One for One

"Nanika!"

Inside his mind, Alluka shouted in a panic.

He could not understand why the 'request' had suddenly turned into a 'coercion'!

But this was not allowed.

He was his big brother!

How could his brother...

It was beyond Alluka's expectations.

Outside, Coleman simply smiled and said indifferently.

"Sure."

As the voice fell, everyone in the surveillance room stood up abruptly.

Silva's anxious voice came from the house where Alluka was imprisoned.

"Coleman, if you..."

Before he could finish, Silva watched helplessly as his second son cleanly severed his own left arm with a thread.

Fresh blood splattered everywhere, spraying across the floor.

Casually wiping the blood that had splashed onto his face, Coleman smiled brightly.

"Here, for you, little Nanika."

The severed arm lay quietly in Coleman's other hand.

Yet, Coleman, suddenly missing an arm, acted as if nothing had happened.

His smile did not fade, and his movements remained gentle.

Nanika was stunned, looking at the arm held out before him, then looked up at the boy standing in front of him.

He took it carefully, stroking the smooth skin.

After a few seconds, he handed it back.

"Do you have any wishes?"

Coleman looked at the arm being returned and smiled slightly.

Looking straight into his 'sister's' eyes, he spoke slowly.

"If someone from the Zoldyck Family explicitly refuses your coercion, then you are not allowed to use coercion on them. Is that okay?"

"Okay."

Without a moment's hesitation, almost instantly, Nanika nodded and agreed to this not-so-excessive request.

An unknown aura suddenly rippled through the space, rapidly sweeping across the entire Zoldyck estate.

And the next second, under Zeno's alert gaze, it retracted.

In Coleman's eyes, it was as if some unknown 'thing' had suddenly shrouded the entire Zoldyck estate, only to vanish just as quickly.

The 'monster' hidden behind Nanika was thoroughly satisfied.

The aura no longer flared aggressively but instead settled obediently back into Nanika's body.

Seeing this, Coleman relaxed his stiffened smile and slowly straightened his back.

"Alright, danger averted!"

He weighed the severed arm, feeling quite satisfied.

In this way, Nanika would, to a certain extent, no longer pose a threat to the members of the Zoldyck Family.

In this way, his existence could be tentatively classified as 'safe'.

The creature hidden in the darkness had been temporarily satiated.

Coleman believed that, at the very least, Nanika would not be triggered into 'coercion' for some time to come.

"What?"

Nanika asked, puzzled.

Coleman looked at the child's cute little face and smiled slightly.

"You're almost free, aren't you happy?"

"Happy!"

"When you can control your power, you can leave home and go play~"

Coleman patted the child's head and said with great appreciation.

He did not understand where the power within his younger brother came from.

But he knew that it was his younger brother who possessed the power.

And as long as it was power, it was controllable.

Since that was the case, what reason was there to be unhappy?

His family had just gained someone truly formidable.

Why would he be unhappy?

A rule his master had told him in his previous life:

Do not fear or resist the power that belongs to you; believe that as long as it exists within you, it will be controlled by you.

Your fear and disgust will only cause you to lose control over this power.

Until, in the end, this power becomes exactly what you imagined, consuming you completely until you descend into madness.

So, why not control it before it controls you?

Let it become a sharp weapon in your hands.

To pierce the heart of your enemy.

It was also because of this that he never understood what his father was resisting.

What was he fighting against?

This was clearly a weapon of mass destruction!

And one that was still in its infancy, ignorant and unaware of everything in the world.

Since that was the case, why not take advantage of this moment to brainwash and utilize it?

Suddenly, a familiar killing intent drifted down the hallway.

Coleman raised an eyebrow.

He knew his actions would cause his old man to come charging over!

"Cage!"

Manipulating his own Nen ability, a web-like mesh of fine threads slowly wound around the half-open door.

Soon, the silvery-white threads locked the door firmly in place.

It looked like the entrance to a Spider's lair.

Glancing at the secured door, Coleman paid it no further mind.

His old man was just being redundant.

If an arm is broken, just reattach it; what was the rush?

Trading an arm for a promise—wasn't that a great deal?

Compared to living in constant fear, wasn't this much more advantageous?

Scooping Nanika up from the floor, Coleman locked the child firmly in his arms.

He rested his chin on the child's head.

He muttered softly, "Dad is really so annoying!"

With the vibration of his chest, Nanika could clearly feel the warmth slowly radiating from his back.

Warm and hot, it made one not want to move.

Snuggling deeper into Coleman's embrace, Nanika just stayed honestly nestled in his older brother's arms.

"Yeah, yeah, so annoying!"

If it weren't for him, Nanika would still be playing happily with Killua right now!

A chuckle of ambiguous meaning came from above, and Nanika heard his second brother say, full of amusement.

"Little brother doesn't like Dad either, huh."

It was a coincidence; among all the children in the house, not a single one liked Silva.

To reach such a point as a father was truly rare!

"Be a good boy, Nanika. How about I go talk to that annoying old man?"

"Okay~"

Coleman nuzzled the child in his arms.

Ah, really, why couldn't Mom have given birth to a real little sister?

A little sister would be so nice; she could wear little dresses.

And she would be soft, too.

Much better than this bunch of brats who were always either making Illumi angry or making Mom angry!

Thinking of this, Coleman instantly thought of that bastard white-hair in his family!

It was him, always disobedient, always making Mom angry!

If it weren't for Kikyo holding him back, Killua would have been smashed into the ground by Coleman long ago!

The kind you wouldn't even be able to dig back out!

Setting the cute child down, he let out a helpless sigh.

Scratching his head, Coleman sauntered slowly toward the door.

Forget it, he might as well go out and "scare" Killua a little.

Naughty children like this just needed a bit of discipline!