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Gelman spoke slowly.

"You still have one chance to name a price. Think carefully—venom with an unidentifiable composition, where an antidote can't be found in a short time, that's its value."

Poison used too many times will always have an antidote, and it leaves traces for assassination clues.

So a poison is most dangerous when people still don't understand it.

Of course, there might also be Nen users who can remove any toxin through sheer force, but that's a different category altogether.

"I understand, I understand..." The black market merchant wiped sweat from his forehead with a white cloth, thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth. "Then ten million Jenny!"

"But I can't scrape together ten million right now. I'll give you five million this time, and pay the rest in two days."

Gelman remembered Killua of the Zoldyck Family—just the bounty on his photo alone seemed to be a hundred million Jenny.

This syringe of venom selling for a tenth of Killua's photo price wasn't bad at all.

He wasn't worried about the black market merchant defaulting later either. At worst, he'd fall back on his old trade as an assassin and let the merchant weigh his own capabilities.

"Deal."

Seeing Gelman agree, the black market merchant finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Only after confirming that five million Jenny had arrived in his anonymous account did Gelman return to the mine.

But this time, he didn't rush to sell his next trophy. Instead, he deliberately switched towns.

On the 30th, he arrived in another city and sold the bedsheet-sized scales he'd cut from the Gale Ripple Moth.

The scales didn't fetch as high a price as the venom, but since their origin was unknown, they had some collector's value, and the final deal was four million Jenny.

The remaining five million Jenny from the venom sale was also transferred into his account.

In the blink of an eye, Gelman had become a small rich man.

That night, the dripping-with-cash Gelman didn't hesitate to book a presidential suite in a hotel.

He stood on the extended balcony, enjoying the cool evening breeze while taking in the city's nightscape.

From the city's highest point, the distant ground looked like a rain of stars, blurrily interwoven together.

One or two twinkling lights also appeared in the night sky, drifting slowly across the heavens.

This world's tech tree, influenced by various factors, was markedly different from the era Gelman had originally lived in.

Smartphones existed, computers existed, and there was even a real-person computer game that could teleport players to an island—it all seemed quite advanced.

At the same time, there were airplanes here, but they were mostly privately owned. The vast majority of public air transport were airships.

The twinkling lights that had just passed over the city were airships traveling through the area.

Logically, there was no reason this world couldn't popularize civilian aircraft. It felt more like some kind of restriction, perhaps related to the V5 nations and the Dark Continent.

Gelman sat quietly in a lounge chair, pondering these questions.

Suddenly, his phone inside his black robe let out a "ding," so he took it out and unlocked the screen, finding someone had sent him a text message.

Little Grandma: Hey heh (smiley face)!

Little Grandma: Remember who I am? Miss me?

It was Biscuit. She'd promised a month ago to help Gelman get straight to the Hunter Exam venue, but she'd been silent for a whole month, and Gelman had almost forgotten about it.

Gelman waited a while, but when Biscuit didn't follow up, he set his phone on the side table, got up, and went to the living room to pour himself a drink.

When he came back, he happened to see his phone "ding" again, the screen lighting up.

He had to unlock it once more to see what was going on.

The text was from Biscuit again.

--Five minutes ago--

Little Grandma: Hey? You there? Why aren't you replying?

--Four minutes ago--

Little Grandma: Don't tell me... you're mad?

Little Grandma: Sorry, okay? I can't help it, I've been way too busy lately!

Little Grandma: I haven't forgotten my promise to you! I've got good news!

--Three minutes ago--

Little Grandma: Anyway, ignoring someone for this long is a bit rude. I'll give you one minute to reply.

--Two minutes ago--

Little Grandma: Reply to me (angry face)!

Little Grandma: Reply to me (angry face)!

Little Grandma: Reply to me (angry face)!

The phone let out a "ding," and Biscuit sent another message: "Reply to me (angry face)!"

Fortunately, the phones in this world didn't have that insidious "read but no reply" feature, or Biscuit would probably have completely lost her temper by now.

Gelman tapped open the on-screen keyboard and leisurely began typing back.

Gelman: The Hunter Exam registration office has sent a text reminder that the exam venue is somewhere in Anisha City.

This time, Biscuit replied almost instantly.

Little Grandma: Everyone knows that kind of thing! Isn't it noted on the website?

Little Grandma: The Hunter Exam's test site and venue change every year. Anisha City, which was chosen this time, is so huge—are you going to search street by street like a hunting dog?

Gelman: Where exactly is the exam venue?

Little Grandma: You're still not the least bit polite (helpless sighing face).

Little Grandma: Want to know? You really want to know, don't you? If you want to know, from now on, always address me as "Beautiful Princess Majesty"!

Little Grandma: Also! Don't ignore my texts! To be honest, this habit of yours reminds me of another troublesome guy...

Gelman didn't comply with Biscuit's unreasonable demand. Instead, he got up from the lounge chair again, returned to the bedroom, and found the "Sucking Meat Zhu Worm's Color-Changing Stone."

This should count as a "gem," right?

He placed it on the floor, recorded it gradually shifting to the color of the tiles with his phone, and sent it to Biscuit.

Then, he set it by the door, recorded it slowly changing to the color of the wooden planks, and sent that to Biscuit as well.

This time, Gelman waited three minutes, but Biscuit didn't reply.

He assumed she wasn't interested in this, so he put his phone on the nightstand, pulled a book from the shelf, sat on the soft bed with his back against the pillow, and started reading.

But before he could finish a paragraph, his phone rang, playing a piece of instrumental music he'd recently taken a liking to.

Gelman helplessly put the book down, picked up the phone again, and saw the caller ID was indeed "Little Grandma."

The moment he answered, a coquettish, girlish voice came through, laced with a sweet tone.

"Hey... Big Brother Gelman, was that gem specially gifted to me?"

"Thank you so much. It's the best gift I've ever received! The texts I sent earlier were just joking around, so don't take them to heart..."

Gelman quickly cut off her rambling: "Quid pro quo. Where exactly is the exam venue?"

"Hey, don't be so standoffish!" Biscuit drew out her tone.

"Even if I tell you the exact location, it's useless. Only when the Guide speaks the 'code phrase' will the staff open the passage for you."