It's much more practical than suddenly turning to good, compassionate, and thinking about children around the world.
His own son died, and instead of descending into darkness, he started caring about other people's children… no matter how you hear it, it doesn't sound realistic.
"The motive and cause couldn't be clearer."
After listening to the entire story, Shalnark was silent for a moment before speaking softly.
"But none of this should lead to him imposing his own twisted, sad, and perverted psychology on others."
Luke looked at Shalnark with some surprise.
This didn't sound like something a member of the Phantom Troupe would say.
"I was quoting Beast King Blue's lines."
As if sensing Luke's subtle gaze, Shalnark raised his head and gave a forced smile.
In his previous role in the Hundred Beasts Squad, he played Raging Shark, Beast King Blue.
This character was clearly on the side of justice, and the events he experienced and the lines he spoke...
There just happened to be such a monster-man, who, having suffered unfair and inhumane treatment, became cynical, harboring a deep resentment and twisted mindset towards the world.
Consequently, he constantly sought to destroy it. Such a monster-man bore a striking resemblance to the current Risnorth.
"The mere exposure of these images and scenes is enough to reveal to the world the true nature of this fellow and his Mom's Help Foundation."
Chrollo regained his composure and looked at Luke, saying: "What should we do next, captain?"
"Isn't it obvious? We move."
Luke gave a decisive order: "Now that we've found proof of him offending Meteor City..."
"And in such a vile way, violating the public morals of this world..."
"It's time to expel him from this world."
Night fell, and moonlight spilled over Yorknew City, casting a faint glow.
But this city didn't seem to welcome such light, because its neon-lit splendor and nightlife already made it dazzling enough.
At the office building of the Mom's Help Foundation.
"You used to love nights like this, with all these shining neon lights..."
Risnorth stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the dazzling spectacle outside.
He swirled the glass in his hand; inside it, the deep crimson liquid shimmered like blood, reflecting the bustling world beyond.
Yet all of it felt completely out of place for Risnorth.
The vivid colors stretched his shadow long beneath the glow.
"In the past, you loved to hide behind my shadow."
"Then you would poke your head out, observing the world with curiosity and delight."
"You always told me the world outside was so dark, and you were so scared."
"Now, the world outside is no longer dark, and you're gone, Palias..."
Palias was the name of Risnorth's only son.
He still often recalls those scenes and images.
The son who always lingered at his feet and was full of thirst for knowledge and insatiable curiosity.
The son he loved and cherished the most.
And now, everything is gone.
In the empty room, Risnorth's back looked a little lonely, but he had long since gotten used to it.
Ever since his beloved son, Palias, died, he had never again spent a night with anyone else.
Not only was the pain in his heart beyond words, but his body also no longer allowed him to share those kinds of nights.
Looking out at the world outside, which was apparently extremely prosperous, yet seemed so dull to him, Risnorth absentmindedly reached into his breast pocket.
Click
He tried to pull out his lighter and light a cigar.
The lighter lit, but it wasn't from his hand.
"Hmm?"
Risnorth slowly turned around, looking behind him at the source of the sound.
He saw a young man in a black windbreaker sitting on the sofa where he had sat during the day.
He casually flicked his lighter while looking at him calmly.
"How did you get in?"
Risnorth looked at him expressionlessly.
"That question doesn't seem important, does it?"
Luke said calmly.
Indeed, it wasn't important.
If this person could bypass all the layers of guards he had stationed outside and appear silently in his room without him even noticing, then, if not for the sound of the lighter, he might already have been assassinated without ever realizing it.
But…
"What do you want to talk about?"
Risnorth quickly regained his composure.
Although he didn't know how the intruder got here, the fact that the other party didn't kill him on sight, and instead made noise to draw his attention, meant there was still something to talk about, or at least, something the other party wanted to ask him.
"Why are you capturing those children?"
Luke didn't waste words and went straight to the point.
He had no time to spare for a man about to die.
"Children? What children?"
Risnorth asked curiously.
His face was devoid of any trace of pretense, as if he truly knew nothing.
"I'm not interested in stalling for time with you..."
Luke stared at him for a moment, then smiled.
"Whatever you try to cover up, I have my own way..."
Swish!!
Before the words even hit the ground, Luke's figure had vanished.
"Huh?!"
At that moment, Risnorth's expression finally showed a slight change.
However, as an ordinary person, the gap between his physical fitness and that of a Nen user was quite significant.
Just as Risnorth realized what was happening…
Snap!
He felt something sticking to his back.
"Now, I ask, you answer."
Luke's figure appeared before Risnorth again: "Why did you capture those children?"
It was the same question again, and Risnorth was still trying to play it off to buy himself more time.
But... just as he was about to start spouting that irrelevant lie, he suddenly realized.
His tongue suddenly stopped obeying him?!
"I intended to use them to carry out a ritual."
Under Risnorth's horrified gaze, his mouth opened on its own.
He spoke out his intentions and thoughts, which he didn't want to reveal at all, but were nonetheless very real.
"Is it the influence of that thing stuck to me?!"
This was Risnorth's first thought.
This was also the only thing the young man had done to him since arriving.
Before the thing was attached to him, his actions and words were still autonomous.
But after applying the sticker, everything changed.
It was as if his mouth had completely detached itself from him, completely ignoring his commands.
And the thing capable of doing this, naturally, was one of Luke's inventions:
The gadget that can make people tell the truth, the Truth Sticker.
Invention: Truth Sticker
Origin: Doraemon world — Future Tech Company
Function: As long as it is stuck onto the target, it will make the target reveal the true thoughts in their heart.
Just like in Doraemon, where Suneo often lies to win everyone's praise, and Nobita, who gets scolded for telling the truth, uses such a gadget to expose Suneo's hypocrisy, forcing Suneo to admit his fake behavior and revealing his pretend good person nature.
Now, the same thing happened with Risnorth.
Since the other party was so dishonest and uncooperative, Luke wouldn't be polite with him.
Or rather, Luke had intended to stick it on him from the start.
This guy's fate was already sealed, so there was no need to consider his feelings.
At this moment, Risnorth's answer made Luke raise an eyebrow slightly.
"Ritual? What ritual?"
"It's a ritual concerning On..."
Under the influence of the Truth Sticker, Risnorth was completely open and honest.
He told him everything that had happened to him.
"After my son Palias died, I initially harbored a deep hatred for the Kakin Empire."
As soon as Risnorth spoke, Luke's mind stirred again.
The Kakin Empire?
Chrollo had mentioned it before.
The tragedy that befell Risnorth occurred in a kingdom on the Azian Continent.
The Kakin Empire is undoubtedly the most powerful kingdom on the Azian Continent.
Only such a kingdom would allow Risnorth to bring people there to discuss business cooperation.
And… The Kakin Empire is also a strange and chaotic country.
The egg-in-a-pot Seed Urn Ceremony, mercenaries and illegitimate children, throne succession wars, and so on.
Those were matters that arose later and need not be discussed here yet.
But as for this On...
"Are you talking about the power that the shadow organization leader possesses?!"
Luke had not forgotten that, besides the main storyline, Hunter × Hunter also had two theatrical adaptations.
One tells the story of the fourth member of the Phantom Troupe, who committed a mad act of self-destruction before Hisoka joined the group.
The other tells the story of Jed, leader of the shadow organization that acted under the Hunter's Association and a contemporary of Netero.
Jed is the master of On.
His On ability, The Grudge of One-Hundred Demons: Rakshasa, was powerful enough to rival Netero's 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Although in the end, he was still dealt with by the 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva.
And because the shadow organization of the Hunter Association carried out many unsavory, clandestine tasks on behalf of the association and its backers, tasks that became increasingly extreme and out of control, the V5 had Netero himself step in to deal with Jed...
Luke noted the connection between the Kakin Empire and On, then continued listening to Risnorth's speech.
"But later, when the Kakin Empire expressed their apologies, they offered me a way to bring Palias back."
At this point, bitterness and pain filled Risnorth's face and eyes.
He wanted to close his mouth, but his lips still uncontrollably continued to part: "According to the Kakin Empire, there exists a strange power in this world called On."
"With sufficient On, one can accomplish incredible things."
"Including resurrecting the dead."
"At first, I thought it was impossible, that they were playing a trick on me!!"
"But then..."
Risnorth closed his eyes in agony. "I saw with my own eyes that this world has a power called Nen."
"It can grant life to lifeless things; to me, that was already incredible."
"And the Kakin Empire says that On is even more powerful than Nen."
"So, this gives me another glimmer of hope."
"The hope of bringing Palias back to life!!"
After saying these words, Risnorth had almost accepted reality.
His tone was filled with loneliness and resentful anger.
"So, I went crazy, using various channels to kidnap children around Palias's age."
"The Kakin Empire said the best way to obtain On is to collect all kinds of negative emotions."
"In my opinion, if we want to bring Palias back to life, using children around his age to collect On might be more effective."
"Fear, terror, pain, resentment... Under the guidance of the Kakin Empire, I successfully gathered these emotions."
"I saw it with my own eyes too, that dark, electric current-like shape of On."
"Even though I knew this power could be terrifying, evil, and bring terrible things to this world and humanity."
"I couldn't care about any of that anymore."
"I only wanted to bring my Palias back to life."
"But..."
Risnorth said hoarsely: "In the end, it was a failure."
Well, Luke wasn't surprised by this.
There are indeed ways to resurrect the dead in this world.
The first, a typical example, is Alluka Zoldyck.
Her other self from the Dark Continent, Nanika, possesses the ability to grant wishes.
This is an unconventional and extremely unreasonable ability.
The second type would be the orthodox resurrection ability, a manifestation of Nen.
Among them, the most classic example appeared during the Kakin Empire's prince succession war.
The second prince, Camilla Hui Guo Rou, had the Nen ability called the Cat Who Lived a Million Times.
(T/N: Its name is Cat's Name, but the Cat Who Lived a Million Times sounds better.)
This ability triggers a special mechanism when she suffers a fatal attack: by consuming the killer's life force, she resurrects herself and heals all injuries, forming a unique Nen-based cycle.
Specifically, the ability activates at the moment the killer touches Camilla's corpse.
Camilla's Nen, even more powerful than when she's alive, transforms into a giant black cat behind the killer.
The cat instantly wraps its two paws around the killer's entire body, then it converts the killer's life force into liquid, storing it at the end of its tail.
After the killer loses all of his life force, the black cat injects the remaining liquid into Camilla's mouth.
After consuming all the liquid, Camilla resurrects at the same spot, and her fatal wounds disappear.
Isn't that just like Renata's Bailout skill in League of Legends?
Camilla's Nen ability mechanism is very similar to that ability.
Her power stems from an intense Nen formed after death.