Bai Zhu continued dragging Illumi outside.
"We talked about my powers, and the places I'd been before."
"That's all?"
"He also wanted me to help teach a child."
Illumi pulled his hand free from Bai Zhu's grasp, and his pace slowed as well.
Bai Zhu immediately caught the change.
"Alluka," he added. "The old man thinks his situation is somewhat similar to mine. He wants me to meet him first and see whether I can help him control the power inside him."
There was still little change in Illumi's expression, but he gradually stopped walking. He unconsciously touched his chin.
"Great-Grandfather agreed to let an outsider near Alluka?"
"I'm not an outsider."
"You're meeting him for the first time. How are you not an outsider?"
"That doesn't affect our friendship across generations."
Illumi continued forward.
"Can you control Alluka's power?"
"No."
"You haven't even met him."
"That's exactly why I should say no. If I saw him once and immediately dared to guarantee it, that would make me a fraud."
Bai Zhu raised a hand and scratched his hair.
"Also, you'd better put certain dangerous ideas away. I can't get a handle on Alluka's power. You definitely can't either."
"What makes you think that?"
"Similar doesn't mean identical."
Bai Zhu tapped his chest.
"We're friends, so I won't lie to you. My power did come from outside sources, but it's bound by rules. There's at least a range for how much I have to give and how much I can get in return. The thing inside Alluka has thoughts of its own. If you use methods for controlling people against it, you might get yourself killed first."
Half of that came from the original story, and the other half came from the system.
Ever since entering the Zoldyck family's inner