Hunter x Hunter: From Obtaining the World to Beyond Heaven

Dia glanced at the enormous palace in the distance, but ultimately did not make any rash moves.

We have so little information right now. We know nothing about the palace’s structure, layout, or patrol schedule. Going in would be pointless.

"Hey! Who are you! Show yourself!"

A patrolling soldier glanced around and suddenly spotted a dark shadow wriggling in the corner of the wall. His eyes widened, and he rushed forward shouting.

"How dare you approach the palace without permission! I'll see you live..."

Suddenly he froze and stopped in his tracks.

The wriggling shadow in the corner had vanished, replaced by an empty space.

'How could this be? I was staring at it the whole time, I didn't even blink, how could this be...'

The soldier, unwilling to give up, looked up and around for a long time, but ultimately found nothing and could only secretly wonder if he had seen a ghost.

Several other soldiers who heard him commotion came over to ask what was going on, and the soldier could only laugh awkwardly and say that he had seen wrong.

They didn't notice.

Meanwhile, in a residential area far from the palace, an inconspicuous black shadow flickered and disappeared into the night...

……

Diya returned to the Twelfth Prince's palace thoughtfully, only to find Mumu Ze and Pokson already waiting in the hall.

"came back?"

"Hmm, why aren't you asleep yet?"

Diya sat down on the sofa and asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I was sleeping, but Minister Nugui came to visit just now."

As Mumu Ze spoke, he gestured for Pokson to take a letter out of his pocket:

“I originally wanted to ask you to come and receive Minister Nugui, but you weren’t in your room, so I called Poxon instead, and he brought this over.”

She didn't ask Dia what he was doing so late at night; he was always so secretive anyway.

Dia took the letter, opened it, and began to read.

After a long pause, he put away the letter, frowned, and said:

"The king warned us not to kill our own brothers before selecting the next king?"

"Yes, it was Father who specifically sent a minister to remind them. I think my eldest brother and second sister must have received similar warnings as well."

Mumu Ze nodded.

The timing of this secret letter was very coincidental.

It was sent right after Mumu Ze finished recruiting his own private soldiers, so having his own private soldiers was probably one of the conditions he was reminded of.

"In other words, the king believes you have the power to threaten the other princes. Does anyone else know this?"

Dia immediately realized the crux of the problem.

Poxon, standing to the side, shook his head and interjected:

"It's unlikely. Minister Nuguyi probably chose this time to come to avoid attracting attention."

"That's good."

Diya nodded, relieved.

The king's reminder, or rather warning, is in itself a form of recognition of Mumu Ze's status as a prince.

If others were to discover that they had the ability to threaten the other princes, then their strategy of concealing their strength and biding their time through the fourth prince, Celidone, would be largely ruined.

King Nasby couldn't possibly be unaware of this, so he went along with it and gave Mumtze a little help.

But the very rule prohibiting fratricide foreshadows something.

Pokson's eyes showed worry as he spoke to Dia:

"You should be able to see the hidden meaning in this reminder, right?"

Mumu Ze looked at her curiously and asked:

"What? What's hidden? Poker, what did you figure out? Why didn't you tell me?"

He clearly noticed something was wrong, but he kept quiet about it and insisted on waiting for Dia to arrive before speaking.

Mumu Ze pouted in dissatisfaction.

Ignoring the prince's antics, Dia said:

"The phrase 'not allowing fratricide before selecting the next king' means that fratricide will be allowed, or even inevitable, during the selection of the next king, which is not surprising."

"The question is, to what extent will the royal family allow this intensity to go?"

Pokson added:

“You should know that we have never heard of King Nasby having any brothers or sisters.”

"...Let's prepare for the worst, as long as Mumu Ze is alive."

"Dia said calmly."

He, an outsider, understood the brutality of the Battle of the Kakin throne better than they did.

That means there's a high probability that the current king, along with the other 13 princes, will be included.

However, a battle for the throne may not necessarily occur.

After all, according to Nasby in the original story, if a prince dies before the War of the Succession begins, the War of the Succession will be terminated.

Of course, after the suspension, it remains to be seen whether Naspi will continue to create children to make 14 princes or something else.

In short, preventing the succession war from starting is quite simple.

All you need to do is assassinate a prince without regard for the consequences.

Hearing their conversation, Mumu Ze, who had just been joking, gradually quieted down. She knew that the succession to the throne would be very cruel.

But from what they've said, would they be so cruel as to kill all the other princes except her?

Mumuze thought of his younger brother, Malayan, and the youngest prince, the fourteenth prince, Wabul, who was just a baby.

The thought of harming even infants made Mu Muze feel somewhat reluctant.

Dudu ludu—

A cell phone rang, and Diya frowned, taking out his phone from his pocket to glance at it.

It was Caesar calling!

Why would he contact me so late?

Diya was puzzled.

To avoid suspicion, Caesar, as the representative of the anti-monarchist faction of the Judiciary, had always tried to avoid direct contact with him.

When the call connected, Caesar's calm voice came through:

"Hello, is this Dia?"

"It's me, what's wrong?"

"A rather troublesome case has just occurred. One of Prince Benjamin's private soldiers died in a hotel, and the prosecutor found something on her body with your name on it."

Dia said upon hearing this:

"Understood, am I now a suspect?"

That would be troublesome, since his whereabouts just now are unclear.

"No, it's just that your name was written on the items found on the body. There's no other evidence. The names of the twelfth prince and the fourth prince were even on it."

Caesar calmly explained:

“The death of a soldier wouldn’t normally be a big deal, but the eldest prince is furious and insists on getting to the bottom of it, so you need to come here for questioning. The location is…”

Dia responded, hung up the phone, and stood up.

Pokson quickly stood up and asked:

"what happened?"

"The eldest prince has a privately-appointed soldier who died, and he wants me to assist in the investigation. I have a friend in the judicial bureau, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Dia casually remarked:

"You stay here to protect Mumu Ze. If anyone asks me where I was a few hours ago, just say I was sleeping in my room."

After I went outside, the night wind picked up and grew stronger, and a faint rumbling sound came from the horizon.

The sky was pitch black, with no visible clouds, but Dia knew for sure that it was going to rain.

He quickened his pace, heading towards the address Caesar had given him before the rain started.

--------------

"It is going to rain."

A quiet street.

The middle-aged man in the brown trench coat looked up at the sky and took a drag of his cigarette.

His face was weathered, his beard was white, and the red cigarette butt in his hand flickered in the darkness.

Caesar glanced at him and said:

"Hurry up and smoke it, it'll get wet if it rains."

"No rush, just make sure we get back before it rains. When is the person you asked to come?"

"I estimate we have about 5 minutes left. Let's go back to the scene and check it out."

Having said that, Caesar turned and walked into the building behind him.

The middle-aged man in the trench coat took a deep drag on his cigarette, then rubbed the butt between two fingers to extinguish it, stuffed it back into his pocket, and turned to follow Caesar inside.

Inside the hotel, all the staff stood trembling in a corner, with fully armed soldiers pointing guns at them, and dared not speak.

A female corpse on the ground was extremely conspicuous. Her face was thin, her eyes were sunken, her eyeballs were bulging and bloodshot, and her face was full of shock.