Nico and His Wife

The Hunter Association's rules were indeed far, far looser than Cipher Pol's. Its basic charter contained only ten articles, known as the "Hunter Ten Articles." Only the first four were truly rules for Hunters; the remaining six essentially covered Hunter ranks and the Hunter Association's system.

Of the mere four rules aimed at Hunters, a careful examination revealed that only the second—"Hunters must possess the bare minimum understanding of martial arts; this minimum refers to Nen training"—was treated with strictness, severity, and rigor.

Take the first, for example: "Hunters must have a hunting target." The hard requirement was simply that one must possess a target, with no emphasis on its scope. Thus, land, sea, sky, living things, nonliving things, known things, unknown things, tangible things, intangible things—even the most bizarre hunting targets were allowed;

One could even violate the fourth rule without consequence: "Hunters must not regard fellow Hunters as prey, though Hunters who commit heinous crimes are not protected by this rule." It was acceptable to treat a fellow Hunter as a hunting target, regardless of whether they had ever committed heinous crimes;

Because the third stated, "A Hunter License shall not be revoked for any reason, nor shall one be reissued for any reason." At the very least, no one could strip a Hunter of their Hunter License. The Hunter Association could only wait for a Hunter to die before naturally canceling it.

Though the Hunter Association's rules were riddled with loopholes and contradictions, not just anyone was qualified to break them. After all, the power to make rules and interpret them had always rested in the hands of the strong.

Minister Honest assigned the team of four the overall mission of "infiltrating the Hunter Association and gathering evidence of the Hunter Association's crimes in investigating Poneglyphs and the Void Century, both expressly forbidden by the World Government." Brad did not need to ask Esdeath and the others to know their individual missions were likely not much different from his own: all involved investigating a certain matter or person, including actions that violated the Hunter Association's rules.

Fortunately, Minister Honest had set no time limit for either the overall mission or their individual missions. Brad therefore actively encouraged the team of four to proceed steadily. Otherwise, if they carried out the parts that violated the Hunter Association's rules too early, these half-baked rookie agents would likely be wiped out by the Hunter Association before they even had a chance to wait for Cipher Pol's aid.

Since their superiors were in no rush, the team of four focused on staying in the Mafia Federation Kingdom to work and make money, mostly taking private Hunter jobs. Gang bosses afraid of assassination were their primary clients.

Protecting gang bosses was a pleasant experience: the pay was generous, the environment was excellent, and it not only satisfied their material needs but also left them with ample free time to accumulate experience as Hunters, familiarize themselves with the Hunter Association, supplement their knowledge, and consolidate their strength.

A full half year passed.

August.

A married couple visited the Hunter Association's West Blue branch.

The black-haired man was refined and handsome, while the white-haired woman was gentle and beautiful. They were a perfect match.

They were the Nicos: Nico Swain and Nico Olvia. The former was a History Hunter, while the latter was an archaeologist. Brad had seen their photographs and profiles. They were precisely his personal mission.

The instant Brad encountered them, he understood that his orderly, peaceful life had come to an end.

"Swain! Swain! Look, what a cute little child~" Olvia, whose belly had already begun to show her pregnancy, was at the height of her maternal instincts. When she ran into Brad and his exquisite appearance, she could not help herself.

Swain, however, did not indulge Olvia. His expression was faintly grave as he said coldly, "Let's go, Olvia."

"Are you Senior Swain?" Brad broke into his brightest smile and asked in delighted surprise.

Swain paused, eyeing Brad suspiciously.

"I'm also a History Hunter. I've heard of your great name." Brad extended a hand. "Hello, I'm Brad Hyman. Please guide me."

Olvia squatted down and seized Brad's hand before Swain could, smiling lightly. "How interesting! You're so serious, just like an adult! Hehehe~~~ Hello to you too. I'm Nico Olvia. Please guide me."

"..." Brad fell silent.

"I'm Swain," Swain said. "Friend, where is Branch Chief Shack Yak?"

"Aunt Shack is in her office." Brad's smile did not fade, and he remained perfectly serious despite the lies pouring from his mouth. "Senior Swain, are you here to gather people? If so, could you take me along? My dream is to become a History Hunter, but unfortunately, I still haven't found a suitable teacher to guide me onto the path of a History Hunter. Lately, I've just been doing private Hunter work. It's too boring."

"I'll consider it," Swain said.

"Bye-bye, Brad! Wait for me, Swain!" Olvia frivolously pinched Brad's cheek, then rose and hurried after her husband, who had already left.

Brad remained where he was, his golden eyes shifting.

"I'm back, Brad." Mosquito Girl landed lightly, interrupting Brad's thoughts.

"Finished handling it?" Brad asked with a smile.

"Mm-hm!" Mosquito Girl nodded obediently, with considerable vigor.

Capone Bege truly had guts. He had single-handedly eliminated the man who murdered his father, demonstrating his "aptitude" to Brad. In any case, he had now firmly seized the olive branch Brad had extended, rapidly expanding and rising through the ranks by assassinating gang leaders, seizing their money, and using it to recruit underlings.

Thanks to Capone Bege, the team of four received one private Hunter job after another. The Mafia Federation Kingdom's gang bosses had been thoroughly frightened by him. Of course, merely defending themselves was not a good strategy. Quite a few gang bosses spent money to hire killers beyond his ability to handle, hoping to return tooth for tooth. Mosquito Girl had just dealt with those assassins.

"Control the mosquitoes and eavesdrop on Shack Yak's office," Brad instructed in a lowered voice.

Mosquito Girl understood.

A moment later.

"They were discussing some 'Poneglyphs.' That man wanted Shack Yak to help him contact someone to retrieve Poneglyphs. It seems the place where the Poneglyphs are hidden is extremely dangerous," Mosquito Girl recounted. "He also mentioned threats from the World Government and such, and hoped his wife could stay here temporarily..."

Brad raised a brow. "What did Shack Yak say?"

"Not a word," Mosquito Girl replied, finding it strange as well.

Brad clicked his tongue. "Not a word?"

"Mm!" Mosquito Girl communicated with the mosquitoes. "Oh! They're talking about you, Brad~ Shack Yak's expression doesn't look very good."

PS: Thanks to reader [Vanilla Lemon Cookie] for the Silver Alliance Leader support, thanks to reader [A Screw Loose] for the 300-point reward support, and thanks to [Plain Black], [Angry D Banana], and [Cold Rivers and Passes for Ten Thousand Miles] for their 100-point reward support each. Thank you.