At the start of December, Joey returned to his home near the Hunter Association headquarters.
Though the villa was finally complete, the interior was still releasing formaldehyde and paint fumes from the recent renovations—not livable yet.
But that wasn't a problem.
Not far from the villa, a manmade pond lay nestled in the cold winter landscape, beside which stood a row of wooden cabins. Smoke curled from their chimneys. When Joey opened the door, a comforting warmth greeted him.
Inside were Ikalgo, Meleoron, and the reclusive Palm.
Meleoron was curled up in a beanbag chair, lazily flipping through a magazine, eyelids half-closed and ready to nap.
Ikalgo sat at a computer, grinning like a degenerate—whatever he was doing, it definitely wasn't wholesome.
Palm was humming to herself in the kitchen, the scent of something rich and savory wafting from within.
Hearing the door open, she peeked out—no sign of the usual madness.
When she saw it was Joey, her face lit up in a warm smile.
"Wait a bit. Teacher and Morel will be here later too."
Clearly, Nove's imminent visit had mellowed her out. That sweetness? All for him.
"Got it. What's that smell? Smells amazing," Joey sniffed theatrically, inhaling the aroma.
"Mushrooms Teacher brought back. Menchi gave them to him. Oh, you wanted to see Linne, right? There's still some left. And a special truffle pig too—you can take them to her."
She pointed to a gift bag in the corner, likely containing the mushrooms.
As for the truffle pig? That would be in the animal barn nearby—Palm wasn't about to keep livestock inside.
Joey hadn't been home in a while, but Ikalgo had kept him up to date, sending pictures of the changes.
"Thanks," Joey said without ceremony. He had long commissioned Menchi to hunt for these ingredients. The timing couldn't be better.
That evening, Nove, Morel, and even Andrei joined them for dinner. The talk, predictably, veered toward the Dark Continent.
That was the hot topic these days.
But since everyone had different specialties, the conversation focused more on Kakin than the voyage itself.
When Joey asked their thoughts on the V5, he was surprised to learn both Nove and Morel were born in V5 nations—Nove from Begrosae, Morel from the Oucima Federation.
Joey had visited Begrosae before, so he asked Nove whether he had any intel on the Nameless Stones.
But Nove spent most of his time at HQ and had no interest in the Dark Continent. So no, he hadn't looked into them.
As for Oucima, Joey had never been there—but he was curious about their ancient families.
"Old houses? Their bloodlines go back hundreds of years," Morel replied. "But who's really in charge? Hard to say. They always have a 'public face,' y'know."
When Joey pressed further, Morel clicked:
"You're thinking someone's eating that longevity rice, huh? Hard to say, man. No one knows if that stuff works—or if it has side effects."
Andrei didn't say much. He wasn't going to the Dark Continent.
But he had some inside scoop on the next Hunter Exam.
"It'll be held at HQ. There's a written test and some basic physical assessments. But honestly? Strength isn't even the focus. They want specialists who can help with the expedition. You'll see a lot of folks who don't know Nen—but are experts in their field."
"And they'll probably be taught Nen on the ship by star-level Hunters," he added.
A recruitment drive in disguise, Joey realized.
Andrei's tone betrayed a hint of disapproval.
He clearly preferred the old-school trials from Chairman Netero's era. The kind that forged real Hunters, and didn't dilute the badge's meaning.
Joey felt the same.
He'd wanted to take the exam, but this? It just felt... off.
So in January, as the Hunter Exam commenced, Joey simply didn't go.
He stayed home.
Studied divine scripts.
Engraved Netero's soul-sealing glyphs on his right arm.
Carved the ones from the handkerchief on his left.
To Joey, arms were replaceable accessories. If something went wrong? He'd cut them off. Grow new ones with Golden Experience.
He even considered making a whole new body, if only he could transfer his soul.
With the glyphs embedded, the handkerchief's aura resonated with his, just like the Wallet had.
Both objects now amplified his Nen capacity, accelerating his growth.
If not for the risk of being consumed by a Weapon's spirit, this would be the perfect cultivation hack.
But as things stood, Joey was rapidly gaining power.
By mid-January, he was already gathering data on Kakin's princes, preparing to infiltrate the kingdom.
His Nen capacity neared 40,000. His En expanded to a five-meter radius.
At this pace? He'd reach 100,000 by the time he boarded the B.W., and have a 50-meter En like Kite.
As for the Ring he captured?
Thanks to Joey's care, it was now chubby and healthy again.
He ran an experiment.
He placed it with a Golden Experience ape that pretended to threaten it.
Around them were a dog, two cats, three mice, all placed at varying distances.
Joey watched from a remote room, monitoring via surveillance.
When the Ring screeched, the nearest being wasn't the ape—it was the dog.
And that dog? Went blank.
Joey lost control of it. The Golden Experience bond broke.
But the soul? Didn't vanish.
Instead, it was sealed inside the coin the dog had become.
Joey now possessed a soul-infused coin.
And he realized something:
The Ring's shriek pulls souls into the nearest living being.
Now Joey had a new idea:
Could he devour the trapped soul to strengthen his own?
Maybe... evolve his Stand?
But such experiments had to be cautious. Soulplay was dangerous.
The key, Joey thought, lay in divine scripts.
So he began intensive study—and contacted Piyon.
Luckily, she shared his obsession. Their exchanges grew frequent and productive.
By February, Joey's lab was done.
Gon's uncle Goleinu returned with the orange cat.
But the cat had changed.
It no longer moved. Didn't eat.
Every seven days, its aura surged slightly—then leaked away.
No decay. No hunger.
It was as if it had contracted Zombie Syndrome—but Joey couldn't figure out why.
Dr. Sanbika, however, was fascinated. She visited the lab more often, setting up quarantine rooms for infected animals.
All carried unique viruses she'd cultivated.
It made Joey wary of her powers.
If she turned evil one day? She'd be an A-grade bioterror threat.
As a living virus lab, her destructive potential was at least B+.
Fortunately, her violence rating was a solid D.
Purely defensive.
As for the orange cat?
Joey gave up trying to understand it.
Let Sanbika handle it.
In March, Joey met Linne—and through Killua, arranged a visit to the Zoldyck estate.
Linne, as expected, said nothing useful.
But when he left, she handed him a paper with a single word:
[Gain and Loss]
Cryptic nonsense.
Joey hated riddles.
But he kept the note anyway.
The Zoldycks lived on Kukuroo Mountain—a 3,700-meter summit in Republic of Padokea, also home to Heaven's Arena and disturbingly lax prison laws.
Strangely, despite the altitude, the peak had no snow.
Then again, this was a world where a tree 2,000 meters tall was still a sapling.
This world was absurdly huge.
If Earth was a globe, this was a mythological world—flat and endless.
And yet, the night sky held stars, possibly indicating a real universe.
Could it be... both?
Who knew?
All Joey knew was that it was a paradise for adventurers.
At the mountain's base, he called Killua.
"I'm at Kukuroo. You and Alluka back yet?"
"Nope. Sorry," came Killua's voice. "Milluki tapped my phone. Illumi will guide you to Grandpa Jeg."
"So... you're still away?"
"Yeah. They're having too much fun."
"Really?" a bitter voice said from behind him.
Joey turned.
"An illusion? Interesting," said Illumi, reaching out.
His hand passed through Joey's fake body.
"You noticed already."
"Sorry!" Killua chimed in, not sounding sorry at all.
Still, Joey felt reassured.
If Killua was this relaxed, the Zoldycks likely weren't planning to kill him.
But still. It was Illumi.
"Alright. Gotta go. Your brother's got murder in his eyes," Joey muttered.
With that, his decoy vanished.
Joey reappeared a few meters away.
"Your stealth's good," said Illumi. "But I've had my En up this whole time."
"You sensed me because of my movement?"
"Your control over En is impressive. I wonder if it's related to your ability..."
He eyed Joey's weather beast.
Then, perhaps sensing Joey's wariness, looked away.
"Let's go. The walk is long. Grandpa Jeg has no patience."
Joey noted the cold shift after he hung up on Killua.
Illumi's tone grew flat, disinterested—even when discussing Joey's powers.
Before Joey could speak, Illumi took off at a sprint toward the summit.
"Wait—no ride? No butlers?" Joey muttered, then gave chase.