Chapter 8: The Cross-Dressing Boss’s Dark History
With the deal settled, the atmosphere at the dining table became noticeably more relaxed. Seeing that Su Xiao hadn’t touched the food on the table, Jienuo put down his chopsticks—this old man used both knives, forks, and chopsticks when eating.
“What, afraid that the Zoldyck family would poison the food?”
As soon as Jienuo finished speaking, the other Zoldyck family members all turned to look at Su Xiao.
“Of course.”
Su Xiao’s answer was very direct. The cross-dressing boss, Kikyo Zoldyck, furrowed his brow.
“How could we possibly poison the food…”
“Someone, bring the guest a new portion.”
Xiba spoke up, and two female butlers entered the living room to replace Su Xiao’s food. The food had indeed been poisoned—this was arranged by Xiba.
“They really… poisoned it.”
Kikyo Zoldyck lowered his head and silently ate his meal.
“Before, you were a guest of unknown origin, but now you are an employer.”
Xiba’s voice was somewhat cold. This was his nature—stern, rigid, a very traditional assassin.
“There’s no need for dining. When can I meet Maha Zoldyck?”
Su Xiao wouldn’t touch any food provided by the Zoldyck family. Xiba was an expert in poisons and also had considerable skill in biological mutation. His robust body had undergone countless modifications, even allowing him to ignore the deadly poison of the gold-grade equipment [Bian’s Dagger].
“About two hours. It seems… you’re planning to challenge some powerful existence?”
Jienuo had already vaguely guessed something.
“Mm. It doesn’t matter if I tell you outright. My main purpose in meeting Maha Zoldyck is to know whether I would die fighting him, and if so, how long I could last.”
“You’re going to challenge the Hunter Association Chairman?”
Jienuo’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as he probed for unknown risks in this commission.
“Something stronger than the Hunter Chairman.”
“Are you insane?”
“To become strong, you always have to do things that seem crazy.”
“…”
Jienuo shook his head. His way of thinking was completely different from Su Xiao’s.
“Can you reveal a bit? If not, that’s fine.”
Jienuo continued probing.
“Remember those things from the Yorkshin Auction last time?”
Su Xiao was referring to the Nirakan tribe that had besieged the Yorkshin Auction—creatures originating from the Dark Continent.
“I remember. Those things had a significant background. If I’m not mistaken, they came from the Dark Continent.”
Jienuo no longer concealed his known information. Sharing intelligence appropriately was very beneficial.
“Not long ago, a group of peculiar creatures appeared near the ‘East Gorteau Republic.’ They hunted humans and livestock. I’m very interested in these creatures.”
“East Gorteau Republic? That autonomous nation?”
Kikyo Zoldyck gritted his teeth, his expression unpleasant.
“Oh? Kikyo has been to that country?”
Jienuo gestured for his grandson to continue.
“I went there once on a mission. The king of that autonomous nation… is a very annoying guy.”
Kikyo Zoldyck seemed reluctant to discuss this matter further. The reason was simple: that king had taken a liking to Kikyo Zoldyck’s appearance, and Kikyo had nearly killed the king in anger.
Hearing Kikyo Zoldyck’s description, Bubu Wang became interested, his gaze seeming to say, “Keep going, this dog is very interested in this story.”
“So, the things appearing in East Gorteau Republic are strong enough to make you seek out my grandfather to test whether you’d die fighting them?”
Jienuo had basically grasped the situation.
“That’s about it.”
There was no need to hide the matter of East Gorteau Republic. By the timeline, the ant nest had likely already been built, and the Chimera Ants had formed a military system.
The reason Su Xiao wasn’t heading to East Gorteau Republic immediately was that the current Chimera Ants were too weak—weak enough that Su Xiao could single-handedly flatten the ant nest.
Even if the three direct guards of the Ant King had already been born, they couldn’t stop Su Xiao. One-on-three, Su Xiao would indeed lose, but three-on-three was different. Bubu Wang could lure one away, Amu could hold off another, and Su Xiao only needed to deal with one direct guard.
Of course, this was just Su Xiao’s assumption. He wouldn’t go looking for trouble with the Chimera Ants now. Through the derivative world communication platform, Su Xiao learned that many contractors had already formed teams to “protect” the Chimera Ants’ development.
If the Ant King couldn’t be born, the main mission would fizzle out. In that case, there would indeed be no penalty for elimination, but it would result in zero profit from this derivative world.
Some weaker contractors naturally hoped for a zero-profit scenario, as long as they could ensure their own survival.
But not everyone thought that way. Regarding the fight for the Ant King’s heart, a situation might arise where obtaining even a part of the Ant King’s heart could complete the main mission.
Su Xiao had received similar missions several times. Based on his judgment, the more complete the heart obtained, the higher the main mission’s completion rate, and the richer the rewards.
This would create a situation: the one who obtained the Ant King’s heart would make a fortune, while those who didn’t would have to buy a small piece of the Ant King’s heart at a high price to avoid death.
This was competition. The strong got everything, and the weak could only wait for death. Reincarnation Paradise was not a charity; only those with ability could survive here.
Therefore, during the fight for the Ant King’s heart, all contractors would be exceptionally frenzied, likely leading to a massive contractor free-for-all.
“It seems something big is about to happen, but it has nothing to do with the Zoldyck family.”
Jienuo stopped probing about East Gorteau Republic.
“It seems… it does.”
The always silent Yilmi spoke up.
“How so?”
The smile on old man Jienuo’s face faded a little.
“Killua is near East Gorteau Republic. He was in Yorkshin before, but now he’s at the border of East Gorteau Republic.”
Hearing this, the smile on old man Jienuo’s face completely disappeared.
“This is indeed not good news. Killua needs to grow outside, but he can’t yet face such strong enemies.”
Jienuo had actually misunderstood the whole situation. He thought that with Su Xiao’s current strength, he couldn’t even retreat safely from East Gorteau Republic, to the point of needing to test himself against Maha Zoldyck.
“Yilmi, go and bring Killua…”
“Father.”
Xiba interrupted Jienuo’s words.
“I promised Killua before. His decisions, we no longer interfere.”
Jienuo narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, then sighed: “Then let him go.”
“Father!”
Xiba’s wife, Kikyo, spoke up. She was a beautiful woman with her face completely wrapped in bandages and an external electronic eye.
“How can this be? Killua… he… he…”
Kikyo was already on the verge of hysteria. Killua was the apple of her eye. Of course, as a daughter-in-law of the Zoldyck family, her maternal love for Killua seemed somewhat twisted—or rather, no one in the Zoldyck family was normal.
“Shut up.”
Xiba’s tone was flat. As soon as he spoke, Kikyo, who had been chattering endlessly and extremely agitated, fell silent as if a mute button had been pressed.
Su Xiao hadn’t spoken the whole time. He found the Zoldyck family unexpectedly interesting.