A moonlit forest at night.
The three sides stood in a tense three-way standoff.
On the surface, the atmosphere seemed harmonious, but beneath the calm exterior lurked an undercurrent of caution—like a vast ocean with hidden waves.
"Since you and Hisoka have things to discuss, we'll be leaving first." The blond, baby-faced member of the Troupe waved with a smile, leading his comrades away.
Two years ago, he had the same baby face. Now, he still looked exactly the same, as if time had never touched him.
Meanwhile, Cyr had gone from a boy to a young man—his appearance now almost the same age as Shalnark's.
"Bye~" Cyr gave a casual wave, watching as the Troupe members turned into streaks of white light and vanished. Then, he turned to face Hisoka.
"So, what's your plan?"
Hisoka grinned, the look in his eyes like a farmer watching a tree he had carefully nurtured finally bear big, juicy fruit—a mix of natural satisfaction and a strangely benevolent amusement.
"I was thinking of calling Tzesguerra. He should be able to bring in a few other decent players… Book."
The white-haired boy opened his palm, and the card book materialized in his hand.
"Use [Communication]."
"Tzesguerra… Ah, found it." He flipped to the last page, where a list of previously encountered players' names appeared.
With Teleportation, Cyr could move anywhere in an instant, so he had already explored the entire game map, memorizing every location.
As a result, he had met more players than anyone else. If he hadn't encountered someone, chances were… they were already dead.
"Use [Communication], target: Tzesguerra."
As Cyr went through the process, Hisoka simply watched with a smile—half expectant, half like he was admiring something.
Tzesguerra agreed quickly but mentioned they still needed to discuss final details, such as how to divide the cards.
Cyr didn't really care and told him they'd figure it out later.
"He said he has four people. Including us, that makes eight. And if we add Killua, Gon, and Biscuit… that makes eleven."
Hmm. Eleven people… would that be enough?
It should be enough.
"So little Gon and the others will be joining too~?" Hisoka's voice suddenly took on an extra playful lilt.
Three little apples, gathered in one place…
How delicious.
"By the way, why didn't they come with you?" Hisoka asked.
"Ah, they formed a cannon fodder scouting team to gather intel." Cyr mentioned offhandedly.
Beside him, the Sora sneezed.
Cannon fodder scouting team? Hisoka raised an intrigued eyebrow.
"It won't take more than a few days before they're done for," the white-haired boy said casually.
In reality, it was even faster than he expected.
When Gon's communication request came through, Cyr was in the middle of a bath.
Not a normal bath—he was soaking in a wooden barrel set over a campfire, steam rising around him, making it look as if he were being boiled alive.
Sora carefully controlled the wind at his side, ensuring a perfect bathing experience.
With a damp towel over his forehead, Cyr lazily accepted Gon's call.
"We… failed." Gon's voice carried a hint of regret, though not disappointment.
"Tch, I can't believe you actually called it." Killua sounded annoyed, clearly frustrated that their failure had been predicted in advance.
"But we did get some useful intel! To obtain the One Tsubo of Coastline card, a team must have at least fifteen members to trigger the prerequisite mission..."
"There's a legend in Soufrabi about Razor and fourteen devils. The challenge requires a one-on-one match against all fifteen of them, meaning we also need fifteen players to compete."
"We attempted the challenge but lost completely…" Gon sighed.
Killua had warned them beforehand that only three members of their team stood a chance in combat. Even so, they hadn't expected to be wiped out so quickly.
"Hah. Totally predictable." Cyr laughed, showing no concern for their feelings.
Did they think they were protagonists from an overpowered fantasy series? Of course, it wasn't going to be that easy.
To Cyr, Killua and Gon felt like protagonists from a dark, gritty shounen manga—one where they had to endure countless beatings to grow stronger, only to keep pushing forward and getting beaten down again.
Or maybe it was just the Hunter world's style. The nature of Nen abilities made it nearly impossible for a true "invincible" protagonist to exist.
"So, we're planning to recruit more people, form a proper team, and challenge them again." Gon spoke with firm determination.
"Mm-hmm." Cyr gave a half-hearted response, taking a sip of fruit juice that Maro had just handed him.
"But right now, we only have four people…" Gon admitted, scratching his head.
Killua, himself, Biscuit, and a new teammate named Goreinu.
As for Kazsul and the rest of their previous team… best not to mention them.
"I have eight people on my side." Cyr stood up from the wooden tub, drying himself off while changing into fresh clothes.
"Eh?!" Gon's voice was full of shock.
"Tch, this guy totally assumed we'd fail. He must've started recruiting people the moment we left." Killua scoffed, unsurprised.
This was exactly the kind of thing Cyr would do. It also fit perfectly with the Zoldyck family's pragmatic way of thinking.
"That's great! Anyone you picked must be strong! That means we only need three more people!" Gon said excitedly.
"We can just find three more to fill the numbers and challenge them again." Killua agreed.
Give up just because of one loss? Not a chance. They had to keep fighting until they won.
"So, three out of fifteen will just be fillers, huh… Well, that works." Cyr clicked his tongue, responding lightly.
Among the twelve members they had so far, Tzesguerra wasn't particularly strong, but he was usable. The people he brought along were likely weaker than him, but they could at least function as tools.
As for the last three… their only purpose was to satisfy the "fifteen players" requirement. Beyond that, there was no reason to expect anything useful from them.
"We'll come find you right away!" Gon said eagerly before ending the call.
A second later, he activated Accompany.
Cyr paused for a moment, then slowly turned his head toward Hisoka, who was bathing in the nearby lake.
Unlike Cyr, who was being served a luxurious hot bath by Maro and Sora, Hisoka had simply stripped down and stepped into the lake.
Cyr had considered doing the same, but Maro had stopped him. Well… soaking in hot water was pretty comfortable.
Should he remind Hisoka to put on some clothes? Otherwise, he'd be completely exposed in front of everyone in a few seconds.
Then again, Hisoka probably wouldn't care. In fact, he might even enjoy it.
Forget it. Let's just watch the show.
A bright white light descended from the sky, landing by the lake. It flashed brilliantly before fading, revealing four figures.
Hisoka turned to face them.
"Oh… it's you guys." He greeted them as naturally as ever, completely unfazed by his lack of clothing. He made no effort to cover himself, standing there in his full, unfiltered glory.
"…Whew…" Biscuit covered her face with both hands—except for the wide gap between her fingers, which allowed her to take in the view completely unobstructed.
What a… breathtaking physique.
Slurp.
"She's a total perv, huh…" Cyr muttered, deadpan.
At least now he was sure—Biscuit definitely didn't have a thing for little boys.
The way she looked at Killua and Gon was completely different from the way she was looking at Hisoka.
Yep. The old lady's tastes were definitely in line with peak male sex appeal.
°°°
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