Chapter 124

Greed furrowed his brow.

"What do you mean?"

"I know Kyler well," Dandins replied. "You previously said Gluttony and Sloth's deaths had nothing to do with Ron or Lena; instead, the top brass at the Sky Arena were behind it."

"Kyler treats Lena like his daughter and doesn't want to harm her. Instead, he found a lover to fulfil his ability condition."

"But how can a lover compare to his own daughter?"

"The difference between using a lover versus using his daughter to gain his power is huge. In addition, Kyler would never still feel any affection for his daughter."

Greed's frown deepened.

"Are you suggesting that Ron lied to me, Dandins?"

"I'm not sure. But would lying about this make sense for him? At that time, we hadn't even cleared him of suspicion. Could it be that he killed both Gluttony and Sloth?"

Greed added, "If that were the case, why would he voluntarily come with me to Aurean? He's just a Nen user in his early teens, barely an E-rank. Could he really kill both Gluttony and Sloth?"

"Impossible. It has to be someone high up in the Sky Arena. Even if Ron has ties, he'd likely just be a pawn for someone there."

"In that case, it doesn't matter. I no longer plan to cultivate him. Instead, I'll make him the fuel for my growth."

Dandins nodded. "If that's the case, then there's no issue. A kid in his teens can't possibly mess up my plans. He'll die soon anyway."

Greed asked, "How long will it take, Dandins?"

"About half a month. I need that much time to prepare. When it's ready, bring Ron here. This method has over an eighty per cent chance of success."

"Once it succeeds, your power will increase dramatically," Dandins assured him.

Greed smiled. "I'll leave it in your hands, Dandins."

After their conversation, Greed left the room.

Ron glanced over.

"Ron, let's head back."

"Understood."

Dandins watched as Ron and Greed left. Only when they disappeared did he turn back, focusing on the chair Ron had sat in and the computer he had used.

He quickly pulled up the surveillance footage.

"So, he was just playing games? Perhaps I really did overthink this. Could Kyler truly have some familial affection left?"

Back at the manor, Greed turned to Ron. "You can head to your room. I'm going to the training ground for a while."

"Understood."

Returning to his room, Ron checked everything once more with "Gyo," even though he'd examined it many times before. Confirming there were no issues, he moved to the corner and, with a thought, summoned Killer Queen.

He retrieved his laptop from Killer Queen's body, connected it to the network, and began receiving data. These were the files Chii had collected regarding Base No. 2, carefully filtered to pass on only the crucial parts to Ron.

Among them was the conversation between Dante and Greed.

"Sacrifice my life as material in some experiment to enhance Greed's power? And it's set to happen in just half a month."

"Not much time left."

Ron's gaze sharpened.

"I could either leave Aurean within the next two weeks or kill Dandins and Greed ahead of time."

"But before that, I need to visit both the Shadow Beast Manor and the Conference Building."

"My goal is to increase the Observer's Intent skill to at least fifty per cent before leaving Aurean."

Ron wasn't disappointed by this discovery; he'd never fully trusted Greed. After all, Gluttony had attacked Hanma Baki on sight, Kyler didn't even spare his own daughter, so how trustworthy could Greed be?

His initial plan had merely been to use Greed as a stepping stone into the Underworld Mafia and gain their unique abilities.

Ron shut off the video and examined the other files.

"Human experimentation? Combining people with monsters, implanting them, grafting them?"

"And then forcing them to fight?"

Image after image appeared on the screen, leaving Ron silent. Since arriving in this world, he had been shocked twice: once in Meteor City, where he was appalled by the conditions in the Garbage districts, and now, by this.

"This human experimentation is truly terrifying. Even the human experiments in the Naruto world done by Orochimaru pale in comparison." (t/n hard doubt that)

"What must these people feel when they're turned into experiments?"

He looked at the images. The faces on the screen displayed despair, anger, and defiance, but most of all, numbness.

These people watched themselves transform into monsters, much like Kyler's ability to merge Lena and the little grey into a chimaera. But this was even more torturous, as the fusion process here was prolonged rather than instantaneous.

"So, what kind of experiment do Dandins and Greed have in mind for me?"

---

The next day, Ron arrived near the Conference Building.

The security was tight. Since he was at a distance, his ability to absorb traits was slower. But Ron calculated that even from this range, in about ten days, he'd have gathered enough data to absorb the Conference Building's attributes.

At the same time, he instructed Chii to cause some chaos in Laboratory No. 2, which would delay Dandins and Greed's timeline.

Ten days later, Ron raised his Observer's Intent skill level to just over forty per cent.

Greed sat in his study, smoking as clouds of smoke filled the room.

"What's going on?" he muttered. "Why does Dandins keep delaying things? There isn't much time left before the Shadow Beast selection!"

"I can't wait any longer."

Greed grabbed his phone and contacted Dandins.

"Ten days. Bring him over in ten days."

"Fine, I'll wait ten more days."

Although their original deadline had yet to pass, Dandins's request for a delay made Greed anxious. But hearing Dandins's confirmation calmed him slightly.

"Greed."

Greed descended the stairs and walked to the training grounds in the backyard. Ron had been training there and paused when Greed arrived.

Greed nodded slightly, feeling no remorse toward Ron. To Greed, Ron was simply a promising junior with potential but ultimately no match for his own power.

"Greed, what's the Shadow Beast Manor like?"

"You're interested?"

"Since you've talked a lot about the Shadow Beasts, I'd like to see it for myself. And if possible, maybe meet some of them."

"You already met Master Lizard and Master Wild Dog last time."

Ron shook his head. "I was too far away to clearly see their fight, let alone speak to them."

Greed said nothing.

"Greed, with your strength, if a Shadow Beast position opens up, you'd be a top candidate, right?"

Hearing this, Greed couldn't help but smile.

...........

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