During the meal, A Luo quietly told Uvogin that her name was Lola Reno.
Uvogin slapped the little cook beside him on the shoulder.
Stuffing lamb chops into his mouth, he eagerly made a request:
"Then can you make these charcoal-grilled lamb chops just for me tonight, A Luo? I want three big plates."
Shalnark, who was ladling out chicken soup, immediately followed suit:
"I want to order something too! Tonight, I want that squirrel-shaped mandarin fish."
"I want fish in spicy broth."
Phinks joined in, shouting his request while busily stuffing meat into his mouth.
"Honey-glazed barbecued pork!"
Before getting up after her meal, Machi, seated on the left, succinctly added the name of a dish.
Faced with the four Spiders' expectant gazes, A Luo could only mumble her agreement.
After all, accepting their gifts had left her obligated!
She couldn't take the gifts the Spiders had just given her for nothing, especially with such an overwhelming gap between their fighting abilities.
Even if she refused the gifts, wouldn't she still have to obediently cook for them if the Spiders threatened her with violence?
So this isn't greed. It's knowing when to bow to circumstances!
Thus, A Luo started working in the kitchen at three that afternoon and didn't emerge until night had fully fallen.
As a result, the Spiders had an exceptionally lavish dinner that evening.
After waking up, Chrollo came downstairs to the dining room in search of food. Discovering that the collectible he had captured had managed to get along with his members in such a short time, he couldn't help staring at A Luo for quite a while.
The little girl remained indifferent, appearing entirely absorbed in enjoying her food.
Chrollo turned and instructed Shalnark to find Feitan's location immediately.
"If possible, hurry Feitan along. Tell him to come back as soon as he can!"
Chrollo's words startled A Luo so badly that her chopsticks shook, sending a perfectly good piece of sweet-and-sour pork rib tumbling onto the table.
Damn you, Chrollo! Haven't you ever heard that you shouldn't talk while eating or sleeping?
Can't you just let me eat in peace?
That night, A Luo had a nightmare.
In her dream, Feitan cackled as he tore off all ten of her fingernails, then pulled out her intestines and wound them around her neck... After jolting awake, A Luo clutched her head in terror and didn't dare go back to sleep.
Remembering the dialogue depicting Feitan's interrogations in the Hunter manga, she knew reality would be even more horrifying than her dream!
What should I do?
That freak Feitan will be back in another day or two at most.
How can I escape this looming crisis?
The next morning, Lola listlessly finished washing up.
The new phone she had received yesterday chimed with an incoming text.
"For breakfast, I want red bean porridge, two steamer trays of shumai, and three baskets of soup dumplings. -Shalnark"
What's this?
An order on a food delivery app?
Lola, the little cook at the very bottom of the food chain, could only resign herself to her fate and head toward the kitchen.
However, as A Luo passed through the living room, Chrollo, who had stayed up reading until the early hours, called out to stop her, sporting two enormous dark circles under his eyes.
"I hear you're quite a good cook. Uvogin has already exchanged names with you?"
"Yes."
"I see! Little cook, don't you think now would be the best time to confess? Actually, given the choice, I'd rather not involve anyone else before I lose interest in investigating you. I'd much prefer to uncover your secrets myself, little by little!"
"..."
"Oh, and I want milk, fried eggs, and bread this morning. Sorry for the trouble."
"..."
Struggling to suppress her anger and holding fast to the principle that silence was golden, the little cook walked into the kitchen, step by step.
She silently reassured herself that patience would pay off!
Hmph! As the old saying goes, every villain meets their match, and those who commit too many wrongs bring about their own downfall!
The Spiders can only bully me now because I'm a kid who hasn't even awakened her Nen.
Just wait until Kurapika shows up. Let's see how he deals with this bunch of villains!
After taking a leaf out of Ah Q's book and consoling herself with a mental victory, A Luo miserably threw herself back into her cooking duties.
At dusk two days later, Feitan returned travel-worn to the Phantom Troupe's base in Meteor City.
Sure enough, the inevitable had arrived. Running away wouldn't solve anything!
Before Feitan took her into the Torture Room, A Luo looked pleadingly at each of the people she had enjoyed feeding over the past two days.
Shalnark still watched her with a smile, as though she were heading to a five-star hotel rather than a bloody hell!
Machi had gone out on business early that morning and wasn't there.
Phinks, wearing a peculiar hat, let out an impatient yawn.
Perhaps her gaze was simply too pitiful, because he turned toward Feitan:
"Hey, Feitan! You'd better not cripple her hands. Otherwise, you'll be responsible for everyone's meals from now on."
"Tch, Phinks! Since when do you get to order me around? That's news to me."
The next second, the two rushed outside and started fighting.
"Boss..."
Standing off to the side, Uvogin looked from Lola to Chrollo.
"Uvogin, as long as our little cook has the sense to confess, I have no intention of disposing of this collectible for now."
Because Chrollo insisted.
In the end, Feitan still dragged A Luo into that sinister Torture Room after finishing his fight.
Looking at the short, gray-haired, golden-eyed man wearing a skull mask before her, A Luo couldn't stop trembling!
He was a renowned interrogation expert throughout the Hunter World!
Remembering the people he had tortured beyond recognition in the manga, A Luo felt her legs turn to jelly.
Chrollo placed a sofa at the entrance to the Torture Room and settled down to enjoy the show at his leisure.
Seeing that Feitan was about to start, A Luo finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Don't... don't... don't hurt me! I'll talk! Chrollo, I'll answer anything you ask! We can talk this out!"
Unfortunately, that freak Feitan truly lived up to his reputation as the fastest man in the Phantom Troupe.
Before A Luo could even finish her first sentence, searing pain shot through her left little finger.
OMG! My poor little fingernail is gone!
Without a shred of pride, A Luo, who feared death but feared pain even more, immediately flung herself toward the sofa by the door and waved the white flag to Chrollo.
"You really won't give anything up until you've had a taste of the consequences. All right, you can still earn leniency by confessing."
Chrollo gazed steadily at A Luo for a while before adopting an attentive pose, leaning back against the sofa with an inscrutable curl of his lips.
Then their conversation began amid A Luo's hisses of pain.
"First, Boss, you should have already confirmed through Pak that I know nothing about the Life Stone's secret. Right?"
"Correct."
"As for why I know about Pak and Feitan, before I confess, I want to ask you a question... Chrollo, do you believe people have souls that survive death?"
"Souls?"
"Yes, souls. For humans, death might not be the end, but another beginning!"
"Go on."
"I died once. In my previous life, my name was Kasuga. I was a butler for the Zoldyck Family. After dying in an accident, I thought death was the end too. My body would be decomposed by microorganisms, buried in the soil, and returned to the earth... But to my surprise, I was reborn in Lola's body!"
"Oh?"
Chrollo watched Lola spout her nonsense without the slightest change in expression, making it impossible to tell whether he believed any of A Luo's ridiculous claims.
Before you continue