The magical beast dragon soared through the sky, cold strong winds blowing against their faces.
Silva and the others stood near the magical beast dragon's head, steady as mountains, unaffected by the strong winds.
As for Law, he stood near the tail, some distance away from Silva and the others.
The reason was that the magical beast dragon was terrified of Law. Only by keeping Law far from its head could it maintain basic operation.
At the moment, Law was looking at his phone, a slight smile on his lips.
As a normal man, even someone like Law would frequently send sweet nothings before meeting his girlfriend.
The chat mentioned Menchi, but no hint of jealousy could be seen from Machi.
Just as Machi and Nobunaga's views suggested, Law didn't care at all about what consequences their identities might cause in the city.
If anything happened, Law would handle it all.
Speaking of Menchi, Law thought of Linne, who was also in the city. Perhaps he could recommend Menchi to Linne and have Linne take on another disciple.
Presumably, with Menchi's talent, Linne shouldn't turn her away.
Moreover, the Gourmet Hunter profession was so niche, and it urgently needed someone to represent it.
As for him, he was going to the Dark Continent next, and who knew when he'd be back.
Just then, the phone vibrated.
Someone was calling. Not Machi, but Cheadle's number.
Law had saved all the Zodiac members' numbers because one of his reasons for joining the Zodiacs was to see if there were any suitable people he could recruit.
While answering the call, Law released Aura to block out the wind noise.
"The assassins who attacked the Chairman are from the Blackstone Family," Cheadle got straight to the point.
"The Blackstone Family?"
"A well-known assassin family on the Azian Continent," Cheadle explained.
Law understood immediately, 'An assassin family similar to the Zoldycks, probably paying taxes like the Zoldycks too...'
If he remembered correctly, Beyond's current area of operation was the Azian Continent. So it made sense for Beyond to issue a commission to Blackstone.
However, the doubt in his mind still couldn't be explained.
"Law?" Cheadle sounded strange.
"Sorry, I was thinking about something. Please continue," Law snapped back and hurriedly replied.
"We still can't identify the person behind it. And we want to know when you'll arrive?" Cheadle said.
'Right. Except for Pariston and Ging, the other Zodiac members didn't know Netero had a son, let alone the restriction between Netero and Beyond.'
Law thought to himself, silently calculating speed and travel time, and replied, "Around 7 p.m. Is the entrance to the Hide-and-Seek set at the hospital?"
"Hmm."
Cheadle replied, also calculating various matters in her heart.
"Okay, let's meet at the hospital then," Law said.
"Alright. One last thing."
"Go ahead."
"It's about the follow-up handling of the Chimera Ant incident." Cheadle hesitated on how to begin.
"And?"
"The distribution of rewards and achievements should be based on the Review Department's member list. Especially regarding rewards, the compensation paid to the deceased's families will take up a large portion."
"You and Ging, and those people with unclear identities, are not on the member list for the mission execution. Therefore, the Association has decided not to include your actions in this operation."
"I see. Is all that important?" Law asked.
"..."
Cheadle was momentarily speechless.
'Not important?'
'Such outstanding achievements were enough to let a Hunter with no stars directly bypass various restrictive conditions and rise straight to the max level… becoming Triple-Star Hunter.'
'It was like a legendary wild boss monster lying before you with its last drop of HP, and you, a freshly created character, only needed to scratch the boss's skin to gain the experience to reach max level.'
'Furthermore, the rewards. Although Pro Hunters are a high-income group, the reward was also a considerable sum for hunters.'
'And you ask if it's important?'
Cheadle took a deep breath and asked, "Do you personally have no objections?"
"None," Law replied lightly, as if it was nothing.
If the authority of a Triple-Star Hunter was higher than that of a Zodiac member, that would be another matter.
Since the authority was the same, these achievements were of no importance to Law at all.
Hearing this, Cheadle fell silent.
She brought this up actually to explain the pros and cons to Law, including the impact on Netero.
But since Law truly didn't care, there was no need to explain to him.
Cheadle had just taken a breath… now she let out a soft sigh.
The request that followed might be somewhat pushing it, but for Netero, she had to speak up.
"Law." Cheadle's tone became solemn.
"Hmm?"
Law heard the change in Cheadle's tone.
"Morel and Knov are dissatisfied with the Association's decision and have been trying every way to secure the achievements and rewards you deserve," Cheadle said.
"Is that so." Law thought about Morel and Knov's styles… it wasn't surprising at all.
"But their actions are not beneficial to the Chairman. So, could you please persuade Morel and Knov to give up?"
Pausing, Cheadle felt the addition wasn't enough and wanted to briefly explain the reasons and express her apology for making such a demanding request.
However, what Cheadle didn't expect was that Law agreed straightforwardly once again.
"Don't you want to know the reason?" Cheadle asked, puzzled.
"Ah? Didn't you just say their actions would be detrimental to Netero?"
"..."
In her office by the window, Cheadle held the phone in one hand, slowly lowering her head. Light projected from outside coated her glasses with a sheen.
'This man... truly didn't care about fame.'
'Just like Ging. No, perhaps even more exaggerated than Ging.'
'That guy Ging couldn't be bothered to care, but this guy Law was completely indifferent.'
The call ended. Cheadle looked at her phone, a complex expression on her face.
That the matter could be resolved so simply was originally something worth being happy about, but she couldn't feel happy at all.
Why was that?
Guilt?
Yes, it was guilt.
She knew the crucial role Law played in the Chimera Ant Extermination Operation. But for the sake of stabilizing the Association's current situation, all she considered were Netero and the Association, her focus heavily skewed away from Law's gains and losses.
So even though she was very sorry, she still made an excessive request to Law.
At that time, her guilt wasn't obvious yet, or perhaps it was suppressed by selfishness.
But when she saw Law's nonchalant attitude, the suppressed guilt surged out all at once.
"I owe you a favor."
Cheadle silently put away her phone, murmuring to herself in a low voice.
…
Hide-and-Seek Space.
Morel received a call from Law.
It was an interdimensional space, yet normal communication was possible.
It was a strange phenomenon, perhaps originating from Knov's notion that 'a mansion should naturally have phone lines'.
First, explaining to Knov and the others that the call was from Law, Morel then listened silently to Law's words.
After a long while, Morel let out a heavy sigh.
The black sunglasses prevented others from seeing Morel's eyes.
"What did Law say?" Knov asked somewhat anxiously.
"He said he'll probably arrive around 7 p.m., and also told me to stop trying to secure achievements and rewards for him," Morel said somberly.
"What?!"
A loud shout echoed through the entire room.
The voice's owner wasn't Knov, but Nique.
"Um, can I have the video marble back?" Nique said, on the verge of tears.
If possible, he wished everyone present could forget about the video marble.
If he had known Law would tell Morel not to meddle, Nique would never have handed over the video marble in the first place.
Because he didn't need to appear as a 'witness'!
Nique felt so heartbroken his teeth were almost falling out.