Hisoka: Which Good Guy Did This?

"What are you doing, Coleman?!"

Before he even appeared, his voice rang out.

Silva's low, furious roar thundered through the hallway.

A transparent current of air slammed wildly into the 'Spider's Nest' Coleman had just finished building.

As time passed, the threads snapped one inch at a time.

"Oh, my, oh, my. Dad's still Dad, huh?"

Watching the threads—strong enough to easily slice through century-old trees—shatter under Silva's Nen, Coleman raised an eyebrow.

As expected of the publicly recognized leader of the assassin world.

Without the slightest hint of panic, Coleman smiled and released his Nen.

The threads wound around his wrist slowly extended, spreading rapidly as soon as they left his body.

Within seconds, the entire room was filled with threads.

Coleman turned around and said gently, "Sorry for the trouble, sweetie."

Before Nanika could react, threads carrying Coleman's aura quickly formed a shell around the child.

With a tug and a pull, the formed 'cocoon' stuck to the wall.

Rubbing his fingers together, Coleman raised an eyebrow.

Hisoka's technique was pretty good.

Bang!

The iron door was blasted open with a punch, crashing into the opposite wall.

Silva stood there with a dark expression, staring impassively at his always 'mischievous' second son.

"What are you trying to do?"

Coleman remained expressionless as he slowly walked toward his father, who was radiating murderous intent.

Every step stung as the sharp killing aura struck him.

But he kept walking toward his father without so much as a pause, as though he couldn't feel a thing.

As he walked, he made a series of gestures.

"Oh, Father, I don't think this is a good place to talk. Wouldn't you agree?"

His attitude was humble, and his tone held a hint of respect.

Yet his actions showed not the slightest respect for his superior.

He was still as laid-back and flippant as ever.

As Coleman himself put it, respect and textbook-perfect manners were reserved for ladies.

Father?

His father didn't need that sort of thing.

"Trust me, this really isn't a good place to talk."

As he spoke, he put an arm around his father's shoulders and pushed him outside.

Silva looked at him coldly, but went along with it.

The kid didn't seem to be in too bad a state, anyway.

As for his arm?

Let's just say it would teach him a lesson.

"Hold this for me, dear old Dad."

With that, Coleman tossed his severed arm into Silva's arms.

With his free hand, he tapped the wall.

He released his Nen.

The threads crawled downward as if they were alive, quickly gathering into a clump.

Looking at the camera, Coleman said coolly, "Remember to clean up the trash."

Then he winked at Nanika and turned to leave.

After turning three corners, Coleman pushed Silva into a storeroom.

Silva folded his arms and watched his second son clown around.

He spoke coldly. "All right. Tell me what you saw."

From the moment Coleman was born, Silva had known there was something wrong with this son.

Throughout the generations of the Zoldyck Family, no one had ever had Red Eyes.

Their eyes had been blue, brown, and sometimes black.

But red eyes—naturally red, with no change in color.

That wasn't part of the Zoldyck Family's genes.

Besides, this child's eyes were completely different from an ordinary person's.

It was as if something inside them was constantly swirling.

Especially when Coleman was excited: they were like a roiling sea, shimmering with light.

Coleman had been honest, too. The first time he realized something was wrong with him, he told his grandfather, Zeno.

For that reason, before even telling Silva, his grandfather had overruled the others and stripped Coleman of the right to inherit the Zoldyck Family.

The first time Zeno saw Coleman's ceaselessly swirling Red Eyes, he saw the bloodshed and terror hidden within them.

So no matter what, Zeno couldn't let someone he couldn't trust take over as head of the family.

But everything came from Zeno's intuition. He had no evidence that Coleman was an 'ill-omened person.'

And because he felt he owed Coleman, Zeno had always indulged and humored him.

He even let Coleman pursue his 'art.'

That was, until Coleman was fourteen. Due to an error in the family's intelligence, Illumi was trapped in a formation surrounded by dozens of people.

In a moment of extreme anger and terror, Coleman accidentally unleashed the full power of his Red Eyes.

Everyone who had been about to attack Illumi was smashed to pieces.

Later, according to Illumi, just before Coleman passed out, the child's pupils had been vertical.

Like a giant serpent in a fit of rage.

But after he woke up, Coleman seemed to have no memory of what happened.

Still, after that incident, the child started seeing 'strange' things.

For example, aura.

Shaping killing intent was a skill only mastered by people who had spent years immersed in killing.

But Coleman could see the killing aura swirling around people.

No matter how faint or strong it was.

Of course, there were other bits and pieces, too. Coleman himself couldn't explain what they were.

Yesterday, the child told Silva that he could see a 'black creature' floating and coiling around Alluka.

Perhaps that was the key to the other soul hidden inside Alluka's body.

For his family's safety, and to 'help' Alluka, Silva had been persuaded by Coleman's silver tongue.

It was worth a try. They had nothing to lose.

But who could've expected the little guy to demand a forced request right away?

And lose an arm because of it!

Honestly!

What utter recklessness!

Silva was so furious he wanted to send the 'naughty brat' straight to the torture chamber.

Give him a proper lesson!

But seeing the way Coleman seemed to be hinting at something, Silva forced himself to stay calm for a moment.

The kid wasn't going anywhere. There was no need to deal with him this very second!

Coleman blinked and put on a solemn expression. "I saw a black cloud circling in Nanika's shadow. It seemed to be alive."

"Whenever Nanika is about to make a demand, that thing gets restless, as if it's longing for something. To put it simply, I think it's hungry."

"After the demand is over and the person being demanded of fulfills it, the creature seems to have eaten something. It curls back into the shadow, completely satisfied. In other words, it's full?"

Coleman wasn't sure, but after he cut off his own arm and gave it to Nanika, the black cloud seemed to cool down a lot, as if it was very happy.

Maybe it was something like a rainbow-colored black?

"Afterward, a grayish-white 'aura' comes rushing out of Nanika's body and grants the person being demanded of their wish. Once a demand is over, Nanika's physical condition improves quite a bit. I think the process of fulfilling a demand or request is like eating for a person."

Coleman spread his hands and said helplessly, "Father, I don't know if you've noticed, but Killua is already much taller than Nanika. They're twins."

Even if Nanika didn't train as much as Killua, they ate the same amount.

In fact, sometimes after making a request, Nanika would eat even more than Killua.

But ever since the demands stopped, the child hadn't grown at all for a long time.

He was still small and soft.

And his physical condition was terrible, nowhere near that of a five-year-old.

Silva murmured thoughtfully for a moment.

"So if we forcibly stop Nanika from making demands, Nanika could become weak from a lack of energy, or even die before growing up?"

"That's right."

A lack of energy was like malnutrition.

It would wear the child down sooner or later.

Silva rubbed his brow, his head aching and his temper rising.

He wasn't sure what would happen if Alluka, the outer shell, died. He didn't know how the unknown soul from the Dark Continent 'locked inside' Alluka's body would react.

But whatever happened, Silva didn't want it happening within the Zoldyck Family.

"So that's why you made a wish that left room for us to exploit a loophole."

Silva's gaze was heavy. This wasn't the first time he'd realized that his second son loved finding loopholes in the rules.

And he had a far better grasp of social niceties than most of this generation of Zoldyck children.

If it weren't for those eyes of unknown origin...

Silva would have gladly passed the position of family head to this son, who knew when to advance and when to retreat.

"That's right, Father. I think that rather than waiting for Nanika to go berserk one day, we should 'train' and brainwash him beforehand, so he becomes loyal to the Zoldyck Family. That way, we can protect Alluka, and the Zoldyck Family will gain another blade."

From the experiments the Zoldyck Family had conducted, Nanika's demands seemed to follow certain rules.

How difficult a demand was depended on how demanding the wish made before it had been.

The more complicated and difficult it was to fulfill a wish, the faster the next round of demands would climb in difficulty.

Until it caused the death of one person, several people, or even dozens or hundreds.

At that point, the difficulty of the demands would drop back to level one.

It would become the easiest level for making a wish.

So why was Coleman's wish considered a loophole?

It was simple. The wish was both difficult and easy, depending on how you looked at it.

To make the wish easy, Nanika had to be given freedom.

Nanika could make demands of people outside the Zoldyck Family. That way, the black creature inside Nanika's body wouldn't become desperately hungry, and Nanika wouldn't make demands by force. Then the wish would be extremely easy to fulfill. Otherwise, the difficulty of fulfilling it would increase.

After all, you couldn't keep that 'pitch-black thing' hungry forever.

Who knew what would happen if it went berserk?

So the moment Coleman made that wish, he was already pressuring Silva to make a decision quickly.

Now that the wish had been fulfilled, it was only a matter of time before Nanika gained freedom.

"All we need to do at first is handle the 'aftermath' whenever Nanika makes a forced demand. Once he's under control, this creature will be a weapon the Zoldyck Family can use both to attack and defend."

Why wouldn't they?

All it would take was a little time and effort to gain a sword bound to them by blood.

Coleman thought it was an extremely profitable deal.

In any case, it was a bargain.

Seeing that Silva was tempted, Coleman gave him one final push.

"Besides, Father, my eyes may be able to restrain Nanika to some extent."

Coleman watched Silva's shocked expression and continued, "If I wanted to, I think I could refuse Nanika's demand for my arm directly and remain unharmed. But Nanika might get hurt as a result."

The instant the demand for his arm took effect, Coleman had felt an inexplicable anger.

It was the fury of a beast being provoked.

But Coleman had simply suppressed it and agreed to the demand.

Now, his eyes still felt hot and red.

But that was a minor issue. Coleman hadn't paid it much attention.

"All right, Father. I think you can make your decision now."

Silva thought of the letter Coleman had given him yesterday, laying out the pros and cons.

After weighing everything, he finally snorted.

"Let's observe for a few more days. We'll talk again when your grandfather gets back!"

"Sure, Father. Then I'll go take care of my arm."

Coleman grinned and blinked ingratiatingly.

Silva snorted in annoyance and tossed the arm back to him.

"Do you have somewhere to reattach it?"

"I do!"

"Figures. You've got so many lowlifes in the Underworld as friends!"

Silva didn't need to guess. His son had made friends with someone in the Underworld at some point or other.

"Be careful. Don't let them trick you."

Coleman was still a child, so Silva couldn't help warning him.

Even if he was precocious, he might not be able to outplay those old hands who'd been mixing with the criminal world for years.

Even Silva, who had been head of an assassin family for over a decade, didn't want to talk too much with those slippery old foxes who went back on their word and had no sense of reason.

What was there to discuss with those guys who'd spent so long in the Underworld they could barely tell humans from ghosts?!

Every extra word made Silva feel like he was lowering himself!

Thinking this, he couldn't help smacking Coleman on the back of the head.

"Cut off what needs cutting off. Those people are trouble! If you provoke them, I might not even be able to get you out!"

The officials and the underworld were intertwined, colluding with one another.

Who knew how many people's interests would be affected by one little disturbance!

The Zoldyck Family was certainly powerful enough, but even they couldn't take on the entire Underworld.

Silva trusted that his second son knew his limits, but Coleman was just too mischievous!

Wherever something was happening, he had to go stick his nose in.

He just had to get the inside scoop!

"I know, I know. You still don't trust me to handle things?"

"Hmph!"

Silva snorted and gave Coleman a meaningful look.

Who was it that had gotten a nobleman's daughter upset last time?

She'd come to their door in tears, and hadn't Silva been the one to talk her into leaving?

The boy had run so fast that even Illumi hadn't caught him!

"Ahem, that was an accident."

Scratching his cheek, Coleman gave an awkward smile.

"An accident? Want me to give you a few examples?"

Silva stood with his hands behind his back, looking at his son with disdain.

His tone was smug and self-satisfied. "Don't take on work you're not equipped for. You don't have my skills, so what are you showing off for?"

"Your skills? Do tell!"

Coleman gave him a knowing smile and folded his arms, imitating Silva's usual pose.

Unfortunately, he only had one arm, so his imitation looked awkward.

Silva was just about to speak, but then paused and gave an embarrassed cough.

"Ahem. The past is the past. Go get your arm reattached!"

With that, he waved dismissively for Coleman to leave.

"Sure, I'm on my way."

Bowing slightly in a gentlemanly flourish, Coleman whistled as he strode away.

He'd thought he'd get to hear some juicy stories, but got nothing in the end.

His father was such a coward.

Tsk, tsk. Mom wouldn't do anything to him, either. At worst, he'd have to put up with a few days of her screaming at him.

Thinking about his assignments for the next few days, Coleman adopted an attitude of minding his own business.

He dialed a number. "Hisoka, don't you know a doctor? I need a favor."

"?"

"I cut off my left arm."

"?! Who? Which good soul did that?"

"...I did it myself."