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Time: January 26, 1984, 14:26 PM.
Location: One hundred nautical miles east of the Ulubian Continent, in international waters.
A container ship sailed on the clear blue sea, where the surface was calm.
Waves gently lapped against the hull, making a "splash" sound.
"Hoo~"
A gentle breeze swept by, making one feel refreshed.
Illumi, Kaiser, and Erick stood on the cargo ship's deck, gazing at the endless blue ocean ahead.
"Beep..."
Illumi's phone vibrated in his arms. He didn't even need to think to know it was Ilmi calling him.
"This year's New Year, are you still not coming back?"
Ilmi's tone was relaxed, seemingly in a good mood. Illumi could also hear Milluki's laughter and the sounds of electronic games coming from the other end of the phone.
Time flew by so quickly. Another year had passed in the blink of an eye, and he hadn't even realized it; the New Year was already approaching.
"I'm currently in international waters, and I'm busy with something I can't leave."
"I'm truly sorry, Ilmi."
"Please give my regards to Mom and Dad."
Illumi's tone was tinged with apology. Since leaving home, his time with his family had become increasingly sparse.
"Ah, well, you should tell them that yourself."
Ilmi complained into the phone, then handed it to Silva, who was sitting on a tatami mat drinking tea.
"Illumi, if you're really too busy, it's alright."
"For New Year, as long as your heart is with us, that's enough."
"Also, if you need any help, just say the word. Dad will support you with all his might."
Hearing Silva's words, a ripple stirred in Illumi's heart.
He had always been operating under his previous life's identity; the identity of Illumi Zoldyck hadn't seen the light of day for a long time.
Silva didn't know what he was doing, yet he still offered such encouraging words.
He even expressed understanding for Illumi's prolonged absence from home, and Illumi could even hear Kikyo's complaints from the other end of the phone.
"What are you saying? Tell him to come back now!"
Silva ignored Kikyo's complaints and said calmly,
"Mom misses you a lot. If you have time, make sure to come back and spend it with her."
"Mm, I understand."
Illumi replied. The current Kikyo's love for her children was still normal.
Before Killua was born, the love she showed to Illumi, Ilmi, and Milluki was all the same.
"Sir, Kipsil has been brought."
A bald security captain and two guards escorted Kipsil, dressed in a prison uniform, onto the deck and reported to him.
"Dad, I'm busy right now, so I'll hang up first."
Illumi finished speaking and hung up the phone.
At home, Silva returned the phone to Ilmi. Kikyo didn't say anything, but grumbled to herself for a while.
Illumi looked at the sleepy-eyed Kipsil, whose hands were still cuffed.
"Uncuff him."
"Yes, sir."
The guard took out the key and uncuffed Kipsil. The latter shook his head and flexed his wrists.
"Bang!"
A sound of flesh colliding.
The moment Kipsil was uncuffed, he immediately swung his arm and punched the bald guard in front of him, sending the guard reeling back five steps to crash against the ship's railing with a "clang."
The bald guard, who had crashed into the railing, felt a warm liquid flowing from his nostrils. He touched his nose, then his upper lip.
Looking down at his finger, he saw that his nose was bleeding. He immediately pulled out his stun baton from his waist and swung it at Kipsil.
"Kipsil, you're looking for deathā"
"Stop."
The bald guard's swinging motion stopped halfway due to Illumi's command.
"Bang!"
Kipsil took the opportunity to punch him again in the right eye, sending the bald guard crashing against the railing with another "clang," giving him a black eye.
"You dog-wielding bastard, you enjoyed beating me up normally, now it's your turn to try."
Kipsil spat at him, looking arrogant.
Illumi frowned slightly. This Doctor of Weaponry from Republic University of Science and Technology showed no signs of being a high-level intellectual, behaving like a street thug.
"If you want to fight, I can let him accompany you until you've had enough."
Illumi gestured to Erick. Erick took a step forward, blocking Kipsil's path.
Kipsil looked up at the burly man with a tough-guy aura. The corners of the man's mouth were turned down, practically carving the words "hard to mess with" onto his face.
And in reality, he was indeed hard to mess with.
In a place like prison, group brawls would break out every few days over trivial matters.
But for the past half-month, such incidents had not occurred again, and one of the reasons was this man named Erick.
He had beaten up everyone who dared to actively provoke trouble or engage in group brawls.
Not one-on-one fights, but gang fights.
And he was one person fighting everyone.
"What do you want with me? I need to go back to sleep once we're done."
The bald guard's cheek twitched at these words, and he looked at Kipsil with ill intent.
Go back to sleep?
It was already two-thirty in the afternoon.
If it weren't for the captain's prohibition, he would have already beaten this insensitive old man to death in prison.
The bald guard looked at their new captain with deep reverence. This new captain was far more terrifying than the previous one.
But, in contrast, their trust in this new captain was also profound.
"You two may leave."
"Yes, sir."
Following Illumi's order, the bald guard and the other two guards stood at attention, saluted, and turned to return inside the ship.
Illumi naturally noticed the gazes of these guards, and he was very satisfied with the effect.
Illumi had continuously used his abilities on the people in this prison for a month, finally turning their fear and suspicion of him into trust.
These guards were all retired soldiers from various countries around the world, and their quality was quite high.
Hannyabal had paid a very high salary to secure these high-quality retired soldiers as his subordinates.
"Kipsil Aguilar, former research director of Cedesas Institute of Weaponry."
"You possess a top-tier human IQ, but because you were too reclusive and regarded your colleagues as useless, you were ostracized and framed by them."
"Ultimately, you ended up in prison."
Illumi stated Kipsil's identity and the reason for his imprisonment, wanting to observe his reaction.
However, Kipsil remained sleepy-eyed, surprisingly showing no reaction.
"It seems your arrogant temper has been curbed quite a bit in prison."
Illumi's eyes narrowed slightly. Even a genius like Kipsil would be somewhat affected in a prison like The Execution Ground, where drug lords and terrorists gathered, thereby changing their reclusive personality.
"I'll give you a chance to get revenge and reunite with your family."
Kipsil, who was yawning, paused, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. He stared directly into Illumi's eyes and said,
"What are your conditions?"
Illumi smirked and said,
"I will recruit you to my company to develop weapons for us."
"Your company? 'Us'?"
Kipsil raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping over Illumi, Kaiser, and Erick in turn.
"It seems you weren't simply trying to seize the prison."
"Our original target was you, Doctor Kipsil."
Illumi stepped towards Kipsil, stopping in front of him, and smiled.
"We originally planned to negotiate with Hannyabal, to exchange you from this prison for money."
"But Hannyabal was ignorant of our intentions, so we had to resort to slightly more aggressive means."
Kipsil grinned upon hearing this. Slightly more aggressive means? This was already beyond the scope of "aggressive"; this was premeditated murder.
"No problem, I accept."
Kipsil looked at Illumi and grinned.
"As long as I can get my revenge and reunite with my family, whatever you ask, even if it's building nuclear bombs, I'll agree."
"Very good."
Illumi chuckled and nodded. The purpose of this trip had been achieved, and more than expected.
After his infiltration, six hundred guards remained in this prison, all of whom were retired soldiers.
They still had great potential value, and Illumi intended to train these veterans into his own army.
"There's still a month to go, just wait patiently."
***
During his time in international waters, Illumi also kept an eye on Helen Stuart's research and maintained contact with King Bradley.
A month later, when he sailed from international waters outside the Aztec United States to Pegurose Federation,
Umbrella Corporation's pharmaceutical production base officially began operations, causing a massive earthquake in the medical world.
A company that the world had never heard of suddenly emerged overnight.
Moreover, there had been no rumors of its existence before this; only after seeing reports in newspapers and on television did the world become aware of it.
The launch of a new company's production base alone would never attract such widespread global attention.
However, with an official announcement from the Pegurose Federation government, even the most unremarkable new company would capture the attention of the industry and indeed the entire world.
Starting from October last year, the emergence of drug-resistant super bacteria in a few places in a few countries around the world had attracted attention at the governmental level.
However, this news at the time did not draw the attention of mainstream media, at most receiving some attention in the medical community. Only when the scale of patients expanded slightly did some media outlets mention it in a small paragraph.
But it was quickly overshadowed by overwhelming international news, making no waves at all.
Under the policy incentives of various governments, numerous large pharmaceutical companies worldwide invested in research for new antibiotics, hoping to take the lead.
However, how easy was it to successfully research new antibiotics?
Life is often unsatisfactory.
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