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Chapter 482
🕑 Added 2025-04-10 15:05:01 +0000 UTCChapter 482
“Is this something arranged by the Hunter Association?” Kurapika asked.
“I really couldn’t say,” Ron replied. “But that’s how it looked to me. If they truly wanted to kill you or prevent you from meeting Killua, there were plenty of ways to do that. Those butlers aren’t weak; forget about you, even Killua wouldn’t stand a chance against them. The gap is huge.”
Among the four of them, Killua was currently the strongest. Within the realm of ordinary humans, he was indeed exceptional. But ordinary humans and Nen users were worlds apart, and at this point, Killua couldn’t possibly defeat Wutong.
Killua and the others frowned.
“Are we really that weak?”
They could accept not being on the same level as Ron, Illumi, or Hisoka, but were the butlers so far beyond them? Even though they’d passed the Hunter Exam, it felt disheartening.
Ron dropped the subject. Ponzu glanced at Killua and the others, quietly relieved. She’d worried things might be awkward since she’d originally met them during the Hunter Exam, but their surprise only lasted a moment. Once Ron explained, they let it go, just as Ponzu had hoped.
They continued on behind Ron. Before long, they reached a small town at the foot of the mountain and took a bus to a nearby city. Once there, they went their separate ways in three directions.
Ron, Ponzu, Killua, and Gon boarded an airship bound for the city where Heaven’s Arena was located.
Leorio continued his path toward becoming a doctor, not wanting to jump into “Hunter work” just yet.
Kurapika set off on his road to revenge.
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Up in the airship, Ron and Ponzu sat together in one row, Killua and Gon in another. Eyes closed, Ron half-dozed, thinking over his plans for establishing a manga platform. Even the most advanced network technologies required hardware support, so he’d need to collaborate with a sizable entity. The Zoldyck Family wasn’t involved in that field, meaning he’d have to look elsewhere. He could ask Miliku to help build it up but then he would have to give out a share of the company as per their family rules.
And besides, hardware wouldn’t be the biggest hurdle—front-end pages, and back-end logic, that was all Chii’s domain. One person was enough, and it wouldn’t take too long. Then came publicity and promotion. That also fell well within Chii’s capabilities, whether that meant technical marketing or simply throwing money at the problem. However, before going public, the platform would need a solid amount of content. Otherwise, users would log in and leave just as quickly.
“Baki and Bungō Stray Dogs alone won’t cut it. I need some local manga creators to fill things out. I could try hiring a few talented artists at high prices, offer some nice benefits for newcomers… Then there’s the question of editors. Whether it’s novels, manga, or anime, good editors can help creators significantly. To get the best results, I’ll need plenty of them.”
Suddenly, Ron thought of something else.
“With Chii’s technological prowess, building a full-scale Artificial general intelligence (AGI) isn’t realistic. But a basic AI for initial screening—flagging content that breaks the rules—should be easy enough. That would cut down on staff hours and speed things up. An AI is less likely to make certain mistakes. Of course, it can only handle simpler, repetitive tasks. Fully autonomous writing or drawing AIs are a whole different challenge. Even Chii would need ages to get that right, so it’s not worth the trouble. We’ll rely on humans, but maybe it can experiment in that area as a side project.”
Ponzu glanced over at Ron and noticed he’d drifted into thought with his eyes closed. She took a small blanket from her seat pocket and gently draped it over him. Then she lowered her gaze to the little pendant around her neck—an item called a Nen tool. Nesli had given this to Ron as payment after their deal, and Ron passed it on to Ponzu. It was a spatial-type tool, containing a small internal space.
Because Ron already had Sumas’s dimension, this Nen tool was of little value to him, but for Ponzu, it was perfect. She used to keep her Bee Queen and the rest of her bees in her hat, but that was risky; enemies could easily target the hat, endangering her bees and especially the Queen. The Queen was unique—passed down from her grandmother and crucial to Ponzu’s path toward greater power (though Ponzu herself hadn’t realized just how important it was). Plus, the sweet smell of honey made her presence easier to detect.
Now that Ponzu stored her Bee Queen and bees in the pendant, she didn’t need that heavy hat anymore, switching to a lighter, round cap. Her green hair spilled down to her waist.
Meanwhile, Gon and Killua sat by the window. They were practically squeezed into the same seat, leaving the other empty. Being kids, they didn’t mind. Gazing out at the passing scenery, the two chatted excitedly about what lay ahead at Heaven’s Arena.
