Sitting behind his massive mahogany desk, Isaac Netero dialed several phone numbers that Biscuit Krueger was known to use. One by one, the calls either rang out endlessly or immediately hit automated messages stating the number had been disconnected.
The lines could not be reached.
Netero lowered the receiver, his bushy eyebrows knitting together in thought. He turned his chair around and dialed a few more secure lines, seemingly reaching out to various senior disciples and instructors of the Shingen-ryu martial arts school. He asked if any of them had seen or heard from Biscuit in the past few days. Every single answer was a negative.
"There is truly no news," Netero said, finally hanging up the phone for good.
Liam and Shizuku stood silently, watching the ancient Chairman mutter to himself.
"In this case," Netero concluded, stroking his long white beard, "we have no choice but to utilize the Association's specialized tracking network." He turned to his perpetually stressed secretary, who was standing nearby holding a clipboard. "Beans. Send an urgent message to Cheadle. Tell her to dispatch a letter to Biscuit immediately. The message should say that this old man has been incredibly busy lately and requires her presence at headquarters for a sparring match. If she receives the message and agrees, she is to call me as soon as possible."
"Right away, Chairman," Beans squeaked. He scurried over to a computer terminal, his short fingers flying across the keyboard as he drafted Netero's exact instructions into a secure email. He hit send.
"Cheadle?" Menchi asked, tilting her head. "Wait, is that Cheadle Yorkshire? The 'Dog' of the Zodiacs? The one who works closely with Master Ging?"
Technically speaking, even as the Chairman of the Hunter Association, Netero did not possess the absolute authority to issue compulsory, non-negotiable orders to the members of the Zodiacs. However, with the notable exception of Pariston Hill, every single member of the Zodiacs was a fiercely loyal, die-hard fan of Isaac Netero.
Just a few minutes after Beans sent the email, the computer chimed with a crisp ding. Cheadle Yorkshire had already replied.
Beans adjusted his glasses, reading the screen. "She says she will dispatch the letter within ten minutes. However, because she does not currently know Biscuit's exact location or operational status, she cannot guarantee when the letter will actually be received, or when we can expect a reply."
Netero nodded slowly, tossing his cell phone onto the cluttered desk. He looked at Liam and the girls. "Well then. Now, we simply wait."
"What happens if she still cannot be contacted after the letter is sent?" Shizuku asked, her tone flat.
"Then we will have to formally dispatch the Crime Hunters to investigate her disappearance and physically track her traces," Netero replied.
Liam mentally groaned. Dispatch the Crime Hunters? You mean Mizaistom Nana, the Zodiac who acts like a hardboiled detective? Yeah, that sounds like a perfectly rational escalation.
"And what if even he cannot find her?" Shizuku pressed.
"She will be found eventually," Netero said, twirling the ends of his mustache with a slight, confident smile. "In the world of Nen, it is perfectly normal for experts to make something completely out of nothing. Tracking down a living, breathing person who leaves a massive aura footprint is child's play by comparison."
Liam recalled a specific detail from the canon timeline, specifically from the Chairman Election arc following Netero's death. The person solely responsible for successfully delivering physical voting ballots to every single licensed professional Hunter scattered across the globe was none other than the Zodiac Dog, Cheadle Yorkshire. Her intelligence and logistics network was second to none.
Far away, at the backstage exit of a massive Broadway theater in Yorknew City.
Cheadle Yorkshire, having just finished her latest public lecture, wiped the stage makeup from her face and wrapped a heavy, dark coat around her shoulders. As she pushed open the exit doors and stepped into the cold alleyway, she caught the faint, telltale glint of several camera lenses hidden in the dark shadows across the street.
She stopped, her eyes narrowing as a wave of heavy, oppressive aura rolled off her shoulders.
"If you want to take pictures, be professionals and formally request an interview," Cheadle called out, her voice echoing sharply in the alley. "Hiding in the dark and taking sneaky photos... isn't that just disgusting?"
Crushed under the sheer weight of her queenly aura, the paparazzi scrambled out of their hiding spots and fled down the street in absolute terror.
Satisfied, Cheadle raised her hands. In a flash of Nen, she conjured a pristine white dove out of thin air. She stroked the bird's feathers gently, whispering a set of highly specific, localized instructions into its ear. She carefully tied a small, sealed message tube to the dove's leg, then raised her arm.
The dove took flight, its wings snapping crisply as it rapidly ascended into the night sky, disappearing toward the horizon.
Although it was entirely unknown exactly how Cheadle's conjured bird managed to track down targets whose locations were completely unknown, Netero trusted her intelligence liaison abilities implicitly. Since the Chairman was not worried, Liam and Shizuku naturally had no choice but to wait patiently.
And waiting, in Netero's vocabulary, meant playing a game.
The Hunter Association had not originally been founded with a ruling council like the Zodiacs. Decades ago, Netero simply enjoyed finding the strongest, most uniquely talented Hunters he could find and dragging them into brutal sparring matches just to relieve his own crushing boredom. Over time, the people who actually managed to survive and impress him were given permanent seats at his table. The so-called Zodiacs were not truly a political cabinet or a governing parliament; they were, at their core, Netero's exclusive, twelve-man sparring team.
Since Boss Netero was placing an order for a sparring session, Liam happily accepted the invitation to accompany him.
Netero walked over to a massive banner detailing the Ten Commandments of Hunters that hung on the wall of his office. He reached behind the heavy fabric and pressed a hidden button. A section of the oak-paneled wall slid open, revealing a heavy, reinforced elevator car.
Liam quickly followed Netero inside. Getting the chance to physically spar with the undisputed number one martial arts master in the world was an opportunity most Hunters would literally kill for.
Shizuku, never one to hesitate, stepped into the elevator right behind Liam.
Menchi stood out in the office, pointing a finger at her own chest in genuine surprise. "Wait, me too?"
Beans, having dealt with Netero's whims for years, simply sighed and adjusted his glasses. "The more opponents the Chairman has to play with, the happier he is."
Inside the elevator, Netero stroked his beard and offered Menchi an evil, challenging smile. "If you do not want this old man and these two youngsters to learn the secrets of your Nen abilities, you really do not have to force yourself to join us. Declining an invitation is not a crime."
Before the ancient master had even finished his sentence, Menchi scoffed, crossed her arms, and strode confidently into the elevator.
Looking at Netero's devious, wrinkly smile, Liam thought to himself, Bisky was absolutely right. He is just a terrible old man with entirely evil intentions.
The heavy metal doors slowly slid shut, and the elevator immediately began a rapid, stomach-dropping descent.
Are we going straight into the bedrock beneath the Association building? Liam wondered, watching the floor indicator numbers drop rapidly.
An awkward, tense silence filled the small, enclosed space of the descending elevator.
Suddenly, the atmosphere violently shifted. Without turning his head, Netero's arm blurred into motion, his hand snapping out to grab the back of Liam's neck.
Liam's reflexes flared. He raised his forearm in a desperate block. The moment his arm made contact with Netero's wrist, Liam felt as if he had just slammed his bones into a solid steel pillar. The "steel pillar" instantly rotated, Netero's fingers hooking around Liam's forearm to trap him. Liam was forced to forcefully wrench his wrist backward just to break the grip, but Netero instantly followed up with a lightning-fast, bullying kick aimed squarely at Liam's knee.
Shizuku and Menchi immediately plastered themselves against the back wall, standing as still as doorposts to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
Netero and Liam moved like blurs in the incredibly confined space, exchanging rapid, brutal strikes. Within seconds, Liam was sweating profusely, struggling just to parry the relentless, unpredictable attacks. Netero, on the other hand, looked more and more relaxed, chasing Liam's movements with a wide, manic grin.
Just as Liam realized he was outmatched in a confined brawl and prepared to shamelessly try and throw the old man over his shoulder, the elevator violently decelerated.
With a soft chime, the doors slid open.
Beyond the doors was a massive, completely empty, subterranean basement. There was no furniture, no training dummies, and no exercise equipment. It was just a giant, reinforced square room.
Liam, breathing heavily, stepped out of the elevator alongside the other three. As they entered, banks of harsh fluorescent lights flickered on.
The four massive concrete walls, the high ceiling, and the solid floor were completely covered in densely carved, glowing Nen inscriptions. In the exact dead center of the vast, empty room, a single, ordinary-looking volleyball sat perfectly still on the floor.
"You can all go completely all-out in here," Netero said casually, stepping into the room. "These ancient Nen inscriptions are designed to completely absorb the kinetic impact of aura, including highly destructive Nen abilities. It is not so easy to cause structural damage to this room."
Netero walked over to the center of the floor. He casually flicked his foot, popping the volleyball up into the air. He caught it on the tip of his index finger and began spinning it rapidly.
"The game is very simple," Netero smiled, his eyes gleaming. "Take the ball away from me, and you win."
You really do not have any more creativity than this, do you? Liam thought, utterly speechless that Netero was recycling the exact same game he had played with Gon and Killua during the Hunter Exam.
"Alright, but how exactly do we win if you are the Chairman and physically holding the ball?" Menchi asked, cracking her knuckles.
Netero kept the ball spinning effortlessly. "If you manage to force me to admit defeat, I will naturally hand over the win."
"Blinky."
Shizuku raised her right hand. The massive, terrifying vacuum cleaner materialized in her grip. Without a second of hesitation, she slammed her thumb onto the maximum power switch. "Suck that volleyball over here."
Blinky's massive jaw unhinged. A terrifying, howling vortex of suction erupted from the vacuum, locking onto the volleyball spinning on Netero's finger.
Netero clearly had not anticipated the sheer, localized force of the suction. The volleyball was instantly ripped from his fingertip, flying toward Blinky's gaping maw.
Moving faster than the eye could track, Netero's free hand shot forward like lightning. He snatched the volleyball out of the air just before it could escape his reach. His five fingers dug into the synthetic leather like steel drills, securing his grip.
However, Blinky's absolute rule was that it would not stop pulling until it successfully consumed its designated target. The roaring suction force increased exponentially!
Netero's ancient body remained perfectly motionless. A circular array of Nen inscriptions suddenly flared with blinding light on the floor directly beneath his feet. If they had been standing on ordinary concrete, the sheer physical force Netero was currently exerting downward just to anchor his body against the suction would have shattered the floor and created two massive craters.
Blinky's fanged mouth stretched even wider. The ferocious, howling vacuum filled the entire basement with violent turbulence. Menchi had to brace her legs and lean forward just to keep from being dragged across the floor. She stared at Shizuku in absolute shock, amazed that the quiet girl was holding the roaring vacuum cleaner with a completely blank, expressionless face.
The vacuum cleaner was pulling so hard it began to emit a deep, terrifying rumbling sound.
At the dead center of the devouring vortex, the small volleyball remained firmly locked in Netero's iron grip. Netero stood as steady as a mountain weathering a hurricane. But the synthetic leather of the volleyball was beginning to warp and stretch under the impossible opposing forces. It was on the verge of collapsing.
Liam cupped his hands around his mouth to be heard over the roaring wind. "Hey! Who wins the game if the volleyball literally explodes?!"
"Ah? That..." Netero blinked, looking genuinely surprised, as if he truly had not considered the possibility of the ball breaking.
But a split second later, the old man smiled.
A dense, blinding sphere of pure white aura ignited around Netero's hand. In an instant, the devouring, howling storm filling the basement violently snapped out of existence. Absolute, deafening calm returned to the room.
Liam looked at Netero's hand. The volleyball was no longer touching the old man's skin. It was floating slightly, completely encased in a hardened shell of dense aura.
Netero casually flicked his fingers. The aura-wrapped volleyball orbited around his hand once before dropping safely back into his palm.
"Just as I suspected, little girl," Netero laughed, his eyes crinkling. "Your vacuum cleaner is an incredible tool, but it can only absorb dead objects that are not infused with Nen. The moment I wrapped the ball in my own aura, your ability lost its lock."
Netero bounced the ball once on the floor and caught it. "Now then. Can the game officially begin?"
Liam let out a long sigh. A massive wave of aura exploded from his body, swirling and condensing in the air beside him until the jade-faced Taoist nun fully materialized.
Shizuku adjusted her glasses. She kept Blinky revving in her right hand, while the aura in her left hand rapidly condensed, forming several jagged, heavy chainsaws that hung dangerously toward the floor.
Menchi watched them both summon their constructs, then aggressively scratched her spiky green hair in frustration.
"Forget it!" Menchi yelled, dropping into a low, aggressive combat stance. "I'll just beat him up with my bare hands!"
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