Meanwhile, as the group made their way toward Kukuroo Mountain, at the Hunter Association—
Netero hung up the phone in his hand and picked his nose.
"I imagine that old monster from the Zoldyck family will be interested in the little brat's situation, huh? Hehehe… this is getting interesting."
…
"Dear passengers, what you are now looking at is Kukuroo Mountain, where the infamous Zoldyck family resides. Somewhere within this sea of trees surrounding a dormant volcano 3,772 meters above sea level is said to be their base of operations, though no one has ever seen it."
Within the Republic of Padokea, after several days of travel, Roy's group of four was already seated on a tour bus, listening to the guide's explanation while admiring the scenery around them.
"So Killua's family really is full of assassins," Gon said. Listening to the guide explain how everyone in the Zoldyck family, from the great-grandfather down to Killua, was an assassin, he finally realized Killua had really been telling the truth.
"Of course. Otherwise I wouldn't have had the idea of stuffing them all in prison," Killua said.
Leaning lazily against his seat, he casually said something utterly rebellious by Zoldyck family standards.
After another stretch of road, the bus soon arrived at the Zoldyck family's front gate.
As soon as Roy and the others got off, they were met by an enormous and majestic gate standing there before them, towering so high they had to tilt their heads back to see the top.
"This is the Zoldyck family's main gate. Because it's said that no one who enters ever comes back out, it also has another name: the Gate of the Underworld," the guide dutifully continued explaining the place.
"The Underworld?"
Gon tilted his head and looked at Killua beside him.
"Yeah. It means the inside is basically hell. If you're not mentally prepared, don't even think about going in. And once you do go in, there's a good chance you'll never come back out. From that point on, the world inside and the world outside are completely different."
As he spoke, Killua walked toward the gate.
At that moment, the young tour guide saw him casually heading over and hurriedly called out, "Little brother, that's Zoldyck family territory up ahead, so please don't just go—"
Before she could finish, she froze in terror as she watched Killua step forward and use his seemingly delicate hands to push open the towering Gate of the Underworld.
And not just one gate.
He pushed open three.
"Gulp…"
The guide and the rest of the passengers behind her all swallowed hard.
"So scary…"
"Um, sorry, but we'll be getting off here. You all can go on ahead," Gon said politely as he said goodbye to the guide.
At that moment, from the small guard station beside the Gate of the Underworld, a plump middle-aged security guard walked out.
"Oh! It's young master Killua! You're back!"
The guard—also Miké's cleaner—Mr. Zebro was delighted to see Killua return.
"I didn't expect young master Killua to be able to push open three gates already! You've really grown. Right, and who are they?"
Zebro also noticed Roy, Gon, and the others behind Killua.
"Hello, we're Killua's friends. We've come to visit the Zoldyck family," Roy greeted him politely.
"Young master Killua's friends? Visiting the Zoldyck family?"
Zebro was clearly stunned. This was the first time he had ever seen friends come to visit the Zoldyck family.
"Yeah, I'm taking them inside. My big brother should've already informed the family about the details. Just report everything truthfully to Gotoh," Killua said.
After giving that brief instruction, he took the lead and walked in first.
Gon's group also politely said hello.
"Th-this…"
Obviously, the situation left Zebro rather bewildered, but he quickly recovered, and a gratified look appeared on his face.
"Young master Killua has friends too. That's wonderful. Still, I really do need to report this to head butler Gotoh."
Seeing that Killua had finally made friends for once, he could not help but feel deeply pleased.
"Hello, head butler Gotoh? This is Zebro. Young master Killua has returned…"
Inside the Gate of the Underworld, deep within Kukuroo Mountain, in the butlers' quarters, Gotoh put down the phone in his hand.
"Just as young master Illumi said, young master Killua really has brought back a group of so-called friends. But becoming friends of the Zoldyck family won't be so easy."
However, Illumi had previously said that two people among that group were to be placed on the difficult list, so after some thought, Gotoh dialed two numbers.
One of them belonged to the current head of the Zoldyck family—Killua's father, Silva Zoldyck.
The other belonged to the person who had specifically instructed Gotoh to notify her the moment Killua returned—Killua's mother, Kikyo.
And the instant Roy and the others stepped into Zoldyck family territory—
In a room deep within Kukuroo Mountain, a certain little old man sitting in a rocking chair and watching TV animation suddenly widened his eyes.
"…I can feel it~ a dark presence~~~"
…
"Killua's back, Father. And he brought that group of friends with him."
Silva put down the phone in his hand and spoke to the person beside him.
Next to him sat a small old man with silver hair, wearing his usual outfit with the words "One Kill a Day" and "Still Active" emblazoned across his chest.
It was Killua's grandfather, Zeno Zoldyck.
"Is that so? Looks like Killua finally got tired of playing around outside and remembered to come home. According to Illumi, not only did he get a Hunter License while he was away, he also made a group of friends—and even brought them home. Interesting."
Zeno said it was interesting, but his face remained perfectly calm.
"It's been decades since friends last came to visit the Zoldyck family."
"Mm." Silva nodded.
"But what I care about more is whether Killua has learned Nen. After all, he's the most gifted talent our Zoldyck family currently has. If I hadn't wanted him to build up his physical foundation and body first, so that he could awaken Nen at his absolute peak and maximize the results, I would've forced him to learn everything related to Nen long ago," Silva said.
"Like Kalluto?"
"Mm. Actually, Kalluto's talent isn't weak either, but compared to Killua, he falls quite a bit short. So once his physical condition reached a certain level, I helped him awaken Nen."
(End of Chapter)
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