Did you get a mental scar from being forced to undress yesterday?
"Yeah, a little. Back then, every move I made was as quick as possible. Good thing I had two belts on yesterday."
Two belts is even harder to understand.
"Because a short lead made you too relaxed and led to failure, is it really okay for the future head of the Zoldyck family to act like this?"
Don't lecture me like an elder.
Chrollo stayed quiet, covering his mouth as he thought.
Did his plan miss this detail? This couldn't even be called a negotiation; it fell apart from the start. Did someone else make a deal with Saiki first? Or had the Hunter Association group already left the area?
It felt off. On one hand, Saiki might really choose that. On the other, as Zoldyck's heir, how could he allow his brother and his own freedom to be in someone else's hands?
Saiki Kusuo was puzzled too. The Phantom Troupe could do whatever they wanted, so why drag him into it?
Seeing Chrollo's shocked look, Saiki Kusuo rubbed his slightly hungry stomach. A normal person's belly hadn't eaten for almost twelve hours; it was about to rumble.
Okay, what's your plan? Let me hear it.
"Time is tight. I've already sent the other troupe members to scout new territories. The plan is like this: using you as the base..."
Hey, I'm a living person.
"For every 1-2 lord pieces we collect, we'll hand them to you, raising the threshold to start siege battles. After yesterday's fight, only a small group came out unharmed. If we start another siege soon, in that voting setup, we'll be short on numbers. The siege game could get rigged by them, picking ones tied closely to headcount."
So the injured ones weren't healed right away.
"Raising the siege threshold ensures the area isn't challenged easily. We can rest and recover, and use the condition of not abusing power to win over elites. That's the early setup. Later, once your powers return, your teleportation will make us unbeatable. You can move freely between the Dark Continent and Kukuroo Mountain, right? You even brought that huge dog over."
So that's why you're waiting here for me, and why I'm the base.
But how does this connect to me going with you to take over places? Can't I just stay in this safe hotel?
"First, lots of people now know where you are and who Saiki Kusuo is. Second, don't forget pieces can be stolen and used right away. How do you protect them from being taken?"
Joking aside, how could anyone snatch pieces from me?
Chrollo raised his hand, with several pieces in his palm.
Saiki Kusuo: ...
Damn thief tricks.
"Your nightgown only has two pockets. Lord pieces can't be stored there, and away from a lord, they float near the holder. Unless stolen, for someone as straightforward as you, the only option is to put them in a pocket."
Where else would I put them? Pockets are for holding things, right?
"No need for someone my level. Just a petty thief who practiced a bit could brush past you and walk off with six pieces, making us all follow his orders. Saiki, I know you've always been proud, but right now, you have no power. Can you really handle this? That's why I need you to come with me."
You take the pieces and go. What do you need me, the lord, for?
"Huh?" Chrollo looked surprised. "Then stay safe. I'll take the pieces."
Saiki Kusuo: ...
No, wait a second! Come back!
Chrollo saw his worry: "I won't use these pieces for bad things. Once your powers return, you can have them back."
Delete the Phantom Troupe's wiki entry first, then say that.
*Wikipedia says the Phantom Troupe is an evil group that does all kinds of bad things.
"Ah... no, we all need that entry."
You Phantom Troupe guys are really all weird.
"If you don't trust me with the pieces, then it's my first suggestion: come with me. I'll protect you, which also means watching you. I won't accept you waiting here. Holding just these few pieces means sure defeat. We have to take over other places."
How strong are you to think you can protect me while holding the lord pieces?
"I'll gather intel carefully and use my ability to hide your identity. It's because only I can do this that I'm the one watching you. Otherwise, it'd be Phinks or Feitan here."
Both sound like they'd assassinate me. At least send Nobunaga.
"He'd slash anything within three meters, often without checking friend or foe. Hard to protect anyone like that."
Forget I said that.
"If we go to areas with no lord or just one or two pieces, I can try challenging. Best if it's unclaimed land. For that, we might need to venture deep into the continent."
This sounds more dangerous. Why take a normal person deep into the Dark Continent? Are you protecting me or tricking me to some empty spot to kill me?
"Assassination is your Zoldyck business, right? We don't do that. If we wanted you dead, we could do it now. Tricking you makes no sense, and after knowing each other so long... do you really think I'd kill you easily?"
I think you'd kill a normal person easily, all things considered.
"Yeah... you're right." Chrollo couldn't argue. "So, what's your final decision?"
...
"Whoa!! The door just opened!"
Inside the room, Saiki Kusuo stood with arms crossed against the wall. Nearby were sofas and cabinets, some upright, some tipped over.
All sorts of stuff had been used by Chrollo to block the door earlier. Now Chrollo moved them one by one and unlocked the door.
The persistent knockers outside tumbled in one after another.
Those people calmed down in front of others, fixing their looks and clothes. The lead man said: "Hello, both of you. Haha... sorry, we lost it a bit. Can I ask about your relationship..."
The speaking man got yanked up and thrown out by someone behind.
"Sorry for the rudeness. Do you two need anything? We can provide it."
Saiki Kusuo tilted his head, about to speak. Chrollo cut in first: "We're hungry. Can you prepare some food? No need to bring it up; we'll go down to eat soon."
"Sure! Our restaurant is open 24 hours!"
—Restaurant—
Saiki Kusuo ate lunch alone.
Maybe the timing was off; lunch hour had passed, dinner not yet. The whole restaurant had no other guests; just him eating.
Behind the restaurant was a carved stone wall. In the shadows on its back, two people stood, one tall, one short.
"Looks like she really lost her powers."
"Yes, sir. We saw it with our own eyes during the siege."
"But where's the thing that removes powers? We can't let it fall into anyone else's hands."
"She brought three things. The glasses are still on, the collar on her neck, and the other thing... um, it's this little cat!" A plainly dressed female servant held up the cat in her hand.
"..."
White-haired Saiki Kusuo looked down, using x-ray vision to see it was a mechanical cat.
"Definitely something Kusuke made, this one."
"Sir, we already took the collar... don't worry."
"How did you take it? Don't make the other side suspect we want the collar."
"I-I saw him put the collar in his coat pocket! So our target is that coat!"
"Ah, good then. I don't know why, but quite a few people want his coat."
White Saiki Kusuo grabbed the cat. The robot cat let out a warp sound, without using speech book words. But no matter; the original body wouldn't use it anyway, and barely paid attention to it.
It was meant to just make these dark creatures watch the original's safety a bit more. Now, white Saiki Kusuo planned to transform into the cat. While transforming, shrink to Warp's size, then use illusion to change how anyone who sees him pictures him in their minds.
It could fool the original body without powers now. As for that Chrollo? Doesn't matter.
Two hours later.
I'm Kusuko Zoldyck, almost three years old in two months, a native of the Hunter world without powers. On identity, I'm closer to another powered person named Saiki Kusuo, but he left the Hunter world a year and a half ago. I once thought the world's strongest had become me; I was like a creator god, with countless dark creatures bowing to me, calling me king. In their constant worship day and night, I finally understood the truth of human life.
It's best for humans to stay normal.
From memories, my original has a family that cares for him, friends, and outside life with movies to watch and unknowns to explore.
But I can only live in this world I made myself, from the basic rules to future events—whatever I want, I can predict.
So boring, that kind of life.
I vaguely remember a ship coming to the Dark Continent, but not when. This wait is like game makers spending decades on a big game, yet unable to release it. Even free release would fail because countless people couldn't join due to strength issues.
Yes, the Dark Continent game is without doubt a dangerous one. Though he did his best to ensure no human deaths, it's still dangerous.
Needs Nen users only.
So he was very patient.
On the third day after the original left, he left the Dark Continent full of patience.
He really wanted more people to know about this amazing thing he made.
His plan was to find some tough Nen users, pay them, then teleport them straight to the Dark Continent for testing.
Didn't expect bad luck right away, running into Illumi in Meteor City.
Who'd think that when baiting Meteor City folks with money, a long-haired big brother would blend in? He wasn't close to Illumi, really not. Though they shared almost the same blood, and he even had white hair like a miracle, he really wasn't close to this big brother.
He immediately whacked Illumi on the head with a club, knocking out memories tied to his white-haired self.
But when Illumi talked to others who knew him, it'd expose that he appeared in Meteor City with Saiki Kusuo's face but white hair. Guesses about why the original dyed his hair white, doubts about why someone so like the original showed up in Meteor City—any of that threatened others' reputations.
Facing endless doubt voices about him, he could only whack more heads.
When tired of whacking, he'd think: the original knows so many people, right? Connections too wide, huh? Does Meteor City have posters of him?
Using it a lot improved his control over memory deletion. Powers still need training, after all.
They say one lie needs countless more to cover it.
So to fix the lie of his own existence, he whacked more and more heads.
But the head-whack memory change power had a fatal flaw. Human memories can't be messed with freely. When making someone forget key parts, the other side fills in the blanks themselves.
Not sure where it went wrong; he only deleted the white-haired him from memories, but Illumi and the troupe talked more and more. Everyone's memories got messier, until one day, Chrollo realized.
Yes, so he kinda hated Chrollo, and didn't stop the dark creatures from going after his coat.
Chrollo realized they must have been hit with some Nen that messed up memories.
When the group sat to review everything they all saw, white Saiki Kusuo knew he couldn't hide anymore.
And right when about to confess everything, a voice in his heart popped up. On impulse, he totally rewrote everyone's already confused memories.
Anyway, the original didn't need this world anymore, right?
As expected, a year and a half later, everything went smoothly as he planned. Just when he thought he could fully impersonate the original Saiki Kusuo, have family and friends, live a life, Saiki Kusuo came back.
But when he expected the original's anger and questions, the original never came looking for him.
And now, the original totally lost powers in front of him and stayed. Anyone would seize this chance, him included.
Such a chance, how could it not tempt...
"So the little cat's here. Thanks for watching him, server. I'll take him back now." A voice suddenly appeared. Kusuko, disguised as Warp, was deep in his opening monologue and hadn't reacted yet; already grabbed by the scruff.
Bad, how could a robot cat have soft neck fur? Exposed right away!
Chrollo's deep eyes stared at the cat. Even as Saiki Kusuo's clone, it got a bit nervous; after all, he'd almost been found out before.
"Amazing, a robot cat made so real." After a while, Chrollo said.
Kusuko: Good, not exposed.
"By the way, server, there's a group of troublemakers in the back yard. I've dealt with them. For the hotel's cleanliness, still need cleaners to handle the... scene."
Kusuko: This guy almost said battlefield, right.
Kusuko wagged his tail, mind-telling the server it's fine, then played standby as Chrollo carried him off.
When Chrollo entered the restaurant, Saiki Kusuo was already having dessert after the meal.
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