It was as if he had jumped out of a rock…
Hisoka appeared without the slightest warning.
In that instant, Moro was genuinely startled.
He had anticipated that Hisoka would relentlessly pursue him, but in his mind, that scenario involved Hisoka chasing him all the way to Heaven's Arena.
The one thing he hadn't expected… was that Hisoka would track him down to this remote, obscure place in such a short time.
What Moro didn't know was…
Hisoka had literally gone bankrupt just to find him.
If he had known, he might have gladly taken all that money and just told Hisoka his location outright.
Moro looked at Hisoka and swallowed back the rest of his words.
Now, he actually felt calm.
He couldn't be sure whether Hisoka would honor the "one-year cold war" agreement.
But he did know that Hisoka was extremely principled in certain matters.
For him to sneak over like this and deliberately leak his aura…
It clearly meant that Hisoka wasn't here to break the agreement and fight him one-on-one.
If Hisoka's only goal was to violate the deal and force a battle, he could have easily feigned a few attacks to create the overwhelming pressure of death, compelling Moro to respond.
But Hisoka wouldn't do that.
Because when it came to matters like this, Hisoka pursued perfection.
His playing cards had to be stacked perfectly, layer by layer, with no misalignment to ruin the aesthetic.
Only then, when he finally knocked them down, could he experience maximum satisfaction.
With this realization, Moro decisively shut his aura pores, withdrawing from "Ren" into a calmer "Ten" state.
At the same time, he subtly retracted the attack gesture he had instinctively made when pointing at Hisoka.
Of course, such a minor detail couldn't escape Hisoka's eyes.
Hisoka watched with amusement as Moro withdrew his hand.
His eyes and smile seemed to say: "I don't mind little tricks like this, you know~"
Seeing Hisoka's reaction, Moro became even more certain that Hisoka wasn't here to "break the agreement."
But being stared at like that by Hisoka still made him feel incredibly uncomfortable.
Diverting his gaze from Hisoka, Moro turned to Sambika and asked seriously:
"Can I have a chance to explain myself?"
"…"
Sambika said nothing—she simply shook her head.
Her aura remained at full intensity, and after Hisoka deliberately leaked his presence, her aura became even more highly defensive.
Hisoka's presence alone was enough to put her on maximum alert.
Even though he had restrained himself somewhat, the intimidation of his aura was undeniable.
To her, Hisoka—a man radiating danger—was clearly acquainted with Moro.
Under these circumstances, her only thought was to get as far away from this mess as possible.
Feeling the heightened vigilance in Sambika's aura, Moro could only attempt a feeble defense:
"I do know him, but I'm not close to him. More importantly… I'm nothing like him."
"Oh."
Sambika responded flatly, then cautiously asked:
"So… can I leave now?"
"Of course."
Moro had initially wanted to gather information from Sambika, and if it weren't for Hisoka's interruption, he might have already learned something crucial.
However, after briefly interacting with Sambika, he had formed a basic understanding of her.
Forcing her to stay was not an option.
"I don't even know your name yet."
Seeing that Sambika was already starting to leave, Moro quickly asked.
Sambika stopped and answered softly:
"Sambika Norton."
"Sambika, huh…"
Moro repeated the name.
He felt a faint sense of familiarity but couldn't quite recall where he had heard it before.
Maybe she had appeared in the original story, but her presence was too weak to leave an impression?
As Moro pondered this, he considered whether to follow her back to the village.
By now, he had a strong suspicion that the virus was being manufactured in Nolan's research facility—he just didn't know its exact location yet.
Just as he was about to speak—
Hisoka casually drawled:
"Sambika, aren't you even a little curious… about my relationship with him?"
Not even a little.
Sambika immediately had an answer in her mind.
But even though she was used to going along with things, she knew that this was not the time to say what she was really thinking.
"What relationship?"
She looked at Hisoka's expectant expression, as if he was begging her to ask, and ultimately decided to humor him.
Hisoka's lips curled into a grin.
"We're in a 'passionate relationship'~ Though we're currently in a cold war…"
"?"
Sambika froze, her big eyes blinking in confusion, as if her brain had just been stuffed with incomprehensible equations.
Moro's eyelids drooped.
He had given up trying to salvage his image in front of Sambika.
This… was the price of stealing a kill.
And yet…
If he could do it all over again, he'd still choose to steal that kill.
For about two seconds, the scene fell into absolute silence.
Then, Sambika finally processed what had been said.
She gasped sharply, first glancing nervously at Hisoka, then at Moro.
"C-Can… can I leave now?"
She wanted nothing more than to get out of there.
If she hadn't sensed that these two were incredibly strong, she would have bolted without a second thought.
Hearing her plea, Moro sighed.
He gave up on following her back to the village and simply waved his hand tiredly.
Sambika took that as permission and immediately turned to leave—without the slightest hesitation.
Only when she was certain neither of them was following did she finally relax.
"Master was right—perverts are terrifying!"
She quickened her pace, repeating the thought in her mind.
Moro watched her figure disappear into the distance.
"Sigh."
Another deep sigh.
He turned to look at Hisoka and asked:
"Are you trying to break our agreement?"
"Of course not~"
Hisoka idly toyed with his playing card.
Moro frowned.
"Alright, then tell me—why are you here? And don't tell me this was just a coincidence."
"I came here specifically to find you."
For once, Hisoka didn't prolong the conversation with a lie.
He got straight to the point:
"To… end our cold war as soon as possible."
"So, in essence, you do want to break the agreement."
Moro didn't hold back.
Hisoka wagged his finger, smiling.
"Not the same thing~"
"What's different?"
"Breaking the agreement would mean a 'breakup,' but I don't want to break up~"
Hisoka's golden eyes gleamed with undisguised urgency.
"That's why I'll 'make it up to you' as much as possible to shorten our cold war. It's a one-sided compromise from me—happy now~?"
"Understood."
Moro took a deep breath and said seriously:
"If I agree to cut… let's say, two months off the cold war, will you disappear immediately?"
"Rejected~"
Hisoka shook his head.
"Isn't that exactly what you want?"
"Not the same~"
"And what's different this time?"
"Forcing it will only make things worse~"
"Fine, fine. Then let's do it your way."
"Mmm~"
Hisoka smirked.
Moro sighed and smirked back—or rather, he gave up.
"Alright, then bark like a dog to make me happy."
"Woof woof~~"
"???"
Moro instantly regretted everything.
Now, he finally understood why Hisoka had developed Bungee Gum.
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50 Powerstones? (5 Bonus Chapters)
20 Advance Chapters: patreon.com/milezen