How could anyone possibly hold back after that?
He might as well have taken her right there on the spot.
Several explicit details are omitted here.
The next day, September 1, Yorknew City's week-long dream auction officially began.
Those attending this auction included world-class tycoons, the top families of the underworld, and famous, immensely wealthy people known across the globe.
At that extravagantly luxurious auction venue, Roy had the gorgeously decked-out Android 18 at his side. Light Nostrade had brought Kurapika and Melody, while Battera arrived with a whole group of bodyguards, along with fat second brother Milluki.
As for Gon and the others, they used the money Leorio had earned from taking jobs over the past few days to buy admission tickets.
"So that's him? The one with the 50 billion Jenny bounty?"
Inside the resplendent hall, Android 18 stared in Battera's direction as though she were looking at a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
And while Android 18 was looking at Battera, Battera was also looking this way.
"So Light Nostrade really did pass the news along to Battera."
Sensing Battera's gaze, Roy smiled knowingly.
Yesterday, at the Nostrade Family's place, right under Light Nostrade's nose, he had healed Melody.
With Light Nostrade's calculating nature, there was no way he would let something like that go without squeezing the maximum benefit out of it.
Given his standing in the underworld, along with Neon's reputation for fortunes that never missed, Battera was bound to come running the moment he heard the news.
That way, Light Nostrade would become a very competent middleman.
After all, there was a world of difference between Roy going out of his way to help Battera and Battera personally coming to request help from Roy.
…
Just like in the original story, Battera successfully won Greed Island at today's auction. And with no Gon causing trouble like in the original, and no competition from fat second brother Milluki, the price he paid for the game was much lower.
Good. That meant he could settle things with Battera ahead of time.
After today's auction ended, Battera did indeed appear in front of Roy.
"You must be the famous mangaka Roy-san. Seeing you in person truly lives up to your reputation."
Battera greeted him with warmth and impeccable manners.
"I wonder whether Roy-san has time right now. Would you do me the honor of joining me for afternoon tea?"
Looking at Battera's eager expression, Roy's lips curved slightly upward.
"Of course. Having tea with Battera-san would be my pleasure."
It was time to reel in the line. The fish had already taken the bait.
"This is rather abrupt, but I truly have no other options left. I heard Roy-san is highly skilled in medicine?"
After setting down his teacup, Battera got straight to the point.
"I know a little, I know a little," Roy said modestly.
"Then could Roy-san please help me examine a patient?" Battera leaned forward slightly, showing plenty of respect.
"Sure."
So the group set out. Battera had Tsezguerra behind him, Roy brought Android 18 with him, and fat second brother Milluki followed at his side as they headed to Battera's current residence in Yorknew City.
As for Gon and the others, once they learned Roy was going to discuss business with Battera, they tactfully chose not to get involved.
After arriving at Battera's mansion, only Roy and Android 18 followed Battera into the inner room, leaving fat second brother Milluki and Tsezguerra outside in the sitting room, awkwardly staring at each other.
"This is the patient I wanted Roy-san to treat," Battera said in a heavy voice at the door to a treatment room.
Roy looked through the window into the room. She truly was a beauty, and an extraordinary woman at that—the kind who could make a world-class tycoon like Battera cherish her more than mountains of gold.
"Nen, huh?" A glint flashed through Roy's eyes.
Wrapped around the woman lying on the bed with her eyes closed was a purple-red Nen ability.
That explained everything.
As a world-class billionaire, Battera could easily spend enormous sums to hire the finest doctors in the world to treat his beloved.
But no matter how many famous physicians he brought in, the woman was still lying here. That was enough to show that all of them had been helpless. It was not that their medical skill was lacking, but that she had been afflicted by Nen.
After all, Nen was both the most reasonable and the most unreasonable kind of power in the Hunter world.
As long as the proper conditions and restrictions were set, abilities could be developed. In that sense, it was fair and logical.
But once someone was struck by Nen, then aside from the ability's user and a Nen Exorcist, there was no way to judge it by ordinary real-world logic. In that sense, it was utterly unreasonable.
In some respects, only Nen could defeat Nen… Hm? That sounded suspiciously like the catchphrase of some famous glutton.
In any case, with Battera's lover in this condition, there were only two possibilities: either the one who cast the Nen removed it personally, or a Nen Exorcist erased that Nen.
But the problem was obvious. Whoever had gone to such lengths to plant that Nen on her was never going to remove it themselves.
And there was no need to even mention Nen Exorcists. It had already been said before: they were rarer than rare beasts. The Hunter Association itself had only one. Where was Battera supposed to find one?
Of course, if he publicly offered an enormous bounty, a Nen Exorcist would probably appear.
But that would also expose Battera's objective. If the person who had planted the Nen on his lover noticed and activated the ability, then if anything happened to her, it would all be over.
So Battera could only take an indirect route and quietly gather information on Nen Exorcists behind the scenes.
But every Nen Exorcist was a rare prize coveted by countless organizations.
If they wanted to protect themselves, they either had to join an organization like the Hunter Association and accept its restraints, or hide the fact that they were Nen Exorcists in the first place.
And because of that, Battera had failed to find even a single Nen Exorcist all these years. Left with no alternative, he could only place his hopes on the game Greed Island.
But now, with Roy standing before him, and after hearing what Light Nostrade had to say, hope had been rekindled in his heart.
His eyes were full of expectation as he watched Roy carefully examine his lover.
Finally, Roy withdrew his gaze, then nodded to him.
(End of Chapter)
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