Chapter 25: Information x Greed Island
Some of you asked me about the story I read. It is popular, so some of you may have already read it if you're a Pokémon fan; the story is called I Am the Owner of a Pokémon Daycare in The Pokémon World.
*
All four stood in the clearing, and none spoke for a while. It was more like Jett was waiting for the woman named Jess to continue her little speech. If she had been the one who shot at him last time, then being close to her would have been to her advantage. Her shots kept getting stronger the closer he got to her; he didn't know if that was still true if they were this close. She used a sniper last time; she could use a gun at close range, but would the speed and power match? It was something Jett had to keep wondering. Her ability was also similar to the guy that made explosions before, the closer he was to him the more extensive the explosion.
"Alright, but you could at least introduce yourself," Jess said.
"I'm Gon Freeccs," Gon said with his usual carefree attitude.
(Sigh) Both Jett and Killua sigh at the same time. God had no idea just what kind of power a simple name could have when dealing with the supernatural. In some worlds of anime, the name itself had power. Gon still couldn't let go of his trusting nature; it was a problem that Jett didn't know how to solve.
"Get on with it already," Jett said.
"Okay, don't rush me. It's a long story, and we have a lot of time," Jess said.
"As I said before, I tried to kill you to lure him out. I haven't been able to find a lot of information, but the little I could get from one of the subordinates before a type of Hatsu killed them was that every time he gets a member of the same clan, he gets stronger," Jess said.
"Wait, tell us about these things first," Jett said, pointing at what Gon held.
"Are you sure, Jett," Gon questioned.
"Yeah there is no hurry, we have time," Jett said.
"Okay," Jess said.
"This ring is for a game called Greed Island," she said.
"I don't know who created it, but what I do know is that it is an Island in the real world; the way to get in is through the console, it transports you to the Island; the story is that if you manage to pass the game you could take out an item from the game, the ring there is a storage device that holds the card you collect in the game," she explained.
"How do you activate the storage?" Jett asked.
"In the Island, you wear the ring and say "Book," she said, Gon tried to activate and nothing happened, Jett could guess that it only worked in the game or a condition had to be met, to use it outside the Island.
"There is only one way to leave the game; you need to get a card that will allow you out of the game," she explains.
"That's all I know. I don't know who created the game or what happens if you win; none have won the game up until now," she said.
"That's enough; we don't need to know anything else," Jett said.
"We can find out the rest by ourselves, right, Gon?" Jett said. Gon nodded at Jett.
"Then about the other thing," Jess continued.
"Right, then, are you also part of my clan?" Jett asked.
"No, it was my husband. He also had the same mark that you did, but his mark was more noticeable; it was in the back of his right hand," Jess said with a sad and distant look on her face.
"That means..." Jett said, already knowing what happened.
"Yes, he was captured by that man. We were ordinary people. We didn't know anything about hunters or the power of nen. We lived in the city, we were happy, then one day, a hunter saw my husband's mark." It always started with the life story. No matter what kind of world it was, when telling their story, it always started with how they lived their lives.
"My husband never wondered about the mark, although he did wonder if he had any family since he was an orphan ever since he could remember. When the hunter told my husband he was part of a clan, he was excited to meet part of his family, but that was all a trap," she continued.
"They took us to a building owned by a tycoon, his well knowing so we didn't have any suspicion that a well-known man would do something, but the whole thing was a trap. I was captured, and my husband tried to save me; he awakened his Nen, and I was able to escape, but my husband was captured. I tried to ask for help, but no one wanted to hear my story; it was as if the whole thing never happened; they erased anything that had to do with my husband, even that we were married," she said.
"What about the man you keep mentioning? Do you know who he is?" Jett asked.
"Lurks, that's the name I got after much investigation, but I suspect this man is only a figurehead. I also know that he has some dealings with the mafia. Even with all this, I'm not closer to finding him," she said, with a frustrated look on her face.
"You said you tried to kill me to lure him out? But how would that work? It should have been better to let them capture me and then follow to where they would take me, right," Jett asked.
"I...yes, but there is a piece of information that I was able to get after paying a member of the Phantom Troupe..." she said.
"The Phantom Troupe?" Jett question.
"A group of thieves, they're powerful; it took me a lot of money and time to get their help...anyway, one of their members can read people's thoughts as long as she touches them," she said.
"Wait, aren't those the people Kurapika is looking for, Gon?" Killua asked after remembering Kurapika mentioned them in the test in the prison tower.
"Oh yeah, I remembered; he wanted to become a Blacklist Hunter to hunt them down," Gon remembered what Kurapika had told him, and Jett also remembered.
"Right, we can ask her for information about them later. You were saying you found some information," Jett told Jess to continue.
"Right, I had captured one of the high members and ensured he wouldn't die. After getting some information on a Nen ability that could read minds, I did everything possible to find the Phantom Troupe member. When I finally found them and got their help, I discovered that if a clan member died, the boss would leave his hideout to get the clan member himself," Jess said.
"And that's why you tried to kill me?" Jett asked.
"Yes, but as you can see, I failed, and now I'm here asking for your help. I found out that Lurks will attend the auction in York Shin. It would be the perfect chance to capture him and get information about where the real Lurks is if the fake Lurks is indeed a figurehead," she explained.
"Ah! What a coincidence—we're also planning on going to York Shin," Jett said.
"Then...!" Jess exclaimed.
"But, why should I help you?" Jett said with a cold look in his eyes, making the night air on the island even more frigid.
"Why!?... Because they're after you, if we don't do anything, they will keep sending people after you until they capture you," she exclaims.
"That's true, yet I don't see any reason to work with you; I don't make it a habit of working with people who have a reason to kill me; in this whole situation, you have something to gain, we help you and your get your revenge, while I'm sure I can deal with anyone that comes after me. You also have the choice to kill me if I have to let my guard down, that would bring the guy you're trying to kill out into the open," Jett said, with the same cold look.
"Jett is okay, right? Why don't we help?" Gon started but stopped as he saw Jett look at him with the same cold, emotionless look she was giving Jess.
"Gon, revenge would drive even the most noble soul to kill even their family if it means having their revenge. She already tried to kill me once without hesitation, and she won't hesitate to do it again if she sees that working with us won't help her," Jett said coldly.
"Gon, Jett is right I've seen what people would do to save their own life, some of them beg for me not to kill them even offering their kids as some kind of payment," Killua said recalling some of his assassinations.
"She won't do that right, Miss Jess." Gon looked at the woman with her head down.
"She would; she even had a gun pointed at me at this very moment," Jett said; he could feel it, a sense of danger; the moment he let his guard down, he would die. He didn't forget for a moment that the sniper could be made to fire automatically, inforcing the gun with Nen.
"If I had to guess her nen attribute, then she is an Emmitter, which means she also has enhancement Nen and Manipulator Nen; controlling a gun from a distance would be easy; she left her gun behind last time, but the gun was still firing, while she used a device to do that, she could use Nen to do the same, isn't that right miss Jess," Jett said.
"You kids are terrifying; the only one that let his guard down was this simple and innocent-looking one, probably an enhancer, the two of you..." she said, pointing at Jett and Killua. "Never let your guard down; you were both ready to kill me at any given moment," she narrated.
"It is true? I was also ready to kill him if we didn't agree to any cooperation," she admitted.
"See..." Jett was going to teach Gon not to trust people, but something surprised both him, Killua, and Jess.
"I see, if you're going to try and kill Jett later, then I should KILL YOU right now," Gon said with the same coldness as Jett. Jess had to take a step back because that look made her afraid, she expected the two other kids to try and kill her so she was ready, but watching the innocent-looking boy with the dark and cold look in his eyes made her scared, the emotion the boy was giving off was a familiar cold, where had she felt it before?
'Ah, are Killua and I influencing Gon?' Jett thought.