Halfway back from the hotel, cradled in the Spider leader's arms, A Luo finally succumbed to exhaustion and closed her heavy eyes while Machi was still treating her.
Oh, right!
Just before she passed out, she thought she had seen Hisoka bringing up the rear, his eyes positively shining as he watched Machi's miraculous Nen stitches.
That pervert.
Why did she get the feeling he would deliberately get hurt just for another chance to study Machi's ability up close?
When A Luo opened her eyes again, the little girl discovered that they had returned to Hisoka's spacious, luxurious Ancient Castle.
The elaborate curtains blocked out every trace of light, leaving her unable to tell what time it was.
Judging by how hungry she was, though, this long night probably still wasn't over.
A Luo had barely moved her fingers when a low, pleasant voice came from a corner of the room.
"You're awake?"
Along with the voice, a tiny candle flame sprang to life in the darkness. Its flickering light illuminated Chrollo's dark circles and finely sculpted features.
"Boss? Have you been watching over me this whole time?"
Honestly, A Luo was a little surprised.
She had always been perfectly clear about her place, no matter how friendly she had become with the Spiders.
None of that changed the cruel reality that she was merely one of the collectibles that had recently caught their leader's interest.
For whatever reasons, they might not let her die just yet, but tender scenes of attentive care and all-night vigils simply weren't supposed to happen between them.
Sure enough, hearing the surprise in A Luo's voice, Chrollo waved the Ancient Book in his hand at her.
"Yes, I've been here the whole time, but not to watch over you."
A Luo smiled knowingly.
She knew it!
The rest of the night passed without conversation. Although Machi had healed A Luo's fatal injuries with her Nen stitches, the internal bruising and damage to her organs would still take time to heal on their own.
Still feeling uncomfortable, A Luo didn't want to move.
Only when the horizon turned pale and the sun finally rose did Chrollo, seated in the corner, blow out the candle and get to his feet.
Day had broken, and the hungry Spider was ready to go out in search of food. Passing the little cook lying motionless in bed, he gave A Luo a casual glance.
"Aren't you going downstairs to make dinner?"
A Luo closed her eyes for a moment.
"It's bad enough that you grown-ups make a little kid like me cook for you every day, but I'm injured now! And you're the ones who injured me by accident! Do you really have to bully me like this?"
She suddenly remembered a certain fellow who had just joined the Phantom Troupe.
She still remembered the exquisite food he had made during the sushi-making test in the Hunter Exam... Well, judging by its appearance alone, Hisoka seemed to know a thing or two about cooking!
"That guy who just joined you can cook too. Why don't you order him around? You can't keep making one little kid do everything forever!"
A Luo's words successfully reminded Chrollo of something.
The man simply set aside his plans to go out for food and looked curiously at the little girl lying there.
"I've been meaning to ask you! Hisoka said yesterday was the first time you two met, yet you recognized him immediately and knew he was dangerous. Now you even know he can cook... A Luo, don't tell me you're going to claim you learned all this secret information from the Zoldyck Family in your previous life again?"
A Luo: "..."
Only after a long while, when she heard Chrollo's footsteps leaving the room, did A Luo breathe a temporary sigh of relief.
She really had been too careless!
She had to watch these little details from now on and never let Chrollo catch her slipping again.
Once someone told a lie, even just one, they might gradually need thousands more to cover it up.
For now, Chrollo still had the patience to play this little game of cat and mouse with her.
But if she exhausted his patience, what awaited her would probably be either torture or a forced interrogation using Chrollo's Nen Ability!
If it really came to that, keeping her secrets would no longer be so easy.
Over the next stretch of days, whether because of Lola's injuries or because Hisoka had only just joined, the Spiders actually settled into the villa for a while.
Whatever the others were doing, Hisoka was the first to lose patience, picking fights with Feitan every day.
He hoped to get a satisfying fight with him first!
But every time, the other Spiders present stopped him. In particular, the icy beauty Machi warned the fruit grower who was trying to stir up trouble, her expression cold.
"Phantom Troupe rules: fighting between members is forbidden. Disputes are settled by flipping a Spider Coin."
With that, the beautiful woman tossed Hisoka a Spider Coin.
Then she continued explaining things to him, her face still cold.
"Also, every member has a Spider Tattoo. Since you killed Omokage, you'll be Number 4 from now on... Speaking of which, are you going to tattoo it yourself, or do you want my help?"
Hisoka had only just learned that the Phantom Troupe had such a ridiculous rule. The moment Machi said members couldn't fight one another, he turned to stone.
Until then, he had thought joining the Phantom Troupe was like a mouse finding its way into a rice bin-he had landed in a paradise full of ripe fruit.
Who would have thought all that fruit was only for looking at, not touching? He was like a eunuch visiting a brothel. The frustration would kill him!
As for A Luo, she watched Hisoka's humiliation unfold before her eyes and enjoyed every second of the show.
What was this called?
This was a perfect example of one villain getting his comeuppance from another!
That was what he got for bullying her-and for being shameless enough to use her as a shield!
Hisoka could certainly take a setback.
And as an expert at putting on an act, he soon regained his composure.
He decided to remain hidden among the Spiders and keep his eye on Chrollo, hoping to catch him alone and have a thoroughly satisfying fight!
Still, A Luo couldn't shake the feeling that Hisoka might spend tonight crouched in a corner of his room, drawing circles with a look of utter despair.
Just like he had during the Hunter Exam.
Menchi had torn Killua's cooking to shreds, and since Hisoka had made exactly the same thing, her criticism had indirectly applied to him too.
So he had sat alone by the stream, holding his plate and wallowing in misery.
In the end, Hisoka politely declined Machi's kind offer to help with his Spider Tattoo. He returned to his room alone and fashioned a large, menacing spider on his back.
Only A Luo knew that it was really nothing more than Hisoka's Nen Ability-Texture Surprise.
This ability could turn Hisoka's aura into a skin displaying all sorts of textures.
Then, through his imagination, he could reproduce any texture. In other words, much like a color printer, the ability could help him pull off all kinds of deception whenever he needed it.
The only way to see through the trick was to touch it and feel the discrepancy.
But not one of the four Spiders present was bored enough to touch Hisoka's back to check whether his tattoo was real.
For now, the four Spiders were keeping a respectful distance from this perverted fruit grower-staying far away, avoiding him, and wishing they could keep even farther away!
Before you continue