"So, was this all arranged by the Hunter Association?" Kurapika asked.
"I'm not sure," Kaizen replied. "But if their goal was to stop you from meeting Killua, or to eliminate you... they had plenty of ways to do it."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "Those butlers aren't weak. Not even Killua can beat them. The gap in strength is huge."
Killua was the strongest of their current group. Among regular people, he was already exceptionally powerful.
But in the world of aura users, "regular" didn't mean much. Against someone like Gotoh, Killua didn't stand a chance.
Killua frowned, exchanging glances with the others.
"Are we really that weak?"
Everyone knew Kaizen, Illumi, and Hisoka were on another level. And they'd all witnessed the strength of the butlers firsthand. Still, it was hard to swallow just how wide that gap might be.
They had passed the Hunter Exam, after all. They weren't nobodies.
Kaizen didn't push the topic further.
Nearby, Ponzu cast a glance at Killua and the others, letting out a quiet sigh of relief.
She had met them during the Hunter Exam, but her life had changed drastically since then. Seeing them again now, she couldn't help feeling a bit awkward.
Thankfully, after Kaizen gave a brief explanation, the others didn't press for more. That surprised Ponzu—but also comforted her.
...
Soon after, the group arrived at a small town at the base of the mountain. They boarded a bus headed for the neighboring city.
Once there, everyone split up.
Kaizen, Ponzu, Killua, and Gon boarded an airship bound for the city where Heavens Arena was located.
Leorio chose to continue on his own path—he wasn't ready to fully embrace his life as a Hunter just yet. He had his medical journey to focus on.
Kurapika, meanwhile, set off alone. His road was one of vengeance.
...
The airship lifted into the sky.
Kaizen and Ponzu sat in one row.
Killua and Gon sat in another.
Kaizen leaned back, half-closing his eyes as he slipped into a resting state.
His mind, however, was far from quiet.
The idea of creating a manga platform had been on his mind for a while. No matter how advanced network technology was, it needed proper hardware to support it.
And for that, he'd need a partner with real resources. The Zoldyck family wasn't involved in this kind of industry, which meant Kaizen had to look elsewhere.
Still, solving the hardware side wasn't too hard.
Altan was handling the front-end and the platform's back-end logic—and that alone was enough.
It wouldn't take long, either.
What came next was promotion.
Again, no issue—Altan could handle both the tech-side marketing and the budgeting. But before they could launch the platform, they needed content.
Without it, no matter how much they promoted it, users would just glance at the site and leave.
"Just relying on Bungou Stray Dogs won't cut it," Kaizen thought.
"We need local creators. Homegrown talent. And to get them, we need to offer high pay and good benefits."
Then came the matter of editing.
Whether it's manga, novels, or animation, editors are key.
"A good editor can help elevate the entire work," Kaizen mused.
"If we want consistent quality, we'll need a solid team of editors."
He paused, a thought surfacing.
Altan.
Even if Altan couldn't build a full-scale humanoid AI, creating a simpler one—with basic functionality—was within reach.
"Something that can automatically review submitted works, flag content that violates standards, and send feedback to creators... Yeah, Altan could manage that."
It would save tons of manpower and speed up development.
And unlike humans, AI doesn't get tired.
That's why machines are taking over simple, repetitive jobs—because they're more efficient and less error-prone.
When people do boring tasks for long stretches, they get mentally fatigued. Even writing the same kanji hundreds of times can start to feel alien.
"If we could train an AI to write stories or draw comics by itself," Kaizen thought, "it'd revolutionize the whole platform."
"But that's a long way off. Even with Altan's tech, we're not there yet."
"For now, it's better to rely on people."
Still, Kaizen made a mental note to have Altan start experimenting in that direction.
...
Next to him, Ponzu glanced over.
She quietly pulled out the thin blanket that came with the seat and gently draped it over Kaizen.
Then, she looked down at the pendant resting on her chest—a nen tool Kaizen had given her.
It had been part of a deal between Nessley and Kaizen, and he'd passed it on to her afterward.
It was a space-type nen item. Small, but capable of storing objects.
Kaizen already had Sumas, so he didn't need it. But for Ponzu, it was perfect.
She used to carry her queen bee and regular bees in her oversized hat—but that posed serious risks. If someone attacked her hat, the bees would be vulnerable. Especially the queen bee, which was irreplaceable.
It had been a gift from her grandmother—and was key to Ponzu eventually reaching S-rank.
Kaizen understood this. Even if Ponzu didn't.
There was another issue, too: the honey. Its scent made the bees easy to track. The pendant eliminated that risk.
Now, with the bees safely stored inside the pendant, Ponzu no longer had to wear that heavy hat.
She'd switched to a soft beanie, and her long green hair now flowed freely down her back.
...
Killua and Gon sat by the window, gazing out at the scenery.
The seats weren't crowded—just the two of them, with an empty seat nearby.
Still, they were kids. There was enough space.
As the landscape shifted far below, the two chatted quietly, excitedly discussing their upcoming adventure at Heavens Arena.
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Fanfic is completed on patreon.com/FanficsHub (1047 chapters in total)