Accompanying Roy were three rather "expensive" Hunter boys and one peculiar chubby gentleman. Calling them gentlemen was a stretch, though. None of the four had even turned twenty yet, and two of them were only twelve or thirteen.
That's right: spiky-haired Gon, gambling-bankrupted Killua-nyan, teenage-ossan Leorio, and one person who was both unexpected and, at the same time, perfectly expected.
After Roy finished dealing with the Ten Dons that afternoon, he specifically went to find them.
Before heading over, Roy even made a point of calling in advance to let them know that tonight he would be taking them along to visit Kurapika's Boss, and while they were at it, check on how Kurapika was doing.
When Roy found Gon and the others, Leorio was still out taking on jobs to earn money while also looking for a gift to bring along. After all, when you were visiting someone at their home, you couldn't very well show up empty-handed. Meanwhile, Gon and Killua were both training their aura and working on developing their own Nen abilities so they could take part in the Greed Island game.
With Wing, an orthodox direct disciple of Shingen-ryu, teaching Gon and Killua the fundamentals, the results had been pretty good.
At the very least, Roy could tell that Gon's aura had grown much stronger, and Killua's body was now wrapped in aura as well.
It had to be remembered that when Roy left the Zoldyck family, Killua was still being punished and hadn't even learned Nen yet.
And now, in the blink of an eye, both of them had already reached the stage of developing their own personal Nen abilities. Roy could not help sighing at how fast time passed.
When Roy met the two of them, Gon excitedly told him all about everything he had gone through during this period, all the experiences and adventures he had had, and Roy simply listened with a smile.
Some of it, though, was different from the original story.
For example, in the original story, right after Gon reached the 200th floor, he was brutally beaten down by Gido's spinning tops.
But now, relying on his outstanding talent, Gon had tempered himself through battle after battle, steadily increasing his combat experience. Along the way, he had lost few and won many. On top of that, he and Killua had deliberately avoided Hisoka, which resulted in Gon already racking up nine victories.
He was only one step away from earning the right to challenge for Floor Master qualification.
However, at Wing's suggestion, the two of them ultimately gave up on continuing with the next match.
After all, they were still too young, and their talent was far too exceptional. Their future was bright, and they had already gained enough tempering. If they made one wrong move and ended up getting ruined here, the loss would be far too great.
Roy quietly watched the two of them talk, all the while waiting for Leorio to come back.
But even by dusk, Leorio still had not returned.
So, suspecting that he might have run into something, the group immediately went out to look for him.
Roy used his aura to sense things a little, and soon figured out where Leorio currently was.
But the next moment, Roy froze for an instant, then revealed an interested smile, because around Leorio there were three rather familiar presences as well.
Milluki felt that he was having rotten luck.
That afternoon, while he had been wandering around the airport looking for the famous airport food recommended in a gourmet magazine, he had, of all people, run into his old man and his grandfather.
Even though they paid him no attention, and the moment they got off the airship they immediately turned around and left, Milluki could still clearly feel what he believed to be the "meaningful" look his father and grandfather had cast his way.
That made him feel awful all over.
Good grief, he had only come out to buy a game. Why did he have to run into his old man and grandfather at a time like this?!
As a result, he spent the rest of the day feeling uneasy over that glance from Silva and Zeno as they turned and left, even though it had probably meant absolutely nothing and was only being wildly overinterpreted by him.
So that evening, in a certain teppanyaki restaurant, he ate twice as much as he usually did.
The food in Yorknew City was excellent, but the city's order was far too chaotic.
Every time he ate at a restaurant, there would always be shouting outside, along with gunfire and even explosions.
This made the chubby second brother, who preferred to enjoy his meals in peace and quiet, extremely irritated. But starting from this afternoon until now, Yorknew City seemed to have finally returned to calm.
Maybe that sudden calm made him restless. So for once, after finishing his meal, the second brother did not return to the hotel where he was staying, put on his headphones, and play games. Instead, in a rare break from routine, he started strolling around the streets.
That continued until he passed a small merch shop. With just one casual glance from the corner of his eye, his eyes instantly lit up.
Inside that little shop, he had actually discovered the hottest limited-edition collectible currently on the market: a commemorative Usagi Tsukino sexy-pose figure, with only ninety-nine sets in the entire world.
Ahem. As a textbook otaku, how could the chubby second brother possibly not know the hottest anime titles around right now?
Especially since, before Dragon Ball came out, the walls of his room had already been plastered with all kinds of cute-girl collectible photos.
So just as the chubby second brother was secretly delighted and preparing to buy that limited edition for himself, an interloper suddenly cut in halfway and beat him to it!
The one who stole the chance from him was a tall man in a suit with small round glasses, someone who looked clearly wealthy yet not arrogant about it.
...
Yes. That was Milluki's first impression.
At that moment, he also heard the suited man muttering to himself:
"A limited-edition Usagi Tsukino figure, huh? Only ninety-nine in the whole world. I heard the young lady of that mafia family likes Sailor Moon too. This should make a pretty good gift."
You're actually going to use our adorable Usagi-chan as a gift for someone else?!
Something this precious ought to be kept for your own display case!
And yet you're going to use it as some money-stained business present to accomplish some shady purpose?
This was unbearable!
Milluki could not hold back any longer. Right in front of the stunned shop owner and Leorio, he charged in, snatched the figure out of Leorio's hands, and launched into a fierce scolding.
Leorio, meanwhile, was completely dumbfounded.
Where had this little fatty suddenly come from? And why had he, without a word, snatched away the figure Leorio had been about to buy, only to start blasting him with abuse?
Didn't he know any manners?!
Didn't he understand first come, first served?!
For a moment, once Leorio finally reacted, his face gradually darkened, and his eyes filled with danger as he looked at Milluki.
He pushed up his glasses, took a deep breath, and then roared at Milluki:
"Who the hell are you, you bastard?! Where the hell did you pop out from?!"
(End of Chapter)
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