At this moment, Ryker stood at the entrance of Meteor City, greeted by towering heaps of discarded and broken items forming mountains of trash.
Even without stepping closer, a nearly indescribable stench filled his nostrils, so foul it felt like it could make his eyes water.
"I underestimated this," Ryker thought to himself. "I expected the environment to be bad, but not to this degree. No wonder people inside sometimes wear protective suits. For my own sake, I'd better get some equipment first."
"Sure, I can use my Nen to block it, but if there's radioactive material around, who knows if Nen can really protect me?"
With that thought, Ryker turned back toward Yorknew City. As for getting the money to purchase protective gear, that was hardly a challenge for him.
The United States of Saherta was described in the original as a haven for organized crime, a country where the underworld flourished.
Its capital city, Yorknew, epitomized this reputation, teeming with black markets and illegal industries.
Ryker strolled into a small underground casino run by a local gang. After casually playing a few games and scoping out the place, he pinpointed where they kept their cash reserves.
An hour later, Ryker exited the casino. Alongside him was every last bill from the casino, safely stored in his Kamui space.
After leaving the casino, he didn't immediately head out to buy equipment or return to Meteor City. Instead, he went back to his previous residence, terminated the lease on his old, cheap apartment, and moved into a more ordinary-looking flat.
He also terminated his contract with the web novel platform he had previously worked with, though he wasn't planning to give up writing entirely.
"If my living standard suddenly improves after losing my sole source of income, it'll raise suspicion. Someone might investigate and uncover something."
Ryker was careful—he had no intention of discarding this identity just yet. To stay under the radar, he signed with a new platform and personally began writing a novel.
This one was miles better than anything the original owner of this identity had ever written.
"I've read enough novels in my previous life—if not a thousand, at least several hundred. As a 90s kid writing in a world parallel to my old one, I can definitely get away with writing something ahead of its time."
With the aid of Nen, Ryker's writing speed was unparalleled. In just seven days, he had churned out 200 chapters.
The novel he wrote? 'Saint Seiya'. Yes, he had turned the iconic anime into a novel.
During this period, Ryker also made a detailed plan for his immediate future. His first priority was unlocking the full potential of Kamui.
After that, he planned to either establish or take control of a crime family, using it as a front to create a legitimate business empire. Any remaining time would be devoted to developing his mastery over Twin Complete Hands.
To that end, he was devoting considerable effort to studying medical knowledge, while using Meteor City as a hunting ground to find "volunteers" to practice on.
[AN: Red Hand, being a part of Twin Hands, has the transformation ability, and medical experimentation can help increase its versatility]
This served a dual purpose: improving his skills and earning exorcism points. After all, Twin Hands ability played a crucial role in Ryker's long-term plans.
"Am I a murderer without a conscience? Hardly," Ryker mused.
"I'm leagues ahead of those gangsters, extremists, and lunatics. I never experiment on minors and always release the innocent ones. Most of the people I take out are criminals themselves."
He had also noticed how heavily the underworld relied on Meteor City for its human trafficking operations, particularly targeting minors.
"It makes sense. They need fresh blood to bolster their ranks.
Meteor City's residents are the perfect targets—abandoned by society, easy to brainwash, and loyal once indoctrinated.
And of course, there are the darker reasons rich people might be interested in young, healthy bodies…"
Ryker briefly considered what would happen if his actions inadvertently prevented certain key events in the original timeline.
"What if I accidentally take out the person who targeted Sarasa, derailing the formation of the Phantom Troupe? That's a lot of exorcism points to lose. Should I step in and ensure Chrollo awakens?"
Ultimately, Ryker decided he was probably overthinking it. His luck couldn't be that bad. But if it came to it, he wouldn't hesitate to nudge events in the right direction.
Unfortunately, over the next two months, Ryker didn't encounter a single Nen user. Perhaps it was because he hadn't ventured deep enough into Meteor City.
Just as he was settling into this routine, Ryker received a call from Silva, summoning him back to Kukuroo Mountain.
"I guess our second brother Milluki is about to be born. Oh wait, now he's technically the third brother."
.......
When Ryker arrived at the family estate, he found that Tsubone and Illumi had also returned from the Heavens Arena.
It wasn't surprising. With the entire family gathered, only Maha was absent.
"Madam has given birth! It's a boy! Congratulations, Master Silva!"
The nurse brought the newborn out to meet the family. Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the baby in her arms.
Ryker, however, felt no particular emotions. Illumi, on the other hand, stared intently at the infant with his trademark empty gaze.
Watching this, Ryker couldn't help but think, "Is this the moment Illumi's brother complex awakens?"
Silva had already chosen a name for the newborn. Just as in the original timeline, the third son was named Milluki Zoldyck.
Ryker wondered if his presence in this timeline would influence Milluki's personality.
That evening, for the first time in months, the entire family sat down for dinner together.
The meal was quiet—nearly devoid of conversation. Aside from occasional instructions to the butlers, there was little interaction.
As the meal drew to a close, Silva finally broke the silence, turning to Tsubone and Illumi to ask about their progress in Heavens Arena.
"Master Silva," Tsubone replied, "Young Master Illumi has made remarkable progress. He's stabilized above the 100th floor and is working toward breaking into the 120th."
"However, the gap between levels grows wider as you climb. At his current pace, it will be difficult for him to reach the 150th floor within a year."
In truth, Tsubone's assessment was optimistic. Illumi's actual progress suggested it would take two or three years.
But with Ryker's rapid advancement as a precedent, Tsubone was hesitant to be too blunt. Illumi had already asked her about Ryker's achievements.
Silva acknowledged Illumi's progress with a nod before turning his attention to Ryker.
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