Hunter x Hunter: From Obtaining the World to Beyond Heaven

And yet, she's been deliberately helping him conceal his whereabouts these past few days...

"Mother-in-law!"

Kido said expressionlessly:

"Let's add one more sparring partner."

……

One hour later.

In room 117, Silva sat cross-legged on the floor, and after a long silence, he said:

"So, it wasn't an enemy attack; you accidentally injured yourself while being instructed by your teacher?"

With a black eye, Dia nodded seriously; the injury on his face was rapidly disappearing under the repair of the ripples.

Upon hearing this, Silva pondered for a moment, then said as if drawing a conclusion:

"It's less about providing guidance and more about venting anger. What's the point?"

"It has significance, of course."

Dia smiled mysteriously; he hadn't been beaten for nothing.

[Rule] Restrictions: Candidates are prohibited from cooperating with each other unless a third-party enemy emerges to disrupt the election.

Na Qiduo serving as his sparring partner is, of course, a form of cooperation.

So, an hour ago in the corridor.

Quite naturally, a suggestion arose—

"Let's have a match, a serious one, one against two!"

When Dia made the suggestion, both Keido and Bisky sensed a trap.

but……

"Just state your conditions, don't beat around the bush."

"I'm annoyed," Qi Duo said.

Doesn't she know what kind of temper Diya has? Every seemingly conceding move is actually for a greater benefit.

She could even guess what he was planning to do.

'It's nothing more than trying to extract information or test Bisky's abilities.'

Because she was so familiar with Di Yatai, Qi Duo knew exactly what he was bad at.

As a novice hunter in the true sense, Dia was strong enough at this time, but in terms of soft skills such as intelligence gathering and connections, she could not compare with a skilled professional hunter.

Diya didn't keep them in suspense and continued speaking from where she left off:

"Regarding the Four Thieves of Fujiang, I have already told Bisky everything we know in advance over the past few days."

Bisky was taken aback when she heard this. She said that it had suddenly become very easy to gather information from this kid these past few days.

It turns out he did it on purpose, and may have even been planning this all along.

After offering her sincerity, Dia continued:

"If I can withstand your attacks for thirty minutes, tell me what part of the intelligence I'm missing. Otherwise, I will not attack you in the next mission."

Dia, now fully aware of his true intentions, knew very well that his current actions were skirting the edges of the rules.

A bet? Strictly speaking, this is also an exchange of information, in other words, a form of cooperation.

Dia didn't know if Qiduo, with her rule-abiding nature, would agree to this deal.

If he doesn't agree, then all his efforts these past few days have been in vain; otherwise, he can obtain information out of thin air.

Yes, this is a gamble, a gamble on whether Qiduo will soften her heart.

Desperate to resort to this tactic, Dia was also helpless. He had become so used to having Qiduo as an external brain that he had neglected to cultivate the basic qualities of these hunters.

'I really need to study harder in the future; I can't just be good at fighting all the time...'

Fortunately, after much consideration, Keita agreed to the deal.

Putting aside personal factors, she also wanted to know how well Diya had progressed in her strength after being away for nearly half a month.

When she was training at the Hunter Association building, Dia's progress was so fast that it amazed Kito, who had been called a "genius" and "prodigy" since childhood.

"...Tell me, what are the things we haven't been able to find?"

An hour later, Silva didn't comment on Dia and the others' actions, but calmly asked about the outcome.

"There are two important points. First, there is the question of whether the so-called 'Four Thieves of Fujiang' still exist. The consensus among intelligence dealers, big and small, is that they are all still alive, but barely alive."

Dia said, while also pondering:

"No matter how the diviners performed the divination, they could only conclude that they were still alive, but no matter what happened in the following 25 years, they never showed up again."

"This only corresponds to one possibility: they are indeed alive, but they are no longer able to cope with the arrests from all sides. It is highly likely that they have all been injured or rendered incapacitated."

"Then comes the most important point: what exactly happened 25 years ago that could cause such a powerful criminal gang to vanish into thin air..."

According to the information merchant's Nen ability—the [Old Papers].

Twenty-five years ago, the trail of the wanted criminal gang, the Four Thieves of Fujiang, was clearly discovered in the Stone House Inn, which appeared out of nowhere in the city of St. Vera.

The Ochima Federation quickly sealed off and attacked the hotel, with 62 investigators and armed personnel, led by the Mysterious Incident Investigation Department, storming the sealed-off hotel.

The final result was that the [Secret Investigation Department] was almost completely wiped out.

Only the head of the Secret Investigation Department and three elite agents remained outside to maintain order and were not directly killed.

Later, only a small portion of the bodies of the deceased investigators were recovered, and all the bodies were completely disfigured, with facial features and even heads showing signs of being misidentified...

Chapter 198 Crimson Falls from the Sky × The Truth About the Hotel

Some of the dead investigators' heads turned into gun barrels, while others turned into giant fish heads.

Some turned into slugs, others into bricks, taking on all sorts of different forms, but they all died extremely tragically.

After examining the case, the head of the Secret Investigation Department concluded that this was a common technique used by cosmetic sculptors.

This further confirms the fact that the Four Thieves of Fujiang were in the inn.

"These are the parts that were blacked out in the intelligence provided by Ciyutuo. After that, the city of Sterila disappeared, and the Four Bandits of Fujiang vanished along with the city of Sterila."

Dia said as if making a definitive statement:

"But now it seems that at least one person, that guy named Mori, did not disappear with the city of St. Vera."

Dia was even certain that the "Groom" Mori who had appeared on Lake Rusty was there for the possible return of the city of Steverla!

--------------

At dusk.

The entire city of Dalatland was draped in a golden veil.

Its high elevation allows this former city of angels to bask in the most sunshine in the Flar region.

In an underground tavern.

The tavern, which should have been bustling with activity, was now eerily silent.

Everyone stood frozen in place, baring their teeth and brandishing their claws, like solidified wax figures. Although they were lifelike, they did not waver in the slightest.

Surrounded by everyone, a man who stood out from his surroundings sat meticulously on a sofa and calmly began to speak:

"Five seconds left to end the restraint. If you continue to misbehave, I don't mind giving you another minute to calm down."

Mitchellston added:

“I could do this all day.”

Upon hearing this, all the wax figures present broke out in a cold sweat.

They never expected that this uninvited guest, who had suddenly barged in five minutes earlier, would possess such bizarre abilities.

If I had known, I would have just answered whatever he asked...

Five seconds later, everyone was jolted awake. Suddenly regaining their mobility, some of them even lost their balance and fell to the ground with a loud, muffled thud.

"It's the same question again: those who know about the [Shizai] Inn from back then, stay; those who don't, leave."

Mitchellston casually tossed a wad of cash onto the table.

These were the very things that drove this group of drunkards in their forties and fifties to take the risk and attack him.

“Those of you who answer well, take this money. Those who answer poorly, you still get money. If you dare to lie to me, go to the police station.”

The drunkards exchanged bewildered glances. The question asked by the man dressed as a cow was one that was officially forbidden to be discussed in Dalatland.

Only in their lawless underground tavern would they dare to discuss such a deadly topic so brazenly.

This is also why Mitchellston came here; discussing this issue on the ground would only scare away ordinary people.

Only these money-grubbing bastards would dare to defy the official ban and reveal such minute details to him.

"Do you...do you keep your word?"

In the silent tavern, no one chose to leave. Instead, a fat man who had just gotten up from the ground stared greedily at the pile of money and asked cautiously.

Mitchell nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

He possessed even more intelligence than Qiduo.

Thanks to his identity as a crime hunter, he has read through a vast number of files on criminal gangs that have never been apprehended.

This included the "Four Thieves of Fujiang," all of whom came from the Fujiang Kingdom. They were also aware that the four had appeared at the "Shizai" Inn before they disappeared.

However, Mitchell still couldn't figure out how the Stone-Carried Inn was moved.

So he decided to find people of suitable age in the city of Dalatland and ask them about some of the details from back then.

The fat, drunkard swallowed hard, hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said:

“25 years ago, I was the food supplier for that hotel. They required that, in addition to the normal food supply, they also liked to add some plants and animals that were only found in the Fujie area to the list. That’s all I knew.”