Hunter x Hunter: From Obtaining the World to Beyond Heaven

"..."

No wonder she didn't bring any maids. Dia reluctantly took the parasol, then suddenly sensed something and turned to look.

Drogbada: expressionless.jpg → gloating.jpg

Too lazy to waste words with the greasy middle-aged man, Diya took a parasol and stood behind Mumu Ze, then got into the passenger seat of a similarly specially made bulletproof car.

The extended vehicle was inconvenient to use for small auction houses and other small places, so it was temporarily put on hold.

The others got into another car, and the two cars, one in front of the other, drove towards the central business district of Yorkshire.

There was still an hour until lunchtime. The sun was high in the sky, and the scorching sunlight was so bright that it was hard to open one's eyes.

The summer heat did not dampen people's enthusiasm for trading; crowds thronged around various stalls, writing something down with pens in hand.

As Drogbada cleared a path through the crowd, he scrutinized those who approached, while a bird-like creature resembling an owl perched quietly on his shoulder.

However, it seemed that no one else could see the bird-like creature except for himself, because it was his Nen ability—[The One He Sees Directly]!

The "Being Stared At" can detect all gazes directed at its host, no matter how concealed the observation. It will also issue a warning for frequent, prolonged, or hostile observations, making it a counter-surveillance type of spirit beast.

Behind him, Mumu Ze was curiously looking at the surrounding stalls, while Diya held up an umbrella behind her and silently observed the surroundings.

"Mr. Dia, why do all the items on these stalls have a strange label?"

Mumu Ze saw a stall selling cute dolls. Each doll had a large white tag hanging underneath it, with some scribbles on it.

Diya glanced at it and introduced:

"This is a unique auction format here. Write your bid under that label. If no one bids higher when the time is up, the item is considered won. But if someone is in a hurry and needs it now, they can talk to the owner about the price directly. If the bid is satisfactory, they can take it directly."

As he spoke, Dia stepped forward and took a look. The dolls were all well-made, especially a Happy Dog with square-framed glasses and its tongue sticking out. He thought Qiduo would like it.

Mumu Ze glanced around, then her eyes lit up. She stepped forward and grabbed a doll. Several numbers had been written on the tag on its bottom, the last of which was 1500 Jenny.

Prince Mumu Ze decisively said to the boss:

"Boss, can you sell me this doll directly? I'll offer 10,000 jenny."

The boss immediately stood at attention, rubbing his hands together eagerly, and said excitedly:

"Of course, esteemed lady, it is yours."

Seeing this, Diya quickly whispered a reminder to Mumu Ze:

"Your Highness, there is only one hour left before the auction ends at 12 o'clock. At this point, you can win the bid by simply bidding 2.5 times higher than the highest bid."

Mumu Ze didn't seem to care when he heard this. Instead, he grabbed the doll and handed it to Diya, saying with a smile:

"Consider it a thank-you gift from Mr. Dia last night; it's fine to spend a little more."

Huh? For me?

Diya took it in surprise, and upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a blue dinosaur.

Dinosaurs, with their bared teeth and claws, look kind of ugly-cute.

"I feel it suits Mr. Dia very well, please don't find it offensive."

Then Mumu Ze said this, which left Diya with no reason to refuse, so she could only accept the strange dinosaur doll.

In return, Diya also picked out a blue mouse doll as a gift for Mumu Ze. This doll even had a recording function; it could make a sound when squeezed.

Mumu Ze happily accepted the doll, then handed it to Diya, making Diya feel like he had brought this upon himself.

"Exchanging gifts—!"

A strange noise seemed to come from behind her. Dia turned around warily and saw three familiar figures sitting at a table in the distance, pretending to be at ease. One of the men, a burly man, was desperately covering the mouth of another man.

"Those three privately hired soldiers, huh? I guess the auction's still a while away, so they were just bored and pulled in to be guards."

Dia squinted and thought to herself.

In addition, he spent 5000 geniys to buy the dog with its tongue sticking out.

This plush toy wasn't worth the price, but the owner insisted that the dog and the rabbit next to it were sold as a set, otherwise he wouldn't sell it.

Unfortunately, Dia had no choice but to buy them all, intending to keep the rabbit for herself and give the dog to Qiduo.

They continued walking forward with the flow of people, and Dia's bags and packages grew larger and larger.

In fact, this state is not conducive to the guard work, but Drogbada's spirit beast has been maintained, and with the presence of the [one being looked at], there is basically no need to worry about sudden attacks.

At the very least, there's the ripple sensor.

Before long, Prince Mumu Ze didn't feel tired, but it was lunchtime.

The guard team had already booked a place for lunch in advance, which was not far from the market.

Following the map, the group walked for a while and found their target—a nicely decorated restaurant called the Cave Restaurant.

jingle--

When Drogba opened the door, the wind chimes on the door made a crisp sound. The restaurant was air-conditioned, but there weren't many people. There were only a few tables of guests, and some drunken figures were slumped over the small tables.

The restaurant is elegantly decorated and plays soothing music.

The sparse ivy adorning the restaurant's exterior windows creates a natural and refreshing atmosphere.

The restaurant is divided into left and right sides. The entrance is in the right hall, and the left and right halls are separated by a huge curtain.

Dia found her reserved spot, a long table.

He pulled out the chair for the head of the table and gestured for Prince Mumu Ze to sit down, while the others set aside two guards to stand outside the shop and continue patrolling the surroundings.

At the same time, he found a table and put down what he was holding.

Diya called over a waiter, and Prince Mumu Ze looked at the menu and ordered some drinks, and also asked Diya and Drogba to order some.

Since there were no taste testers, another female guard stood guard in the food delivery aisle, preparing to taste the food in advance before delivering it to the prince.

And so, Dia and her entourage drank their beverages in the restaurant while quietly waiting for the prince to have rested enough.

People came and went in the restaurant from time to time, and it was hard to tell whether they were civilians or assassins based on their clothing and behavior alone.

But you can vaguely sense that the number of people in the restaurant is gradually increasing.

Soon, only soothing music filled the air in the restaurant.

Suddenly, Dia sensed something was wrong.

For a restaurant, at this moment, it's somewhat—

Too quiet?

Chapter Twenty-Four: Five Bullets × Ripple Radar × Sang

Inside the quiet, bizarre cave restaurant.

Dia suddenly felt a peck on his arm. He frowned and turned to look.

A pair of scarlet eyes came into view—the eyes of the person being stared at.

'Red, according to DeRoz, means... a malicious gaze!'

Dia remained expressionless and turned to look at Drogbada, who was equally unmoved.

He gestured with his eyes toward the curtain separating the two rooms of the restaurant, and then quickly glanced outside the restaurant.

Dia immediately understood; this meant there were enemies outside the left hall and the restaurant.

Drogbada turned his foot outward, indicating that he would deal with the enemies outside, while Dia would naturally take charge of the restaurant.

He then naturally got up and walked out of the restaurant.

Diya glanced at the huge curtain without showing any emotion. The curtain had many tiny holes in it, as if it had been accidentally bitten by insects.

Are they spying on us through these holes?

'It's impossible to determine how many people are over there with the naked eye... No wonder DeRozan warned me first.'

Dia thought this way because the two had shared information about their Nen abilities to ensure sufficient synergy for their future cooperation.

Of course, neither of them revealed everything; Drogbada only explained what the three color changes in the eyes of the person being looked at meant.

The colors are: red – malicious gaze; yellow – frequent or prolonged gaze; brown – normal gaze.

Now it seems that Drogbada, as the master of the Nen Beast, must be able to sense the source of the gaze—which is why he was able to know there was an enemy on the other side even through the curtain.

Correspondingly, Dia also revealed her "Nen ability" - Ripple Radar, which can sense the vital signs and activities of all living beings in the surrounding area within a certain range. It is more concealed than the circle, and even Nen users can hardly detect it.

This reconnaissance-oriented ability earned Drogba's praise.

However, this is made up.

This is not a Nen ability at all, but simply the transmission of Nen-amplified ripples to the ground, where they are propagated and reflected through solids to obtain information about surrounding life forms, much like a radar for ripples.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Mr. Dia? Did you see something?"

This time, Mumu Ze noticed that Dia had turned her head and asked her a question out of curiosity.

Diya didn't mention anything about an enemy attack, as that would only alert the enemy. Instead, she smiled and said:

"It's nothing, I just wanted to see where the toilet is, I need to use it."

As she spoke, Diya activated her Ripple Qi Gong, transmitting the vibrating ripples through her feet to the ground, and then from the ground into the right hall.

In an instant, the layout and flow of people in the right hall seemed to form a 3D image in Dia's mind, showing everything clearly!

'6...no, 5 attackers, and the drunkard shouldn't be involved...were they all armed...?'

'A conflict here could easily injure the twelfth prince, but letting him leave early might hasten the conflict.'

'It seems... the only option is to strike first and eliminate them beforehand!'

Dia's eyes turned cold, and she quietly gripped the large-caliber pistol hidden on her person.

Mumu Ze's eyes had just shown a hint of a smile when she heard Diya's words, but she suddenly froze the next moment.

She saw a cold look in Dia's eyes, unlike the calm of that night, filled with murderous intent.

Dia slowly stood up, silently drawing a 9mm Halletta pistol from her waist; the cold barrel of the gun reflected a beautiful arc of light.

Mumu Ze's pupils contracted, and his mind went blank: