'What a realistic arm!'
'Is that a Nen arm "conjured" by the young master, or something else?'
Gotoh swallowed, bent down to pick up the phone that had fallen on the floor, and said, "Young Master, the Master called to say..."
"He will wait for you in the training room!"
"Three whips?"
"Yes... three whips."
"He said 'whip him whenever he felt like it'... and he can't hold back now?"
Gotoh lowered his head and didn't reply. This involved the Master and the Young Master... Gotoh knew this was not something a mere butler like him could get involved in.
Roy retracted his arm with a shu and said expressionlessly, "Go prepare the meal."
"Yes."
"Remember to prepare extra meat. Xiao Jin likes it."
"Yes."
Gotoh bowed respectfully and withdrew...
At that moment, the red sun leaped above the horizon, dyeing half the sky red.
Roy stood right there, admiring the morning glow through the window. He then turned to wash up, followed by enjoying a hearty breakfast. At 8:00 AM sharp, he boarded the airship home with Gotoh and Kurajing.
Woom The propellers shredded the air, and soon, they left Zaban City, heading straight for the Republic of Padokea.
Hunter Calendar 1987, Spring.
Winter in the Republic of Padokea arrived late and left slowly...
As March approached, on Kukuroo Mountain, the Zoldyck family estate... one could still vaguely see some snow on the mountaintop, adding a touch of white to the greenery of early spring.
9:00 AM, the sunlight was just right.
Silva accompanied Kikyo for a walk in the garden as usual after breakfast.
Kikyo rested her hands on her bulging stomach, giggling foolishly..
Ever since her pregnancy became obvious, her desire for this child to arrive quickly had reached the point of "madness."
"This child will definitely have white hair!"
This was the sentence she had repeated most often to Silva over the past few months.
For some unknown reason, perhaps because his two sons had been away from home for too long... Silva, who had previously focused on training and killing and never knew what "loneliness" was, had recently been feeling more and more lonely.
When he wasn't accompanying Kikyo, he would mostly choose to be alone in the training room or the study, light some incense, and stay there for a whole day. He wouldn't even train, and he even took on fewer missions... just spacing out by himself, occasionally going to the old man's place to massage his shoulders...
And from time to time, he had to endure Maha's reprimands and ridicule...
"What is this called? Do you know, Silva?" One day, the old man was listening to cartoons, lounging comfortably in his rocking chair enjoying Silva's massage, and grunted, "It's called 'absence makes the heart grow fonder, familiarity breeds contempt'..."
"...When the children aren't around, you miss them terribly, always worrying if they've eaten well, if they're being bullied while they're out..."
"When they're close, seeing them every day is annoying, you wish they'd 'get lost' far away..."
The old man paused, glanced sideways at Silva, and said, "You... you're missing your kids..."
'Which child?'
Silva recalled his conversation with Maha... watching Luke walk over, he expressionlessly stopped and glanced at Kikyo... 'It's not the one in her belly....'
"Master, Young Master Illumi is back." Luke bowed slightly. "He pushed open the fourth 'Testing Gate'!"
One gate of the 'Testing Gate' is four tons, two is eight tons, three is sixteen tons, and four is... thirty-two tons..
For Young Master Illumi to be able to push open four gates at such a young age was already astonishing enough!
Luke spared a sliver of his peripheral vision to sneak a glance at Silva, expecting the Master to praise the Young Master at least a little, but...
Silva just grunted "Mm," and moved on, asking Luke back, "Where is Roy?"
"...Luke: "..." He swallowed and said, "Cooper called... he said he has already picked up the Young Master at the airport and believes he will arrive soon."
"Tell him to hurry up."
Cooper's driving speed could only be described as "flying." Any faster... would he have to use the car as an airplane, flying just above the ground? ...Luke wiped the fine sweat from his forehead and said respectfully, "Yes."
He immediately made a phone call.
Then, the sound of a foot slamming the accelerator was heard, the engine roared, and the car shot forward abruptly..
It almost made Kurajing, sitting in the back, sick from the motion!
The girl who hadn't gotten seasick on a boat almost got carsick. This also gave Kurajing a taste of what "Zoldyck" meant!
Even a driver was this fierce; it was hard to imagine what the others... were like.
Kurajing, filled with nervousness and anticipation, secretly sized up Roy, who was sitting in the passenger seat. The cane sword leaned against his knee, his eyes closed in rest. The man and the car were bizarrely "fused" together, giving the girl an illusion... 'He' was the 'car', and the 'car' was 'him'...
No matter how fast, how shaky, or how bumpy the car drove, even if it was "flying close to the ground," he remained as steady as an old monk in meditation, moving with the car, relatively still...
"My apologies, Young Master. You heard it too, those were the Master's orders."
Screech—
The black sedan executed a beautiful drift, stopping steadily in front of the mountain gate.
Cooper gripped the steering wheel, apologizing sheepishly to Roy... The boy patted his shoulder, got out of the car first without waiting for Gotoh to open the door for him, and looked up... only to see the gatekeeper, Zebro, remove his hat and bow to him, "Young Master, welcome home!"
Gotoh and Kurajing got out of the car one after another. The latter stared blankly at the towering main gate of the Zoldyck estate. Smart as she was, she couldn't help but swallow.
She thought: 'The world's number one assassin family... I... Kurajing... am here...'
She lifted her feet to follow Roy towards the "Testing Gate." As she got closer... she saw a boy with empty eyes, sporting long, straight black hair, standing with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the mountain gate, seemingly waiting for someone...
Noticing her gaze, he immediately swept an eye over... Kurajing suddenly stopped in her tracks, and an alarm beeped in her heart..
A woman's sixth sense told her... if she dared to take one more step forward, she would absolutely be pierced by a knife hand!
"You shouldn't bring just anyone home." Illumi looked at Roy expressionlessly and said, "I can tolerate one Kastro, but I won't tolerate a second, especially..."
The boy gave Kurajing a cold glance and said, "She's a woman!"
"So what?" Roy reached out and slammed Illumi against the gate, causing a dull thud. "I told you not to meddle... you seem to keep forgetting..
"Or do you think you're qualified to negotiate terms with me now?"
Illumi just stared quietly at Roy, hands in his pockets, not resisting, just stubbornly craning his neck. "I think I am."
A trace of confidence appeared in the boy's empty eyes. "I've caught up to you... I can also push open the fourth 'Testing Gate' now."
'No wonder... so this is your confidence?'
Roy released his grip... reached out his palm, brushing past his cheek, and pressed lightly against the 'Testing Gate'!
Only a "BOOM!" was heard.
A loud noise...
Five gates of the 'Testing Gate', weighing a total of sixty-four tons, swung wide open!