Merusu's fake spider tattoo on her tongue was a custom order from the Zoldyck family, guaranteed for quality and durability. It would last for 72 hours and could be removed easily with mouthwash.
The only drawback was the time required to prepare it.
Meanwhile, Shalnark had approached her.
"What a coincidence," Shalnark said, glancing curiously at the trial gate slowly closing behind her. "I didn't expect you to come out from there. Was the 'Gate of the Underworld' fun inside?"
The guides on Mount Pukuru universally referred to the "Trial Gate" as the "Gate of the Underworld." Only those privy to Zoldyck affairs knew the gate's true name. Shalnark's demeanor seemed no different from that of an ordinary tourist.
"..." Even Merusu, who considered herself of average intelligence, suspected Shalnark's presence there was no accident.
Mount Pukuru was indeed a famous tourist destination, but the world was vast, and Merusu didn't frequent Mount Pukuru. The probability of any tourist happening to encounter her at the exact moment she exited was extremely low, making Shalnark's appearance in that location and at that time highly suspicious.
Was she being followed or investigated? Merusu admitted she might have underestimated Shalnark because he was a non-combat member of the Phantom Troupe.
With a hint of displeasure at her private space being intruded upon, Merusu nodded expressionlessly, leaving the space in front of the Trial Gate clear. She raised a hand, gesturing for Shalnark to open the gate.
Shalnark placed his hands on the Trial Gate with feigned enthusiasm but didn't exert any force—Merusu noticed no change in his arm muscles.
"Meru," Shalnark said, as if suddenly noticing something more interesting. He removed his hands from the gate and reached out to Merusu. "This is truly exaggerated."
He smiled gently, his fingertips brushing against the collar of Merusu's clothes near her neck. He slightly pulled it aside, then touched the red mark on her neck. It looked like a finger mark—a trace left by Kikyo, who had almost strangled Merusu to death.
*Stay away from me.* Merusu’s back was tense, but her ears drooped like a sad little cat. This was Shalnark’s first impression of Merusu at the gate.
Since she was under the Zoldycks' control, it made sense that Merusu had informed the leader beforehand that she might not be able to return to the Phantom Troupe.
"Did the Zoldycks from inside the gate do this?" Shalnark tilted his head towards the Trial Gate. "To our dear Merusu?"
Rather than pity, it seemed to spark a different kind of interest. He smiled and stroked the finger marks on Merusu's neck. "What else did they do to you?"
Merusu raised her hand, intending to stop Shalnark's suggestive caress. Before her hand could reach his wrist, Shalnark withdrew his hand.
"Sigh—" Shalnark shrugged. "I came here to relax, but my mood has only worsened."
"..."
"It seems you've come to an agreement with the Zoldycks." Shalnark's emerald green eyes were translucent and harmless in the sunlight, carrying a hint of cheerful expectation. "You won, didn't you?"
Perhaps. Although the Zoldycks hadn't placed any additional restrictions on Merusu, Kikyo had noticed the eye transplant.
Merusu didn't know how to answer and shifted her gaze elsewhere noncommittally.
"I heard from the leader that you might leave the Troupe." Shalnark moved closer, his warm breath brushing against Merusu's ear. "Of course, I know it's not that simple. The Phantom Troupe's activities are very relaxed, and long-term absence usually doesn't have much impact. I'm truly happy to see you again today, it feels like a dream. Can I touch you again, Merusu?"
Not far away, the guard in the guardhouse near the Trial Gate, Jibbu, wisely chose to move away from the window. He wouldn't see or hear anything. He didn't dare to get involved in the family's private affairs.
Both the young lady of the Zoldyck family and the blonde young man who had been waiting at the Trial Gate for a long time were monsters far stronger than him.
He recalled that when the blonde young man appeared, he had spoken the young lady's name and claimed to be her boyfriend.
That was a test. Jibbu later realized that the blonde young man's statement had a hidden purpose. Based on his reaction, the blonde young man seemed to have confirmed something.
"Thank you." The blonde young man's emerald green eyes curved into a smile, carrying a cunning glint like a fox's.
Shalnark was certain; Merusu was indeed here.
Although the blonde young man had not entered the Zoldyck's private property, his waiting at the gate could be a hindrance to the family. Should he notify the butler's office? Jibbu picked up the phone but found there was no sound. He bent down and saw that the phone line had been disconnected at some point.
"If you're bored, how about we sit down and have some tea?" The blonde young man rested his arms on the window frame of the guardhouse, looking down at him with a grin. The blonde young man had clearly not been here a moment ago.
The situation was completely under the blonde young man's control.
What could Jibbu do? He was just an expendable gate guard and cleaner, barely even qualified to ascend Mount Pukuru.
He decided to stay put and pray that the blonde young man was not an enemy of the Zoldycks. Otherwise, he would surely face harsher punishment for his silence.
Fortunately, he had good luck. After hearing the blonde young man's greeting, he didn't hear any sounds of a fight.
Before long, the voices disappeared. The blonde young man and the young lady seemed to have left.
Jibbu peered through the window of the guardhouse and saw the blonde young man's back as he put his arm around the young lady's waist.
...It was real!
He hadn't expected the Zoldyck young lady to have a boyfriend. But it was a bit strange. Wouldn't a real boyfriend have her private contact information? Was it necessary to wait at the gate for so long?
...Was it because they had argued?
A lovers' quarrel?
It was hard to imagine. He actually got to see a side of the Zoldycks that seemed almost normal in his lifetime.
No, that blonde young man wasn't ordinary either. How could someone dating a Zoldyck be ordinary?
After plugging the phone line back in, Jibbu decided not to meddle further and did not contact the butler's office.
On the other side, Shalnark fully enjoyed his "boyfriend privilege," encircling Merusu in his arms.
Through constant exploration and probing, Shalnark gradually understood the rules of Merusu's compliance.
Merusu would unconsciously play the "role" she was in at the moment, even saying and doing things against her will for it.
Should this be attributed to her deep scheming and skill in disguise?
Or was it her habit of integrating into her surroundings at any given moment?
Merusu was too quiet in every sense of the word. On the level of an assassin, this was an extremely excellent quality, perhaps.
Shalnark was very curious about her relationship with the Zoldycks, but she seemed reluctant to speak, so he could only probe indirectly.
In any case, he had to maintain his "boyfriend" status first, and then Merusu would consciously play the role of "girlfriend."
Merusu was a calm pool of water, while Shalnark enjoyed creating ripples.
The taxi driver couldn't help but steal glances at Merusu, who was being teased by Shalnark, in the rearview mirror.
Shalnark's actions were subtle, but sufficiently ambiguous to provoke thought.
However, the beauty in the back seat remained almost impassive, making the driver, who had expected exciting scenes between the young couple, increasingly impatient.
"Watch out ahead," Shalnark suddenly said.
Before the driver could react, an antenna with small devil wings appeared on his neck. Under Shalnark's control, the driver continued to drive with "single-minded focus"—this was the most dedicated driving of his life.
"I still don't really like being stared at." Shalnark readjusted his posture in the seat, but his arm still circled Merusu's shoulder, as if he couldn't prove Merusu belonged to him otherwise. "Merusu, if you like this sort of thing, I can play along with you too."
"..." Merusu shook her head.
Thus, there was no need to pay for this taxi ride. As Shalnark retracted the antenna, he also snapped the driver's neck.
To补补 the spider tattoo, Merusu used a very cliché excuse—she wanted to go to the restroom.
She wrote this on paper, as she couldn't speak, or else the absence of the spider tattoo would be exposed.
Shalnark didn't notice her abnormality, apparently thinking she was too embarrassed to speak about physiological matters and chose to express herself with pen and paper.
But it was still so annoying, having to补补 a tattoo in the restroom.
Closing the door of the restroom stall, Merusu reluctantly [took out] a lollipop from her "game backpack" and put it in her mouth.
This lollipop was different from common lollipops on the market; it bore the pattern of Merusu's spider tattoo. It was also much thinner and could melt completely in about a minute.
Merusu initially found it interesting to create fake tattoos this way, but she never expected to use it in a restroom someday.
A restroom is a place for excretion! She disliked eating in restrooms!
It was so frustrating.
Merusu felt like in the "real world," an uninvited and not-so-familiar visitor was morally coercing her into being a good host.
She hadn't withdrawn from the Phantom Troupe yet, and Shalnark was a well-liked member. At least on the surface, Merusu had to put on a show and then send him away as soon as possible.
Thanks to the reputation of the Zoldyck family as the world's number one assassin family, tourism around Mount Pukuru was well-developed. Shalnark's request to visit as a tourist was reasonably difficult to refuse.
Claiming "I'm actually not familiar with this area" was useless; it only became an advantage in Shalnark's words, "That's great, then you can experience the novelty with me too."
Merusu wasn't lying. The Zoldycks had kept a close eye on her since she was young, and she mostly traveled between Mount Pukuru and her workplace. She hadn't expected to gain "freedom" after her brain surgery, giving her a chance to see other places she hadn't paid attention to before.
After walking through a few streets, Shalnark also realized that her unfamiliarity wasn't feigned.
She was seeing many things here for the first time.
Especially some strange peripheral products of Mount Pukuru, such as glass bottles filled with volcanic ash from Mount Pukuru, pastries imitating the shape of Mount Pukuru, models of the Gate of the Underworld, amulets that were effective against the Zoldycks (of course, fake ones), T-shirts with "Zoldyck" printed on them (did anyone really want such things?!), and so on.
The pastries imitating the shape of Mount Pukuru were actually chocolate lava cakes, cleverly echoing the fact that "Mount Pukuru is a volcano." They tasted surprisingly good.
"It's really all thanks to the leader," Shalnark's mind was not on the cake at all; he was constantly observing Merusu. "I've noticed you're much more lively than before."
"Merusu, I think I'm falling for you more and more." His gaze lowered to the tabletop, and Merusu couldn't see his expression at that moment.
When he raised his head again, displaying a sunny smile almost identical to before, Merusu's appetite inexplicably decreased slightly.
"..." Merusu suspected Shalnark had ulterior motives.
"Aren't you eating anymore?" Shalnark still smiled, his mood seemingly becoming even more cheerful. "Then the rest is mine."
His hand, which was hanging in the air, paused for a moment. Seeing that Merusu didn't deny it, he then took the plate of cake in front of Merusu and finished it with the fork Merusu had used.
Merusu propped her chin on one hand, quietly watching his performance of joy.
Today should be enough to send Shalnark away, right? Kurapika's matter couldn't be delayed any longer, Merusu thought.
However, Shalnark wasn't that easy to get rid of. Merusu's strategy of rapidly touring like checking off a list was too obvious, and Shalnark asked her with a hint of委屈 if she had something to rush for.
Merusu said, half-truthfully and half-falsely, that she did have work to do, but she had only made time for today because of Shalnark.
This was a rather clever, transitional answer that could achieve her goal while also making the other party understand the situation—a skill learned from Merusu's years of experience as a corporate slave in the "real world."
"Alright." As long as Shalnark was willing, he could display appropriate emotional intelligence. "You didn't eat much earlier. Let's get something more to eat, and then we'll go back to the hotel to rest."
Passing by a rolled ice cream stall, Shalnark stopped.
"This looks really good," he said, looking down at the menu on the stall. "Meru, do you like this?"
"..." Merusu just wanted to send him away quickly and not waste any more time, so she shook her head.
"Hmm, what a shame. I quite like this." Shalnark smiled at the stall owner. "Boss, I'll have one. I want strawberry, apple, and sweet orange. And add almonds, raisins, and popping boba."
Hearing the last part, Merusu remembered something, and her eyes flickered.
"This is really delicious," Shalnark said, as if completely oblivious, turning to look at Merusu with his eyes full of smiles. "Won't you try some?"
Merusu only took a bite and replied that it was so-so.
Although her "Nen" remained stable, her consistently poor appetite exposed her unpleasant mood.
After a simple dinner, Shalnark took her back to the hotel.
What should I say? She's such a "dedicated" girlfriend, Shalnark thought.
Learning from past experiences, this time the toy had been improved and was better prepared.
Merusu's brain, restored by the leader, reacted differently when stimulated.
However, what was the "surprise" the leader had mentioned?
Shalnark couldn't figure it out.
Until Merusu made a sound.
Even though she immediately closed her lips and covered her mouth, the sound, like a kitten's, had already reached Shalnark's ears, hitting a nerve.
"!" To Merusu's complete surprise, she had lost her composure. She had intended to practice vocalization alone and not use her vocal cords in front of anyone until she achieved a satisfactory sound.
"!" Shalnark's eyes widened in surprise, just like Merusu's. He gazed with great interest at Merusu covering her mouth with her hands.
So that's it! The leader's ability to restore Merusu's brain had also restored Merusu's vocal cords! Shalnark felt he understood everything in an instant.
However, what Chrollo had meant by surprise was the Scarlet Eyes.
But Shalnark could see Merusu's flushed cheeks and hear the sound Merusu's vocal cords made for the first time in her life, so it wasn't a wasted trip.
The price was a nosebleed (inflicted by Merusu) and falling to the floor with several broken ribs (inflicted by Merusu).
"Don't even think about following me, or I'll kill you." Before leaving, Merusu [put on] the voice-emitting device and issued a death threat to Shalnark.
As she said this, her sky-blue eyes turned dark and inorganic.
Genuine killing intent. Her bottom line had been crossed.
This time, she didn't even bother to shower. She put on her clothes and left directly. The room was filled with her chilling killing intent, like a cold wind sweeping through, causing the temperature to drop significantly.
A few seconds later, the shock on Shalnark's face finally faded.
"Oh dear," he said. Even though the broken ribs would hurt even more, he genuinely laughed, lying on the floor, laughing heartily and wickedly. "Should I brag about this to someone?"