Chapter 83 : The Zoldyck Family!!

Gotoh led Germain, who was unfamiliar with the way, to the front door of the grand Zoldyck family mansion. He bowed respectfully to Illumi, who stood at the entrance to greet them.

"Master Illumi, I have brought Mr. Germain," Gotoh announced, placing one hand on his abdomen and the other at his side, bowing slightly.

Illumi nodded and waved dismissively. "Very well. You may go."

"Yes, Master."

Gotoh bowed again before turning and walking away, quickly disappearing around the corner of the cobblestone path.

"My parents want to see you," Illumi said, leading Germain into the mansion. "They seem interested in you."

"Why?" Germain asked, trailing slowly behind.

"Who knows?" Illumi shrugged. "Maybe it has something to do with Hisoka's 'marriage proposal'? After all, he considers you and me as equals in his game."

They entered a small door and walked through a dark, narrow passage, resembling an air-raid shelter's transport corridor but with the cold, eerie atmosphere of an underground tomb.

After a short distance, Germain saw a squinting, rotund man striding towards them.

"Brother," the fat man said rudely, though it was clear he was trying to be polite. "Can you lend me a few billion Jenny?"

Illumi shook his head firmly. "No."

"Tsk. Stingy," the fat man muttered, as if expecting this response. He glanced curiously at the stranger, Germain, before quickly walking past them.

"Fine, fine. I'll earn it myself," the fat man grumbled as he walked away.

"That's my younger brother, Milluki, the second oldest and a bit of a shut-in," Illumi explained as they continued walking. "By the way, I'm the eldest."

"I know," Germain replied. "But as the eldest son of the top assassin family, isn't it risky to reveal family information to outsiders?"

"Not really," Illumi turned, his expression matter-of-fact. "We've never hidden any information at all."

"On the 'Hunter Special Website' or through other channels, you can always learn about us if you're willing to spend more money or use special methods," Illumi added with a touch of natural confidence typical of their top-tier assassin family.

Illumi led Germann into a cold, dark basement-like space.

At the far end, a man lay on a recliner, talking to a woman and a child nearby, looking like a typical family of three.

The man and the woman were arguing.

"Killua is at a critical stage in his training. How can we let him go out and play? What if he's careless or goes astray?" the woman said.

Kikyo, wearing a white wide-brimmed hat, a black pleated skirt, and holding a folding fan, had her eyes replaced by a device similar to VR glasses, with a red dot representing her pupils, shaking angrily.

Silva lay on his side on a soft pillow, his long silver hair cascading down, looking even paler in the dim light. He opened his eyes slightly, first glancing at Germann, then turning to his wife.

"So what if we let him go outside? Didn't we throw him into the Heavens Arena to survive on his own a few years ago?" Silva said calmly.

"That's different!" Kikyo snapped her folding fan open and fanned her sweaty neck, still looking fierce.

"You know Zebro is nearby, and we can monitor Killua's every move through your monocular glasses!"

"And now you plan to let him go out alone for real! I will never agree to this!" she exclaimed.

Zebro, the old butler directly under Silva, is quite reliable.

Silva sighed softly, as if he didn't want to continue the conversation with his wife.

At that moment, Kalluto, the youngest fifth son who had been silent, approached his parents.

He tugged at Kikyo's skirt and said in a flat voice, "Father, Mother, guests are coming."

Kalluto was small, wearing a dark purple kimono, with a mole at the corner of his mouth. Dressed like a little girl, he looked quite well-behaved.

"Yeah," Illumi added, "I brought Germain here."

Of course, Silva and Kikyo knew that the guests had arrived.

However, they both pretended to notice only after Illumi and Kalluto's reminder, easing the tension from their previous argument.

"You must be Germain, one of Illumi's partners this time, right?" Silva slowly got up from the recliner. His tall stature allowed him to look down at Germain.

Silva's eyes were sharp, like a cold wind piercing through Germain's hunter's black robe.

"Yes," Germain replied, unfazed by Silva's intimidating presence.

Kalluto blinked and looked Germain up and down curiously. By observing his demeanor in front of his father, he could tell that Germain was certainly not a weak person.

"You should be ranked over 100 in the World Assassin Rankings, right?" Silva smiled and said, "After killing the 'Shadow Beast', you ranked above 70."

"I'm not sure," Germain answered truthfully, "I don't pay much attention to the rankings."

Silva's mouth curled up slightly, "Illumi mentioned that Phinks, one of the members of the Phantom Troupe, died by your hand. In that case, your ranking should have improved, right?"

Silva had once killed a member of the Phantom Troupe himself. He knew how troublesome the members were.

Unless someone offered a price that satisfied him, he didn't want to deal with the Phantom Troupe again.

Therefore, he was quite interested in Germain, who could kill Phinks.

"We managed to separate them," Germain answered calmly. "Phinks and I fought one-on-one and used some intelligence gaps to trap him."

"I see," Silva said, recalling something Illumi once mentioned. 

"Although the Phantom Troupe members are strong individually, they're most troublesome when together." 

He added, "Just like a spider needs a brain to make decisions and legs to move, separating them and dealing with them individually was the right move."

Kikyo, standing nearby, opened and closed his folding fan before asking arrogantly, "Germain, I heard you're from Meteor City, right?"

"Yes," Germain replied.

"Is it still the same?" Kikyo, who also came from Meteor City, asked with a mix of impatience and curiosity.

Germain, having not returned to Meteor City for a long time, recalled his memories and said, "It's still the same. Trash piles up like mountains, scavengers wear protective clothing, and others live in designated areas."

"Is the cathedral still there?" Kikyo asked again.

"Yes, it's still there," Germain confirmed.

Kikyo snorted, "I figured. If it were up to me, I'd build churches all over Meteor City. The more, the better. Only God can save that place."

Though she was born in Meteor City, Kikyo didn't have much affection for it.

Silva and Kikyo chatted with Germain a bit more before ending the conversation. They didn't mention Hisoka or anyone else, as if they were just hosting guests.

But after Germain was led away by Illumi, Kikyo turned to Silva and said, "He is indeed from Meteor City. Many details match."

"It seems what Illumi said is true," Silva mused, stroking his chin. "The Phantom Troupe is actually splitting and rebelling... I thought they were inseparable like chewing gum."

He then looked at his youngest son, Kalluto, and asked, "What did you observe just now?"

"Germain was very calm," Kalluto said after a moment's thought. "I didn't see any change in his expression when he 'accidentally' saw you arguing, and even his 'Nen' remained steady."

"It's like he knows that after seeing our family's internal situation, we won't attack him."

"It's strange. We are the number one assassin family. Why doesn't he fear us?" Kalluto wondered.

"That's his confident judgment," Silva said, his smile fading slightly. "I have a feeling that the Phantom Troupe might end up falling to him and that man named Hisoka."

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