Chapter 97

Chapter 97

"If there are no surprises, Kyler's wife must have been turned into a Synth Beast."

"After that, the story moves on to the Sky Arena period."

"The key lies in the six months he went missing."

With a thought, Ron dismissed Chii's presence.

"Chii's value is truly immense."

"In terms of combat strength, it's not much."

"But in terms of gathering information, its abilities are far too powerful."

"Even Milluki is no match for it."

"As long as there are traces of information online, Chii can find it."

"And in this world, most people can't live without the internet."

"Now, with Chii as a top-notch intelligence operative online, it only lacks a little in terms of needing network connections."

"But given time, building those connections is not a problem for Chii."

There's a hierarchy even among intelligence brokers.

In terms of online intelligence capabilities, Chii would be unrivaled.

With such high abilities, it would be easy for Chii to establish cooperative relationships with other intelligence brokers.

It's often not Chii that needs help from other intelligence brokers.

It's the other brokers who need Chii's assistance.

"Looks like I could make some money from selling intelligence, too."

"This might even be easier than taking on assassination missions."

With that thought in mind, Ron materialized Chii once more.

At the same time, he communicated his idea to Chii.

Chii walked over to the network port.

Meanwhile, Ron sat cross-legged on the bed, entering a meditative state.

For a Nen user, lying down isn't the only way to rest.

Closing one's eyes and meditating can also provide rest.

It allows for a substantial recovery of energy and mental strength.

At the same time, Chii was already creating a small storm on one of the intelligence websites.

Many intelligence brokers were paying close attention to the content on the page.

Their eyes widened, showing expressions of disbelief.

"Who is this computer girl?"

"How did she complete so many intelligence requests in such a short time?"

"What's going on?"

"Did she deliberately gather all this information, then submit it all at once?"

"Why would someone do that?"

As the internet became integrated into human society, every industry inevitably formed connections with it. Various occupations have established their own online bases.

There's a website for assassins to receive task assignments.

There's an internal forum accessible only to Hunters.

---

On the intelligence personnel website.

The intelligence community, although seemingly large, is quite small when compared to the internet as a whole.

There are only a handful of websites where various intelligence agents gather.

People in need of intelligence would post requests on these sites, similar to how assassination tasks are handled.

Those who possess the relevant information can accept these requests.

The two parties then engage in a transaction.

Additionally, some intelligence agents with closer relationships would form their own small groups, sharing information within these circles.

Under normal circumstances, the completion rate of intelligence tasks on the website wouldn't show much fluctuation.

Even if there's some variation, it's usually occasional.

However, that night, many intelligence agents noticed something unusual on the website.

Intelligence tasks that had been posted on the site were being completed one after another, rapidly.

It was clearly unreasonable.

"Already over several hundred tasks have been completed."

"There's no way a single person could accomplish this."

"This has to be a team effort."

"And they're not beginners."

"Among these completed intelligence requests, there's even one, number 827, that had been sitting there for years without anyone fulfilling it."

---

The next day.

As dawn broke, Ron opened his eyes, got out of bed, and walked over to the window, pulling the curtains aside.

Sunlight poured into the room.

A stream of information from Chii was transmitted back, entering Ron's mind.

Ron's eyes widened slightly.

"Earned over a billion Jenny in one night?"

"Is intelligence gathering really this profitable?"

A billion Jenny might not be an enormous sum for a Nen user, especially for someone at Ron's level, but it was far from insignificant.

Previously, Ron had taken on a few assassination tasks.

Among the five death-row criminals, some possessed Nen abilities.

The bounty for one death-row criminal was only about a hundred million Jenny.

A billion Jenny assassination job, in terms of difficulty, wasn't a big deal for Ron.

However, killing someone isn't as simple as just charging in.

Before taking on a mission, one has to gather intelligence.

This includes obtaining the target's location and understanding their abilities.

Additionally, when approaching the target's location, it's necessary to thoroughly investigate the surroundings.

Then, wait for the right moment and strike.

Travelling to the target's location also took a lot of time.

Assassination tasks were truly time-consuming.

In comparison, having Chii gather intelligence on the internet allows for earnings of over a billion Jenny in just one night.

Ron doesn't have to do much—he can simply rest while Chii does all the work.

How easy is that?

"With Chii's skills, even if someone tries to trace her IP, it would be impossible."

"There's no risk of exposure."

"In the future, this could be a regular way to make money."

However, Ron didn't really need money.

As long as he has enough, that's all that matters.

In the world of Nen users, not everything can be bought with money.

What Ron wants more is to build an intelligence network centred around Chii.

With a thought, Chii's form disappeared.

Ron stepped out of the room.

---

"Big brother."

Nina had already arrived in the living room ahead of him.

"What would you like for breakfast?"

Ron thought for a moment.

"Some bread and beef, and a bit more fruit than before."

In the world of Hanma Baki, there is a famous saying: the more you eat, the stronger you become.

This isn't absolute.

But generally speaking, the stronger you are, the more you eat.

Because everyday activities consume more energy.

A strong fighter's appetite is much larger than that of an ordinary person.

The higher-ranked contestants at the Sky Arena are almost all big eaters.

And for Nen users, while the limit for mental energy might be higher than physical energy, physical energy is still an extremely important part.

Their appetite will likely be greater than that of ordinary fighters, not less.

Unless you're at the level of Netero or Maha Zoldyck.

"Sure."

Nina didn't question it but then turned to Shizuku.

"Shizuku, what would you like to eat?"

"Bread."

Shizuku hesitated for a moment and only said the word "bread." For someone from Meteor City like Shizuku, just having bread to eat was already an incredible luxury.

Most of the time, she couldn't even get bread.

In the original storyline, Shizuku was also a member of the Phantom Troupe, but she joined later.

She was much younger than Chrollo and the others.

By that time, Meteor City had already changed.

From scattered villages, it evolved into four fixed districts.

Thus, Shizuku's childhood was actually tougher than the childhoods of Chrollo and the others.

"Don't you want anything else?"

"Anything else?"

Shizuku instinctively looked at Ron.

Ron said, "Nina, just give Shizuku the same breakfast you're having."

"Okay."

Shizuku was older than Nina.