Without wasting any time, Conrad returned directly to Yorknew City and headed back to his hotel. Since money was no longer an issue, staying in a hotel instead of buying a permanent residence did not bother him in the slightest.
After entering his room, he took a shower first.
As usual, he ordered himself a good meal. Once he had finished eating, he sat down in his chair, poured himself a glass of whiskey, and began thinking.
"So, I didn't need the Ancient Scripts."
"That means their approach wasn't openly hostile."
"Since they weren't hostile, none of the abilities were triggered."
"Honestly, I'm not bothered that they remained inactive."
"I have no interest in taking direct action against them or making enemies of them right now," he thought.
After turning on his computer, he opened the report Mizaistom had sent him regarding Lamor Angenia.
At the same time, Mizaistom had accepted the proposal Conrad requested and had already transferred twenty-five billion Jenny into his bank account.
That payment had helped Conrad shape his next objective.
The outline of a plan had already begun forming in his mind, along with several ideas about how he should approach it.
"It's good that they paid."
"Now let's see exactly how much information they included."
"Hmm..."
"No precise location."
"I can prepare an Ancient Script to locate this person," he thought.
By now, Conrad had reached a very comfortable point in creating Ancient Scripts.
He understood how to construct them.
He knew how to adapt them according to different situations.
He was beginning to develop genuine expertise in the field.
Because of that, refusing to use them when they could provide a clear advantage seemed foolish.
He immediately prepared a fresh sheet for an Ancient Script.
He chose its name.
The Hunter - The Finder Of The Dark
Then he wrote its purpose.
To locate the chosen target and reveal their current position.
Conrad took a slow breath and began designing the Conditions and Limitations.
Condition One
The more information, details, fragments, and traces available regarding the target, the more accurately the target can be located.
Limitation One
Finder Of The Dark can be activated three times per day, gathering information about the designated target with each activation.
Condition Two
To activate Finder Of The Dark, the target must first be designated by another person. Someone other than the user must choose the target, serving as a form of deposit or activation requirement. The user cannot freely designate their own target.
Limitation Two
Only one target and one active assignment may exist at any given time.
Condition Three
While Condition Two serves as the activation requirement, Condition One functions continuously. New information and additional details about the target must constantly be added. Every two days, previously submitted information is treated as outdated, causing the accuracy of the target's location to weaken until new information is provided.
Conrad stopped writing and thought carefully.
"These conditions should be enough."
"Condition One is extremely broad."
"If I don't continue collecting new information, the ability won't be very useful."
"Looking at it this way, I'll have to stay on the target's trail constantly."
"The more accurate the information becomes, the more precisely I'll be able to determine the target's location."
The overall balance satisfied him.
The ability demanded constant investigation instead of allowing effortless tracking.
That alone justified the effectiveness it would provide.
After silently approving the completed ability, Conrad picked up the sheet and began filling it with everything he already knew.
"Lamor Angenia."
"Connected to Meteor City."
"Associated with individuals who have been carrying out criminal and morally corrupt activities both inside and outside Meteor City."
"A Nen user."
"Believed to belong to either the Conjuration or Transmutation category."
"A powerful, high-level Nen user."
"Direct action from the Zoldyck Family would create unnecessary complications. Because of that, the assignment was given to me instead, as a Hunter."
After writing down every detail available, Conrad activated the ability for the first time.
Finder Of The Dark consumed approximately two percent of his current aura.
The moment the aura disappeared, an image formed inside his mind.
Along with it came a single piece of information.
Meteor City. Blue Flower Elder Palace.
Conrad slowly opened his eyes and smiled.
"So..."
"I expected you to be somewhere inside Meteor City."
"But thanks to my ability, I now know exactly where you are."
He leaned back in his chair and considered his next move.
"Now..."
"It would probably make sense to search the Hunter database for information on Lamor."
"But if even Netero and the others didn't tell me much about this person, I doubt I'll find anything meaningful through ordinary records."
"Looking at it from a practical perspective..."
"The better approach would be researching Meteor City."
"The Elders."
"And especially the Blue Flower Elder Palace."
"The more I understand those subjects, the safer and faster this mission will become."
Conrad had always valued preparation.
Even after obtaining his recent increase in strength, he refused to allow confidence to become arrogance.
Power often convinced people they no longer needed planning.
Conrad considered that to be one of the quickest paths toward failure.
Every mission carried unknown variables.
Careful preparation reduced those uncertainties.
It also created opportunities that brute force alone never could.
If enough information was gathered beforehand, he could approach the objective from several different angles.
Depending on what he discovered, his methods might change.
Even the final objective could change.
Killing the target was only one possible conclusion.
If circumstances demanded something else, Conrad was perfectly willing to adapt.
He preferred successful results over rigid plans.
The room fell silent.
The only sounds came from the air conditioner and the occasional movement of traffic outside the hotel window.
Conrad took another sip of whiskey while opening several research windows on his computer.
Meteor City.
Its Elders.
Blue Flower Elder Palace.
Those would be his starting points.
"Hmm..."
"I wonder how much this research is going to cost."
"If I can keep it under one billion Jenny..."
"I'll be satisfied," he thought with a faint smile.