Cooperation

Coleman sat in his chair, drinking the milk handed to him by the tavern girl with a face full of disgust.

Why did such a thing even exist in this world?

The taste was strange and nauseating.

Why on earth did that guy Hisoka enjoy drinking this weird stuff?

How could this possibly be better than a soft drink?

"So, kid who's still drinking milk, why did you call me over?"

Sitting across from him was a boy with black hair and purple eyes, wearing a black trench coat.

He looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old.

A smile hung on his face, and his tone was light and breezy.

He seemed just like any other handsome boy.

Coleman curled his lip at the boy's remark.

"Someone drinking orange juice has no right to talk to me."

As he spoke, he glanced at the yellow liquid in the boy's hand and gave a provocative smirk.

The boy's eyes widened for a split second.

Are you proud of drinking milk?

"Shorty, show some respect. At the very least, I'm taller than you!"

"You're just stretching yourself thin; be careful you don't stop growing!"

"Nonsense, this is clearly a miraculous bone-shrinking technique!"

The boy spoke with pride, as if he had learned something incredible.

Hearing this, Coleman set down his empty glass and said indifferently, "You know? There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Everything a person receives will, at some point, require a price to be paid."

Just like a couple who chooses to elope for love, they will eventually be defeated by the mundane realities of life and pay the price for their impulsive decisions.

Or like a crooked merchant who chooses to forge goods for money, they will eventually play with fire and get burned, dying either by legal sanction or because they touched the cheese of a more powerful businessman, paying the price for their greed.

Nothing is free.

Including all the enjoyments one possesses right now.

If you cannot find the price you have paid for it, it simply means that someone else is silently paying for everything you should have paid for yourself.

Coleman had always believed in fairness and cause and effect.

So...

Surveying the proud boy, Coleman said nothing, merely offering a faint smile.

I hope you don't cry when you stop growing later on.

"Alright, let's get back to the point."

After his moment of triumph, Manster looked at the silent child and smiled, "What did you want to see me about?"

Coleman looked at him and handed over an interesting business card.

The origin of this card did not belong to the Zoldyck Family, but the name on it was indeed Coleman.

However, it only read "Coleman," with no surname listed.

The last line read: "Layton Family External Personnel."

"Layton?"

Looking at the card in his hand, Manster raised an eyebrow.

That massive dark machine?

But "external personnel"...

"Mmhmm."

Coleman shrugged.

He revealed only a little: "I have a pretty good relationship with the head-of-the-family-to-be-to-be."

The head-to-be-to-be, meaning the grandchild of the current head.

The tenure of the Mafia differs greatly from that of an assassin family.

In a Mafia family, if a person's leadership ability is strong enough, they can serve as the head—the Mafia boss—until death.

Assassin families, however, choose young people who are strong, healthy, and energetic.

Usually around thirty to forty years old.

Because during this period, a person's physical fitness reaches its peak, allowing them to have plenty of energy to handle affairs and evade assassinations from others.

As for leadership ability, assassin families aren't particularly picky.

Therefore, in essence, his own father had to call the current head of the Layton family "Uncle."

Although they usually addressed each other as big brothers.

It left Coleman unsure of what he should call that "patron."

Regardless, because of the money, Coleman got along quite well with this little grandson of the Layton Family.

Thanks to his adorable appearance and outstanding abilities, he was also very popular within this mafia.

So, what harm could there be in a cute kid using someone else's business card as a substitute?

Coleman didn't see any problem with it at all.

After all, his own family's reputation was immense; if he accidentally scared the kid away, where else would he find such a promising talent?

"I would like to invite you to establish an intelligence organization. I wonder if you might be interested?"

Coleman said with a smile, "Of course, as for the funding, I can take care of that."