A string suspended deep within her mind suddenly quivered....
She looked down at Kurajing in a daze, unable to speak for a moment, choked with emotions.
No one is born with the desire to be a servant, serving others day and night. Tsubone had to admit that even she, Scarface, and Cyclops—those of them born into servitude within the Zoldyck Family—had moments of doubt... What is the true significance of living just to serve the Zoldyck Family as one's life's goal?
On this note, the younger version of her was not without confusion, until one day when she was serving Jager dinner, and he sneaked out of Kukuroo Mountain on the eve of his secret departure to the Dark Continent with Netero and Linne. Suddenly, she heard him say, "If you have thoughts like these, it means you're human and not just a machine that follows orders."
Tsubone was stunned at that moment,
Years passed, and she met Young Master Roy again and heard him speak similar words to those of Master Jager... emphasizing "human-centeredness" above all, regardless of being a "butler," "maid," "gardener," or "chef" of the Zoldyck Family....
The old butler let her twin pink pigtails drape behind her back, and suddenly coming to her senses again, she extended her large rough hand covered with calluses to gently pat Kurajing's head, softly rubbing her forehead, saying, "Congratulations on becoming an excellent butler."
Hidden in Tsubone's old eyes was a trace of recollection, with a hint of lament, "Young Master Roy is worthy, you are worthy, and Wutong is also worthy... So wonderful... So wonderful....
Immediately, amid Kurajing's dazed gaze, she pushed the dining cart and brushed past her, leaving the girl leaning against the window in a stupor.....
After a while, the girl snapped back to reality, turned her head to watch Tsubone's tall figure disappearing around the corner, curling her lips into a smile, a fleeting yet breathtaking sight: "Does this mean I've been recognized?"
And to be recognized by the Zoldyck Family's most prestigious and senior butler-general,
Kurajing flicked her high ponytail, said, "Heave-ho," to pump herself up, and continued training.
"Three hundred seventy-one.... three hundred seventy-two... three hundred seventy-three....."
The quiet counting and droplets of sweat echoed gently in the dark night....
On the Zoldyck Family's ancient castle, separated by a mountaintop from the peak, Roy delegated all matters of Meteor Street to Taiyi while, as usual, he glanced at Wutong's status panel,
The panel displayed—
[Believer: Wutong (Note: Loyalty overflowing)]
[Current Status: Evolving....]
[Constitution+1+1+1+1......]
[Current: 924, having increased a hundred points compared to before evolution → 1078 (Note: Continuously increasing)]
[Manifested Nen Amount: C+ (14210/100000) → C+ (20412/100000) (Note: Continuously increasing)]
[Potential Qi Amount: C+ (87412/100000) → B- (70,000/1,000,000) (Note: Continuously increasing)]
[System: Release]
[Initial Telekinesis Ability: Coin Guessing]
[Initial Embrace Telekinesis Ability: Currently Awakening...]
[Awakening Progress: 39%]
[Evaluation: C+]
[Note: Referring to the ant, your follower "Wutong" has reached top-tier ant Master General level and is progressing towards B- level]
Roy compared it to what he saw at the Pale Church with Sisko today,
There were still two days left in the countdown to the butler emerging from the cocoon, with [Potential Qi Amount] already vaguely breaking through to B- level. Presumably... after two more days, when he truly emerges, he would at least not be inferior to Sisko after undergoing the [True Theocracy]'s blessing.....
With a thought, sensitive as ever, he noticed a shift in a certain [Causality Line] connected to him. Unperturbed, the youth closed Wutong's panel and followed this [Causality Line], sending a Heartworm along its end, witnessing... Illumi grooming in front of a mirror, a bright silver wig placed on the vanity table, staring absentmindedly at his reflection, unusually not disguised as him at that moment,
allowing the [Heartworm] to delve into his mind unknowingly,
Roy raised an eyebrow in intrigue, and through Illumi's psyche, covertly glimpsed... gradually, a scene unfolded, reflecting the words he had advised Illumi with that afternoon: "You'd better defeat Wutong first."
Evidently, his thoughtless words had, unbeknownst to him, brought unimaginable... damage to the naive Mamen Beans!
With a curl of his lips, Roy smiled, then, following his thought, summoned back the Heartworm, letting it transform into a stream of Nen and re-integrate into his body.
"Finally realized the crisis?"
"Very well, only through crisis can one improve."
Roy gently caressed the back of his left hand, listening to the [Curse] ticking away his life by the second, he glanced at the remaining [Initial Embrace] opportunity on the panel, took a deep breath, and grasped the wooden box given by Leon Zeppelin.
Since Gusman had already laid his cards on the table, Roy didn't plan to sit idle. First and foremost, he needed to figure out a way to sever the [Causality Line] lingering over his head!
Because it was that [Causality Line] that allowed him to cross Mobius Lake's barrier and appear on the lake's central island,
it was also that [Causality Line] that granted him the Nen ability of [Substitute Doll], enabling him to repeatedly reincarnate, unkillable,
Roy recalled the [Target Tracking Technique]; since the other could [locate] and had achievements in [Causality], could there be some other means to resolve this issue, combined with... on the day of Killua's birth, the enigmatic skull's meaningful conversation with grandpa, hinting directly and indirectly about the extraordinary nature of the wooden box,
Roy reckoned, perhaps he had underestimated the wooden box, underestimated... the significance of Leon Zeppelin gifting it to him as a birth token!