Faced with Luo Ye's smile and his greeting of "Will you hand them over yourselves, or should I help you get them out?" neither Umori, hanging upside down, nor his eldest brother Amori, who had surrendered, dared even think about resisting.
Were they kidding?
That black-haired boy had gone toe-to-toe with that freak Hisoka like it was nothing.
Their pathetic little tricks might as well have been made of paper in front of him.
Both men wisely took out their number badges.
No. [197] and No. [199].
Killua stepped forward, took the badges, and handed them to Kurapika along with Imori's No. [198] badge from earlier.
"All right, our valued customer, Mr. Kurapika."
Killua imitated Luo Ye's tone, speaking with a perfectly straight face.
"Your order has been completed. Please confirm receipt."
Kurapika looked at the three number badges in his hand with mixed feelings.
His target was No. 198, worth three points.
The other two were worth one point each.
In other words, he now had five points.
He was just one point short of passing.
The whole thing, from planning to completion, had taken less than an hour.
That efficiency made him question the days he had spent working alone.
"Great job!"
Gon pumped his fist excitedly.
"We did it!"
"All in a day's work, all in a day's work."
Luo Ye waved a hand, walked over to the three brothers, and gave them a warm, friendly smile.
"Gentlemen, as our studio's first customers, we've decided to thank you for your patronage with a free 'Worry-Free Rest of Your Life' package."
As he spoke, he cracked his knuckles with a series of sharp pops.
"Would you prefer to experience the artistry of 'Dislocated Limbs,' or the breathtaking impact of 'Full-Body Compound Fractures'? Don't be shy. Take your pick."
Scared out of their wits, the three brothers dropped to their knees with a thud and kowtowed frantically.
"Have mercy, great hero! We didn't know who we were dealing with! We'll never do it again!"
"Tch. How boring."
Luo Ye curled his lip, losing interest.
"Get lost. If I see you again, I'll turn you into three-brother-flavored kebabs."
"Yes, yes, yes!"
As though granted a pardon, the three scrambled and crawled away, disappearing into the darkness of the jungle.
"All right, our first order is a complete success."
Luo Ye clapped his hands and looked at Killua.
"Next up is our second job. Killua, who's your target? How many more points do you need?"
"My target's a rookie. I can take care of him whenever I want."
Killua spoke with casual confidence.
"The problem now is that Kurapika still needs one point."
"That's right."
Kurapika nodded.
"We still need to find a candidate worth one point."
"Easy enough."
Luo Ye closed his eyes, his powerful senses spreading outward like radar.
"This island's basically one giant battle royale right now. Pick any corner, and you'll run into one or two walking loot deliveries."
A few seconds later, he opened his eyes with an odd expression.
"Hm? I think I heard a familiar voice."
"Who?"
Gon asked curiously.
"An idiot who's passionately cursing out some bees."
Luo Ye pointed southwest.
"Come on. We've got some fresh entertainment."
A little over ten minutes later.
The four quietly concealed themselves near the entrance to a cave.
From inside came Leorio's unmistakable, furious shouting.
"Damn it! Come out and fight me one-on-one if you've got the guts! What kind of hero hides behind bees?"
"You underhanded woman! Give me the antidote!"
The four peeked inside and saw Leorio lying at the bottom of the cave, swollen in several places and apparently unable to move.
At the other end of the cave, a petite figure wearing a large hat watched him coldly.
It was Ponzu, the girl who had used venomous bees in the Numere Wetlands.
A dense swarm of bees flew around her, forming a natural barrier.
"Leorio!"
Gon cried out in concern.
"Shh!"
Killua hurriedly covered his mouth.
"Don't give us away."
"I see."
Kurapika began analyzing the situation.
"Leorio must have tried to hunt Ponzu, only to fall into her trap. Those bees' stingers carry a paralytic venom."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What an unlucky bastard."
Luo Ye looked at the immobilized Leorio inside the cave, his face full of glee at his misfortune.
"Isn't this a new customer delivering himself right to our doorstep?"
"What do we do now?"
Gon asked urgently.
"Should we go down and save him?"
"How?"
Killua frowned.
"Those bees are a major problem. The moment we go in, they'll swarm us."
"Besides, Ponzu's badge is No. 246. She's Leorio's target."
Kurapika spoke up.
"We also need to help Leorio get her badge."
"So we have to deal with the bees, take Ponzu's badge without alerting her, and get Leorio out, all at the same time?"
Killua summed it up. This mission was far more difficult than dealing with Amori and his brothers.
"No, no, no. You're all looking at this the wrong way."
Luo Ye wagged a finger, a devilish smile spreading across his face.
"The heart of the problem isn't the bees, or Ponzu."
He pointed at himself.
"The heart of the problem is that I haven't developed resistance to bee venom yet."
The three: "???"
What kind of bizarre thought process was that?
"Think about it."
Luo Ye launched into his twisted reasoning.
"I'll go down and deliberately get stung a few times. Once my body adapts to the venom, won't those little cuties be nothing more than decorations?"
"Then I'll draw their fire, and you guys grab the badge and rescue him. Same script as before, except we're swapping one freak for a bunch of little bees."
"This is practically a full-body acupuncture session plus a toxin-immunity treatment delivered right to my door! You couldn't find a deal this good if you searched high and low!"
Seeing Luo Ye's expression of utter delight at his "massive bargain," Killua and Kurapika had their view of the world overturned yet again.
How exactly was this guy's brain wired?
Someone actually considered getting stung by venomous bees a perk?
"But that's way too dangerous!"
Gon still wasn't reassured.
"Relax."
Luo Ye patted his shoulder, brimming with confidence.
"Leave professional work to the professionals. When it comes to taking a beating and tempting death, I'm a professional."
With that, he stood up and walked to the edge of the cave.
Leorio finally noticed them, too.
"Hey! Luo Ye! Gon! What are you doing here? Hurry up and save me!"
Leorio shouted excitedly, as though he had spotted his saviors.
"Easy there, buddy."
Luo Ye waved at him with a bright, sunny smile.
"You look like you're in a bit of trouble. Want to sign up for VIP? Our studio's running a promotion right now. New customers get twenty percent off their first order."
Before you continue