and brought back by the bodyguards?
Good, the spiders won't die anyway. It doesn't matter if they can't steal anything.
Saiki Kusuo ended Clairvoyance, lined up with the pork hocks, and dealt with the person cutting in line, then looked again.
[Neon is running alone on the street. No bodyguards are following.]
Huh? Where are the bodyguards from before? Where's the puppy squad? Where's Melody? Did they lose her again? Neon clearly doesn't have any special abilities besides fortune telling.
Saiki Kusuo looked back and quickly saw a pile of dogs lying on the ground, scared out of their minds, and a bodyguard holding the dogs, crying and Nen-ing out their names one by one.
Poor things. Chrollo used Nen to squeeze them dry? Even without using Nen, this is like the Conqueror's Haki from One Piece.
So, where is Chrollo?
Saiki Kusuo immediately turned to look for the one variable, Chrollo.
[Chrollo threw someone who was clearly knocked out into an alley and was spinning car keys, pressing the unlock button to find the car.]
...Stealing a car huh.
Friendly reminder: If you think this book is good, please remember to add it to your bookshelf to avoid not finding it next time.
How about popping a few tires?
Saiki Kusuo nonchalantly broke the tires and ended Clairvoyance.
"Little friend, you bought so much meat. Can you finish it all?"
An older woman appeared by his side.
Saiki Kusuo took a look. The woman's cart had already cut in front of Saiki Kusuo's cart at a 45-degree angle as she spoke.
Is this blatant line cutting with social interaction fees?
Buying two such big pork hocks was already very obvious. Now that the woman said that, the eyes around him suddenly gathered, more or less guessing what those two pork hocks were for.
To feed a bear, a black bear that can eat people.
Saiki Kusuo Nen-ed quietly in his heart. Using Clairvoyance made it impossible to take care of the slowly moving line. Once there was a space in front where someone could stand when waiting in line, people would start trying to cut in line, as if it was a given.
Geez. Saiki Kusuo sighed. He turned the wheels of the line-cutting woman's cart backwards and pushed the car forward. The woman suddenly pushed the cart away herself and Saiki Kusuo filled in forward.
Shopping is really not easy for normal humans. How do people solve the problem of standing in line without superpowers?
Clairvoyance, one more time.
[Neon is sitting in the car's passenger seat, hands on her chest, saying something. Next to her, in the driver's seat, Chrollo is driving with one hand. The two seem to be chatting very happily.]
What's going on? Is it completely impossible to stop Chrollo from doing as he pleases?
[Phew, there have been a lot of accidents today. Everything has finally gotten back on track. We'll need to wait a while to get the prediction, let everyone act a little slower later.] Chrollo thought.
Saiki Kusuo measured the time. There were almost two hours until Uvogin woke up.
A little slower is probably not enough.
...Car accident. In the scene full of vehicles, the phrase "car accident" suddenly appeared in Saiki Kusuo's mind.
It's very simple to make a car accident that stops the cars. Just take one less step on the brake and rear-end someone. Then the two cars need to pull over and wait for the traffic police to prove things. It's a big waste of time.
Because there were more cars, the speed wasn't fast. The crash wouldn't really hurt anyone. Okay, the brakes are broken. Chrollo, you deal with it.
Saiki Kusuo ended Clairvoyance with no qualms.
In the supermarket, there were always a lot of popular products displayed next to the long lines, like Mou Niu's milk and Mou Li's milk running side by side, along with some snacks or daily necessities like body wash. Everything was available.
Saiki Kusuo glanced around somewhat bored, but he always had a sharp eye. In many of the products, he saw pudding at a glance. The pudding was a small pudding, but there was a big box with 12 flavors, including coffee flavor.
I can't pass that up!
But the pudding's location was a little far away, to the point where he had to leave the line to get it.
Saiki Kusuo thought and observed his surroundings. Would it arouse suspicion to just use his superpowers to directly grab the pudding? Or, if I leave the shopping cart here to get the pudding, would leaving the line for just a moment be a big problem?
[Good opportunity, the idiot in front wants to leave the line!]
Huh? That's what the person behind me is thinking. I-, idiot? Me? Don't insult people, man.
[I've been annoyed with him for a while. He's dazed while lining up. That old woman almost cut in line earlier. How can such a fool be standing in front of me! At least let me get in front of him. If he dares to leave the line, I'm cutting in! I can't care about whether the people behind me cut in line or not.]
That person was staring only at Saiki Kusuo.
You're in the way. Move your eyes. I'm not leaving the line. I'm going to use superpowers to get it.
Geez, what should I do?
The line moved slowly forward, and Saiki Kusuo was getting farther and farther away from the pudding. The person behind leaned forward, moved the wheels, and wanted to cut in line, ignoring Saiki Kusuo. Saiki Kusuo gave a hard push and the handle of the cart broke in an instant.
Restore, quickly restore the handle.
Geez, I need to calm down. It's just a pudding, it's just a coffee pudding.
[What's going on? The, the aura that idiot in front of me just blew out...] The person behind him started to tremble.
I don't want to experience someone telling me not to call him an idiot again. Saiki Kusuo glanced back, successfully making the man's mind stop and close his thoughts.
Saiki Kusuo sighed and decided to give up on the coffee pudding. However, on the road the line was moving forward, there was a product that was nearby and could be obtained, a box of chocolate that was worth exactly 4000 yen.
Geez, persistence pays off.
Saiki Kusuo got the chocolate and replaced it with something of equal value. Although it was a bit of a problem for the shelf stocker to organize the products, the people should be willing to accept this trouble in order to sell the products, right?
The long line for shopping finally reached its end. Saiki Kusuo bought the two pork hocks and that box of pudding.
Saiki Kusuo then used Clairvoyance again to look at Neon and Chrollo.
Faced with the brakes failing, Chrollo couldn't possibly...
[The car is stopped on the sidewalk. From the marks in the back, it can be seen that the car should have driven onto the sidewalk and continued until it stopped on its own. At this time, the underworld people were already standing next to the car. Chrollo and Neon were talking on the side.]
...
How could this be? Logically, when a car has mechanical problems and is in danger, Neon should stay away from Chrollo to go to the auction.
And such a big ruckus, where the traffic police were? Neon contacted her dad to solve it.
["Chrollo, I'll leave the rest to you...!" Neon said to Chrollo.]
Then Chrollo put his hand forward, picked up Neon in a princess-like hold, and bowed to the underworld members surrounding them. Then he suddenly jumped and that jump was over fifteen feet high.
Nen, there's no book in his hands... I remember, Chrollo already has the bookmark.
At this time, Neon already knew that Chrollo had special abilities. Neon was also a user, so the relationship between the two became special.
Chrollo has thousands of ways to trick little girls. Judging from their thoughts, Neon's liking for Chrollo was already very high, to the point where she would expose herself, on her own, so her dad could help resolve the matter.
Geez, that's really scary, Chrollo.
But with all this time wasted, and less than an hour until Uvogin's revival, judging from Chrollo's mind, they need to waste time finding a car, getting into the auction house building, and sitting down to chat before they can get Neon's prophecy poem.
Saiki Kusuo leisurely tasted the pudding. Perhaps because his expectations for the coffee pudding were too high, he specially found a shop, asked for a cup of hot coffee, and opened the pudding. He ate the other flavors first. The flavors were very good. After all, these puddings are considered expensive compared to normal desserts.
=~=
[Calm happiness.] Saiki Kusuo.
---------------------------------------
You can read 15 chapters ahead on patre on
patr eon.com/JYouyi