'Was this great-grandfather-style dry humor?'
Milluki thought blankly.
"Sigh, smelling wasabi flavor first thing in the morning is unlucky."
Maha shook his head slightly, got up from the rocking chair, put on old-fashioned flip-flops, shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets, and walked towards the door.
"???"
Watching his great-grandfather, who looked deep in thought, the fat on Milluki's cheeks trembled a few times. He thought to himself, 'It was already afternoon, and besides, what connection could wasabi flavor have with bad luck?'
Milluki used his brain, which could quickly calculate program codes, to ponder seriously for a moment. He decided not to be a contrarian. Otherwise, if he annoyed his great-grandfather, a flip-flop slap might come his way, and he would inevitably suffer serious injury.
Smack.
As he passed by Milluki, his great-grandfather raised his hand and patted Milluki on the shoulder, startling him into a shiver.
'Wh-What's wrong?'
Milluki looked down at his great-grandfather, whose expression was gradually turning serious.
"I have a feeling something bad is about to happen. You should be very careful."
Maha withdrew his hand, put it back in his pocket, and walked towards the door.
'Huh?'
'So, was there a connection? And why did I need to be careful?'
Milluki silently watched Maha's departing back, feeling exhausted.
Following behind Maha, Milluki left the room and headed to the hall.
At that moment, the Zoldyck Family was gathered together, including the butlers Gotoh and Tsubone.
"Killua, my precious son, let Mommy see if you've grown taller."
Kikyo lifted the hem of her dress, quickly came to Killua, and the red electronic eye on her face flickered with intense red light.
"Don't touch me."
Watching Kikyo's outstretched hand, Killua's expression was blank, the epitome of a rebellious child.
Kikyo's hand froze in mid-air. She was pushed back a few steps by the coldness Killua displayed. However, she was neither sad nor disappointed, but rather pleased and excited.
Kalluto, dressed in female clothing, stood behind Kikyo, calmly staring at Alluka, who was nestled beside Killua. Deep in his eyes flickered a hint of jealousy and envy.
The other Zoldyck Family's members were also looking at Alluka.
Especially Illumi, whose gaze was filled with naked possessiveness.
Even though Killua had 'sealed' Alluka's wish-granting ability, the one who tied the bell could still untie it. As long as he could control Killua, breaking the seal placed on Alluka wouldn't be difficult.
It was just a pity that his family didn't agree with his forceful methods.
Otherwise, he could have operated properly and utilized Alluka's wish-granting ability to its extreme.
Illumi's possessive gaze was completely undisguised. Since it could be seen by Silva and the others, it could naturally be noticed by Killua as well.
Killua coldly looked at Illumi. A darkness quietly crept into his eyes. Just as Illumi made no effort to hide his possessiveness, Killua's gaze towards him made no effort to hide his icy killing intent.
'If you dare mess around, I'll kill you.'
The message contained in the solemn killing intent was received by Illumi.
But, being from the Zoldyck Family, none of them were pushovers. Even though he knew very well that Killua would do what he said, Illumi had no reaction at all.
Each knew the other too well. Killua couldn't be bothered to waste more time on Illumi. He shifted his gaze to Silva. The coldness and darkness in his eyes receded like a tide.
"Dad, Alluka and I are only staying for one day. Gon and the others are waiting for us at the bottom of the mountain."
"Okay."
Silva was sparing with his words and nodded.
Just then, Maha appeared on the second floor, descended the stairs, with Milluki following behind him.
Kikyo watched Maha coming down the stairs, calmed her excitement, and said, "I'll go prepare the dinner feast."
Having said that, she lifted the hem of her dress with both hands and headed towards the kitchen.
Kalluto, wearing a Japanese kimono, followed closely behind.
Before leaving, he looked back at Alluka.
After Kikyo and Kalluto left, Maha came to the front of the group.
"Great-grandfather."
Killua greeted respectfully.
Among his family members, he was afraid of Silva and Zeno, but even more so of his great-grandfather, who rarely showed himself.
Maha carefully observed Killua, seemingly looking for any changes.
After a moment, he looked at Alluka. A faint glimmer sparkled in his cloudy old eyes.
Alluka shrank back, hiding more than half of his body behind Killua.
Killua also sensed something and shielded Alluka protectively.
Seeing this, Maha had no reaction. He tilted his head to look at Zeno and said languidly, "Isn't dinner not ready yet? Why did you have Milluki call me down?"
Zeno smiled and said, "Sitting down early gives us a chance to chat."
"That works too."
Maha scanned the family members present. He didn't know how long it had been since they were last gathered like this. But truth be told, one person was ultimately still absent.
Seeing Maha shift his attention so readily, Killua breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he was confident in fending off Illumi's malice, he couldn't handle Silva and the others, let alone Maha.
Not far away, Gotoh and Tsubone, standing tall, quietly watched the Zoldyck Family's members. They felt quite emotional but didn't show it on their faces.
'The last time we were all gathered was for the family photo several years ago, right?'
Tsubone thought silently.
Dinner had just started being prepared, so it would be a while before any food was served.
The Zoldyck Family's members went to the dining room first and sat down one by one around a Chinese-style round table. Naturally, Maha sat at the head.
After being confined, Alluka had never sat at the table with his family again. Years later, he felt nervous and scared.
Killua gently held Alluka's hand to calm his nerves.
Regardless, the people sitting here were still his family after all.
...
The town at the foot of Kukuroo Mountain.
Gon and the others were temporarily resting at a well-decorated inn of decent size.
Inside the room, Kurapika and Pairo sat on the edge of the bed. They were on break.
Additionally, Gon and Leorio were there too.
Gon sat on a nearby chair. As for Leorio, he was straddling a chair with a backrest like a cavalry general.
On the table in front of them sat a TV, which was broadcasting news about the Black Whale ship.
"It's really bizarre. That kind of ship can carry 200,000 people, right? Now there's no one on board. It's hard to imagine what happened." Leorio looked puzzled.
"That ship probably turned back from the New Continent. That's why there aren't many people on board. What's stranger is how the ship ended up near the Miltene Union." Kurapika analyzed calmly.
"Hey hey, isn't the strange part that there's no one on board at all?"
"You're right about that too."
Kurapika glanced at Leorio.
Seeing that Kurapika wasn't contradicting him anymore, Leorio still wasn't quite used to it.
'Presumably, what had caused such a change in Kurapika was...'
Leorio subtly glanced at Pairo, who was sitting next to Kurapika, maintaining a smile.
'People are strange. I used to get annoyed at Kurapika's knack for contradicting me, but now that he doesn't, I kind of miss it.'
Leorio shook his head slightly and turned to look at Gon, who was intently watching the TV screen.
"Gon, you seem very interested in this news."
"Ah? Not really."
Gon shook his head.
"It's just that the ship... gives me a very bad feeling."