T/n: For Every 100 Power Stone 1+ Chapter ( I hope I don't regret it and get burned out!! XD)
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"You're a sensible kid, after all."
Maha swiftly tucked the H-manga into his robe, closing his eyes and rocking in his rocking chair. "Don't talk to me about 'satisfying' or 'not satisfying'."
"Am I the kind of old man who can laugh out loud while watching his own grandson get beaten up?"
'Yes... yes... you're not.' Zeno's eye twitched discreetly. 'Old fool, he won't even look in the mirror. His smile is stretching from ear to ear.'
He peeked at Sean. The young man was lying spread-eagled on the bed. He took up more than half of the two-meter-plus bed by himself. Looking at his physique, he was almost the size of an adult.
'I'm afraid it won't be long before he's taller than me.'
Zeno was immediately surprised and said, "Grandpa, have you noticed that kid Sean seems to have gotten a size bigger?"
"You may be useless, but your eyes aren't blind." The old man, with his legs crossed, was leisurely admiring the H-manga Zeno had brought, not even lifting his head. "Growing boys, they eat you out of house and home."
"Eating hard and training hard, having this physique is normal."
'Normal?' Zeno frowned. "Why do I remember that when I was ten, I wasn't as tall as him?"
The Zoldyck family wasn't some minor household that couldn't afford food in wartime. On the contrary... in this modern age rampant with food additives, the older generation's physical quality far surpassed that of modern people.
It was only because he, Zeno, was old, and had a habit of hunching, that he seemed to have shrunk a bit.
"That's why I say you're useless." Maha grunted impatiently. "If you have something to say, spit it out. Don't beat around the bush and disturb me while I'm appreciating art."
'Performance art? Or a gallery of flat human bodies?'
Zeno shook his head and said in a low voice, "Grandpa, I'm just saying, is it possible that Sean kid secretly 'broke his limit' behind our backs?"
After a 'limit break,' bone and muscle density increase, muscle fibers thicken, and blood vessel walls expand and thicken. A person does indeed look a size bigger. This is especially true for Enhancers, Nen users who rely on their bodies.
Maha's hand, which was turning the pages of the H-manga, paused. He looked at Zeno like he was an idiot.
"If your brain doesn't work, you can dig it out and throw it away."
"Do you think a 'limit break' is like cheap cabbage, you can just break it whenever you want? Without several years of hard work, don't even think about it."
'That's true...' Zeno chuckled with his hands behind his back. 'It took him a full five years back in the day to temper his body. If this kid really broke it in just a few months... what face would he have to see him in the future?'
"However..." The old man's tone changed, instantly pulling Zeno's heart, which had just settled, back up. "That brat has indeed been a bit strange lately."
"Did you discover something, Grandpa?" Zeno narrowed his eyes at Maha.
The old man rubbed his chin. "I can't put my finger on it. But my intuition tells me he's definitely up to no good. We'll find out when the time comes."
Time flew, gone in an instant.
A week later, the one-month deadline arrived.
Sean got up as usual, washed up, changed into his training clothes, and ate a few bites of the hearty breakfast Gotoh had specially instructed the kitchen to prepare. He warmed up his body slightly, preparing to go out.
"It's right not to eat too much... saves you from throwing it up later."
'This ill-timed old fart is always so annoying.' Sean glanced at Maha. The old man was rocking in his chair, sporting a pair of panda eyes, listlessly flipping through his H-manga. He looked much more haggard than usual.
"Grandpa, don't tell me you were too excited to sleep last night?"
Maha didn't even lift his head. "Even Netero can't get me excited, let alone you."
"Come back after training for another eighty or a hundred years."
"Then please trouble yourself to pull back the corners of your mouth," Sean pouted. "You can't even hide your smile."
Maha's mouth split from ear to ear. "The jig is up, I won't pretend anymore." He laughed wildly. "If you knew this was coming, why did you have to be so stubborn, Sean?"
"If you had just given in to Grandpa earlier, passing the test would have been a simple matter of me saying the word."
Sean laughed too. "I'm not you. I'm not impotent. I can't go soft even if I want to."
Maha, rare for him, didn't get angry. He closed the H-manga, slowly got up from the rocking chair, and moved closer. He stood on his tiptoes, patted Sean's shoulder, and said, "Trust me, no one can stay hard forever."
"There will always come a day when you go soft."
"And you—" Maha looked at Sean seriously, "That day is today!"
Sean's eyes flickered. He brushed Maha's hand away and said flatly, "Then we'll just have to wait and see."
With that, the young man pushed open the door without looking back and strode out.
"Master, I'm heading out too." Gotoh cleared the dishes and followed right behind.
Maha nodded, watching the master and servant leave. He glanced up at the sky. 'Early in the morning, dark clouds covered the sun. It seems like a rainy day. Perfect for crying and being emo.'
'Of course, it would be even better if a certain dog-thing who doesn't even dare to see his grandson wasn't here to spoil the mood.'
The door creaked shut.
Maha, with his hands behind his back, snorted coldly. "Come on out. They're long gone. What are you still standing there for?"
"Don't rush me, Grandpa. This is high-tech, it's not easy to handle." As the old man's voice fell, the curtain moved, and Zeno walked in, holding two pairs of glasses.
The glasses were custom-made. A faint electronic arc flickered on the lenses. Luckily, Sean was already far away, otherwise he would have recognized them at a glance—
These were the "Monitoring Glasses" that Tsubone wore in the original story when tracking Killua, who had run off with Alluka.
The "Monitoring Glasses" relied on Kikyo's Nen ability and were connected to all the cameras in the Zoldyck estate.
With them, one could clearly capture images from any corner of the Zoldyck estate, naturally including—the training room!
"Tsk. Silva's wife, her background is a bit lacking, but her Nen ability is interesting." Maha took the "Monitoring Glasses" from Zeno, put them on, and looked around curiously.
Inside the training room, Silva stood with his arms crossed, thick sandbags tied to his left and right feet, which were suspended from two stone balls, doing the splits.
He looked full of spirit, his condition off the charts!
"Not bad. Looks like he slept alone last night. No 'pa'."
Zeno: "..."
'Sweatdrop.'
'He didn't even know how to respond.'
But the old man was right about one thing. Sex was strictly forbidden before a big fight. Silva's condition showed he was taking this seriously.
"I've already relayed the message you asked me to, Grandpa. Now we just wait for Sean to show up and experience the cruelty of being targeted by an assassin!"
"Bull-f-ing-shit!" Maha swung his hand and gave Zeno a big slap. "Remember! It's a lesson! You're even thinking of killing your own grandson..."
"Zeno I really think you should just change your surname. I can't afford to lose that much face."
Zeno: "..."
'Old fool, hurry up and die. As soon as you do, I'll change the family name to Ke-Di-Zou!'
Zeno took Maha's slap without a sound, silently pushing up the "Monitoring Glasses" on the bridge of his nose.
The electronic arc flashed.
It clearly captured—
The training room door pushing open—
Sean, dressed in his training clothes, walked in expressionlessly!