So under what circumstances would Lyman believe Ivan was ready to receive the clue to those documents?
Ivan could think of two possibilities.
First, his strength had reached a level Lyman would approve of.
But that seemed unlikely.
Lyman was already dead.
If this condition existed, then the only possibility was that Lyman had arranged for someone else to hold the clue—and that person could verify Ivan's strength.
There were very few people Ivan could think of who fit that description.
But every one of them worked inside the Judicial Bureau.
In fact, if Correa hadn't tried to eliminate him yesterday, Ivan's first suspect would have been the Chief Justice himself.
Second, Ivan had successfully established himself in Kakin again.
Being entangled in the document incident meant it was extremely difficult for him to gain a foothold.
However, considering Lyman's knowledge of connections and power structures, he would surely have realized that those documents could help Ivan obtain protection.
So once Ivan reappeared publicly and was no longer targeted by either the mafia or the upper ranks of the Judicial Bureau, it would signal that Ivan had reached some kind of agreement with someone powerful.
At that moment—
the clue to the documents would become Ivan's lifeline.
If Lyman truly didn't want his resurrected son to die again, then that would be the moment he would release the information.
Or perhaps even leave a method for dealing with the Phantom Troupe.
Ivan didn't know if his reasoning was correct.
But it was worth trying.
After all, the alternative would be charging straight into Kojima Foods.
And that was something he absolutely refused to do.
Monica wasn't that important to him.
She might have tried to protect him.
She had shared part of her information with him.
But in the end, Monica was merely a friend of the original Ivan.
The current Ivan did not share that level of emotional attachment.
Risking his life for her simply wasn't an option.
If the time came, he would avenge her.
That alone would already be more than enough.
More importantly, Ivan didn't believe killing the Butcher would solve Monica's condition.
What Monica needed most right now was an exorcist—someone capable of removing Nen curses.
But Nen exorcists were extremely rare.
Even though Ivan knew that the Second Prince of Kakin had one in her entourage, that didn't help.
Because that exorcist would never perform Nen removal for Monica.
So Monica's tragic death was practically inevitable.
And even without analyzing the situation this way, Ivan already knew the outcome.
Because in the manga, within Morena's Ai-Ai Family, there had never been anyone named Monica.
And Monica was a Nen user.
If she had survived this crisis, someone with her abilities would almost certainly have become a core member of Morena's faction.
The two members of the Gashaya Family had driven their own car.
But when they arrived at the Judicial Bureau, they did not follow Ivan inside.
After exchanging contact information, they issued several veiled warnings before waiting patiently in the vehicle.
If Ivan left the Judicial Bureau without contacting them, it would mean his agreement with the Seventh Prince had collapsed.
And the consequences of that—
Ivan surely understood.
It was already midday.
The Judicial Bureau was busy with people coming and going.
Before entering his office, Ivan noticed Caesar already working.
It was unclear whether he had stayed overnight or had simply arrived early that morning.
Judging from how energetic he looked, Ivan suspected it was the latter.
They exchanged brief greetings before returning to their own tasks.
Ivan currently had only one official assignment—
Investigate the location where the Gashaya Family was conducting their new drug transactions.
When to act was entirely his decision.
The operation itself would be carried out by the Judicial Bureau's tactical unit.
These operatives were graduates of Kakin's military academy or veterans transferred from the army.
Although they were ordinary people, their discipline and equipment were excellent.
With proper weapons, they could suppress even ordinary Nen users with gunfire—or kill them outright.
Nen users were powerful, yes.
But not everyone could dodge bullets or withstand them.
And in truth, there weren't that many Nen users for them to arrest in the first place.
Ivan sat quietly in his office.
He wasn't in any hurry.
For the moment, the situation had stabilized.
Aside from the Phantom Troupe, who still wanted to hunt him down, the rest of the factions had temporarily stopped targeting him.
This was his breathing space.
As for Kojima Foods, Ivan had no intention of going there personally.
At most, he would send some dinosaurs to investigate.
The place itself was dangerous.
Morena's operation there would also create complications.
And if the Phantom Troupe traced Pike's memories, they might head there as well.
The entire situation would become chaotic.
Going there now would only drag him into a swamp.
And he would gain nothing from it.
Instead, Ivan had another priority.
He wanted to deal with the Death Nen lingering in his body.
He went to the main office and asked an intern to buy two recording devices and bring back lunch.
Then he returned to his own office.
At first, he had tried controlling the Death Nen through sheer willpower.
It failed.
But he could still sense that with enough effort, he might eventually gain control over it.
Later, Ivan discovered something else.
The Death Nen was constantly drawing on his own aura.
But all of that energy was used to repair his body.
Once he realized this, Ivan developed a rather greedy thought.
He wanted to keep the Death Nen.
After all, regeneration abilities were rare.
And having one that didn't require developing a Nen ability himself was even more valuable.
But after spending the entire afternoon experimenting, Ivan realized something frustrating.
His control over the Death Nen remained almost nonexistent.
At this rate, mastering it through sheer willpower might take years.
It was discouraging.
If he wanted to solve the Death Nen problem quickly, he might have to rely on a Nen exorcist after all.
But where could he find one?
Ivan could recall four Nen exorcists.
The first was Abengane, the exorcist who removed Chrollo's curse in Greed Island.
But finding him now would be extremely difficult.
He wouldn't appear in the Greed Island game until September next year.
At this point, his whereabouts were completely unknown.
The second was Untomanma, the Nen exorcist serving the Second Prince Camilla Hui Guo Rou.
But she was one of Camilla's loyal "Untouchables."
Unless Ivan dealt with Camilla herself, Untomanma would never help him.
The third exorcist would only appear during the Chimera Ant arc.
That option was even further away.
The fourth exorcist was the one summoned by the Hunter Association to save Gon after his near-fatal condition.
The only Nen exorcist known within the Association.
And also the easiest one to find.
Because all Ivan needed to do was become a Hunter.
That evening, while eating dinner, Ivan turned on the computer in his office.
He quickly located the Hunter Exam registration website.
He decided to take the exam.
There was no real reason for him to remain in Kakin.
He wasn't the original Ivan.
If necessary, he could abandon this identity entirely and leave the country.
And once he left Kakin—
Nothing would be more useful than becoming a licensed Hunter.
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