Wing smiled slightly. According to Smith's speed, they'd meet at a higher level sooner or later. Maybe they'd even have a chance to compete on the same stage.
He turned and left.
"How much did you get this time?" Liam met up with Shizuku and they compared their respective bonuses after winning their matches.
Shizuku said, "80,000 Jenny."
Liam grinned. "I got 89,000. Almost 90,000. Must be because my opponent was really strong."
A sudden shout came from behind. Liam turned to see the third member of his organization who'd come to the door—oh, not yet. To his mild surprise, it was Kurapika-san who'd found him.
He really found us? Shizuku looked curiously at the Kurta survivor, who seemed a little agitated.
Kurapika pulled out the crumpled note, showed it to Liam, and stared at him. "How can you help me get information about the Phantom Troupe?"
Liam pretended to look him up and down. "Kurta Clan?"
"That's right," Kurapika said. "Since you can recognize it, you must also understand my determination to obtain information about the Phantom Troupe."
"Don't get excited yet. It's not good if your eyes turn red. There are a lot of people here." Liam raised his hand to interrupt. "Come with me. We have a match on the 90th floor and we need to finish today."
Kurapika looked at him, then at the black-haired girl with glasses beside him. He took a deep breath and nodded.
On the 90th floor, Ring A, Liam cleverly sidestepped and avoided his opponent's jab. At the same time, he grabbed the opponent's arm with one hand, pressed forward with his body, and drove a clean elbow between his opponent's chest and abdomen. Bang! Under the Star Mark's control, even though he only used strength matching his opponent's, that elbow made the opponent's eyes bulge wide. He fell softly to the ground.
"TKO! Winner, John Smith!"
The referee announced loudly. Amid the roar of the audience, Liam once again left the ring like a normal person.
Outside, Kurapika waited patiently.
As usual, Shizuku finished her match faster than Liam. Now she sat not far away, observing Kurapika curiously like he was an endangered animal.
Liam quickly came over. Kurapika stood up suddenly, but saw Liam raise his hand to stop him.
"There's a match on the 190th floor, and I think it'll start soon. I need to go watch the show." Liam said. "Want to join us?"
Kurapika unclenched his fists, sighed, and turned away.
"He probably thinks you're playing with him," Shizuku commented.
"Doraemon, whose side are you on?" Liam smiled and ground his teeth at her.
Kurapika walked toward the elevator. Smith's voice came from behind him. "You've waited this long. What's a little longer, right?"
Kurapika froze in place. He took several deep breaths. When he turned around, a fiery red color appeared in his eyes, waiting for Smith's next words.
Liam raised one finger. "One: I've met the Phantom Troupe and know a lot of information about them."
He raised a second finger. "Two: I've formed a grudge with the Phantom Troupe. We can't reconcile anyway. So if you want to deal with the Phantom Troupe, I'll be happy to help. And I can definitely provide effective assistance."
He raised a third finger. "Three: but the premise of all this is that you have to join us."
"Join you?" This was the first time Kurapika had heard so many words about the Phantom Troupe from anyone besides himself. His heart beat excitedly. The fiery red in his eyes intensified. "What kind of organization are you? What you said about help—"
"That's all I'll say for now." Liam raised his hand to interrupt, pointing upward with a smile. "For the rest, after we finish watching the 190th floor match, we can find a place to talk properly. Sound feasible?"
Knowing he was being led by the other party, Kurapika had no choice.
He could only follow these two people.
On the 198th floor, Ring B, Liam and the others found an empty spot to stand high up, watching Killua's match that had already started.
The popularity of this match was genuinely high. In the huge venue, the auditorium was crowded and dark, practically overflowing with boiling enthusiasm. They cheered and applauded the wonderful duel in the ring. Or made pained screams. Nervous shrieks. Someone must have bet heavily.
In the ring, Killua wasn't in a hurry to act. He walked around the ring easily, watching his opponent's stamina continue to decline as his attacks failed again and again.
"Look at that footwork! Look at those steps!" Liam nodded repeatedly as he watched. Worthy of being the favorite child of the Zoldyck family. The genius seed designated to inherit the family business. Killua's technique was almost flawless. Every movement was concise and decisive. They also revealed an assassin's killing intent.
It wasn't until his opponent was drenched in anxious sweat, stamina declining, that Killua showed a wicked smile and stepped forward.
The opponent's entire right arm was torn off. A spray of blood swept up as he rolled down embarrassingly to the bottom of the ring.
Behind the flying blood rain, in the distant auditorium, a young man with black hair past his ears sat watching. Obviously handsome, but his eyes were as dull as a mechanical puppet's. His whole face lacked the breath of life. He watched the match on stage quietly.
Bang, bang. The severed arm rolled across the ring and stopped at Killua's feet.
Killua said, very dissatisfied, "I aimed for your heart, but it went crooked. Your speed is pretty good!"
The opponent whose broken arm was bleeding profusely looked as pale as paper. He sneered. "With your fighting style... you, you can't survive on the 200th floor... you can't..." He tilted his head, covered in cold sweat. He'd lost too much blood. He passed out.
"TKO! The winner is Contestant Killua!" After the referee confirmed his opponent had no fighting ability, he announced Killua's victory and handed him a slip leading to a higher level. "Contestant Killua, you've obtained the right to challenge the 200th floor! Congratulations."
Killua left the ring with the slip and met Smith and the woman in the passage. What surprised him was that the blond boy he'd met before was also there.
"You really came to watch me?" Killua pocketed the pass slip and glared at them, but he was actually happy inside.
He had no friends.
The education he'd received since childhood was that assassins don't need friends. Friends are just burdens.
Seeing Killua's tsundere look that he couldn't hide at all, Liam thought for a moment, pulled him aside, counted on his fingers, and said with a smile, "I've already calculated it. Kid, you have a destined friend. He lives in a place called Whale Island. You can try visiting if you have time."
"Who said I wanted to make friends?" Killua's face flushed slightly. He kept his expression straight. "Whale Island, Shark Island, whatever. I'll think about it later."
After saying goodbye to Liam and the others, Killua came to the elevator door to the 200th floor alone. But he suddenly stopped.
In his mind, he recalled all the rumors about the 200th floor that he'd heard above the 100th floor.
Killua had been thrown into Heavens Arena by his father two years ago. It took him two months to reach the 150th floor. For the next year and ten months, he kept bouncing between the 150th and 190th floors.
Overall there were wins and losses. Ups and downs.
When he won, it was usually cleanly.
Most of the times he lost, it was because he judged he couldn't win easily, so he decisively gave up and left.
In the ups and downs of these floors, Killua had seen too many contestants come and go. He'd heard too many rumors about the masters on the 200th floor.
He'd even passed some fighters from the 200th floor in the hallways.
Every time he caught a glimpse of that kind of person, Killua's assassin instincts screamed. The hundreds of millions of cells in his body seemed to be shrieking, desperately trying to get him to leave immediately.
"Forget it." Killua tore up the pass slip and muttered to himself boredly. "Let's go home! Dad only wanted me to reach the 200th floor anyway. I didn't go up to the 200th floor, but I earned the right to. That counts."
He turned around. His pupils suddenly shrank. Shock flashed across his face. "Big brother?!"
With dull eyes, puppet-like Illumi Zoldyck stood behind Killua. He'd appeared at some point without warning. He asked expressionlessly, "Killua, why aren't you going up to the 200th floor?"
Killua shook his head. Slight sweat appeared on his forehead under the pressure from his older brother.
Illumi said with satisfaction, "That's good. Because it's not an area you can get involved in, Killua. I've watched your matches. You only take action when you're most confident. Killua, you really are a natural assassin."
He raised his hand and reached toward Killua, who didn't dare move at all.
He touched Killua's forehead, confirming his Nen needle was still embedded. Illumi withdrew his hand. "I'm here to take you home. Killua, what did that person say to you just now?"
Killua said angrily, "Do I need to report to you? He didn't say anything!"
"That's good." Illumi approached like a ghost shadow and said faintly, "Killua, you're an assassin. You should live like an assassin."
"Don't you want to go home? Let's go!" Killua angrily left first, frowning, looking gloomy.
Watching Killua walk away, Illumi took out his phone and made a call.
After the call connected, he said, "It's me. Killua stopped at the 200th floor and didn't go up. The conditions of the transaction are complete. Father, Killua is mine."
The person on the other side said calmly, "Illumi, don't forget the most important transaction condition."
"After he saw me, he never mentioned Alluka once." Illumi seemed to be talking about a trivial matter, not his two biological brothers. "Don't worry, Father. My ability—the third Nen needle, 'Hypnosis Needle'—seems quite effective. It really wasn't a waste that I developed it specifically for Killua."
On the other side, Liam couldn't stand Kurapika's glaring gaze the entire way. He raised his hands in surrender. "Stop looking at me like that. Do you think it's feasible to find a place where we can actually talk?"
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