Gon nodded and extended his hand, shaking Milluki's.
He had heard of Milluki's name before but had never actually met him in person. So he did not know who this person was.
Leorio, on the other hand, had no idea who Milluki was and simply took him for another challenger. Only Killua, the moment he saw Milluki, had his pupils suddenly contract.
While Killua stood there in a daze—
—the arm wrestling match had already ended.
Gon lost. Milluki won.
Milluki stepped over to Leorio and stared directly at the gemstone necklace in his hand.
"You can hand that over now, right?"
Leorio finally came back to his senses.
"Ah—oh, yeah, of course."
He had made a promise, and there was no way Leorio would break his word. But even as he handed over the necklace, it felt like a knife slicing through his heart. That necklace had cost several million Jenny, and now, after just a few matches, it was already gone. His whole plan to make money had completely failed.
Leorio gave them an apologetic look.
"It's fine, Leorio," Gon consoled him gently. "It's not your fault."
Just then, they heard Killua's voice, laced with frustration.
"Brother, what are you trying to pull?"
He stepped directly in front of Milluki. Gon and Leorio both stared in wide-eyed shock.
Milluki looked at Killua calmly and shrugged.
"What do you mean, 'what am I pulling'? I just joined an arm wrestling match, won, and took the prize. What's the problem? Am I not allowed to participate?"
Technically speaking, Milluki had every right to join. But emotionally, Killua felt he shouldn't have. Yet he couldn't quite find the words to argue back.
"It's about time—we should go eat. It's my treat."
Ron's voice came in from the side, cutting through the awkward atmosphere. Everyone turned toward him.
Gon and Leorio both lit up with excitement. Back during the Hunter Exam, they had all boarded the same ship and had built a bond since then.
Killua stopped staring at Milluki.
Ron led the way, Milluki walking right beside him, while Gon, Killua, and Leorio followed a few steps behind. Killua glanced at Milluki again. Before he had learned Nen, Killua had looked down on Milluki's combat ability, convinced he was stronger. But after learning Nen, Killua understood that Milluki must have already awakened his Nen long before.
A Milluki who could use Nen, facing a Killua who couldn't, would easily win.
And now, Milluki had even beaten Gon at arm wrestling.
Killua realized just how much he had underestimated his second brother all this time.
"Just how strong is he?"
Ron brought the group to a well-rated restaurant, where they entered a private room and sat down. A server handed them the menu while another tidied up the room.
Ron passed the menu to Milluki.
"Take a look and order what you like, Milluki."
Ron himself didn't care much about restaurant food—Erina's cooking was far better.
"Then I won't hold back."
The menu passed from person to person before returning to Ron, who glanced at it and handed it to the server.
"Start with these. If it's not enough, we'll add more."
Ron looked at the three others.
"Gon, Killua, Leorio—long time no see."
"Yeah, long time no see."
"You're here for Greed Island, right?"
Ron asked. Killua gave Milluki a sidelong glance, assuming he must have told Ron about their plans.
"Yeah. My father left me a Greed Island memory card, so I want to enter the game and see if I can find any clues about him."
"So you're planning to earn the money yourselves?"
"To be frank, that's probably unrealistic."
Before Gon could respond, Milluki cut in.
"With the method you're using, when would you ever make enough to participate in the auction? It's simply not possible. That kind of act might fool a few people, but it wastes too much time."
"We're just trying to build up some starting capital. Once we do, we have the next steps planned."
"But now that you've shown up, you've completely thrown off our plans—and taken our necklace too."
Milluki looked at Killua.
"And if it wasn't me, are you sure someone else wouldn't have done the same? That short guy earlier nearly beat Gon. If he hadn't been distracted midway, you would've lost before I even showed up."
"Even if you had a next step, how much could you earn? Can you guarantee success?"
"Do you know how much I've prepared for this auction?"
The question made Gon, Killua, and Leorio all look over.
"Greed Island's starting bid is eight billion Jenny, and I'm predicting the final price will far exceed that."
"I've personally prepared 20 billion Jenny for this auction—and I also borrowed another 10 billion from Ron."
"You think you can compete with that kind of money?"
All three of them widened their eyes.
30 billion—that number was overwhelming. It far exceeded what they had imagined.
"Thirty billion? That's way too much!"
"Could it really go that high?"
"Based on my estimate, anyone serious about winning the Greed Island bidding will have prepared roughly the same amount. You think your method has any real chance? No matter what tricks you try these next few days, you won't earn thirty billion."
"You'd be better off coming up with a new plan. And besides, it looks like you're better at losing money than making it—don't end up with nothing at all."
Milluki's words weren't pleasant to hear, but they were true.
The three of them fell silent, discouraged.
"What should we do now?"
Almost reflexively, the three turned to Ron, as if, in their minds, he was still the most dependable one among them.