The dust had settled.
Law and Machi had left, taking Botobai's left arm with them.
Netero's statement had carried two meanings.
First, if Law could avoid the fight, he should. Second, if he couldn't avoid it, he must not kill.
Law had intended to avoid the confrontation, but Botobai gave him no opportunity.
Furthermore, Botobai had injured Machi. Even with Netero's warning, Law couldn't simply let it go.
So, he took Botobai's left arm.
…
Seven days later, in the meeting room of the Hunter Association's Headquarters.
This room was reserved for high-level Association's meetings. Members of the Zodiacs arrived one after another, most of them ahead of time.
With ten minutes left until the scheduled start of the meeting, four of the thirteen seats remained empty.
As was customary, Ging was almost certainly absent, so one empty seat was his. Another seat had been perpetually vacant, reserved for the missing member.
The final two empty seats were the head seat, always occupied by the chronically late Netero, and Botobai's seat.
Time passed, and five minutes went by.
The meeting room's door opened, and Botobai's tall figure entered the view of those assembled.
"Huh?"
The emotional [Sheep] Ginta, unable to contain himself, exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Botobai missing his left arm: "Botobai! Your arm! Where is your arm?"
"Fatso! Idiot! Too noisy! Shut up!"
[Chicken] Cluck, sitting nearby, raised her fair leg and kicked the leg of Ginta's chair.
Everyone's attention turned to Botobai. Only Pariston picked up his cup and took a gentle sip of black tea, as if he were already privy to the incident.
Botobai walked expressionlessly to the meeting table and sat in his designated seat.
"Big news."
[Rabbit] Pyon raised her pink, rabbit-ear-adorned phone and took a picture of Botobai sitting across from her.
Botobai glanced at her, his face still devoid of emotion.
"Botobai, which tough guy relieved you of your arm?" [Tiger] Kanzai leaned sideways in his chair, one arm draped casually over the back, exuding an unruly presence.
"Idiot! Pig-brain! It must have been a rival!" Cluck scowled, her tone particularly harsh.
Veins immediately bulged on Kanzai's forehead. He bared his teeth in a glare directed at Cluck.
Ignoring the two, Ginta looked at Botobai with sympathy and pressed, "Who was it?"
[Ox] Mizaistom Nana remained silent, his arms crossed, but his eyes held a probing curiosity. He, too, was very interested to know who had managed to sever an arm from the powerful Botobai.
[Snake] Gel, [Horse] Saccho, and the others didn't speak, but their attention remained fixed on the silent Botobai.
[Dog] Cheadle raised her hand slightly, gesturing towards Kanzai: "Your attitude is too flippant, it inevitably carries a hint of schadenfreude."
Then, she gestured towards Cluck, "Without evidence, avoid using definitive terms like 'must'."
Finally, she gestured towards " Ginta, "Persistently questioning someone who clearly has no intention of responding is impolite."
"Tch, here we go again? Lecture Lady?" Kanzai dug a finger in his ear irritably.
Cheadle simply lowered her hand calmly.
Pariston rested his chin on his interlaced fingers, watching everyone with interest.
Some showed curiosity openly, others seemed superficially disinterested, some were slightly restrained… but without exception, they all wanted to know who had taken Botobai's arm.
Pariston's gaze swept over the meeting table, cluttered with everyone's personal items.
After all, no one knew how late Netero would be today, so before his arrival, topics to kill time were quite precious.
Perhaps unable to endure the other members' persistent stares, Botobai frowned slightly and said coldly, "Law."
"Huh?"
Hearing this name, the expressions of several members present changed slightly.
Gel's eyelids lowered, 'That bastard disappeared for so long, and now he shows up again? And the first thing he does is take Botobai's arm?'
Pyon stopped tapping on her phone. She had met Law once before when accepting an ancient text translation job. She hadn't expected him to be so ruthless.
"So it's that guy," Kanzai said, his tone unfriendly.
Ginta's face showed righteous indignation.
Law was highly unpopular among the Zodiacs' members. Upon learning that he was the one who had severed Botobai's arm, they momentarily felt a sense of solidarity, as if standing on the same front line.
However, it was at this moment that they truly began to take this perennial Hunter Exam troublemaker seriously.
'No wonder Chairman valued him so highly and had specially reserved a seat for him.'
"Ara, so Law is that strong? No wonder the Chairman specially reserved the 'Monkey' position for him." Pariston said seriously.
Whether by coincidence or not, his words struck a chord with everyone present.
Having successfully attracted everyone's attention, Pariston adopted an expectant expression, "I truly hope he joins the Association soon and sits here with us to discuss important matters."
Cheadle silently glanced at Pariston, 'A bit deliberate. Is it sarcasm? But the first one to bite will be...'
Her gaze shifted to the hot-tempered Kanzai.
Sure enough, Kanzai slammed a hand on the table and shouted, "If he dares to sit here, I'll be the first to tear him apart!"
'Then, the second one would be...'
Cheadle then looked at Ginta, who raised his arms, clenched his fists, and said solemnly, "I despise people who ignore and mock the rules."
Next was Cluck, followed by the strongly opinionated Saccho, and finally the more impressionable Pyon, each expressing their opposition in their own way.
As for the others, although they didn't voice their stance, they would likely be happy to decide based on the rule of majority.
However, each of them surely understood: a decision made seriously by Netero couldn't be overturned simply by unanimous disagreement.
Just because of Pariston's two sentences, the meeting room became noisy.
Cheadle sighed inwardly, watching as Pariston leisurely sipped his black tea.
Botobai remained silent throughout. Nen Abilities were strange and varied, and among them existed abilities that could regenerate a lost limb.
With his capabilities, finding such an ability wouldn't be difficult.
It just... didn't work!
Otherwise, he wouldn't have come to the meeting like this, directly sparking the topic.
"My, quite lively."
Just then, Netero's voice came from outside the door.
"Huh?"
The noise in the meeting room died down instantly. Everyone instinctively looked at the clock on the wall.
'Chairman... was actually not late?!'
Netero strode into the meeting room in his geta, ignoring the looks of astonishment on many faces, and plopped down unabashedly in the head seat.
After sitting down, he subtly glanced at Botobai's missing arm, then asked with feigned confusion, "So, what was today's agenda again?"
Several black lines seemed to drop down the faces of those present.
...
At the same time, Law arrived at the forest where Linne resided.