Just as Law and Kurapika stepped into the Hunter Association's building, they saw Beans rushing out of the elevator.
Coincidentally meeting Law, Beans abruptly stopped, opening his eyes wide and asking urgently, "Law, has the Chairman really recovered?"
"Hmm." Law glanced at the sweat on Beans' forehead.
"Excellent!"
Beans was so excited he almost cried.
"Are you going there now?" Law suddenly asked.
"Yeah." Beans replied.
"Wait a bit longer before going," Law said, then looked at Kurapika.
"Ah?" Beans was momentarily confused.
Moments later, the three arrived at the Association's office area.
Beans, with a bitter smile, filled out the execution notification form for Kurapika's promotion to Single-Star, and recorded the master-disciple certification identity information for Law and Kurapika.
He felt this could be done tomorrow, but Law's phrase 'choose the day, not the date' left him speechless.
Then he offered the reason of going to greet Netero, only to be rebuffed by Law's words, "If you don't go, they'll come over."
"Sigh."
Beans finished filling out, let out a light breath, and said, "Done."
"Thanks for the hard work," Law said with a smile.
"Then I'll head out first."
Beans, as if annoyed, directly jumped off the chair.
"Alright, you go ahead," Law didn't mind.
Faced with Law's carefree attitude, Beans could only sigh inwardly, then ran toward the stairs.
Law watched Beans leave the office area, then looked at Kurapika. "Stay here tonight?"
"Alright." Kurapika nodded.
Law smiled, heading toward the exit, Kurapika following closely.
Just then, the sound of a door opening came from not far behind.
Law and Kurapika instinctively stopped, looking back at the direction of the sound. They saw Pariston coming out of his office.
Most likely deliberately not making noise and using Zetsu, so they hadn't noticed Pariston was in the office when they came.
"Hi."
Pariston greeted as usual, then looked at Law with a smile. "Chat?"
Law thought of his earlier lingering doubts and said to Kurapika, "You go up first."
Kurapika glanced at Pariston, nodded, turned, and headed toward the exit.
Pariston watched Kurapika leave until he exited the office area, then turned to Law with a smile. "Your disciple is very good."
Law didn't engage with Pariston's topic, getting straight to the point. "What about?"
"The matter of the assassins," Pariston casually pointed at an office chair, indicating Law sit down, suggesting this matter couldn't be explained in a few sentences, probably needing some time.
Law slightly tilted his head, looking at the nearest chair, but said, "Standing is fine."
The underlying meaning: 'I don't want to hear too much useless talk, so if you have something to say, make it quick.'
Pariston shrugged, found a relatively close chair, sat down, then said, "The assassins who attacked the Chairman have nothing to do with us. If we wanted the Chairman dead, we wouldn't send assassins but act ourselves, ensuring one hundred percent success."
"But you know who sent them," Law said expressionlessly.
Although leaning toward Pariston's statement, he didn't fully believe it.
Pariston chuckled softly. "Ah, indeed. That person is Beyond's partner. Currently, I can only reveal this much to you."
Seeing Pariston so readily admit and reveal the identity, a flicker of surprise passed through Law's eyes. He said flatly, "Why tell me this?"
"Because Beyond wants to meet you," Pariston said.
Law thought for a moment, then said, "Fine, have him find me."
Pausing briefly, he continued, "Done chatting?"
Pariston's smile remained unchanged. He suddenly threw out a question: "Why do you want to go to the Dark Continent?"
This question was once thrown at him by Law… now he threw it back.
"The unknown."
Law raised his index finger, tapping his temple a few times.
After saying this, he directly turned and left.
Pariston smiled, watching Law leave, then took out his phone and dialed Beyond's number.
Moments later, Beyond answered.
"The Chairman has recovered," Pariston said.
Immediately, Beyond's frustrated sigh came from the other end. Then, Beyond said, "Now it's become even more troublesome."
"That side applied pressure, right?" Pariston asked.
"Yeah, deadline one month."
"So, what are you planning to do?"
"Clueless."
"As long as you want to, it shouldn't be difficult."
"Which one are you referring to?"
"Removing the restriction."
The underlying meaning of Pariston's words was to kill Netero.
"If that's the necessary path, I'll stride forward without hesitation," Beyond said seriously.
"That's the best outcome," Pariston replied, then said, "I've already told Law you want to see him."
"How did Law respond?"
"Have you go find him."
"Haha."
Beyond's hearty laughter came through the phone.
It should be like this… after all, it was he seeking to see Law, so naturally he should visit in person.
"That's it then."
Moments later, Beyond directly hung up.
In the office, Pariston put away his phone, stood up from the chair, slightly adjusted his clothes, then walked toward the exit.
Like Beans, he was going to welcome Netero's return… probably the other Zodiacs had gone too.
Elsewhere, Law took the elevator to the 16th floor.
Just after exiting the elevator, Law received a message from Ging, about arranging a meeting time and location.
Law directly replied with [Whale Island] and [Five days later].
The reason for setting the location at Whale Island was to try to deal with the fire element inside Whale Island's active volcano and then peel off the [Lichen] spread around the volcano.
Ging originally planned to leave Whale Island tomorrow morning, but Law set the meeting at Whale Island.
Nevertheless, Ging decided to slip away tomorrow morning and come back at the agreed time.
Law put away his phone and walked toward the Lawlin Museum.
A few steps to the entrance, he pushed the door open directly.
The necessary desks and clutter were there… many bookshelves remained, just with more books.
The sofa in the reception area was almost full. Only Buhara, fat as a small hill, had to sit on the floor.
Law glanced around, greeting everyone, then his eyes met Machi's on the sofa.
Their gazes intertwined like silk threads.
"Law, you're finally back."
The first to make a sound was the loud-mouthed Uvogin.
And the first to move was also him, striding over, an arm wrapping around Law's neck.
Then came Bruna. Not having seen Law for a long time, she missed him greatly. She moved Uvogin aside and climbed onto Law's shoulder.
Because of Law's arrival, the entire company instantly became very noisy.
Only Kurapika and Menchi sat quietly on the sofa, watching everyone catch up with Law.
Coincidentally, both were rising stars in the Association, one a Blacklist Hunter, the other a Gourmet Hunter.