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After listening to Illumi's explanation, Silva closed his eyes in contemplation.
After a long while, he suddenly opened his eyes.
"I don't care if what you said is true or false."
"But you must remember, you are a member of the Zoldyck family."
Silva looked directly into Illumi's eyes, seemingly wanting to imprint this sentence onto the back of them.
Illumi closed his eyes and smiled faintly. He knew Silva didn't believe his words at all; no one present would truly believe his explanation.
But he was, after all, a member of the Zoldyck family. The Zoldyck family chose tolerance.
"I understand."
Illumi opened his eyes, smiling slightly.
"Then, may I return to my room?"
Silva gazed at Illumi. After a moment, he nodded lightly.
"You've worked hard. Go back and rest."
Receiving Silva's permission, Illumi turned towards the door and left alone.
"Illumi wasn't telling the truth. Why did you let him go?"
Kikyo² looked towards Silva, her tone filled with displeasure. She particularly didn't want Illumi to escape her control.
Silva gazed at the courtyard outside the door, filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers. Illumi's back slowly disappeared from view. He said in a deep voice.
"It's useless. Illumi won't possibly tell."
His words made Kikyo frown, lightly biting her lip, feeling unreconciled.
"You also shouldn't always try to keep him by your side."
Silva looked towards Kikyo, his tone low, saying.
"Illumi is different. Compared to ordinary children, he had his own ideas very early on."
"Every action he takes, every behavior, is purposeful."
"He cannot possibly be controlled by any single person or any single force."
Illumi walked alone in the back mountain park of the Zoldyck estate. He looked up at the layers of green leaves blocking the sunlight above, occasionally feeling a gentle breeze blow past. The leaves rustled, creating wave after wave of green ripples.
"Next, it's time to awaken my Nen ability."
He thought for a moment; the first thing to do now was to awaken his Nen ability. He had already mastered the Four Major Principles³ of Nen. Next should be awakening his Nen ability.
The Four Major Principles didn't need to be completely mastered; it was enough for the practitioner to be able to activate them freely. Complete mastery required years upon years of accumulated practice.
But Nen involved more than just basic training. Awakening a Nen ability earlier provided immense help to an individual.
A Nen ability is like a gun. Someone with a gun and someone without are on completely different threat levels.
Without awakening a Nen ability, even if someone trained the basics of Nen to the extreme, it would only be like wearing a bulletproof vest.
Only a shield, no spear – completely non-threatening. Moreover, some spears could ignore the shield's defense and attack directly.
Illumi walked while pondering. Soon, a pavilion appeared ahead.
Inside the park pavilion, there was a stone table, upon which sat sandalwood teacups, a teapot, a tea tray, etc. – a complete tea set.
"Could this perhaps be Zeno Zoldyck's⁴ tea set?"
Illumi thought inwardly, the corners of his mouth lifting. He sat down on the stone bench, picked up a sandalwood teacup and placed it before him, then picked up the thermos flask and filled the cup with water.
"Shua!"
A leaf fluttered down. Illumi's right arm flashed; the leaf was already caught between his index and middle fingers.
"Borrowing this for a moment."
He gently placed the leaf into the teacup, letting it float on the water.
Illumi cupped the sandalwood teacup with both hands, his aura slowly releasing, enveloping the cup.
"Ssss..."
Amidst a subtle "ssss" sound, the leaf in the teacup actually started emitting black smoke. Immediately after, it suddenly split into seven pieces.
"Ssss..."
It wasn't over yet. The leaf, split into seven pieces, smoked again, but this time emitting smoke of seven different colors. The smoke gradually dispersed into the air, and the leaf in the teacup instantly disintegrated into powder.
"This is... smoke representing the seven emotions."
Having studied various smokes representing emotions for a long time, Illumi naturally understood what these colored smokes represented.
Blue for Greed, pink for Envy, red for Gluttony, dark green for Sloth, yellow for Pride, purple for Lust⁵, light green for Wrath.
"Specialist."
Only now did Illumi understand that he belonged to the Specialist category among the six types of Nen abilities.
"However, how to develop it still requires much more research."
Illumi dipped his finger into the water in the teacup. The water's color hadn't changed at all. He stuck out his tongue and licked it lightly.
"Colorless and tasteless."
Illumi raised an eyebrow slightly. He had thought that with such a special manifestation, the water's taste might change in many ways.
"Splash..."
He picked up the teacup, poured out the water, stood up, and strode towards the park path in the distance. Next was to polish his basics while developing his ability, meaning the Four Major Principles and Nen combat techniques.
"A pity, there's no Greed Island⁶ game yet."
Illumi carefully recalled. Ging⁷ was probably only around 13 years old now, just beginning to create the Greed Island game.
Greed Island was the best way to temper a Nen user's abilities in the gentlest manner. Unfortunately, Ging hadn't even started making the Greed Island game yet.
"Buzz..."
Illumi, walking towards the mansion, paused his steps. He took out his vibrating phone; it displayed an unknown caller.
Illumi pressed the answer key. With a "beep," the call connected.
"Mr. Illumi, long time no see."
A steady, deep voice sounded, sketching the image of a middle-aged man in Illumi's mind.
"Adkins Kosser⁸."
Illumi slowly spoke the other party's name.
"Mr. Illumi has such a good memory, still remembering this old man."
Kosser Group headquarters building. Adkins stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, a cigar emitting white smoke in his hand, overlooking the prosperous yet dirty city before him.
"I've come to repay you."
Adkins' words floated into Illumi's ears, making him frown slightly. He said.
"There is only business between us."
"I know. That's why I've found another piece of business for you."
Illumi didn't speak, waiting for his next sentence. Adkins, not receiving an inquiry from the other end of the phone, shook his head slightly and spoke again.
"Recently, perhaps due to Fitz Gerald's death, some people seem to have targeted me."
"Someone within the Gerald family suspects I hired the assassin, so this head of mine is currently very unsafe."
Hearing this, Illumi frowned lightly and said in a deep voice.
"I am not a bodyguard. If you want someone killed, just say it directly."
"No need to beat around the bush with me⁹; those things have nothing to do with me."
"Hahaha, Mr. Illumi is truly straightforward."
Adkins laughed heartily, his tone suddenly changing as he said.
"Fitz Gerald's eldest daughter, Felicia Gerald¹⁰."
"After Fitz Gerald died, his eldest daughter immediately flew back to the family from the United States of Amerigo¹¹."
"She has now taken over all affairs of the Gerald Group. That project is still in the hands of the Gerald Group."
"Meaning, the previous matter isn't over. I need to commission you again to assassinate Felicia Gerald."