Chapter 144

Morin glanced at Zeno and Silva, who had fallen silent with emotionless expressions, and spoke softly:

"The second method is to eliminate the client who issued the contract!"

The employer behind this assassination attempt was none other than Kute.

That was the entirety of the reason.

Kute, in his final moments, probably couldn't believe it himself—

That he would die so easily.

Even with his own Instant Transmission ability, which had passive escape functions, he was completely immobilized by Morin's telekinesis—an ability Morin had learned from the Superpower Training Box.

Kute had no chance to resist and died utterly bewildered.

And his death at Morin's hands wasn't because of his notorious status as a world-class thief.

It was simply because he had been the employer of the Zoldyck family's contract.

If Kute had known that his decades-long career as a bandit would end for such a trivial reason, he might have been so enraged that he'd rise from the dead.

If Kute's death could be described as infuriating, then the current mood of the Zoldyck duo could be summarized as wordless frustration.

They had accepted the contract, risked offending potential talents and powerful figures, and worked tirelessly to complete the mission—only for the client to die silently and suddenly before their very eyes.

By their family's standards, a contract becomes null and void upon the employer's death.

Yet the absurdity of the situation wasn't lost on them.

"This has to be one of the most unprofitable jobs we've ever taken," the two thought in unison.

"If anyone hires us to assassinate them again, we'll have to classify it as a top-tier job from the start."

Both father and son came to the same conclusion.

"We can't risk wasting effort again only to have the client die before we even complete the mission."

The Zoldycks, hailed as the world's top assassin family, earned their reputation because there wasn't a single job they wouldn't take.

Assassinate a V5 leader? Fine—if you could pay a price so outrageous that even the Zoldycks deemed it worth risking the wrath of the entire world.

But the cost might not always involve money.

After exchanging a glance, Silva and Zeno retracted their auras and dispersed their Nen, allowing their fighting spirit and killing intent to dissipate into nothingness.

"So, are you giving up on the contract?" Morin stepped forward, standing directly before them.

"What else would we do?" Zeno replied, clasping his hands behind his back. "We don't conduct meaningless business."

Once again, Zeno adopted the demeanor of an elderly gentleman, seemingly harmless.

"Is that so?" Morin's lips curled into a cold smile. "You might be ready to walk away, but I never said this matter was over."

His eyes turned icy as he continued:

"You attacked my apprentice and injured the person most important to me. Do you really think you can abandon the job and expect me to let this slide with a casual 'see you next time'?"

"The most important person?"

Zeno and Silva remained quiet, but Kastro—Morin's apprentice—reacted strongly.

He struggled to sit up, staring at Machi in disbelief.

"She's… Master's most important person?!"

Surprise and understanding flickered across Kastro's face.

When Morin arrived earlier, he had spoken to Kastro before going directly to Machi. At the time, Kastro had thought their relationship was purely platonic.

But their interactions—the intimacy of their gestures—weren't things ordinary friends would do.

"So that's it. She's his most important person. That explains…"

Recalling how Machi had earlier said, "You'd be better off teaming up to find your master," Kastro felt a realization dawning upon him.

"Master has already found someone important to him without saying a word."

"If she's Master's most important person, then I should…"

Kastro suddenly froze, his body stiffening as a dreadful thought occurred to him.

"Wait. I wasn't exactly polite to her before…"

Beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead.

"She wouldn't badmouth me to Master, would she?"

"Come to think of it, my tone and attitude toward Master's most important person were… probably quite disrespectful."

"Why did it have to be her? Why of all people does she have to be my… my master's wife!?"

The thought struck him hard.

"She doesn't even look much older than me, and yet she's suddenly my teacher's wife, making her technically a generation above me…"

Kastro's expression twisted in disbelief and resignation.

"If you're my master's wife, why didn't you say so earlier?! If you had, why would I have fought with you? Did it really have to get this complicated?!"

Kastro glared at Machi with a mix of frustration and grievance. "You clearly mentioned my master before, so you must have known about my relationship with him.

"If you knew, why didn't you just say it?! Were you deliberately messing with me?!"

Kastro felt thoroughly defeated, while Machi, upon hearing Morin's words—"the most important person to me"—

…felt her heart skip a beat as if struck by lightning.

At first, her instinct was to deny it outright.

But when she opened her mouth, no sound came out. It was as if the words were stuck in her throat, refusing to emerge.

After a long moment, she swallowed her denial and instead let a gentle warmth pass through her gaze, her lips curving into a faint, involuntary smile.

On the beach, under the vast sky, this small gesture radiated a unique beauty.

"I knew it wouldn't end that easily," Zeno muttered, shaking his head as though he had anticipated this outcome.

"This really wasn't a profitable job."

He brought his hands forward, clasping them within his sleeves.

"Though situations like this have happened before—where we put in effort and come out empty-handed—this time's a bit different."

Zeno's eyes remained calm as they locked on Morin.

"Of all the times our targets have eluded us, none have ever had the nerve to challenge us again or persist in tangling with us.

"You're the first, boy."

"There's a first for everything," Morin said with a faint grin. He rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck. "I've always wanted to see what the legendary Zoldyck family is truly capable of."

With that, his expression turned serious.

Whoosh!

An overwhelming surge of aura exploded from his body.

The surrounding sea responded to Morin's power, waves growing wild and agitated, crashing against the shore.

The sand beneath their feet seemed to tremble, sending out faint vibrations as if the earth itself quaked in awe.

Far out at sea, towering waves churned, rising like mountains before collapsing with thunderous force, casting sprays of water high into the air.

"This… is my master's true strength?!"

Kastro stared, awe-stricken, as Morin's immense aura influenced even the ocean and beach around him.

His astonishment quickly gave way to reverence, his eyes burning with admiration and fervor.

"As expected of my master! Only a man like him could stand at the very pinnacle of this world!"

Having long set Morin as his ultimate goal, Kastro now found himself completely captivated by his master's overwhelming presence.

"This sheer level of aura…"

Even Machi's usually calm eyes widened in disbelief as a flicker of astonishment crossed her face.

"Just how strong are you, Morin?!"

Her thoughts flashed back to over a year ago, to the battle between Morin and Uvogin outside the Mosiba capital.

"…You were holding back back then, weren't you?!"

Machi clenched her fists as her thoughts raced. "There's no way you could've become this powerful in just one year!"

Accepting the truth of Morin's strength and his restraint, Machi's thoughts shifted.

"It's a good thing you held back then. If you'd gone all out, Uvogin wouldn't just have lost—he would've been crushed by the realization of how insurmountable the gap between you two is. That would've broken him."

"But still…"

Machi's gaze lingered on Morin's broad, steadfast back.

"You really are pulling further and further ahead of us."

Her lips twitched into a small, wry smile.

"But so what?!"

"You're still a member of the Phantom Troupe, aren't you?!"

The stronger you become, the stronger the Troupe grows as a whole. That's nothing but good for us.

And besides…

"I'm your 'most important person,' aren't I?"

What woman wouldn't want the person she cares for most to also be the strongest?

In that moment, Machi's feelings for Morin reached their peak.

"This level of aura…"

Both Silva and Zeno's faces turned grim.

The intensity of Morin's presence sent waves of caution rippling through them.

"It's on par with my own," Zeno murmured. "No wonder he's confident enough to think he can take on both of us."

After a brief silence, Zeno chuckled lightly, his expression one of begrudging admiration.

"Young people these days… Truly extraordinary."

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