Chapter 13: Prepping the Heist
The mention of the Phantom Troupe made Killua's expression turn grim.
"Are they really strong?" Gon asked, seeing his friend's reaction.
"Yeah." Killua's voice was low. "My old man killed one of their members once. It was the only time I ever saw him look like he'd made a bad deal. He warned me to never, ever engage them."
"Your father warned you?" Gon said, shocked. Killua's father was the professional assassin of professional assassins. For him to give that kind of warning... they had to be monsters.
"They've all mastered their Hatsu," Kyle said. "If we want to stand a chance, we have to perfect our own ultimate moves, and then use the time in the other world to fuse them with Haki, creating even stronger techniques."
Gon and Killua both nodded, their expressions serious.
"To save time, let's start training now!" Gon, feeling the pressure, stood up, ready to go.
Killua agreed and pulled a high-voltage taser from his bag. Gon watched, curious about what his Hatsu would be.
Killua didn't hesitate. He cranked the taser to its maximum setting and jammed it into his own left hand. The BZZT of the current was loud enough to make your hair stand on end, but Killua didn't even grunt.
When he was done, he held up two fingers, and a visible arc of electricity snapped between them.
Seeing this, Gon knew he couldn't fall behind. His expression hardened, and he went back to practicing, focusing all of his Aura into his right fist.
Meanwhile, Kyle activated his own ability. He was trying to add a new function: time dilation. Time was a Specialist category, but controlling the flow of time between two worlds would be a new application. He focused on the Book of Resonance and the link to the Pirate World, trying to force the change.
The three of them trained like men possessed. They followed Gon deep into the jungles of Whale Island, training in the high trees. As they each got closer to a breakthrough, they instinctively split up, each finding their own secret spot, as if afraid the others would see their progress.
Just as Kyle felt his ability click, finally mastering the new function, a massive BOOM echoed from Gon's direction.
Kyle and Killua immediately sprinted toward the sound.
They found Gon standing at the bottom of a deep, newly-formed crater.
"Gon... did you do this?" Killua asked, staring in disbelief.
"Yep!" Gon clenched his fist, beaming with excitement. "This is my Hatsu! I'm calling it... Jajanken! Kyle! Can we go to the other world now?"
Kyle nodded. "My ability has a new function, too. Time Dilation."
"Time Dilation?"
"Mhm." As Kyle spoke, he activated his power. The portal of light formed, but this time, a new settings menu hovered above it, showing options: 2x, 3x, 4x... all the way to 10x.
"Kyle, is that... a control for the time-flow?" Killua asked.
"Exactly. But it comes with a cost. At 2x, for example, for every one day that passes in our world, two days will pass in the Pirate World."
"A 2x ratio!" Gon's eyes lit up. "That means our month and a half becomes over three months!"
"Yes," Kyle said, "but that's the new cost. To open a 2x portal, my Nen will only recover to 90% of its maximum capacity while we're there. The higher the ratio, the lower my max Aura."
"Right now, with my current reserves, I can only handle opening the 2x portal. To go any higher, I'd need my total Aura to be at least 200,000."
"Two hundred... Kyle, how do you even measure Aura?"
"I'll explain later," Kyle panted, his face already pale. "I can't hold this portal for long."
Killua, seeing how drained Kyle was, understood. The three of them, having set the dial to 2x, jumped into the light.
The moment they emerged in the Pirate World, Kyle collapsed. Killua immediately pulled a water bottle from his pack and gave it to him.
Kyle downed the whole thing, catching his breath. He hadn't expected the 2x cost to be so draining, and the 90% cap was a pain. But, he figured, it didn't matter. They were only in the East Blue, which had no real powerhouses.
After thirty minutes, Kyle had recovered most of his strength. He stood up and looked at his friends. "Gon, Killua... it's time we set sail."
Both of them lit up with excitement.
"Are we going to buy a ship, Kyle?" Gon asked.
"Buy one?" Killua smirked. "Too much trouble. I say we just steal one."
"Killua's right," Kyle said with a grin. "This world is crawling with pirates. We just find an unlucky crew, take their ship, and it's ours. It might not be a high-tech marvel, but for the three of us, it'll be more than enough."
It was a win-win. Stealing from pirates? There was zero moral burden.
Gon thought about it and agreed. These were criminals, after all. Taking their ship and sending them to the Marines was the perfect punishment.
With a plan set, the three of them headed back to Shells Town harbor. The port was busy, but they couldn't see a single pirate flag.
"Kyle, I don't see any pirate crews," Gon said, scanning the ships.
"Of course not. This is a Marine base. They wouldn't be dumb enough to fly their flag here. Look... over there."
Gon and Killua followed his gaze. They saw a dozen scruffy-looking men, dressed in rags, carrying various weapons, and laughing arrogantly. They were loading newly bought supplies onto a midsized ship.
"Kyle, those guys have to be pirates," Killua said, his voice full of excitement.
"Yep," Kyle smiled. "Let's go. We'll follow them."