Salin walked over, with Bruna sitting on her shoulder.
Always fearing his younger sister, Sabro dared not talk back, adopting a subservient and timid manner.
After using practical action to make Sabro low-key, Salin suddenly looked at Buhara. The latter stiffened, carefully placing the snack about to enter his mouth back onto the table.
Salin didn't speak, but moved her eyes towards the bookshelf area.
Buhara couldn't help but look towards the bookshelf area. Various books were scattered messily, which is a very familiar sight.
Immediately, he showed a bitter smile. Without needing Salin to spell it out, he obediently walked towards the bookshelves, ready to sort and put away the scattered books.
Salin's authoritative, 'big sister boss' demeanor subconsciously made Uvogin, Nobunaga, and Menchi act more restrained.
Biscuit continued reading her pretty boy magazine as if no one else was there. Before Law returned, she could only kill time with this sort of thing.
"Machi."
Bruna gently pushed off with her tentacles, leaving Salin's shoulder and floating towards Machi.
Her large, jet-black, glossy eyes showed a hint of joy at the reunion.
"Bruna."
Machi extended her hands and gently hugged Bruna, then let Bruna perch on her shoulder.
"Long time no see. Have you been well?"
Bruna greeted with a soft, gentle voice.
"Yes. Your common tongue is getting more and more fluent," Machi said, stroking Bruna's smooth, cool body with a slight smile.
"Not just the common tongue, I've currently mastered one hundred and twenty languages," Bruna said softly.
Hearing Bruna's words, the expressions on Machi's, Uvogin's, Nobunaga's, and Menchi's faces were as follows:
(⊙o⊙)…
'What in the world is this?'
Uvogin and Nobunaga thought silently, shocked.
Menchi immediately judged: 'This is not an ingredient.'
After a brief silence, Nobunaga asked curiously, "Machi, who is she?"
"Law's friend, named Bruna. She's a resident from inside the Island Crab. Her hometown is the Dark Continent," Machi replied.
"The Dark Continent, the place Law mentioned before?" Uvogin asked.
"Yes."
Machi nodded.
'Dark Continent...'
Menchi looked at the cute-faced Bruna, falling into thought.
As a Gourmet Hunter, she knew some information about the Dark Continent.
After all, for Gourmet Hunters, unknown seas and unknown continents represent countless unknown ingredients.
But the Dark Continent is taboo.
Menchi never imagined she would personally see a Dark Continent's native here.
'Judging by speech and behavior, it seemed like a highly intelligent magical beast species.'
…
Hunter Association's Headquarters, Vice Chairman's Office.
Pariston had been busy recently, but his actions of gathering intelligence never stopped.
One thing was clear: the assassins were not sent by him or Beyond.
However, this was currently a period of intense struggle between different factions within the Association. The conservative moderates would inevitably try to pin the blame on the hawks.
But no matter where it landed, it was a result Pariston was happy to see.
Because he wouldn't lean towards any specific outcome.
Compared to the direction of the Association's moderates and hawks, Pariston was more concerned about Law's movements.
He had been keeping an eye on all developments.
Including the three A-class wanted criminals who had just entered the Association building.
"I've never forgotten how Botobai lost his arm," Pariston murmured to himself, then slowly looked up at the ceiling, suddenly letting out a sigh.
"The Chairman is going to be cured. Is this what you wanted to see? Then, what was your original intention in wanting to meet Law afterward?"
The 'you' here referred to Beyond. The certainty that Netero would be cured stemmed from unreserved trust in Law.
"Since the people on that side couldn't wait to send assassins, it shows they have a reason for urgency."
"If the plan falls through, the pressure will land on you."
"And the worst outcome is failed negotiations."
"What if... the people on that side can find a 'replacement'?"
Pariston was talking to himself, as if speaking to the air, yet also as if speaking to himself.
…
The city was full of towering high-rise buildings.
Their tall figures bathed in dazzling light inevitably cast shadows.
No matter how prosperous a place is, there will always be narrow alleys shrouded in shadow.
Clatter.
In a quiet, dimly lit alleyway, a soft sound of chains rubbing together echoed. Soon after, steady footsteps gradually became audible.
A handsome blond boy emerged from around a corner in the alley, heading deeper inside.
As he walked, the earring dangling from his earlobe shimmered slightly.
This boy was Kurapika.
Squeak squeak.
At that moment, several plump rats ran past Kurapika's feet in a line, went around a messy box growing mold, heading straight towards two trash cans by the wall.
Not far away, on a box, sat a bare-chested, bald-headed man, puffing on a cigarette, exhaling smoke.
Beside the man were stacked several red crates holding empty bottles, piled four or five layers high.
The man watched Kurapika approaching, his gaze extremely focused.
Meeting the man's gaze, Kurapika raised his hand, showing a small black-and-white card held between his fingers.
Seeing the small card, the man silently averted his gaze.
Kurapika thus passed by the man's location, heading towards an even deeper part of the shadows.
Soon, he reached a wooden door. A vintage street lamp hung nearby, illuminating the ground in front of the door, which was clean and completely visible.
Kurapika raised his hand to knock, but the wooden door made a light sound and automatically opened, revealing a set of stairs leading down.
Kurapika showed no reaction to this, simply withdrawing his hand and walking in.
Descending the stairs to the basement floor, he entered a slightly dimly lit duplex-style bar.
A middle-aged man in bartender attire stood behind the counter. The bar's business was quite slow at the moment, with only two customers, a man and a woman.
The man had a conspicuous afro. The woman looked very young, dressed fashionably, wearing a baseball cap.
These two were the Blackstone Family's assassins… Afro and Candy.
After entering, Kurapika immediately scanned the bar's layout, committing the environment and people present to memory.
This was a habit he was gradually developing. Whenever entering an unfamiliar environment, he would immediately gather information.
'Those two customers were Nen Users.'
Kurapika didn't pay excessive attention to the two customers, directly focusing on the bartender.
"I'm starting to wonder if it's the off-season now."
The bartender looked at Kurapika, revealing an indifferent smile.
Kurapika walked straight over and placed the card he had shown to the bald man earlier on the table.
The bartender put down the glass he was wiping, took the card under the counter to look, and smiled. "Please wait a moment. Before that, would you like something to drink?"
"No, thank you."
Kurapika directly sat on the stool in front of the bar.
Hearing this, the bartender said no more, inserting the card into a hidden compartment.
Kurapika's ears twitched slightly, hearing the faint sound of the card sliding down a chute.
Then, a woman with several knife scars on her face walked out from a small door, carrying a tray, heading straight towards the bar's first set of customers.
Reaching the table, she placed the folded paper from the tray down along with the cocktail, then turned and left, leaving a trail of fragrance.
Afro picked up the cocktail and drank it in one go, then put the paper in his pocket. He and Candy then moved towards the stairs they came from.
"Welcome again."
The bartender politely bid farewell to the two customers.
After quite a while, the bartender apologized to Kurapika, "We cannot complete your commission. Considering the consumption of manpower and resources, we still need to charge you five percent of the commission fee."
Disappointment flashed in Kurapika's eyes. He nodded, then took out enough Jenny from his pocket. After that, he walked towards the exit.
He was currently putting all his effort into finding information about the whereabouts of the Scarlet Eyes.
Coming here this time, he actually didn't have high expectations. Compared to his other two tasks, this one was more like something done along the way.
The bartender accepted the Jenny without any psychological pressure. Watching Kurapika's back, he said, "If we obtain definite information, and you are still willing, you will be exempt from the five percent fee at that time."
"Alright."
Kurapika didn't stop his steps.