Humans don't only die when they grow old; they can pass on at any time, anywhere.
At the moment he materialized the Youthful Mist, Roy did indeed have a fleeting thought of helping Great-Grandpa regain his former glory—but unfortunately, the old man didn't seem to have any such intention.
The boy's shoulder-length golden hair swayed in the wind, laced here and there with glints of silver. Hearing that, his Adam's apple bobbed; for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
What does it mean, wanting to die? If you can live well, why ask for death?
Roy watched that dim little room in silence through the heavy walls.
He knew Great-Grandpa was listening, but inside the room, aside from the yellow lamp and the intermittent creaking of the rocking chair, no other sounds came out—not even a perfunctory explanation…...
"Ooo…..." The mountain wind whimpered, wrapped in autumn chill as it blew across his face and settled cold in his heart.
Zeno stood with his hands behind his back right beside Roy, looking out at Kukuroo Mountain rolling for thousands of li like an old dragon crawling through the night. After a long while he said, "Don't overthink it. People are dynamic. Maybe one day your Great-Grandpa's thoughts will change again."
Will they?
No,
"He won't change." Roy pulled back his Gaze, reached out to catch a shard of moonlight flying in from the window, and murmured softly, "Great-Grandpa isn't that kind of person."
The boy's words were firm. Then he opened his hand and let that moonlight melt in his palm, took a deep breath, and looked to Zeno. "And you, Grandpa?"
"Do you want to get younger?"
The Lower Substitute Version of the Youthful Mist couldn't compare to the original, but one spray could give someone back ten or twenty years. Roy was certain that if this kind of thing ever spread, it would cause a powerful earthquake on the international stage!
At the very least, it wouldn't escape the covetous Gaze of V5, Kajin, and even those guys Beyond and Pariston.
"Me, huh," Zeno hunched his back, suppressed his voice, and let out a low laugh.
His shoulders trembled slightly, silver hair drifting in the wind. It took a while before he stopped, squinting as he looked at Roy. "Actually, I'm just like your Great-Grandpa."
"I also want to taste what death feels like."
The little old man folded his hands and raised them over his head, stretching lazily with relish. He exhaled, bored out of his mind. "Killing people every day, but never once being killed by someone—that's loneliness, and it's pain."
Roy: "...…"
Speechless for a long moment,
he tilted his head and looked at Zeno seriously. "That's easy."
The boy clenched his fist. "If Grandpa wants to die, I can help."
He'd already hit his dad; one more grandpa wasn't going to make a difference.
Unfortunately, Zeno's back was bent and his ears seemed to have gone deaf along with it. He pretended not to hear Roy, face going stern as he said solemnly, "Tomorrow is your Grandpa Jager's anniversary of death."
"Be ready. Start preparing to bring him back to life."
Roy froze. He almost blurted out that Grandpa Jager might not be dead, but the moment he met the unwavering, unquestionable Gaze in Zeno's eyes, he swallowed the words back down. In an instant, he understood. This wasn't just Grandpa's will—it was probably Great-Grandpa's will too, and even his Great-Grandma's, and… his father's.
So many years had passed, and what everyone longed for was nothing more than an answer—or perhaps a hope. That was Zoldyck love: extremely twisted, yet so thick it could never be dissolved.
Just like in the original work, where Illumi, in the end, didn't hesitate to take Tsubone and Yu Yin's lives hostage to force Killua to use Alluka to kill him!
Through the Initial Embrace, Roy could feel his blood bond with Illumi growing stronger and more solid step by step, and he faintly sensed the other's thoughts. Maybe… for Illumi at that time, he didn't actually want to die at Killua's hands; he wanted to live forever in Killua's heart by making him feel guilt and pain!
What a foolish and obsessive Mamen Beans!
"I understand." Roy came back to himself, took a deep breath, and said, "Sacrificial Offerings...…"
"I'll prepare them." Zeno turned and walked off, ten fingernails sharp as Sword blades extending, glinting with a cold light!
He hadn't finished today's "one kill" yet. According to the intel sent by the employer, the target was a Pedophile. Really, there could be no better Sacrificial Offerings than that!
"Tap… tap…..."
Silver hair fluttering, Zeno's feet flickered in Dark Step, flashing in and out as he merged with the night and vanished.
Roy watched him leave, watching for a long, long time. At a certain moment, with hearts in sync, he lifted his head, looking through the corridor ceiling toward the second-floor bedroom… There, a burly figure stood behind the massive floor-to-ceiling window, looking down to lock Gaze with him for an instant—and then quickly drew the curtains.
"Father." Roy smiled faintly, paused for two seconds, then raised a hand and waved to him.
Silva, who'd been about to leave, halted his steps. As he moved his foot again, the corner of his mouth tugged up into a stiff, shallow curve. He pushed open the bedroom door and walked straight in.
On the large bed on the second-floor bedroom, laid with a fringed velvet rug, a beautiful woman was cradling a baby, soothing him to sleep.
She lifted her head and ran right into the man; before she could put Killua aside, Killua suddenly felt her body turn light—she was grabbed around the waist, lifted, and slammed against the wall.
"Silva! Killua's watching!"
"Let him watch."
"Mm—"
Hot breath surged over her; her mouth was sealed. The electronic eye on Killua's face instantly filled with garbled code.
It was clearly a crisp, cool autumn night, and yet unexpectedly stiflingly hot,
so hot even the cicadas outside the window seemed to be calling louder…...
"Chirr… chirr…..." At nine in the evening, Wutong finally pushed the meal cart back.
On the first floor of the old castle, bathed in moonlight and a bowl of creamy mushroom soup, Roy sat at the table, slowly cutting a piece of steak and tossing it into his mouth, while he began searching for traces of the Phantom Slime and the Glowing Seaweed.