The dust had settled.
Law and Machi had left, taking Botobai's left arm with them.
Netero's statent had carried two anings.
First, if Law could avoid the fight, he should. Second, if he couldn't avoid it, he must not kill.
Law had intended to avoid the confrontation, but Botobai gave him no opportunity.
Furthermore, Botobai had injured Machi. Even with Netero's warning, Law couldn't simply let it go.
So, he took Botobai's left arm.
…
Seven days later, in the eting room of the Hunter Association's Headquarters.
This room was reserved for high-level Association's etings. mbers of the Zodiacs arrived one after another, most of them ahead of ti.
With ten minutes left until the scheduled start of the eting, four of the thirteen seats remained empty.
As was customary, Ging was almost certainly absent, so one empty seat was his. Another seat had been perpetually vacant, reserved for the missing mber.
The final two empty seats were the head seat, always occupied by the chronically late Netero, and Botobai's seat.
Ti passed, and five minutes went by.
The eting room's door opened, and Botobai's tall figure entered the view of those assembled.
"Huh?"
The emotional [Sheep] Ginta, unable to contain himself, exclaid in surprise upon seeing Botobai missing his left arm: "Botobai! Your arm! Where is your arm?"
"Fatso! Idiot! Too noisy! Shut up!"
[Chicken] Cluck, sitting nearby, raised her fair leg and kicked the leg of Ginta's chair.
Everyone's attention turned to Botobai. Only Pariston picked up his cup and took a gentle sip of black tea, as if he were already privy to the incident.
Botobai walked expressionlessly to the eting table and sat in his designated seat.
"Big news."
[Rabbit] Pyon raised her pink, rabbit-ear-adorned phone and took a picture of Botobai sitting across from her.
Botobai glanced at her, his face still devoid of emotion.
"Botobai, which tough guy relieved you of your arm?" [Tiger] Kanzai leaned sideways in his chair, one arm draped casually over the back, exuding an unruly presence.
"Idiot! Pig-brain! It must have been a rival!" Cluck scowled, her tone particularly harsh.
Veins imdiately bulged on Kanzai's forehead. He bared his teeth in a glare directed at Cluck.
Ignoring the two, Ginta looked at Botobai with sympathy and pressed, "Who was it?"
[Ox] Mizaistom Nana remained silent, his arms crossed, but his eyes held a probing curiosity. He, too, was very interested to know who had managed to sever an arm from the powerful Botobai.
[Snake] Gel, [Horse] Saccho, and the others didn't speak, but their attention remained fixed on the silent Botobai.
[Dog] Cheadle raised her hand slightly, gesturing towards Kanzai: "Your attitude is too flippant, it inevitably carries a hint of schadenfreude."
Then, she gestured towards Cluck, "Without evidence, avoid using definitive terms like 'must'."
Finally, she gestured towards " Ginta, "Persistently questioning soone who clearly has no intention of responding is impolite."
"Tch, here we go again? Lecture Lady?" Kanzai dug a finger in his ear irritably.
Cheadle simply lowered her hand calmly.
Pariston rested his chin on his interlaced fingers, watching everyone with interest.
So showed curiosity openly, others seed superficially disinterested, so were slightly restrained… but without exception, they all wanted to know who had taken Botobai's arm.
Pariston's gaze swept over the eting table, cluttered with everyone's personal items.
After all, no one knew how late Netero would be today, so before his arrival, topics to kill ti were quite precious.
Perhaps unable to endure the other mbers' persistent stares, Botobai frowned slightly and said coldly, "Law."
"Huh?"
Hearing this na, the expressions of several mbers present changed slightly.
Gel's eyelids lowered, 'That bastard disappeared for so long, and now he shows up again? And the first thing he does is take Botobai's arm?'
Pyon stopped tapping on her phone. She had t Law once before when accepting an ancient text translation job. She hadn't expected him to be so ruthless.
"So it's that guy," Kanzai said, his tone unfriendly.
Ginta's face showed righteous indignation.
Law was highly unpopular among the Zodiacs' mbers. Upon learning that he was the one who had severed Botobai's arm, they montarily felt a sense of solidarity, as if standing on the sa front line.
However, it was at this mont that they truly began to take this perennial Hunter Exam troublemaker seriously.
'No wonder Chairman valued him so highly and had specially reserved a seat for him.'
"Ara, so Law is that strong? No wonder the Chairman specially reserved the 'Monkey' position for him." Pariston said seriously.
Whether by coincidence or not, his words struck a chord with everyone present.
Having successfully attracted everyone's attention, Pariston adopted an expectant expression, "I truly hope he joins the Association soon and sits here with us to discuss important matters."
Cheadle silently glanced at Pariston, 'A bit deliberate. Is it sarcasm? But the first one to bite will be...'
Her gaze shifted to the hot-tempered Kanzai.
Sure enough, Kanzai slamd a hand on the table and shouted, "If he dares to sit here, I'll be the first to tear him apart!"
'Then, the second one would be...'
Cheadle then looked at Ginta, who raised his arms, clenched his fists, and said solemnly, "I despise people who ignore and mock the rules."
Next was Cluck, followed by the strongly opinionated Saccho, and finally the more impressionable Pyon, each expressing their opposition in their own way.
As for the others, although they didn't voice their stance, they would likely be happy to decide based on the rule of majority.
However, each of them surely understood: a decision made seriously by Netero couldn't be overturned simply by unanimous disagreent.
Just because of Pariston's two sentences, the eting room beca noisy.
Cheadle sighed inwardly, watching as Pariston leisurely sipped his black tea.
Botobai remained silent throughout. Nen Abilities were strange and varied, and among them existed abilities that could regenerate a lost limb.
With his capabilities, finding such an ability wouldn't be difficult.
It just... didn't work!
Otherwise, he wouldn't have co to the eting like this, directly sparking the topic.
"My, quite lively."
Just then, Netero's voice ca from outside the door.
"Huh?"
The noise in the eting room died down instantly. Everyone instinctively looked at the clock on the wall.
'Chairman... was actually not late?!'
Netero strode into the eting room in his geta, ignoring the looks of astonishnt on many faces, and plopped down unabashedly in the head seat.
After sitting down, he subtly glanced at Botobai's missing arm, then asked with feigned confusion, "So, what was today's agenda again?"
Several black lines seed to drop down the faces of those present.
...
At the sa ti, Law arrived at the forest where Linne resided.
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