A Luo froze.
Even with everything going on just now, this guy had still noticed that?
She hurriedly put on a startled expression, as if to say, Oh my, you can actually steal other people's Nen Abilities?
Chrollo chuckled.
"Too late!"
The girl went rigid.
Chrollo said, "So, A Luo, you know not only the activation conditions for Pakunoda's ability, but also my ability... You might even know every condition I need to fulfill to steal someone else's Nen Ability? Those are closely guarded secrets that even the Zoldyck Family knows absolutely nothing about!"
Chrollo narrowed his eyes slightly.
"So you lied during that confession of yours? What should I do? I'm starting to feel more and more that I need to kill you."
A Luo tried to plead for her life.
"Boss... don't you want to know how I learned all these secrets? If you simply kill me, someone else might learn the Spider's weaknesses through the same source I used. That's a huge potential threat. Don't you want to uncover the truth through me, then eliminate every last risk?"
He had only meant to scare A Luo in the first place. He had no intention of actually killing the little girl who was currently providing him with so much entertainment.
Hearing A Luo's silver-tongued argument, Chrollo gave a soft laugh.
"You have a point! If I never unravel your secrets, I'm afraid they'll weigh on my mind for the rest of my life. In that case, I'll let you live a little longer."
A Luo let out a great sigh of relief.
With the immediate threat to her life resolved, Lola followed the boss out of the battered room, looking utterly listless.
Pakunoda and Machi, waiting by the door, needed only one glance at the boss's expression to know that their objective had been successfully accomplished.
But as the group headed downstairs, A Luo suddenly caught sight of something in a corner.
An old woman in a floral cotton apron lay on the wooden floor. The heavy stench of blood drifted over from that direction. Had A Luo's eyesight been a little better, she would also have seen the thick blood slowly spreading beneath the old woman.
It was as though a blood-red flower had bloomed on the floor, draining every last bit of life the old woman had left.
At that moment, all her brief interactions with the old woman flashed through A Luo's mind.
"You killed Granny Heidi? Why?"
Machi glanced at A Luo.
"Where do you think we got all that information about Robin?"
A Luo couldn't quite understand.
"You don't have to kill someone just to get information!"
Chrollo scoffed.
"Could you have found an easier way to get the information we wanted in such a short time, A Luo? Fine, then. I'll leave any future tasks like this to you. If you fail, how about I let you experience what it feels like to be eaten by those fish?"
Lola said, "..."
Before leaving, A Luo took one last look at the inn behind her.
If not for the Spider, Granny Heidi could surely have kept running her little inn and lived out her days in peace in this simple little town.
Just like the father she had inherited and Malena.
If not for the villains who had broken into their home, their family would surely still be living happily together near Heavens Arena.
Unfortunately, this world had everything except "if only"!
The people who lived here could only accept reality, then struggle onward, one step at a time!
Noticing that Lola hadn't followed, Chrollo stopped and looked back.
Afraid that the bandit chief would threaten her again, A Luo hurried to catch up.
There was nothing she could do. Someone whose life was in another person's hands had no right to pity anyone else.
Next, they headed toward the airship the Spiders had parked when they arrived.
Without Feitan to help this time, A Luo was carried in Chrollo's arms.
As he raced along, he lowered his head and asked the little girl:
"A Luo, that look on your face just now, and the way you actually dared to question Machi-was that because you felt sorry for that old woman?"
When A Luo didn't answer, he chuckled again.
"Remember, in this world, the strong have no need for such weak emotions, and the weak have no chance to feel them! If you want to become strong, cast them aside!"
A Luo looked up at him bitterly and snapped:
"Chrollo, you're powerful! Does that mean you get to hurt other people however you please? I hope that one day, when someone treats you like this, when you and your members have to face this kind of suffering, you can still think the way you do now!"
The boss looked down at A Luo with interest.
"You're angry? You weren't even this furious when Feitan peeled off your fingernails! Why? Is it because we killed that old woman, or because of what I just said?"
A Luo said, "..."
After the terrifying scenes and threats to her life throughout the day, topped off by seeing Granny Heidi's death with her own eyes, A Luo finally couldn't hold herself together anymore.
The very next second, without any warning, the little girl burst into tears and began sobbing at the top of her lungs!
And with that reckless surge of emotion behind her, even the normally timid A Luo found the courage to curse Chrollo viciously through her tears.
"You bunch of sick, cold-blooded murderers... sooner or later, someone will hack you to pieces, slice you apart, and leave you without even an intact corpse..."
With those curses ringing out, the boss carried A Luo all the way to their parked airship, smiling throughout.
When they reached the airship, A Luo was surprised to discover that Feitan was already waiting in the cockpit.
Once Chrollo had mercilessly tossed A Luo aboard, the Spiders set off on another journey of villainy!
Two hours passed, then another two.
At last, A Luo had cried herself out. With her emotions vented, her reason returned.
Then, with her eyes swollen like peaches, she finally realized what she had just done.
Oh my God! I cursed out the Phantom Troupe?!
And not just anyone, but their number one, the bandit chief himself, Chrollo Lucilfer?
Was he really not going to tear out my tendons and strip away my bones, paying me back a thousand, ten thousand times over?
Not ready to die just yet, A Luo sidled pitifully up to the Spider's head, grudgingly fished a box of little cookies from her pocket, and tipped her face up with a fawning expression.
"Boss, I'm sorry! Just pretend I went crazy back there. I shouldn't have cursed at you, especially not so viciously."
He ignored her.
And so, to make up for the mistake she had only dared to commit in that moment of outrageous nerve,
Lola spent the rest of the trip acting cute and pleading for forgiveness, even offering up every snack she had stockpiled.
Finally, after the airship reached the Republic of Padokea and landed,
Chrollo still ignored the fawning little cook. He hadn't spoken a word to her the entire way and left the airship in silence.
As for A Luo's snacks, Feitan emerged from the cockpit and plundered every last one.
Left behind, Lola reached out dramatically, having lost her snacks without earning so much as a smile from the boss, and bitterly regretted losing her composure.
Impulsiveness really was the devil!
She swore that until she became truly strong, she would never act on impulse again!
Before you continue