After a long silence, Maha Zoldyck continued to demonstrate the assassination techniques of the Zoldyck family, no longer mentioning the previous topic.

"It’s something from the Dark Continent, isn’t it?"

Su Xiao broke the silence. He was probing, having learned from the prompt by Reincarnation Paradise that there’s a chance of triggering a hidden mission within the Zoldyck family.

After much thought, Su Xiao concluded that those within the Zoldyck family who could reach the level of a hidden mission must be related to two people: one is Maha Zoldyck, and the other is Yaluga Zoldyck.

Upon hearing Su Xiao mention the Dark Continent, Maha Zoldyck’s hand paused. He had once visited the Dark Continent in his youth and brought back something from there.

"How much do you know about it?"

Maha Zoldyck’s expression remained unchanged. It seemed he was initially prepared to say something to Su Xiao, but Su Xiao’s unclear background made Maha distrust him; there wasn’t even the most basic trust.

"I understand the general information, but I’ve never been there personally. It’s all intelligence obtained from V5."

Su Xiao continued to probe. If it were any other Contractor, they might be intimidated by the Zoldyck family’s terrifying power; Su Xiao, however, was not afraid at all. At most, if talks broke down, they’d have a fight, and the Zoldyck family couldn’t do anything to him.

"Kid, do you know about those ’disasters’ of the Dark Continent?"

Maha Zoldyck hesitated, wondering whether to cooperate with Su Xiao. Although he didn’t trust Su Xiao, there are truly too few humans as strong as him. He had once wanted to cooperate with Chairman Netero of the Hunter Association, but was refused; Netero pursued individual strength.

"The ’disasters’ of the Dark Continent."

Su Xiao immediately understood what Maha was referring to. The so-called ’disasters’ of the Dark Continent aren’t plagues or natural disasters but rather certain special creatures, plants, or even elemental assemblies.

If the hidden mission is related to this, Su Xiao’s interest would dramatically decrease, because the ’disasters’ of the Dark Continent are too dangerous, beyond his current reach.

"I know a bit. If your secret to immortality is related to those ’disasters’, then I’m not that curious about it."

"Listen to me slowly."

Maha sighed. He felt Su Xiao’s attitude was very similar to that of Chairman Netero.

"I once... went to the Dark Continent, and then died there."

Maha leaned back against a tree, his old eyes somewhat bewildered.

"When I opened my eyes again, those who accompanied me looked at me with a very strange gaze. From their mouths, I learned that a darkness entered my corpse, and then I came back to life. They suspected I was parasitized by some creature."

At this point, Maha paused.

"After a period of observation, I was indeed resurrected, no different from before. Although quite amazing, it was not unacceptable on that mysterious continent.

We continued our adventures there. After something happened, we returned the way we came, back to the human continent, which is where we now reside. Compared to the Dark Continent, our natural environment here is simply heaven."

Maha briefly recounted his exploration of the Dark Continent, while Su Xiao listened silently.

"After returning to this continent, I went back to my family, got married, and had children. Everything was normal until... I discovered that my lifespan was unusually long."

Maha Zoldyck looked ahead, his gaze vacant as if recalling something.

"I watched my grandson, Zeno, grow from a child to an old man. I was even fortunate enough to see my great-grandchildren grow vigorously until... the changes in Yaluga during their childhood."

At this point, Maha’s gaze turned fierce.

"After that freak was born, I finally understood why I wouldn’t die of old age. I have attempted many times to kill that freak. He simply isn’t of my bloodline—no, he’s half my bloodline, and the other half... is ’darkness’, akin to the ’disasters’ on the Dark Continent."

For some reason, Maha’s body trembled with anger.

"If I couldn’t find anyone to cooperate with, I wouldn’t have told you about this. Zeno doesn’t have much time left. Before that, I must resolve this issue."

Maha’s words were strange. He even said Zeno doesn’t have much time left, whereas compared to Zeno, his own age should be more terrifying.

"What I’m about to tell you, whether you agree or not, don’t reveal it to outsiders. Though, even if you did, it wouldn’t matter; consider it as the cost of cooperation. This secret must be kept."

Maha stared at Su Xiao, his murky old eyes finally showing a glimmer of hope.

"Okay."

Su Xiao of course wouldn’t refuse such a simple request.

"Then I’ll continue. You previously asked why I can live until now..."

Maha’s skeletal fists tightened, cracking audibly.

"The reason I’m able to live until now is that I’m taking away the life span of my close kin! Since that freak was born, I’ve confirmed this. I’m not wrong. I will strip away roughly 50 years of life from each generation of my kin. My son died in an accident, and I didn’t notice this at the time.

As for my grandson, Zeno, he actually had an older brother who died of old age early on. The entire family was puzzled by this at the time; an Enhancement Ability User dying of old age at 57 is unheard of.

As for my other grandson, Zeno, I should have taken very little of his life, no more than ten years. Even so, it’s had a significant impact on Zeno. He’s now only 67. For a psychic, this isn’t very old. An Enhancement-type Mind Ability headline User would be at their peak to declining stage, never appearing so old and gray-haired. Zeno currently looks like an 80-year-old psychic."

Maha’s expression was somewhat numb and pained. Living off the life span of his close kin would not be a pleasant experience for him.

"My Black Thought represents that I’m already dead."

Nen released from Maha’s palm resembled a liquid in viscosity, also possessing a gaseous, ethereal quality.

"By stripping away 50 years from a relative, I can continue to live for ten more years. No, this isn’t living; it’s more like lingering on for ten more years. I’ve tried ending it myself, but at that moment, I clearly felt that if I died, all of my offspring would suffer extremely terrifying fates.

Netero lived to today because he broke through the ’shackles’ of his body. He understood the ’Heart’, maintaining his strength at the height of 110 years. I didn’t achieve this. I am the curse of the Zoldyck family. From that resurrection, this curse began."

The events Maha described were incredibly shocking. He has survived to this day by depriving future generations of their life, which for an elder who values family is extremely painful.

"The birth of that freak initially filled me with despair. However, soon after, I glimpsed a sliver of hope. One of my descendants has the unconditional ability to grant wishes with that freak. He’s the hope—the hope for me... to die."

At this, Maha looked at Su Xiao.

"I understand roughly."

"..."

Su Xiao’s calm demeanor made Maha pause; little did he know, Su Xiao had experienced far more fantastical events, making this seem quite trivial.

"You’ve talked so much, so overall, you’re hoping to use my combat strength to help you accomplish something. But let me ask, what do I get in return?"

Su Xiao felt the hidden mission was not far off, and it seemed unrelated to the Dark Continent but was connected to the main protagonist of the story, Killua Zoldyck.

In Su Xiao’s view, there are two children of fate (pseudo) in the Hunter World: Jie Fuforce and Killua Zoldyck. When those two kids come together, they become the real child of fate.