"I saw the potential in Chrollo to change the situation and circumstances in Meteor City."
"Meteor City is currently undergoing a dangerous transformation."
"More and more criminals are using it as their playground to unleash their malice."
"And the residents of Meteor City are the ones suffering from this."
"Someone needs to stand up and change this situation."
Father Lisores continued quietly, disregarding Luke's thoughts: "Among all the residents of Meteor City, Chrollo caught my attention."
"He is excellent, smart, and has great talent and potential; his level of intelligence is already enough for me to recommend him to the elders of Meteor City."
Clearly, Father Lisores thought very highly of Chrollo, even holding great expectations for him.
He hoped that Chrollo could change the current situation in Meteor City.
But…
"But there's a problem."
Father Lisores said slowly: "Chrollo is too young."
"I'm not that old, am I?"
Luke finally spoke, saying his first words since Father Lisores arrived.
He vaguely understood what Father Lisores meant.
"You are different."
Father Lisores shook his head slightly, and seeing the aura that Luke constantly maintained, he smiled: "You have already successfully realized some of your potential and talent."
In this world, potential and talent, of course, refer to Nen ability.
"No matter how talented or how much potential Chrollo has, it's still just talent and potential."
Father Lisores whispered: "In this world, only those who truly grow up to be excellent are truly outstanding."
Chrollo certainly has talent and potential, but he doesn't even know what Nen is. He's too young, and it's not the right time yet. He's not ready.
Luke, however, was different. He was older than Chrollo, and in Father Lisores's eyes, more mature as well.
Most importantly, he has already opened his aura node, learned Nen, and even developed his own Nen ability.
A Nen ability that involves space, no matter what aspect, is definitely powerful and full of potential.
From any perspective, Luke is a promising young man, just as good as Chrollo, and worth paying attention to.
Not to mention, anyone who understands investment knows that you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket.
Besides Chrollo, this young man who appeared here is also very worthy of investment and attention!
"Child, what is your name?"
"Luke."
"Luke, huh? Very good…"
Father Lisores nodded gently.
"If you need anything in the future, you can come to the church."
"Of course, if you don't think it's suitable, you can continue living your own life."
"But I think there's no better place in Meteor City for you to develop than the church."
"If you still want to continue improving yourself…"
Well, there really is no better place in Meteor City than the church.
This better refers to all aspects.
That's also why Chrollo often likes to come to the church.
"Why are you doing this?"
Seeing Father Lisores turn around and about to leave, Luke asked again.
On someone else's territory, Luke was very polite and used a respectful address.
"For no reason…"
Father Lisores looked at Luke again: "Just for myself."
"To ensure my own interests, and the interests of those who live in Meteor City."
This was the first time Father Lisores had spoken so bluntly and directly, completely contradicting his image of being compassionate and guiding people in prayer.
"When you, Chrollo, and the others like Uvogin and Phinks have all grown up…"
"Then you can protect Meteor City and safeguard its interests."
Obviously, besides Chrollo and Luke, Father Lisores also cared about the other children.
"As long as Meteor City is safe, I, who lives here, will naturally benefit as well."
Indeed, the church is a unique and special place in Meteor City.
No matter how chaotic, poor, or dirty the rest of Meteor City is, the church remains grand and magnificent.
"I've traveled the outside world, so I know how dangerous it can be."
Father Lisores spoke slowly: "Therefore, I just want to spend my remaining years peacefully here in Meteor City."
"I don't want anyone to disturb my life."
"All I can do is make this last contribution to myself and to Meteor City, that's all."
With that, he walked out of the room.
"I have one last question."
Luke watched his back: "Is it worth it? Aren't you afraid that we…"
"What could I be afraid of?"
Father Lisores's voice faded into the distance: "Are you afraid that you will waste my support and help? Or you will betray me?"
"All I can do is provide you with the support I can, and the resources I use are nothing compared to the returns you will bring when you grow up."
"What if you don't grow up, or die prematurely?"
"I can just find other suitable children to train."
"In Meteor City, we lack everything except people!"
As Father Lisores had said, Meteor City lacked everything except people.
Meteor City had a population of ten million.
Naturally, such a place would produce many extraordinary individuals.
Luke agreed with Father Lisores.
Only those who truly grew and developed could be considered true geniuses; the rest were merely failures who perished along the way.
"As for what I said about betrayal…"
Father Lisores's voice faded away, leaving behind his final words: "This place is already a place of abandonment; what more can be betrayed?"
Instantly, the room fell silent again.
"A place of abandonment, huh…"
Luke gazed silently in the direction Father Lisores had left.
He faintly heard a countdown.
"Five, four, three, two…"
If Luke guessed correctly, the videotape had been fixed, and Chrollo was counting down with the children, preparing for the re-screening.
Well, to say nothing else, Chrollo had shown extraordinary charisma from a young age.
"Investment, huh?"
Luke muttered to himself.
Then, he slowly smiled.
"Looks like I'll have to visit the church more often from now on."
…
Luke couldn't be 100% certain whether Father Lisores's talk of investment was genuine.
But based on the timeline and Father Lisores's support for Chrollo, he had truly been exceptionally kind to Chrollo.
He helped Chrollo organize this special cartoon screening for the children, and that was just the beginning.
Father Lisores even went to the elder council to recommend Chrollo.
And after Sarasa died, he went to the Kirimori Valley to find Renko to stitch Sarasa's body back together.
Next came the formation of the Phantom Troupe.
Chrollo, true to his expectations, led his troupe of outlaws to become a formidable force in Meteor City.
Things then progressed as Father Lisores had hoped.
Meteor City remained relatively undisturbed by outside interference, maintaining its stable environment.
Even when faced with external threats, such as the Chimera Ant invasion, the Phantom Troupe would return to help clear the situation.
With Chrollo's involvement, the Council of Elders also established connections with external criminal organizations.
These organizations provided the elders with valuable resources and materials in exchange for access to the talent pool within Meteor City.
In short, with Chrollo's help, the city was gradually developing in a positive direction, and that was all Father Lisores needed.
"In the future, Chrollo, with Father Lisores's support, could become a world-class criminal."
"Then I can also temporarily use Father Lisores's support to complete my initial development…"
Well, the fact that Chrollo's future was a compelling example was a major factor in Luke's decision.
Of course, the most important reason was that Father Lisores had already discovered his existence and recognized his abilities.
If Luke wanted to do anything, he would likely find it difficult to escape Father Lisores's influence within Meteor City. Besides, he needed the electricity there to continuously strengthen himself.
Therefore, it was better to join Father Lisores's side and act opportunistically, adapting to the situation.
"This is probably the best choice for me right now."
With this thought in mind, Luke returned to his original position.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere at the venue was completely hyped up.
On stage, Chrollo and others were fully enjoying themselves, using the microphone for some impromptu voice dubbing.
"Wahahaha, what a pity, Clean-Up Rangers…"
It had to be said, Chrollo possessed a natural talent for being a villain.
When he was dubbing the villain character in the cartoon, he himself also portrayed a truly villainous persona.
Not in a grotesque or terrifying way, nor with any maniacal laughter.
He simply naturally exuded the image of a villain.
One could tell at a glance that this guy was playing a bad guy!
This kind of expressive acting stunned the children below, including Uvogin and Phinks.
This truly captivating performance was truly impressive.
"It would be even better if we could record it."
Even Luke, watching this scene, couldn't help but smile, then shook his head slightly, feeling a bit regretful.
If this expressive acting of Chrollo could be preserved, it would be truly valuable footage.
Strictly speaking, it could even become part of his embarrassing history.
"Huh, Luke, you're back?!"
Uvogin, Nobunaga, and the others hadn't noticed when Luke left, nor when he returned.
Hearing Luke's comment, they turned around.
"Were you in the restroom just now…? By the way, what do you think of Chrollo's performance?"
Luke looked up, watching Chrollo on stage, and nodded softly: "He's very into it."