Chapter 73: Kukuroo Mountain, The Gate of Testing
{I forgot they were marked too... I guess I'm not very smart sometimes...} Shizuku's mental voice was tinged with genuine self-reflection.
"Kai-Shizuku" looked into the mirror, making Shizuku's face contort into an expression of exaggerated, insincere thoughtfulness. "You could just say you love animals too much to hurt them."
That comment plunged the mental connection into silence. Even Shizuku, raised in the lawless brutality of Meteor City, seemed momentarily stumped by his brazenness.
"Chirp?"
On the windowsill, Rock Sparrow hopped excitedly. It had just woken up and was clearly ready to cause chaos. It tilted its head, staring at the girl who was staring at the mirror.
"What are you looking at?" "Kai-Shizuku" demanded, stalking over to the window. The sparrow tried to flit away, but under Kai's glare—and the irresistible pull of the Star Marker—it hopped straight into his hand.
"Kai-Shizuku" squeezed the bird gently. "Change my look and you forget who feeds you? Little traitor."
"Chirp! Chirp!" The sparrow, delighted by the attention, pecked affectionately at "his" hand. Kai grimaced (using Shizuku's face) and shooed it back to the window.
"Kai-Shizuku" put her hands on her hips and surveyed the motel room. "Not bad. What did you eat?"
{Bread and milk...}
"You need meat, Dora-D-Mon," "Kai-Shizuku" lectured, wagging a finger at the empty air. "We're going to be climbing Heaven's Arena soon. You need protein!"
{Okay...}
"Alright, my train is here," "Kai-Shizuku" said. Suddenly, a thought struck him. He leaned into the mirror again and flashed a dazzling, sunny smile—an expression Shizuku's face had likely never worn in her entire life. "Ha! Bet you've never made that face before! —I'm out. Get your ticket to Heaven's Arena soon."
Just as Kai was about to withdraw his consciousness, Shizuku's thought-voice stopped him.
{Kai... aren't you going to give my body an order?}
"Huh?" Kai paused. "Don't make this weird."
{But if the Star Marker is actively executing a command, it's easier for you to sense, right?}
"Kai-Shizuku" laughed. "I didn't order Butch around just to track him, and I'm not gonna do it to you. You're not my pet. If you miss your Boss, just call! Maybe I'll be missing you, too. I'm really leaving now."
"Oh. Okay..."
Shizuku heard her own voice speak the words aloud. Sensation flooded back into her limbs. Kai was gone.
She stared at her reflection. She remembered what Kai had said about her expression.
She reached up, placing her index fingers at the corners of her mouth, and pushed them up into a smile.
When she lowered her hands, the faint, ghost of a smile remained.
Clack-clack-clack-clack...
The train to the Dentora Region was old. It rattled and groaned on the tracks, a rhythmic, vintage roar that filled the carriage.
Kai sat by the window, his body enveloped in a perfect, seamless shroud of Ten.
The carriage was noisy, filled with chatter and the rustling of bags, so practicing complex Hatsu was out. Instead, Kai drilled the basics.
Flash. He focused Aura into his eyes (Gyo), held it for a second, released it. Flash. Again. He worked on his reaction speed, the fluidity of the transition.
With his current reserves, he could do this all day without tiring.
Bzzzt.
His phone vibrated in his pocket.
A message from Shizuku: [Bought the ticket.] Attached was a photo of a train ticket to the Republic of Padokea.
Kai typed back: [Received. Stay safe, Dora.]
Just as he hit send, a ripple of excitement went through the car. Passengers were pointing out the windows, gasping.
Kai looked up.
Domineering the horizon was a single, massive mountain. It pierced the clouds, a dark, brooding monolith that seemed to swallow the sky.
Kukuroo Mountain.
Kai snapped a quick photo and sent it. [Almost there.]
A moment later, a reply: [Be careful, Kai.]
[Roger.]
...
The train screeched to a halt. Kai stepped onto the platform, blending seamlessly into the crowd. With his new height, baseball cap, and nondescript sportswear, he looked like any other local kid.
Outside the station, tourists were already gathering, pointing cameras at the distant peak. The Zoldyck estate wasn't just a fortress of assassins; it was the region's biggest tourist trap. There were even guided bus tours.
The Zoldycks really have this country wrapped around their fingers, Kai thought cynically as he bought a bus ticket. Assassins running a theme park in their front yard... capitalism at its finest.
"Hello everyone! Look to your left! That is the famous Kukuroo Mountain, home to the legendary Zoldyck Family of assassins!" The tour guide, a pretty young woman with a practiced smile, chirped into her microphone. "The mountain stands 3,722 meters tall, surrounded by a sea of trees. The Zoldyck mansion is somewhere up there, though no one has ever seen it!"
"The family has ten members," she continued brightly. "Great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, and five siblings. All of them are professional killers!"
Kai tuned her out, scanning the other passengers with Gyo. Just normal tourists. No hidden masters, no secret agents.
The bus wound its way up the mountain roads for an hour before finally stopping in front of a massive, ancient stone gate.
"Wow... it's huge!"
"Is that fifty meters tall?"
The passengers piled out, awestruck.
"Behind this gate lies the Zoldyck private estate," the guide explained. "If you want to enter, you have to go through the security checkpoint... that little door over there."
The main gate was immense, flanked by stone dragons, radiating a heavy, oppressive aura of ancient menace. Next to it, the security booth looked like a toy house. And next to that, the "Testing Gate" was a smaller, but still imposing, series of stone panels.
Inside the booth, an old, balding man—Zebro—sat reading a newspaper, ignoring the bus.
"Let's try the security door! Maybe they'll let us peek inside!"
"Yeah! It's the Zoldycks!"
The tourists swarmed the booth, knocking on the glass.
"Eh?" The guide noticed one person walking away from the group. The boy in the baseball cap was heading straight for the massive main gate. "Hey! Kid! That gate is locked! It doesn't open!"
Zebro, besieged by tourists, looked up and saw Kai approaching the Testing Gate.
The other tourists noticed his gaze and turned. "Hey, can we go through the big gate?" A few curious men walked over.
"Hah!" One tourist pushed against the massive stone slab. It didn't budge a millimeter.
Others tried, straining and grunting, but it was like pushing against a mountain.
"It's fake!" one man declared, wiping sweat from his brow. "It's just for show! It's painted on!"
"Let me try!" A young, muscular man stepped up. He rubbed his hands together, shouted, and slammed his palms against the stone. His muscles bulged, veins popped in his neck, his feet slid backward in the dirt...
Nothing. Not even a vibration.
He gave up, panting. "I can bench press 500 kilograms! If I can't move it, it's welded shut!"
The crowd nodded in agreement. Obviously.
Kai watched them, unimpressed.
500 kilos? That's half a ton.
The Testing Gate was a series of seven interlocking doors. The smallest, lightest door—the first one—weighed 4 tons. That was 2 tons per panel.
You needed 4 tons of force just to crack it open.
Each subsequent door doubled in weight.
Door 1: 4 tons.
Door 2: 8 tons.
Door 3: 16 tons.
...
Door 7: 256 tons.
Kai hadn't come here to make friends with Killua. He hadn't come to take the tour.
He came here for one reason.
Where else in the world could you find a perfectly calibrated, multi-ton weight machine that looked this cool?
He was here to test his gains.
(End of Chapter)