All of this was somewhat different from Sheila's dream.
She had actually been struggling with this recently.
Working together with the brigade brought joy, but the more involved she became, the farther she might drift from her personal goal.
This made her feel very conflicted.
After learning about Luke's situation, she had long wanted to privately ask him about the outside world.
Yet, she was afraid.
She feared that after learning from Luke, she would no longer be able to suppress her yearning for the outside world.
She would be unable to resist the urge to leave this place, to leave Meteor City, to leave the brigade, and to leave her companions.
The thought of this made Sheila tremble.
She was afraid and couldn't imagine how shocked and disappointed her companions would be if they learned she had left.
She couldn't forgive herself for this, yet she couldn't restrain her desire to venture out.
So, she was deeply conflicted.
"… Well, let me tell you two stories."
Seeing Sheila remain silent, Luke began to understand what she was thinking.
He paused, then spoke softly: "One is about a man on a small island who abandoned his wife and children, saying the pirate flag is calling for him, and rushed to the sea, leaving his family for freedom."
"The other is about a man who, driven by his desire to become a hunter, abandoned his son, even giving custody of his son to his aunt."
At this point, Luke looked at Sheila, whose body was trembling more and more, and smiled: "And the man who abandoned his son is the author of the book you're reading, Hunter's adventure, and his descendant…"
Swish!
Sheila finally looked up, her eyes filled with surprise and a hint of disbelief, as she gazed at Luke.
Then, she heard Luke slowly say: "That person's name is Ging Freecss."
Luke and Sheila talked for a long time that night.
And just as they finished, time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, 1983 had passed, and the brand new year had arrived.
A new year, a new beginning.
There were no New Year's customs in Meteor City.
There wasn't even a calendar here, things like family reunions and New Year's celebrations… There simply weren't any here.
Because, at the very least, a home was necessary.
In Luke's small group, except for Sarasa, who had a family, the others were all alone at home.
Well, like Luke, they were all orphans.
So, on New Year's Day, they all gathered together… in Father Lisores's church.
That's right, Father Lisores was also alone.
Thanks to Luke and Chrollo's relationship, the members of the brigade had long been familiar with Father Lisores.
They often came to hang out with him whenever they wanted, so gathering there felt completely comfortable.
Without Luke even having to do anything, Father Lisores cheerfully brought out food from the church to treat them.
The group happily sat together, eating and drinking as if it were a normal team-building event.
"It's delicious! The food in the church is also delicious!"
"It's delicious, sure, but I think it's a little less delicious than what Luke brought out."
"Uvogin! If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all!"
"There's so much delicious food, and it still can't shut you up!"
"That's right! Father Lisores even brought out this food specifically for us, and you're still saying that!"
"That's outrageous! You're so disrespectful!"
Uvogin's words were met with a wave of criticism from the crowd.
Upon hearing this, Uvogin simply grinned: "Isn't that right?"
"Even if it is, so what? You can't just say it so bluntly!"
"Yes, yes, or else Father Lisores would be so heartbroken!"
That's right! Even if Father Lisores's hospitality wasn't as good as Luke's, you can't be so blunt!"
Father Lisores, who had heard this from the side: "…"
Well, children, is there a possibility that you don't actually have to defend me?
Father Lisores shook his head, somewhat amused.
Ignoring the children's chatter, he moved to stand beside Luke by the window.
"Elder Veyron has been figuring out the situation of the Mom's Help foundation for some time."
Father Lisores whispered: "Their chairman, Risnorth, seems to be working for the mafia."
"And the connections he tapped into appear to be members of a direct family subordinate under the Ten Mafia Dons."
Elder Veyron hadn't been idle during this period.
Now that he knew who was harming the children in Meteor City, he couldn't just pretend it hadn't happened.
Given his usual cautious attitude, he naturally wanted to understand the situation thoroughly before making a decision.
Chairman Risnorth was very secretive, disguising himself as a philanthropist, making it difficult to uncover his connections.
If Elder Veyron hadn't used some of his own connections, he wouldn't have uncovered his background.
There are many mafia families in this world.
The Ten Mafia Dons are the ten highest-ranking mafia leaders worldwide.
They are the leaders of the mafia in ten regions across the six continents, and they meet from time to time.
They are also the organizers of the Yorknew City underground auction.
Under them were thousands of mafias, among whom the most notorious were the Shadow Beasts.
Among those numerous subordinates, there are naturally direct family subordinates.
For example, in the original story, the short, fat, bald man with small, round glasses, who was embroiled in a conflict with the Nostrade family and competing with Kurapika for the Scarlet Eyes auction, Zenji…
He falls into this category, and his status is quite high. As the family leader directly under the Ten Dons, he participated in underground auctions as a seller and was responsible for security.
After the underground auction was disrupted by the Phantom Troupe, he was also responsible for organizing the forces that would retaliate against the Phantom Troupe, such as the two experts from the Zoldyck Family.
Although those two experts weren't particularly willing to listen to him. This time, the connection that Chairman Risnorth had established was similar to that of Zenji, a member of another direct subordinate family under the Ten Dons.