Upon entering, Oboro saw Silva sitting on an animal skin, with old Zeno lounging on a nearby sofa. This was Oboro's first encounter with these two monsters of the Zoldyck family. Both wore calm expressions. Now that he had become an ordinary person, Oboro couldn't detect any terrifying aura or presence from either of them, they seemed just like normal people. Nevertheless, his expression remained grim.
"Sit down," Silva gestured while he and Zeno observed Oboro's deteriorating condition.
Oboro nodded to Zeno before taking a seat on the animal skin. The room was lit only by a burning fireplace, and a miniature version of Mike lay next to Silva. Illumi stood nearby.
Silva kept his politeness, after all, he had accepted Oboro's money and Oboro was a guest.
"Hmm, you're really overdrawn," the old man commented as soon as Oboro's body touched the ground, noting his 'injury'.
"Yes," Oboro smiled weakly.
"How do you know about this thing?" Silva suddenly fixed his gaze on Oboro, his tone carrying a hint of coldness despite his indifferent expression. He meant Nanika.
What Silva really wanted to know was how Oboro had learned Nanika's rules! The first person to discover this secret had been Killua. Even family members had been kept in the dark. Killua and Alluka had kept the secret, hiding it from everyone.
Until a butler named Mitsuba accidentally fulfilled a "cute request" and witnessed Alluka's transformation. Terrified, she fled, and later Killua rushed over to restore Alluka to normal.
Afterwards, Killua's mother, Kikyo, used the butler to test the "rules" and discovered that refusing four consecutive requests for cute behavior would result in death.
What really made Silva realize that this child was a threat to the family was when another butler selfishly wished to become a billionaire. Banknotes had begun to fall from the sky like snowflakes.
The incident had even attracted media attention at the time.
As a result, Silva locked Alluka in the basement.
This decision wasn't based solely on V5 considerations; Nanika posed a threat to the entire Zoldyck family. Such an ability had turned the Zoldyck estate into a testing ground for humanity.
Later, Illumi and Milluki conducted their own "human experiments" to understand Nanika's abilities.
"I once had the opportunity to read about 'it' in certain records," Oboro said quietly. That was the 'real reason' the Zoldyck family had agreed to his deal. Even now, they hadn't fully deciphered Nanika's rules, only determined a certain degree of "equivalent exchange". They needed to thoroughly understand the source of this danger.
"What records?" Silva asked calmly. Zeno's eyes remained fixed on Oboro's back.
Could it be related to the Dark Continent?
Perhaps.
"Oboro, you're lying."
Illumi, still standing with his hands on his hips, suddenly bent down to look Oboro in the eyes. "You are doing something very dangerous~ You should know that you could die at any moment.
The importance of this matter for the Zoldyck family was immeasurable.
""
Oboro sighed. He curled his lips and spread his hands. "Fine, I admit it, I lied!"
"I apologize, but I'd rather not reveal how I learned this. Anyway, understanding the rules should be enough, is there really a need to know more?" Oboro had thought his deception was perfect, but he'd been exposed in an instant.
If even Illumi could see through it, Silva and Zeno surely could as well.
This situation had been in his calculations.
He'd been lucky.
Of course, Illumi's insight didn't come from the keen observation and experience that Silva and Zeno possessed.
"How much did this Hisoka tell you?" Oboro looked at Illumi with displeasure.
"Well, everything that needed to be said was said."
Illumi answered directly.
""
After a moment of silence, Oboro spoke: "1. Make three wishes and Nanika will appear to grant your wish, then return to normal Alluka. However, the greater the wish, the greater the price the next person will have to pay; this will likely involve human organs and death conditions, following an 'incremental' cause-and-effect relationship."
"2. If four consecutive cute wishes are denied, both the denier and his or her most beloved will die instantly, either flattened like dough or by bodily explosion. If there are more than two deaths, an additional rule applies: the person who had the longest contact with the refuser dies next! The greater the previous wish, the more people will die after the refusal, but the difficulty of cute wishes is reset afterwards.
"3. When Alluka makes cute requests of someone, the target cannot be changed to someone else. If the requests are not granted, Alluka can remain in a state of not making requests to others. In addition, the same person cannot make consecutive requests to Nanika."
"You know Killua very well"
After listening to Oboro's detailed explanation of the rules, Silva and Zeno exchanged glances. This was exactly what they understood.
"Why Killua?"
Silva spoke calmly.
That was the key.
As expected from the Zoldyck family, they had immediately noticed his attitude towards Killua, including the act of "bribing" him with snacks, and recognized the problem.
"You should have noticed that Killua and Alluka have a special bond, including Nanika, who never harms Killua. When Alluka plays games with Killua and makes requests, she calls him 'brother' instead of his name. Nanika's ability cannot affect people whose names are unknown."
"Nanika treats people differently"
"Are you saying that this thing has feelings?" Illumi interjected.
"That's right!"
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
""
Silva and the old man exchanged another glance.
"Be assured of Killua's safety. Even though he made the wish, neither Alluka nor Nanika will make him pay the price. In other words, the rule of 'equivalent exchange' does not apply to him, and my journey has been wasted. Of course, I will still pay the agreed amount." Oboro chose his words carefully to protect Killua and Alluka, though he couldn't completely deceive them.
If he wanted to recover, he needed Silva's permission to see Nanika. Without that hurdle, nothing else mattered.
"You mean Killua can ignore the rules and make wishes?"
Illumi's voice wavered as the overwhelming pressure descended, making it difficult for Oboro to breathe.
"Illumi."
Silva's look and warning tone caused his son's emotions to gradually calm.
"It's not absolute As I said, it has feelings and thoughts It's just that at this age, during this particular period, Killua is receiving special treatment As for the future, no one can say for sure."
If Oboro had claimed that Killua could control Nanika's wishes 100% without limits, the white-haired boy's life would probably become very difficult.
Illumi's obsession with controlling Killua would surely become even more pathological.
"Don't celebrate too soon, it's only temporary. Besides, these rules might not hold and my hopes might be dashed. You must understand that Killua's special status only comes from 'this relationship'. Once that relationship weakens or disappears, as Nanika develops greater autonomy, true control will remain with her.
After his earlier groundwork, Oboro's words now carried great credibility.
Upon closer examination, several family "wish crises" had indeed been resolved by Killua.
"Father, your thoughts?"
Silva looked at Zeno.
"Let him try. In our entire family, Killua is the only one who can safely approach her. This boy is not stupid. Coming here alone means he has some confidence and he wouldn't risk his own life." Zeno put his hands behind his back, stood up slowly and leaned forward.
The first part was for Silva.
The second to Oboro.
If something went wrong, even if Oboro regained his strength, he wouldn't leave alive.
To be one of the Dons, to earn Netero's respect and to know so much about Nanika's abilities, he was clearly no ordinary person.
In Zeno's eyes, there was something mysterious about this young Oboro.
He felt slightly confused, it didn't seem like a manufactured mystery.
"You seem to be quite familiar with our Zoldyck family," Zeno walked over to Oboro and met his gaze directly.
"Yes, very familiar."
Oboro returned his gaze calmly.
"Aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"
Zeno smiled.
It wasn't good for outsiders to know too much.
"We have no conflicts of interest. Besides, I'm still your client and we may work together again. Of course I value our cooperation and won't jeopardize this 'friendship'. This knowledge will remain with me alone."
Oboro's tone was playful.
"Hmph."
The old man scoffed and turned away.
To come here, even though he knew about the Zoldyck family, showed that this boy had courage.
And intelligence.
Such a person knew which lines not to cross without being told.
No wonder Netero had noticed him.
"If someone orders me to kill you in the future, I won't hesitate." Before he left, Zeno looked back at Oboro.
"I understand. Business is business."
Oboro grinned and added, "But could you raise my price a bit?"
"After meeting you this time, compared to what I knew before, there will indeed be an increase, but there are still those who can afford it."
With those words, the old man left.
"Call Killua and bring him there." Silva instructed Illumi.
"Yes."
Illumi also left.
Only Oboro and Silva remained in the room, sitting in silence and waiting.
Through their conversation, Oboro had done his best to shield Killua, but it had been impossible to hide the information completely.
He hoped the boy could live safely despite his brother's controlling shadow.
Not surprisingly, Illumi's desire to control Killua would be stronger than in the original timeline.
However, Oboro had added two crucial pieces of information: "Nanika's uncertainty" and "Killua's temporary unconditional wish status. This created a crack in Illumi's manipulation program, his plan to use Killua as a puppet to indirectly control Nanika.
"Killua, there is no other way, I had to sacrifice you."
Oboro muttered darkly.
At twelve years old, Killua would never have agreed to his family's request to help Oboro fulfill a wish.
Still young and naive, he hadn't noticed certain things.
Later, Killua would realize that once his relationship with Nanika was revealed, she would become nothing more than a tool to protect Alluka.
If it hadn't been for Gon's accident.
Moreover, Killua had probably sensed that granting wishes without paying a price actually hurt Nanika.
For it was Nanika herself who bore that price.
After healing Gon, Killua had taken Alluka and left his friend, claiming they were going on a journey.
At the time, Killua had mentioned something about the journey not lasting too long, implying that Nanika didn't have much time left.
Under the circumstances, Killua must have wanted to travel with Alluka to make up for lost time, so there shouldn't have been a time limit.
And examining the rules and conditions of Nanika's ability, this seemed to be her survival mechanism.
Like hunting and eating.
Nanika amplified human desires and used them as a 'hunting method'. As for the food obtained, Oboro personally believed that it was life itself.
This was also the foundation and core of the 'Equivalent Exchange'.
Once this survival mechanism was destroyed