"When they saw us, they seemed to have reported it to someone." Chrollo walked to the desk, looking down at the book Machi was reading and her notes. "After hanging up, they nodded at us.
It seems their superiors allowed you to interact with us." Chrollo finished speaking, pulled out Machi's chair, sat on it, and carefully read a book on the principles of neurobiology from the desk.
"Is that so..." Machi sat beside Pakunoda on the bed, feeling relieved.
"What, do you think we're not a match for those two guards?" Pakunoda intimately put her arm around Machi's shoulder, a smile on her lips.
"Tch, they're just two guards. I can handle them alone." Uvogin, sitting on a stool by the desk, clenched his fist and flexed, showing off his muscles with a grin.
"It's not about two guards. If you laid a hand on them," Machi scanned everyone, "then their security level would increase, level by level, until a situation arose that you couldn't possibly deal with."
"But fortunately, they recognized you and didn't plan to act." Machi closed her eyes and exhaled softly. Her words slightly caught Chrollo's attention, and he glanced at her.
"They only assigned two guards. It seems the person who took you away doesn't value you that much." Nobunaga crossed his arms, his face indifferent. Uvogin pulled two chairs from beside the desk and sat on them.
"No, from another perspective."
"The people behind them are very confident that Machi won't leave with us, or that even if she does, they can still catch her back."
Feitan leaned against the desk, his eyes narrowed as he looked at Machi, then scanned the room.
"But, this is understandable. After all, your current life is ten thousand times better than when you were with us."
Machi, facing Feitan's gaze, initially tried to avoid it, but the next moment, her eyes became firm, and she said, "We are always companions, no matter in the past, present, or future." The five people in the room all smiled upon hearing Machi's words.
"Then come with us, Machi!" Uvogin grinned, reaching out his left hand to Machi, and said with a smile, "Come and explore the world with us."
"Idiot!" Nobunaga slapped Uvogin on the back of his head. "Machi is clearly studying now. How can she wander around with us?"
"Don't casually hit my head, you bastard Nobunaga!" Uvogin rubbed the back of his head, his face full of displeasure.
"Heh heh..." Machi chuckled, seeing Uvogin and Nobunaga's interaction, recalling their days in Meteor City.
"Machi, can you tell us about what happened four years ago? And your experiences all these years." Pakunoda asked with a hint of curiosity. Everyone else also focused their attention on Machi, very curious about her experiences over the years.
"My experiences, you ask...?" Machi looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought. Thirty minutes passed. Machi told Chrollo and the others everything about her experiences over the years, without holding back.
"It seems you being taken away was actually a good thing." Pakunoda once again put her arm around Machi's shoulder, a gentle smile on her face.
"There were good and bad parts." Machi reminisced about her life these past years, chuckling softly.
"I'm still very curious why that person named Illumi specifically came to Meteor City to take you away?" "And according to you, he hasn't told you the reason all these years. Aren't you curious yourself?" Feitan asked Machi, his tone a little curious.
"Maybe he was an old relative or something, who came to take Machi back after becoming successful?" Uvogin tilted his head, thinking carefully.
"Idiot!" Nobunaga violently hit Uvogin on the head. "If he was a relative, how could he have used such a trick?"
"If you hit me again, I'll turn on you!" Uvogin glared angrily at Nobunaga.
"Tch." Nobunaga's lips curled into a disdainful arc. He averted his gaze, deliberately not looking at Uvogin. The two once again had a round of "friendly" interaction.
"I don't know either, and I rarely get to meet him. I only see him from afar occasionally." "But he always looks busy. After a long time, I stopped wondering why." Machi recalled.
"Ask him now." Suddenly, Chrollo, who had been silently reading, spoke. He closed the book in his hand and looked at Machi with a calm gaze. "You can ask him now. Call him." Chrollo's voice was clear and cold, his eyes calm, but he exuded a convincing aura.
"Alright." Machi and Chrollo looked at each other for a moment, then she nodded in agreement.
"I remember he gave me his private phone number. I can contact him if anything happens." Machi took out her phone and scrolled through her contacts, looking for Illumi's phone number.
Pakunoda, with a hint of curiosity, leaned closer, looking at the numbers in Machi's phone contacts, marked with labels like friends, classmates, teachers, seniors, etc. It was clear that Machi had a good life. Pakunoda felt a mix of relief, envy, and shame. Such a Machi, do they really still need to take her away?
"Found it." Machi suddenly said. She had scrolled to the bottom of her contacts to find Illumi's number. She tapped to open it. The call history between them was zero. She lightly tapped the dial button and made the call.
"Ring..." Machi put the phone on speaker. She knew everyone was very curious about that person. The phone vibrated continuously. After about three seconds, the vibration stopped.
"Connected!" Chrollo's eyes narrowed. Feitan, Uvogin, and Nobunaga were also like that. Everyone focused their gaze on the phone in Machi's hand.
"Machi, is there something you need?" A steady, low male voice came from the phone. Feitan and Pakunoda were more sensitive.
Their brows unconsciously furrowed. They could tell from the voice alone that the person on the other end of the line was a powerful individual. And one who held a high position, a superior figure.
"I..." Machi opened her mouth, then paused. She was clearly nervous, but then she frowned and continued, "I have something to ask you."
"Why did you take me out of Meteor City?" After Machi asked this question, the nervous expression on her face disappeared. It seemed that asking the question that had been in her heart for years relieved her of a burden.
"..." After Machi spoke, the person on the other end of the phone remained silent for a long time. The atmosphere in the room gradually grew heavy.
"Talent!" After a long while, a deep voice finally came from the phone. "Your talent in the field of medicine was what I valued." Illumi's words made Machi's expression freeze.
While feeling inexplicably disappointed, another doubt arose. "Machi, you have great talent in the field of medicine."
"Although gold shines anywhere."
"But Meteor City, that place, the environment is too harsh. You should enjoy a better growth environment and receive better and more resources for cultivation."
"Of course, I cultivate you because I need you to serve me."
"In the future, there will be many places, many people who will need you."
Uvogin and Nobunaga looked at each other, then at Chrollo.
"Creak~" Chrollo stood up, pushed aside his chair, walked to Machi, reached out, took the phone from Machi's hand, and looked down at Illumi on the other end of the phone,
asking: "How do you know Machi has talent in medicine? This is something even we, her companions who spend every day with her, don't know."
"How did you, a stranger who has never even met Machi, come to know this?" Behind Chrollo, Nobunaga also nodded in agreement.
They only knew that Machi usually liked to read, and read medical books. But they never would have thought Machi had such high talent in medicine.
After all, they were all orphans who had been abandoned. They had no resources, no education, no upbringing. Every day, they only thought about how to survive. The idea of becoming a social elite had never crossed their minds.
"Judging by your voice, you must be Machi's companion, the leader of those five, Chrollo Lucilfer." "Answer me." Chrollo wasn't surprised that Illumi knew of their existence. He only wanted to know how Illumi knew of Machi's talent.
"No comment." Illumi's tone was still calm. Machi blinked. Indeed, he bore her no ill will. "What if we take her from here?" Chrollo's tone turned cold, making Machi's expression instantly tense.
She was about to stand up, but Pakunoda patted her shoulder, gently shaking her head. Machi had no choice but to remain seated, hoping that the two sides wouldn't clash.
Feitan, Uvogin, and Nobunaga also looked solemn, dispersing their attention to the four corners of the room, ready to act at any moment.
"I never restrict her freedom." "As long as she is willing, she can go anywhere in this world." "She can meet and befriend anyone."
Illumi's answer made Machi's nervous expression fade. Aside from her studies, Illumi indeed hadn't placed any restrictions on her.
"However, you cannot interfere with her studies, nor can you prevent her from continuing her advanced education."
Illumi's tone shifted, becoming icy. For some reason, the atmosphere in the entire room became inexplicably heavy.
Except for Chrollo and Feitan, everyone else's expression changed dramatically. Just hearing his voice, even though he wasn't physically present, could produce such terrifying oppression.
"Rest assured, we will not interfere with Machi's affairs; we will even help her." Chrollo replied calmly. By now, he was convinced that Illumi indeed valued Machi's talent.
But whether he had other intentions still required continuous observation and contact. At the very least, he wouldn't let Machi's fate be controlled by others.
Illumi didn't respond. The room fell silent again.
"Any other questions?" After a moment, Illumi spoke.
"There's one more thing about the Meteor City Elder." Chrollo didn't speak, but Pakunoda did. Feitan, Uvogin, and Nobunaga were also startled.
After Pakunoda mentioned it, they remembered that they also had a mission to investigate Elder Dusoll. However, when they looked at Chrollo, Chrollo handed his phone to Pakunoda, seemingly completely unconcerned about the Meteor City Elder.
"Elder Dusoll of Meteor City, he's one of yours, right?" "He provided your organization with funds and orphans for a long time.
But not long after that, Elder Dusoll disappeared from Meteor City with all his assets, leaving no trace." Pakunoda first raised a question.
"Dusoll has already gotten what he wanted. He's now living out his old age in some small country." Illumi replied casually. Anyway, they had no way to verify it.
"One more question, why did you, despite controlling some of Meteor City's resources, later abandon them?" Pakunoda asked again.
"We no longer need Meteor City's forces and resources." "Meteor City's environment is harsh, a desert land, struggling for five hundred years."
"In the near future, Meteor City will be completely submerged in the tides of change, turning into dust." "And the people living on that land will abandon their birthplace and move to a new world."
Illumi's voice was deep, rich, and magnetic. His words were filled with emotion for Meteor City's future, like an old man who had witnessed the changing times.
But his words made Feitan, Nobunaga, and Uvogin's faces grim. They disagreed with his vision of Meteor City's future.
"A new future?"
"What do you mean?" Pakunoda instinctively asked.
"The world we live in is far vaster than you imagine." "There are people you cannot see or hear, in places unknown to you, driving the development of the era." "A new era is coming, a world where only the strong can survive."
"An era where only the strong can survive?" A hoarse voice interrupted Illumi's speech.
"Heh heh..." Everyone focused their gaze on the source of the voice. Feitan's face was indeed cold, and he said, "Your 'new era,' will it leave no room for ordinary people?"
"You should know, there are billions of ordinary people in this world!" "If it cannot accommodate ordinary people, then your 'new world' is just Noah's Ark in a flood." "It will eventually sink, rot, and turn into historical dust in the boundless flood."
The room fell silent again. Everyone's gaze converged on Feitan. Uvogin and Nobunaga were even more astonished, never expecting Feitan to utter such philosophical words. "Those who can survive will naturally survive.
Whether there's a flood or not, weak creatures are destined to be eliminated." "This is the law of nature." "Even so, the will always survive."
By the window, Chrollo, who had been silently listening to everyone, slowly turned around, looking at the phone in Pakunoda's hand, his tone icy.
"Who do you say will survive?" At this moment, on the flight from Pedrocese to the United States of Edimi, Illumi put down his red wine, his gaze turning to the window.
The bright sky, the brilliant sun. Suddenly, a dark cloud obscured the sun, and the ground was cast in shadow.
"The powerful ones."
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