Inside the living room, as soon as she entered, Neon pounced into her father's embrace, holding onto his arm and chattering away. Light smiled, listening to his daughter's words, occasionally showing a nostalgic smile.
Kurapika sat beside his mother, talking softly. Pairo walked directly to Kevin and sat down, a slightly gloating smile appearing on his usually calm face.
"What trick did you pull with your Nen ability this time?" Kevin asked with a smile. That scene just now—one could guess what happened with their toes. Moreover, Pairo now really liked using the excuse of training his Nen ability to suddenly change small objects Kurapika saw during training.
Pairo just chuckled. "Kurapika is too slow. He left the clan grounds before me but knows nothing about these things. I'm just helping him."
As expected, Pairo must have altered Kurapika's vision again, making him see some strange scenes involving Neon. Thinking of this, Kevin rubbed his forehead helplessly. For a moment, he inexplicably felt sorry for Kurapika. After all, everyone was secretly trying to matchmake this pair. Though Pairo seemed to be playing a prank, he was essentially helping this matter along. Even more absurdly, both sets of parents were also secretly pushing for it. Neon was interested, yet only Kurapika was completely clueless. In this state of total ignorance, who knew when he would suddenly catch on.
Looking at this situation, Kurapika would likely find it hard to escape. Given Kurapika's personality and his duty as Neon's bodyguard, there was almost no possibility of refusal.
Once everyone had arrived, Light cleared his throat softly. Surrounding servants withdrew one after another. The entire living room became spacious, leaving only six people sitting around the coffee table.
Seeing this setup, Pairo and Kurapika seemed to realize something and immediately straightened their postures. Looking at the notebook and pen on the coffee table, Neon naturally knew what they were going to do and sat down directly beside them.
"So, who needs a prophecy?" She looked at her father and Kevin. Generally speaking, only these two would require her prophecy service.
"It's Father." Light sat across from Neon.
Neon nodded. Without needing further instruction, she skillfully recorded necessary information.
Seeing this scene, the three Kurta straightened their backs and concentrated Nen on their eyes. They knew Neon's Nen ability was about to unveil a mysterious veil for them. Pairo and Kurapika had been curious for a long time. After all, Neon had already awakened her Nen ability on her own long before they even knew about Nen. This secret had been hidden for a long time—they were very eager to know.
Following this, they clearly witnessed the entire process of Neon's Nen ability—the Angel's Automatic Writing—being displayed. That strange pink Nen beast with wings. An angel for prophecy?
As prophecy completed, Neon returned to normal, tore off the paper, and handed it to her father. "Alright, Father, this is the prophecy for the next month. Interpret it well."
Light smiled and patted his daughter's head. Afterward, he simply showed the prophecy poem to everyone.
After the three Kurta read it, their brows furrowed.
"So, this is a prophecy of next month's events, in poem form?" Rosana asked, eyes widening involuntarily. As the only older woman in the group, she was mostly responsible for caring for the girls. Furthermore, her lively personality, to some extent, nearly filled the void of Neon lacking maternal company. So she naturally knew Neon was extremely obsessed with prophecy—she even had a dedicated prophecy room filled with strange prophecy tools and various crystal stones. She just hadn't expected Neon's Nen ability to actually predict the future. It sounded a bit too fantastical, like a children's book.
"How accurate is it?" Pairo asked, thinking there must be a probability.
Kevin looked at him with a serious expression. "100%. Of course, that's when you don't know the prophecy."
Even the usually calm and steady Pairo couldn't help but widen his eyes, his expression slightly losing control. "100%? The prophecy is completely accurate?" he exclaimed.
He already held Nen ability in high regard, as his own was very powerful—especially in the Scarlet Eyes state. But even so, that immense power could only be exerted while burning life with Scarlet Eyes. Without Scarlet Eyes amplification, in terms of functionality alone, his Nen ability was far inferior to Neon's. Even with Scarlet Eyes activated, normally he could only barely match Neon's Nen ability.
Furthermore, Neon's Nen ability seemed to cost less than his own. There definitely wouldn't be costs like burning life or causing physical damage—otherwise, given Uncle Kevin's personality, he would never use it casually and would definitely save it for critical moments.
"Neon, you're amazing!" Kurapika didn't hold back his praise for his friend, looking at Neon with a sincere expression.
"Of course! Haha, I'm going to become a great prophet! You can come to me for a prophecy whenever you need anything!" Neon said proudly, hands on her hips, face full of pride.
Watching Neon like this, Light felt a strange discomfort. When he praised Neon, she never reacted this strongly. He sighed silently.
Kevin patted Light's shoulder. "Get used to it. Kurapika is very good too, isn't he?"
Light glanced at Kevin and waved dismissively. "It's different. You'll understand when you have a daughter."
Kevin truly couldn't comprehend this feeling. He redirected his attention to the prophecy poem.
[The Philosopher's Stone falls into the blank blue sea, the refined elixir of vigor makes the spirits boil. All beings scatter silver coins, thirsting to drink their fill of the wine of desire, the tide lifts silver coins gathering like a gallows.]
[The spirits vainly scatter silver coins to no avail, the roaring furnace devours the sun, moon, and heavens. The greedy ones who traverse among the spirits exchange silver for gold, copper snakes lay eggs on the boiling coast.]
[In the golden and magnificent noble hall, there are countless defiled ones wearing golden robes. The clashing crystal cups establish fragile chains, connected by mysterious medicine to form a spiderweb contract.]
[The washed-away filth is like maggots clinging to bone, within the struggled darkness are greedy eyes. Oh, the ten wicked beasts in the deep cave, that giant bat hanging upside down will tighten the chains in its hands.]
How to put it—there were a bit too many ambiguous references. However, based on what they already knew, coupled with their own actions, they could still infer quite a bit.
"How do you interpret this?" Kurapika asked curiously. Mainly because there were too many ambiguous things—all sorts of references and symbols gathered together. It seemed to be saying something, yet also seemed to be saying nothing.
"Are you going to interpret it? I'm not listening—I'm leaving." Saying this, Neon covered her ears and directly left the living room, running toward the garden.
Seeing this, Kurapika turned to Kevin, eyes inquiring.
"Neon cannot make prophecies for herself, nor can she see or know information from prophecies she makes for others."
Kurapika nodded understandingly. He inexplicably felt pressure—Neon's ability was very powerful, but she couldn't use it on herself. This meant if Neon encountered danger, she couldn't foresee it herself. And his duty was to protect her—both Neon herself and her ability were very important. He clenched his fist, giving himself encouragement. He had to work harder. He didn't want to see Neon get hurt. After losing his clan members, he couldn't bear any more losses.
Kevin looked at Kurapika and said no more, shifting attention back to the prophecy poem. He began interpreting it with Light. Both had experience interpreting prophecies. They could take this opportunity to teach the three Kurta—they might need it in the future.
"The first sentence of the first stanza should be easy to understand. In alchemy legends, the red stone is the Philosopher's Stone. I named it this at the time for this reason. So this should refer to us, or rather, the company. 'Falling into the blue sea,' understood from a business perspective, means entering a commercial blue ocean. The 'elixir of vigor'—I don't need to explain this much. From the poem's meaning, it seems after the drug launched, it caused market sensation."
After simply explaining the first sentence, Kevin looked at the second: "After launch, many people sought after it, all hoping to buy the drug. 'Piles of silver coins like a tide forming a gallows'—this should mean earning too much money comes with certain risks, but within manageable range. Business war. It's normal for risks to exist."
The first paragraph's interpretation was that simple. The three Kurta listened, nodding, roughly understanding how to break down and analyze.
"It seems it's just as we expected." Light's face broke into a smile. Though he'd anticipated it, his daughter's accurate prediction felt like a shot in the arm.
"Now look at the second paragraph. Generally, a paragraph represents events of the coming week. Based on current time, the second paragraph corresponds to the second week," Kevin explained simply. The three nodded again.
"This first sentence should mean the listed drug was bought up quickly and became out of stock by the second week. A 'furnace' should represent the manufacturing plant working day and night to ramp up production." Interpreting the first sentence of the second paragraph was slightly harder than the first, but still understandable.
"What about this second sentence? It's becoming more and more abstract and vague." Pairo couldn't help commenting.
Light's expression grew serious as he frowned and nodded. The abstract meaning in the second paragraph was indeed obvious, leaving them somewhat confused.
Kevin pondered for a moment. "This second sentence can be interpreted based on what might normally happen. 'Greedy people exchanging silver for gold,' combined with supply not meeting demand at the time—what could that be?" He smiled, likely having an idea.
"Ah—it's those who resell at high prices." Kurapika reacted quickly.
"That's right. It should refer to the situation where production capacity is insufficient and the drug is being resold at high prices on the market. This is normal and logical. As for the latter half of the sentence..." Kevin trailed off. To be honest, this stumped him.
They searched for a long time but couldn't figure out what it symbolized. This was the first time Kevin and Light had encountered such abstract prophecy content.
"The key should be what 'copper snake laying eggs' means?" Rosana pointed out from the side. "The 'boiling coast' is relatively easy to understand. The market is so hot—using 'boiling' to describe it is very apt."
"I understand now. This is a symbolic meaning in alchemy or mysticism," Kevin suddenly realized. After all, his pharmaceutical workbench, to some extent, carried a strong mystical color, quite similar to ancient alchemy imagery. And this drug, in essence, was developed by Kevin through his predecessor's research, combined with his own operations, and supplemented by the pharmaceutical workbench—ordinary drugs that could be made without it.
"'Copper snake laying eggs' means rapid proliferation. This should refer to the subsequent expansion of the pharmaceutical plant."
Everyone considered this and felt it indeed made sense.
"As for the third paragraph, there's no need to explain much. Light should understand." The meaning of the third paragraph was too obvious.
Light nodded and said simply, "If the company is this successful, I should already be in high society. All sorts of social engagements will come one after another, and I can't very well refuse."
The three looked at the verses. Though they carried a strong sense of irony, it was indeed the truth. This should be about building connections. The only thing needing interpretation—the 'mysterious drug'—was no secret to them; it clearly referred to Kevin's potion. Through this potion, Light should establish a wider network, just as Kevin and Light had anticipated.
"Now look at the last paragraph. Undoubtedly, the entire prophecy poem's focus is here. It seems someone is getting jealous." Kevin smiled. This wasn't surprising. After all, profits were tempting—it would be strange if no one got jealous. Didn't Kevin get his hunter license precisely to eliminate these potential troubles? Otherwise, there would only be more. All within expectations.
"Trying to go straight isn't that easy. It's really a headache." Light rubbed his temples with a helpless expression. He'd spent months trying to shake off the past's influence, but ultimately, it was hard to completely cleanse himself. He knew these gangs' methods. Daring to covet in this situation meant either immense backing or simple foolishness. There were quite a few such people.
And the prophecy clearly indicated who was coveting. For him, it was practically calling out names.
"As expected, it's the Ten Old Men. I didn't even have the qualifications to meet them before, and now I've actually attracted their attention." Light couldn't help but laugh. This precisely proved the decision to cooperate with Kevin was correct.
"Ten Old Men?" Kurapika was confused. It sounded like they were enemies. They should be the 'ten evil beasts' in the prophecy.
Kevin nodded. "You've been out long enough to know that in this chaotic world, gangs exist legally. In some aspects, they even take on responsibilities similar to police. But ultimately, they're still lawless individuals immersed in darkness. Underground gangs worldwide are unified under ten families' control—collectively called the Ten Old Men."
"Worldwide?" Pairo was surprised. Anything with 'worldwide' added always made people think it was very powerful. Just like Kevin back then, he was also intimidated.
Kevin smiled. "No need to be overly nervous, but don't let your guard down either. They aren't as powerful as you imagine, but they are indeed troublesome." If it were before, Kevin might have had concerns, but now he didn't really want to bother with these things anymore.
"From the poem's meaning, it seems a certain family only noticed your movements by month's end and wants to take action."
Light nodded. "So which family does the bat refer to?" Kevin asked.
Unexpectedly, Light shook his head. "There are many rumors about the Ten Old Men. What each family does is largely similar—though there are some differences, mainly in the areas they manage." Simply put, it was hard to tell which family the poem referenced.
Rosana suddenly spoke. "Then let's deduce from common sense. In this situation, which family is most likely to notice you and take action?"
Hearing this line of thinking, Light began pondering.
Kurapika offered a reminder. "Uncle Light, you were originally the boss of a family gang. If each of the Ten Old Men's families controls a region, then who was the superior family you belonged to before? Whichever Ten Old Man they were under is most likely to take action against you, right? After all, you were originally under their control—they would naturally have a strange possessiveness over your business." He pointed to the last paragraph. "The chain mentioned here signifies binding and connection. Combined with the chain in the previous text, it might also imply connections. 'Tightening the chain' means they believe the connection between you and them still exists and they want to continue controlling you."
Light immediately reacted. "That's brilliant! What you said really makes sense. The family I belonged to before was the Liz Family, and the Liz Family was subordinate to the Tedolka Family among the Ten Old Men."
"Tedolka? I think I've heard that name somewhere before," Kevin suddenly said.
Light looked at him. "Don't you remember? That first conflict."
"Oh~ I remember now—it was that guy." Kevin had to admit that ever since then, he'd been incredibly busy, with one thing after another, and then the Kurta massacre had completely made him forget. Only after Light reminded him did he recall.
"What a small world." Kevin couldn't help muttering.
"Did you have a conflict?" Pairo asked.
Light briefly recounted their past history. Only then did the others understand how dramatic the situation was.
"Leave it to me, Uncle. You're so busy—let us handle this matter." Pairo suddenly spoke with a serious expression.
Rosana and Kurapika heard this and nodded in agreement. They also yearned to do something rather than just passively accept Kevin's help. After all, they were now a united group.
Kevin pondered for a moment. "No problem. Then I'll leave it to you."