An unprecedented surge of anger, humiliation, and displeasure... all of it stemmed from Moses.
Even the things Illumi valued most had been 'tainted' by Moses.
At this moment, Illumi truly regards Moses as a thorn in his side and wishes nothing more than for Moses to vanish from the world in the very next second.
And now, seeing the rebellious spirit emanating from Killua...
Illumi suddenly felt as if all his efforts in 'teaching' Killua were about to be in vain. As a result, his malice towards Moses became purer and more intense.
Suddenly, a dark vortex seemed to appear in Illumi's pitch-black eyes, and the malicious emotions surging in his heart leaked out a little along with his Aura, manifesting like grasping black hands clawing at the air behind him.
For a brief moment, Illumi even considered mobilizing the 'dark power' hidden within the family.
But that thought was suppressed in the blink of an eye, including the leaked menacing Aura, which disappeared without a trace in the next instant.
"No... I can't…"
Illumi lowered his eyes as he muttered to himself, "If I cross that line, Dad will definitely be furious."
Despite how brief it was, the flash of evil aura shocked Killua so much that he took several steps back. In just one or two seconds, Killua's back was already wet with sweat.
Even though Killua thought he had found some kind of support, the fear that had accumulated over a long period of time would not disappear so easily.
Fortunately, Killua had found a glimmer of hope, a light that pierced through the darkness...
He didn't need to worry about what Illumi would do to Moses.
Because Illumi can't beat Moses at all!
In this way, he can be friends with Moses with peace of mind, without having to worry about anything.
As Killua looked at Illumi, who was blocking the doorway, he tried to calm his racing heart and slowly backed away. Images of that stormy night flashed through his mind, those kids, his peers, lying dead in the rain.
On that rainy night, merely because those kids had accidentally kicked a soccer ball towards him, Illumi, in order to sever Killua's desire for friendship, had killed them without hesitation.
That nightmare-like memory had haunted Killua ever since, tormenting him even now as he continued to be forced into endless assassination missions.
He had once resigned himself to this fate...
But now, he thought, 'It's only a matter of time before I can see Moses again.'
Killua clenched his fists tightly.
Before he could get his father's full approval, he would do everything in his power to accumulate enough strength to make his desires a reality.
...
Time passes.
A week had gone by since the Museum Exchange Conference.
During this period, Moses had gained considerable fame, rising like a dazzling new star and forcibly entering the spotlight of countless Blacklist Hunters.
His feat of hunting down three members of the Phantom Troupe in one go was enough to etch his name deeply into the minds of everyone within the Blacklist Hunters community.
As his fame reached a certain level, it inevitably broke beyond the confines of the Blacklist Hunter Circle, and more people began to hear the name 'Moses'.
This remarkable feat had caused two emerald green orbs to form on the [Path of Legend] stone tablet Moses had been observing.
However, since then, there had been no further developments, likely because Moses had already reaped most of the attention and fame from the Blacklist Hunter Circle.
If he still hopes to use his reputation as a Blacklist Hunter to generate new orbs, he would probably need to pull off something even more shocking than hunting down three Spiders.
Alternatively, he could seek another path.
For example, participating in the Battle Olympics at Heavens Arena and crushing all opposition on his way to the top.
'I guess that would be enough to generate one orb.'
Currently, the three grooves on the bronze branches are inlaid with orbs. As long as two more orbs are successfully generated, Moses will be able to obtain a [Counterpoint Keystone].
However, Moses will not focus on this. As he prefered to hunt down powerful wanted criminals to improve his own strength, and possibly earn additional rewards from Perception.
As for fame-
It's more like an added bonus.
"The top priority targets... are still mainly the A-Class criminals."
After finishing his training for the day, Moses muttered to himself as he sat in front of his computer. He casually browsed the list of A-Class criminals currently on the wanted list.
He had previously memorized most of the wanted criminals, and now, it was just a matter of selecting his next target.
Of course, he could also continue to focus on the Phantom Troupe.
For Moses, the Phantom Troupe's habit of acting individually and in a decentralized manner is, in a sense, made them easier to hunt down than other A-Class criminal groups.
The prerequisite is, he's able to grasp their movements at any time.
Speaking of which-
The wanted criminals classified as A-Class are typically part of a group.
After all, compared to the sheer number of criminals, the number of Blacklist Hunters were clearly more numerous.
If a lone criminal is officially classified as A-Class, they would soon be hunted down and picked off by numerous Blacklist Hunters.
But a group is different. The risks they posed multiplied exponentially, making Blacklist Hunters think twice before taking action against them.
This is why most A Class wanted criminals are part of a group.
Therefore, Phantom Troupe's habit of frequently acting independently could be seen as either reckless pride or supreme confidence, but at the same time, it also created traps that many Blacklist Hunters would eagerly fall into.
If Moses hadn't stopped Wright's idea from hunting a lone Phantom Troupe's member, at some point in the future, Wright would inevitably fall into that trap and become yet another Blacklist Hunter who died at the hands of the Spiders.
"The most active A-Class group recently... is the Erimo Bandit Group."
Moses controlled the mouse to click on the relevant web pages and browsed the information about the Erimo Bandit Group.
He suddenly thought of the three members of the Erimo Bandit Group he'd killed in the ruins.
'If that achievement could be credited to me, I might already have earned the title of [Single-Star Blacklist Hunter] by now.'
Thinking about that encounter in the ruins, his mind drifted to the humanoid creature that seemed to hail from the Dark Continent.
"Pipeline…"
What had left the deepest impression on Moses from that experience wasn't the ancient ruins brought back to light, the armor and statues controlled by Post-Mortem Nen, or the strange pillar built from the remains of various incomplete bodies. Nor was it even the mysterious life form he encountered.
Instead, it is the ability called [Pipeline], which had instantly transported him to the top of the World Tree.
(T/N: Previously, I don't know this thing will be called an ability, so I only translated it as channel or passage. Since it's regarded as an ability now, I changed the translation to Pipeline to make it easier to distinguish.)
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