A good assassin can quickly familiarize themselves with unfamiliar environments and blend in.
This is one of the professional fundamental theories taught by the Zoldyck family, which I studied, and Illumi of course studied too.
Before disembarking the airship, we changed into the most common casual wear on the streets. After all, this is the Meteor City, and dressing too well would be very conspicuous.
The garbage heaps casually piled up were not stable. As the airship and I stepped onto a garbage mountain, some garbage slid down. The initial foothold immediately disappeared, and it felt like stepping into a surging mudslide. Quickly finding the next piece of garbage that could be used as a leverage point, and relying on continuous jumps, we finally landed safely, not buried by the collapsing garbage mountain.
Things falling from the airship were bound to attract attention from people on the ground. After landing, we immediately ran together towards the area with houses we had seen from the airship.
After running for about ten minutes without sensing anyone following us, we slowed down our pace. While walking, we "discussed" the conditions for clearing this Meteor City instance.
Firstly, Silva throwing us into the Meteor City instance, filled with garbage, definitely wasn't for us to pick up trash and become "master scavengers."
My senses in this body are extremely sharp. The lingering stench of garbage in the air, a step above the sour smell of uncleaned garbage piles in the "real world," inflicted repeated torture on my sense of smell. It bypassed my stomach and acted directly on my brain, making me feel quite uncomfortable.
The so-called roads on the ground were clearly paths trampled by people's feet. Following the flatter routes would make it easier to encounter local residents.
"It can be confirmed that adapting to extreme environments is one of the key points of evaluation," Illumi couldn't help but raise his hand to cover his mouth and nose, his actions fully illustrating just how extreme the environment here was.
Before he could finish all his deductions, I unintentionally "spoke" and also raised my hand to cover my mouth and nose, reducing the torture of the garbage smell on my nose.
"Dad said he wants us to 'survive together,' so 'teamwork' is also an evaluation point," Illumi said. "And then there's my additional task, to take care of older sister."
"..." No, I don't need your so-called care.
"As for 'when the time is right,' how to interpret that... I think it should be related to whether our strength reaches the passing line," Illumi said. "Based on my experience, the location and mission format don't really matter. No matter what, one thing remains unchanged: 'getting stronger' is always the primary objective."
Well said, as expected of an excellent student from the Zoldyck private school. But I had already thought of all this.
When playing games and clearing instances, isn't the usual purpose to get stronger?
Everyone's time is valuable, and players aren't fools. If there's no reward, they won't waste their time in game instances.
"Dad said 'no deadline,' which means we need to 'survive long-term' here. Then we need to keep a low profile and not kill people casually," Illumi continued. "We have to carefully select suitable targets as our training material. I don't know what the strength of the people here is, or what their power distribution is. Before investigating clearly, apart from necessary self-defense, I believe we must not act rashly. What do you think, older sister?"
Illumi's logical deductions, his word-by-word comprehension of Silva's instructions, were quite reminiscent of his grown-up self in the original work, analyzing Alluka's ability rules from Killua's fragmented words. There was nothing to criticize. As a six-year-old child, he could almost be called a "child prodigy"!
I nodded. Thinking back to when I was six in the "real world," the only thing I knew how to do was play. Oh, I, an adult who felt inferior, couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up in appreciation.
Illumi's footsteps paused because of my thumbs-up gesture.
"Do you have anything to add, older sister?" he asked.
Since I gave you a thumbs-up, do you think I have any profound insights to share?
"..." I shook my head at him, then nodded, and gave another thumbs-up.
"Oh." This time he finally understood my meaning. "But these are just the deductions I can make for now. We'll have to see how things actually turn out."
His first reaction to praise was a cautious disclaimer. This kid's thinking is too mature! Not cute at all!
Wouldn't a normal child blush and stammer "Thank you, older sister," or something similar?
Disappointment!
Seeing a mountain from afar is like chasing a horse to death. The residential area we saw from the airship seemed within reach, but as we walked on the ground, even as the sunlight weakened, we didn't see any signs of houses. The stench of garbage made my head hurt after a while. If not for Illumi with his determined footsteps beside me, I would have suspected we were lost in the forest of garbage mountains.
Meteor City, located in a desert, undoubtedly belongs to a typical desert climate with large diurnal temperature variations. The nighttime temperature can even drop below zero degrees Celsius. I could already feel the chill. Although the Zoldyck family's professional training included enduring cold and heat, this was the same as enduring pain. Enduring it was one thing, but how unbearable the cold, heat, and pain were remained unchanged.
The characteristics of a desert climate were taught in the Zoldyck private school's cultural courses. Illumi knew that the temperature would continue to drop. Coupled with the completely unfamiliar environment, it was best not to travel at night for safety's sake. Therefore, we found a废弃冰箱 (abandoned refrigerator) to serve as a place to stay for the night before it got completely dark.
There was no other option. This place was nothing but garbage. No matter how unwilling I was, we could only temporarily stay in the garbage piles.
Alas, I never expected this. I, in the "real world," though not wealthy, was not so down-and-out as to sleep in garbage heaps. Yet, after being born into a wealthy family, I had to sleep in garbage heaps.
Truly, fortune and misfortune are intertwined, and the world is unpredictable.
Huddled together in the abandoned refrigerator, Illumi's hands were colder than mine, but his body was warmer. I really wanted to hug this warm stove... No, just thinking about it.
Like Illumi, I hugged my arms, brought my knees together, and tried to curl into a ball to reduce heat loss.
The order for keeping watch was as usual: I took the first half of the night, and Illumi took the second half.
My eyes wide open, I looked at the uniformly black garbage mountains near and far, smelling the garbage stench.
After the day's exertion, my whole body was covered in a layer of dust from the air. My mouth felt slightly bitter, likely due to the toxic elements in the air. I remembered that the workers handling garbage in the original work wore protective clothing.
There was no water to drink, and the desert was deathly cold at night. I was a little hungry... The stench had slightly lessened, but I didn't know if it had truly lessened or if my sense of smell had temporarily failed due to the torture. In any case, the taste was terrible.
This is unfair!!!!!!!!!!
Why could Killua go to the Heaven's Arena instance and sleep in a normal bed, eating delicious food?
Since Killua's talent is the strongest in Zoldyck history, shouldn't you have thrown him into the most difficult place to help him grow faster?!
Isn't this really favoritism?! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
"..." If the Zoldycks hadn't thrown their eldest son here with me to share the hardships, I might have sought revenge on the Zoldycks after growing up.
Holding a grudge.jpg
The next day, we set off as soon as it was dawn.
I didn't know when we would see any people. Learning from yesterday's lesson, I kept an eye out along the way for food or water in the garbage piles.
As it approached noon, the temperature rose. The heavy smog produced by the garbage accumulated in Meteor City for 1500 years unexpectedly became the best shield, halving the intensity of the sunlight. Looking up, the sky was hazy, and the sun was like a bland white pill, its power only felt through its heat.
Even so, prolonged walking in the desert meant that dehydration still needed to be considered.
Persistence pays off. I found a can of intact orange juice. The expiration date on the bottom showed it was over a week past its expiry.
Better than nothing. I believe that with the Zoldyck family's resistance to poison, expired juice would not cause any substantial harm to me, who has [Poison Resistance: Level 6], just as Killua in the original work was fine after drinking juice with a strong laxative.
Clutching the juice like a treasure for emergencies, Illumi reached out to me, "Don't pick up random things, throw it away, older sister."
"..." I shielded the juice with both hands and shook my head in refusal.
Illumi, you idiot! Don't you know how harsh the environment in Meteor City is, and how precious a can of juice that's only a week past its expiration date is!
"Drinking expired juice will give you diarrhea," Illumi took a step towards me, his hand touching the back of my hand protecting the juice. "I promised Dad I would take care of older sister."
"It won't give me diarrhea," I said firmly using lip-reading.
"It will," Illumi was more resolute than me.
"It won't."
"It will."
"It won't."
"...Alright." Illumi's attempt to snatch the juice failed, and he chose to compromise. "Don't drink that juice unless absolutely necessary, okay?"
Since he took a step back, I decided to give him a way out and nodded.
Illumi said that staying longer in the garbage-filled area would be disadvantageous, not only due to lack of food and water but also because the air itself was toxic. Our resistance to toxins might not be able to sustain us indefinitely. He suggested speeding up. I, on the other hand, thought he had another unspoken reason – he didn't want me to pick up any more things from the garbage heaps.
However, the reasons he listed out loud were not wrong. We started to jog, and after a few hours, we finally encountered the first living person in Meteor City: a garbage disposal worker, wearing a white protective suit and completely wrapped up.
"Children?" He stopped his cart. "...You're new faces. Are you from somewhere else?"
"Yes," Illumi took my right hand. "Is there a place that can take us in?"
"Oh." The garbage disposal worker ignored Illumi's question and looked at the juice in my hand. "Do you still want this can?"
"No," Illumi immediately replied, turning his back to the garbage disposal worker, and quietly advised me, "Older sister, give it to him. It can create goodwill."
Seeing Illumi hand the juice to the garbage disposal worker with such relief, I thought he was mainly acting out of his personal bias against "disliking this expired juice."
Illumi, you idiot! Don't you know how harsh the environment in Meteor City is, and how precious a can of juice that's only a week past its expiration date is! If I hadn't picked up this expired juice that you dislike, without this crucial mission item, the NPC might not have been willing to give us directions.
Hmph!
Following behind the garbage disposal worker, I pulled away my hand from Illumi, crossed my arms, and my whole being radiated "displeasure."
Illumi leaned closer, grabbed my sleeve, and whispered an apology, "I'm sorry, older sister, I was wrong. I was ignorant. I just realized that the things you picked up are useful."
Hmph!!
"I won't stop you from picking up things anymore," Illumi raised one hand and said, "I promise!"
Hmph!!!
A generous person doesn't hold grudges against a child. It's not beneficial for me to completely fall out with my only teammate in front of an outsider whose intentions are unclear. I glanced at Illumi sideways, reluctantly lowered my hand, took Illumi's left hand, and continued to act out the "close siblings" drama with him.
But still... holding a grudge.jpg