Killua and A Luo sat in the café, each with a small cake in front of them, silently biting their drink straws.
Only after a long while did the silver-haired boy gulp down his nearly melted scoop of ice cream and speak first:
"Bye, A Luo! I'll come visit again when I get the chance."
Since they had to part, he wasn't the type to drag things out.
Besides, he could always sneak out to play with A Luo again. There was no need to act as though they would never see each other again.
At that moment, Killua never could have imagined just how unpredictable life could be.
Before long, when he returned, all he would find was a dilapidated, deserted dessert shop, with A Luo's entire family missing-but that was a story for later.
"Bye, Killua!"
As Killua turned to leave, A Luo secretly said her own farewell in her heart.
There were still four years until the plot began. For her family's safety, she had to convince her mother to move before then.
Then they could all stay far away from the plot and be happy background characters!
So I'm sorry, Killua, my first friend in this world.
We probably won't ever see each other again!
But at that moment, A Luo never could have imagined how quickly she would eat those words.
Just three or four years later, not only had she failed to keep a low profile as a nameless extra, she had actually gone out of her way to get involved in the plot.
That was just how unpredictable life could be.
After saying goodbye to Killua, A Luo polished off the assorted desserts on the table, got up, and headed home.
From a distance, she saw that the doors of her family's dessert shop were shut tight. There wasn't a soul around.
She found it strange.
"Mom didn't say we'd be closed today?"
When she pushed open the shop door, her unease grew stronger.
She could even catch a faint trace of blood in the air!
A Luo instantly tensed and carefully surveyed her surroundings. But the moment she stepped into the hallway leading to the kitchen, someone knocked her unconscious.
When A Luo opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was Laisen's wide, staring eyes as he lay in a pool of blood.
He... was already dead!
A Luo's eyes widened in horror, and she tried to stand.
But she discovered that she couldn't control her body at all. The most she could do was lie helplessly on the floor.
"Mr. Fan'en Reno, things have already come this far. Why keep up this futile resistance? Miss Malena is our employer's younger sister, so we certainly wouldn't dare lay a hand on her. But what about your daughter? Could you bear to see such a beautiful little angel die?"
A rich voice, tinged with amusement, sounded behind A Luo.
The next second, a hand reached over, clamped around the back of A Luo's neck, and lifted her up.
With a soft chuckle, the man used his other, bloodstained hand to gently brush the long golden hair away from A Luo's face.
"Look! What an adorable little girl. My dear Mr. Fan'en Reno, if you insist on remaining silent, I'll have no choice but to send you this little angel's black eyeballs. Perhaps that's the only way to make you tell us what we want to know?"
"No, you animals! Let go of my daughter!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Malena's sobbing cries came from behind A Luo.
A Luo struggled to control her emotions, opening her eyes wide as she tried to assess her surroundings.
They were in her parents' bedroom, but several burly men in black stood in the corners.
The one holding her up by the neck and using her to threaten Fan'en Reno was a young man with brown hair.
He wore casual clothes, and a bloodthirsty gleam shone in his smiling eyes.
What was going on?!
Who had her parents in this life offended to bring such an obviously dangerous bunch down on them?
Malena's distraught cries continued from the corner behind her to the left.
"My brother would never do this! He wouldn't treat me this way! I swear, if you dare hurt my family, I'll kill you! I'll kill every one of you!"
"Miss Malena, don't forget that you left the Corleone Family ten years ago. Mr. Vito specifically ordered us not to harm you, but that protection applies to you alone! He needs the Life Stone to obtain Battera's vast fortune in exchange. Rather than struggle so pointlessly, I think you should persuade your husband."
The man licked the curved blade in his hand and chuckled.
"If he comes clean and tells us where his family hid the Life Stone, I'll consider showing mercy and sparing your family, out of respect for the Corleone name."
The brown-haired young man clearly didn't take Malena's threats seriously at all.
He simply continued speaking at an unhurried pace while slowly moving his fingers toward the eyes of the girl in his grasp.
His narrow eyes, brimming with malice, slid toward Fan'en Reno.
"And Mr. Fan'en Reno, if you still refuse to tell us where the Life Stone is, don't blame me for hurting your daughter."
A Luo stared in terror at the approaching fingers, crying rivers of tears inside.
So she really was just cannon fodder, huh?
It looked like her little life was going to end right here today!
"Heh! You think you've already won?"
Looking at the sinister young man before him, Fan'en Reno suddenly curled his lips into a brilliant smile.
The next second, a muscular, blond, blue-eyed man appeared in the room out of thin air.
He bore a strong resemblance to Fan'en Reno!
Startled, the brown-haired young man released A Luo and instantly began exchanging blows with the muscular blond man who had appeared from nowhere.
They moved so fast that their figures blurred into afterimages as they attacked and defended.
Their movements were impossible to follow with the naked eye.
A Luo stared dumbstruck at the dramatic scene before her, unable to recover for a long while!
Was that Nen?
When had Fan'en Reno developed a Nen Ability?
Come to think of it, this was her first time seeing Nen users fight in person! (๑‾ꇴ‾๑)
Soon, the two separated.
The brown-haired young man seemed to have been injured and retreated into a shadowy corner of the room.
Immediately afterward, bursts of hair-raising laughter rang out from that corner.
"Hahaha! This just keeps getting more interesting! I thought this job would be boring. But Mr. Fan'en Reno, you certainly live up to your reputation as Heavens Arena's former rising star!"
"You reached the two-hundredth floor in just half a month, only to be deliberately crippled by the fighters there because you knew nothing about Nen. It seems you've spent all these years stewing over it, Mr. Fan'en Reno! Is that why you developed this sort of stand-in Nen Ability?"
"You talk too much!"
Fan'en Reno's voice came from the tall, muscular man's mouth, while his real body lay motionless on the bed, as though dead.
"Then, my dear Mr. Reno, what would happen if your real body fought your avatar? Worse yet, what would happen if your real body killed your avatar? I can't wait to find out!"
The moment the brown-haired man finished speaking, A Luo's father, who had been confined to the bed, suddenly rose. Viciously, he thrust a dagger he had somehow acquired toward the muscular man's back, aiming for his heart.
But somehow, the thrust struck nothing?
The dagger protruding through his body was perfectly clean. Not a single drop of blood flowed from the wound!
Before you continue