Chapter 247: Killua is Born x The Curtain Rises
"Pant..."
A few seconds before 4:00 AM,
The wooden clock leaning against the corner struck...
Roy opened his drowsy eyes and met Gotoh's anxious gaze head-on. He froze for two seconds, then...
He turned his head to look out the window. The heavy night had not yet faded, but at the horizon, a ray of daylight was already stirring beneath the darkness. His nostrils flared as he took a deep breath of the fresh air blowing from the peak of Kukuroo Mountain, and he turned over and sat up from the bed.
Today is auspicious, suitable for childbirth, taboos funerals; it is... new life.
The boy withdrew his gaze. Gotoh had already handed over the clothes prepared in advance. Roy put them on, got straight out of bed, and briefly washed up. This time... he didn't go for his usual morning run.
He then blurred into light, passed through the wall, and with another glance, under the young butler's stunned gaze, he appeared and stood in the mottled corridor outside the door, filled with the aura of time.
"Let's go," he said.
"Yes." Gotoh pushed up the glasses on his nose, recovered his senses, watched him walk away, and went down to prepare breakfast.
Master and servant strolled under the intertwining darkness and morning light, heading in two different directions. Watching maids hurrying about and birds chirping low, he walked slowly towards the spacious master bedroom on the second floor.
Tap... tap... Along the way, a series of footsteps unknowingly joined him...
"Killua is about to be born." Illumi wore a green vest over navy blue martial arts pants, with a double row of nail-like buttons on his chest. With his hands in his pockets, his gaze remained that hollow, lifeless look. He tilted his head and asked, "Do you hope he has black hair, or..."
"Silver hair."
"Silver" is the color of the family head, representing the inheritance of the Zoldyck family.
Some people say they don't care much, but when the crucial moment arrives, their hearts fluctuate uncertainly. Clearly... he was far from being as calm as he appeared on the surface. Roy didn't look at Illumi, his eyes fixed only on the road ahead, and said casually, "Either is fine."
His thoughts, however, drifted far away with the wind, suddenly recalling the words his Great-Grandfather had said to him... Those who walk the path of [Faith] must be clear about their path ahead. Not for a family, but for... a nation composed of thousands of small families who believe in you, worship you, and follow you!
Therefore, bloodline inheritance is limited to a family, which is far, far from the path he must walk now and in the future...
"You know, whether he has black hair or silver hair, I..." Illumi opened his mouth, but was interrupted by a sharp glare and a swift chop from Roy.
"You can shut up now."
"Don't say anything more."
Illumi: "Okay."
Roy sighed silently in his heart.
As the saying goes, rivers and mountains can be changed, but one's nature is hard to alter. Right now, he didn't expect to be able to straighten out his foolish little brother, so he simply let him be. However, as they rounded the corner, he stopped Milluki.
It was too early. Milluki had never woken up this early before. He was carried down from his bed by Luca, looking dazed. Luca, walking ahead with Milluki on his back, heard the noise.
Luca stopped and turned around to greet Roy and Illumi...
"Young Master, wake up. It's Eldest Young Master and... Young Master Illumi..."
"Emmm..." The little fatty didn't notice when he heard Roy's name, drowsily unwilling to open his eyes. But the moment he heard Illumi's name, he immediately jolted awake, his eyes snapping open, and slid down from Luca's back.
"Big Brother,"
"Illumi."
"What did you call me?" Illumi looked dangerously at Milluki.
The little fatty already showed signs of his future plumpness. His narrow eyes narrowed, and a cold glint occasionally surfaced beneath them... He stiffened his neck, looked up, and glared back at Illumi without saying a word.
The atmosphere in the corridor instantly stiffened...
Luca lowered his head and wiped his sweat. Not knowing if it was from carrying Milluki or from the "chill," he quietly retreated to the side.
Roy stood nearby with his hands behind his back, watching with interest. Seeing... Illumi pull his hand out of his pocket, unable to resist making a move, he grabbed Illumi and Milluki, one in each hand, just like holding Shisui and Itachi, and walked forward with a gentle voice: "No fighting."
"Hmph!" Held by Roy, Milluki angrily turned his head away, stubbornly refusing to look at Illumi.
Illumi felt a warmth in his palm. He was visibly stunned for a moment, kept his head down, and remained silent, taking small steps to keep up with Roy's long strides, enjoying a rare moment of peace. Tap... tap... The trio, plus Luca, took up half the width of the corridor.
Holding Illumi on one side and Milluki on the other, Roy passed by the dim little room, leading his younger brothers in a bow towards the room. Creak~ The door opened, letting out a sliver of cartoon sounds, followed by... Maha and Zeno walking out.
"Great-Grandfather/Grandpa..."
"Hmm... everyone's here. Let's go..." Starting with one person, three in the middle, two more added, until there were five... Except for Silva, who was guarding Kikyo and already waiting in the second-floor bedroom.
Maha, Zeno, Roy, Illumi, Milluki... arranged from front to back, forming a line, silently went up to the second floor. Entering their view, they saw Silva's tall figure, arms crossed, waiting in front of the door...
Maha, sporting a stubborn but unyielding tuft of hair right in the middle of his bald head, casually found a window and swayed his old waist. The others each found a spot and waited silently...
Whoosh~ A gust of wind blew away the chill of early spring and brought the heat of early summer. A hint of summer heat rose. The daylight floating beneath the darkness at the horizon finally tore open a gap, revealing a touch of fish-belly white.
"It looks like the weather will be very good today." The red sun had not yet leaped out of the horizon, but it had already burst forth with ten thousand rays of rosy clouds, piercing through the night... Zeno leisurely walked up to Roy, leaning against the window frame with him to admire the sunrise... In those sharp, eagle-like eyes that also carried a hint of cloudiness, a trace of exhaustion from traveling overnight could not be concealed.
"Grandpa,"
"Mm,"
"Did the mission go smoothly?"
"Smooth and not smooth." Zeno's white hair swayed. He looked at Roy and said, "Just like you, I killed the person, but unfortunately... it wasn't the main target either."
"A scapegoat rag doll?" Roy frowned.
Guzman's "death" in Meteor City was still vivid in his mind. A few days ago, he heard from Gotoh that the intelligence Hall had gathered had been relayed, stating that... the [Truth] cult was like a prairie fire, expanding rapidly across several continents, and had already attracted the high attention of the V5, Kakin, and the Hunter Association. The other party's unscrupulous behavior, completely disregarding the major continents... was truly arrogant enough. He just... didn't know who was more despicable, them or Beyond and Pariston back then, who schemed against Netero by deliberately capturing "Ants" and releasing them into the NGL to start cultivating Gu! Roy's eyes flickered, suddenly realizing he seemed to have forgotten something. He tilted his head to look at Zeno and asked, "Grandpa, who was the client?" There were many people who wanted Guzman dead, but those familiar with his situation and able to provide intelligence to Zeno at any time... were not many.
Zeno narrowed his eyes and chuckled: "It's a very interesting kid."
"He hired me to kill Guzman, help him draw fire, and create an opportunity for a one-on-one fight for him. Let me think, his name seems to be..." "Hisoka Morow."
[Truth] Archbishop... Lord Hisoka... X.
[Pervert] King of One-on-One Fights... Hisoka Morow... √.
In the original story, he joined the Phantom Troupe just to find a chance to fight Chrollo... And now, joining the [Truth Cult] just to find a chance to 'truth' other Archbishops... It seems there is no difference...
"Sounds like something he would do." Roy nodded.
Zeno looked surprised: "You know him?"
"Met him once. I previously shoved him into a wall."
"Hmm." Zeno patted Roy's shoulder: "Based on my understanding of that kid, maybe you are also on his list." Roy shrugged, noncommittal.
Obsessed with one-on-one fights, he even dared to tell Netero to his face on the Hunter Association's airship that... his purpose for participating in the exam was nothing else but to fight Netero one-on-one... Being on his list didn't seem like much of a rarity.
"Let him," Roy said indifferently. "If he doesn't come, he lives; if he comes, he dies. How simple."
The boy casually glanced at his panel. His "Evaluation" had long grown from a "green apple seedling" to a "fruit-bearing apple tree". Who is the fruit farmer, and who is the apple... remains to be seen...
A gust of wind blew, making Roy's black hair sway slightly. The two spoke in low voices without avoiding others. On the side,
Illumi leaned against the wall, rubbing a wooden nail, silently memorizing these words in his heart... "Truth Cult... Hisoka Morow..." "Since he has hostility towards Nii-san, then..."
"I will,"
"Kill them all!"
The boy's black hair was even longer than Roy's, draped like ink down to his waist. A faint light flickered in his palm, which was exactly the [Ken] he had recently learned from Maha and mastered not long ago!
Perhaps it was destiny... or perhaps perverts are always drawn to each other... or perhaps it was the "Law of Aggregation of Extraordinary Malice"... On this dawn, on this morning where the red sun had not yet leaped out, but the morning glow had already torn a corner of the darkness...
Feeling the bloodline bonds of his older brothers like Roy, Illumi, and Milluki in the corridor outside the bedroom door filled with the aura of time; feeling his father Silva maintaining a steady facade while actually holding back anxious waiting inside;
And feeling the anticipation of his grandfather Zeno and great-grandfather Maha...
"Wah..." An infant's cry, accompanied by Kikyo's hysterical muffled groan... transmitted from afar through the crack in the door and the window... Roy, Zeno, Illumi, Silva, Maha, and the ignorantly yawning Milluki, who had already woken up from his sleepiness, all looked over... Creak~
The bedroom door opened.
Entering their view... Two pink ponytails holding a delicate infant walked out...
"Master, he is born, it's... silver hair!" Tsubone carefully held Killua, revealing his tender, pink little head, with some wet silver hair lying limply on it... She said with undeniable excitement.
Silva stepped forward, took Killua from Tsubone's hands, and held him in his arms. Looking closely, with his head lowered, his eyes were full of gentleness: "You've worked hard." The man smiled rarely.
He nodded slightly to Tsubone, then looked at Maha: "Grandpa,"
Maha passed by like a gust of wind. Before Silva could react, Killua was already in his arms. The old man didn't even look at him, saying gruffly: "Why aren't you going in to see your wife?"
Facing the little dog Killua, he smiled from ear to ear... The speed and swiftness of his face-changing was a rare sight in the world...
Roy and Zeno exchanged a glance, both looking at each other in dismay.
"When I was born back then, I didn't see him this happy either." The 'One Kill a Day, Active for Life' on his chest swayed in the wind. Zeno shook his head and said to Roy: "Only you, back then, could compare to... Killua."
As Zeno spoke, before Roy could zone out, he brushed past Roy's shoulder and crowded around... The old man, with his hands behind his back, said faintly: "They all like you. Your father, your great-grandfather... even your two younger brothers like you."
Roy leaned against the window frame. Behind him were ten thousand rays of rosy light successively breaking through the darkness. He reached out to catch a ray and smiled... Who says otherwise? That mediocre me from the past was me, and this slightly grown me now is me... The tide comes to Padokea, and today I finally know I am me. It's nothing more than this...
Thump... A faint heartbeat came from the tiny infant held in Maha's arms.
Roy gently touched his chest, hearing his own heart make a muffled Thump, like a massive bell, harmonizing with Killua, harmonizing with Illumi stepping forward silently beside him, and harmonizing with Milluki crowding around curiously... He silently comprehended the wonderful feeling of "bloodline connection." Looking up again... he hazily seemed to see a...
A grand curtain belonging to an "Era", slowly drawing open.
Yorbian Continent, Northeast Sea Area, Greed Island.
A man and a woman, holding an infant in their arms, stood overlooking the sea, their expressions different.
The man, with a hood covering his head, held a small infant in his arms, about two months old. Afraid he would catch a chill, he was bundled up like a dumpling, with only his eyes exposed, and his mouth sealed with a pacifier he was sucking on... His face looked awful, as if trying to persuade her to stay: "Can't you not go back?" Ging's sideburns were messy. Since parting with Roy, the man had visibly become much more haggard, unknown if it was from staying up late or from worry. He looked yearningly at the woman in front of him. The woman named Vivian had a face as cold as black ice. Only occasionally, when looking at Gon held by Ging, would a rare hint of gentleness appear. She firmly and slowly shook her head: "I have repaid your kindness. We agreed back then... after giving birth to Gon, I will leave, and you are not allowed to stop me." Ging frowned: "Is the Dark Continent really that good?"
Vivian remained silent. Her beautiful hair swayed with the sea breeze, strands of hair falling onto her face, slightly messy, but her eyes kept looking... gazing far into the depths of the sea, to the other shore, to that profound, lofty, unimaginably large continent separated by Lake Mobius. She said calmly, "It's not good, but... that is my home."
"Where I came from, is where I should return."
"What about Gon? What will Gon do?" Ging held Gon with one hand and grabbed Vivian's hand with the other: "You can wait. Wait until I get the permit, and I will personally escort you home."
"You know, I also like adventuring. My ancestors once set foot there too. Sooner or later... I will definitely go!"
"I believe it." The woman leaned over and kissed Gon on the cheek. With reluctance yet determination, she straightened up and forcefully broke free from Ging's large hand... She didn't dare to look at Gon again, nor did she dare to look at Ging again. She simply turned her head away, still gazing into the depths of the sea, and said, "I can't wait that long." As she spoke, she began to petrify from head to toe, until she turned into an ordinary rock...
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