Hunter × Hunter Chapter 409: Negotiations: Part 3

Morena listens to the continuing broadcast while deciding her next move. "IF THE BROADCAST CONTINUES, I CAN NARROW DOWN THE LOCATION EVEN FURTHER....!!" she thinks, choosing the "D (DEAL)" card. A girl in a hat reacts with surprise. Morena notes the announcement narrows the hideout's location and that even she is tense. New orders blare: "KEEP ALL DOORS OPEN!! SIT DOWN WITH YOUR HANDS SPREAD OUT ON A TABLE!! OTHERWISE, HOLD THEM RAISED OVER YOUR SHOULDERS AND WAIT!!!" and civilians on Tier 2 must return to rooms without belongings. Morena smiles faintly and says she never expected the risk to surface at this time, agreeing to continue the game. She reflects that the broadcast works to her advantage since she wants to break through the current situation, while noting the other player's distraction and the reason she asked for a repeat of the announcement.

To navigate this extraordinary mess as smoothly as possible, the only option is to escape the game with the "X" card. Of course, the best-case scenario would be for the royal army soldiers to raid this place and subdue Morena and her group, but in that case there's the risk of catching a stray bullet and getting killed, or being considered a member of Morena's group and executed. Even if not shot, the chances of being detained, interrogated, or tortured for an extended period are quite high. The woman with the headband states that the "D" card is her small request if one agrees to bring back one card from the graveyard. The short-haired woman replies that she'll have to kiss her. The request has already been decided. Kissing is one of the conditions for granting the ability. Since it's related to the ability, the details will be told beforehand. Once is enough, but they'll keep going until satisfied, including a deep kiss mouth to mouth. The short-haired woman reacts with hesitation, thinking she'd rather not. There are three conditions to fulfill to be recruited as a member: the negotiation game must conclude with "yes," one must kiss and become infected with the ability, and one must be present at the scene where either the speaker or another member is committing murder. The order doesn't matter as long as all three are met.

The scene shifts to the luxury liner on Tier 1. An announcement declares that once inspection is complete, passengers on Tier 1 must return to their rooms and wait for soldiers' inspection, guaranteeing the same level of freedom as before special martial law. A woman with short black hair stands among passengers. Someone realizes this means Tier 1, questioning if abduction from Tier 3 is possible. Another voice identifies that Morena is the boss of the Heil-ly family and rose by posing as a second-track faker. An emergency broadcast for Tier 1 blares. The long-haired woman with headband promises not to force any of the three conditions and notes it is not unreasonable to hesitate, but rest assured. The short-haired woman declares it is her only choice and accepts, demanding the X card back as well. A hand reaches out as someone says "come over" and another replies "alright then." Close-ups show intense eyes during the acceptance.

Two girls face each other across a tense moment. The short-haired girl stares with wide eyes while the long-braided girl, wearing a thorny headband, covers her mouth in surprise. The short-haired girl asks, "HUH? FOR WHAT?" The braided girl replies, "I'M SORRY." She adds hesitantly, "Um... Well, I'm a bit..." Suddenly the braided girl declares with force, "I'M TAKING BACK THE 'X' CARD! NOW, LET'S CONTINUE!" She follows with rapid questions: "ARE YOU MOCKING ME?" "DO YOU WANT TO... TAKE A LITTLE BREAK FIRST?" "ON WHAT BASIS COULD YOU SAY THAT?!" "HOW WOULD YOU EVEN..." and "OH, UM... I DIDN'T THINK IT'D BE YOUR FIRST TIME." From the side, a hooded figure with a patterned headband leans in and shouts, "WAIT A SECOND...!" At the table the braided girl insists, "SERIOUSLY, I'M FINE! JUST DON'T BOTHER!" while another hand reaches toward the cards and warns, "DON'T PUSH YOURSELF TOO HARD, OKAY?"

At the table the short-haired girl sits with a neutral expression while the braided girl leans forward, pointing at the cards. The braided girl asks, "CAN I FLIP THEM TO TAKE A LOOK?" and notes, "THESE TWO CARDS..." Close-ups show the short-haired girl's eyes widening in shock and the braided girl's intense stare. The short-haired girl realizes, "I COMPLETELY TOOK MY EYES OFF THESE CARDS." She continues with a burst of realization, "WHILE I WAS BUSY BEING SEXUALLY HARASSED AT YOUR TINY REQUEST..." The X card and two other face-down cards remain on the table between them.

The girl with the patterned headband and facial stitches leans forward and asks, "If you're not cheating, it's not a problem, right?" The short-haired girl replies simply, "Yeah." The headband girl continues, "Like, are you insinuating that both cards have turned into 'X'? Even so, do you still want to look? I'm not using any tricks. As I said earlier..." In the next tier of panels against a patterned background of cartoon animals, the short-haired girl responds, "Yeah." The headband girl presses, "So I can flip them?" and "And you're fine with that?!" She explains her reasoning: "Then I just think, 'Oh, so you don't trust me after all' and it turns me off completely. There are people who use the perplexing logic of 'if there's nothing to hide, it's fine' to justify snooping through their partner's phone, but I can't accept that. It's not a problem, but it's disappointing, you know?" Hands reach in and flip two face-down cards on the checkered tablecloth, revealing a bold "NO" and a large "X." The headband girl's intense close-up eyes appear as she confirms, "Yeah. It's 'NO' and 'X', right?" A small voice bubble adds, "...Well?"

The short-haired girl stands and points toward the table while the headband girl leans over the seat. Three face-down cards rest on the tablecloth. A tall man with a headband and jacket clutches a stack of cards, his face frozen in shock with sweat drops and motion lines around him. In a dimly lit room, the headband girl and short-haired girl sit before a long-haired woman in a black dress seated behind a table of cards. The woman says, "Now..." and the short-haired girl replies, "Go ahead and draw." The headband girl's eye widens with sweat drops as three cards are placed in a row on the table, accompanied by dramatic sound-effect lines. A hand reaches across a dark surface, and another hand points at a single card with the label "SP" beside it.

At a dimly lit table, the short-haired woman leans forward and points to a row of face-down cards while the crowned woman sits opposite her in a high-backed chair. A large screen behind them displays a swirling emblem. The crowned woman remarks, "OH MY, WHAT A SHAME." The short-haired woman asks, "WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHECK THE OTHER TWO AGAIN?" Three cards remain: Q A, Q B, and a question-mark card labeled "Yes." The short-haired woman states, "THE LAST CARD... ...NOW CHOOSE ONE." The crowned woman replies, "NOW... SHALL WE START?" Holding up the Q A card, she continues, "OKAY... WITH THIS ONE, I'LL ANSWER AS MANY QUESTIONS AS YOU WOULD LIKE. I'LL GO WITH 'QUESTION A'." The short-haired woman counters, "AND CHOOSE QUESTION B INSTEAD. BY THE WAY, IF YOU'RE FINE WITH JUST ONE QUESTION, YOU CAN SKIP QUESTION A..."

The crowned woman repeatedly answers "NO." to statements about the hideout's location. First she denies it is on Tier 5. Then she denies it is on Tier 4 or Tier 3. The short-haired woman thinks, "JUST AS I THOUGHT, TIER 2 OR TIER 1...!" and states aloud, "THIS HIDEOUT IS LOCATED ON TIER 2 OR TIER 1." The crowned woman remains silent. In a close-up the short-haired woman reacts with surprise, "...HUH ...?" The final large panel shows the crowned woman seated alone in front of a bright screen, her expression neutral and composed.

In a dimly lit corridor of the hideout, a voice answers "YES." The woman with the headband states, "THIS HIDEOUT IS ABOARD THE BLACK WHALE." The curly-haired woman replies "NO." and accuses, "YOU'RE LYING." A close-up shows the curly-haired woman's serious expression as she continues, "THIS HIDEOUT WAS CREATED THROUGH A NEN ABILITY." The woman with the headband stares silently with "...". The curly-haired woman reacts with wide eyes, thinking "WHERE THE HELL... WHAT'S GOING ON?" while the headband woman answers "YES AND NO." A massive vibration shakes the room with heavy SFX "ゴオオオオオオオオ ズズズズズ" as both women react in shock. The headband woman sits calmly while the curly-haired woman sweats and exclaims, "THIS HIDEOUT... IT... CAN'T BE... ...OH... !!"

Morena Prudo confirms "YES." The curly-haired woman realizes, "IT'S BETWEEN TIER 2 AND TIER 3!!" A diagram of the Black Whale shows numbered tiers from 1 at the top to 5 at the bottom, with text explaining the hideout is probably located somewhere in that area and that the central gate vibration was planned from the manufacturing stage. Multiple speech bubbles follow a question-and-answer exchange: "YES.", "HMM...", "THERE ARE FIVE.", "NO.", "THERE ARE TWO ENTRANCES IN TOTAL.", "YES AND NO.", and statements about the hideout entrance being accessible to the public with multiple entrances. The curly-haired woman notes that the woman seemed to hesitate before answering details about the entrances.

In a dimly lit room, a woman with a thorny headpiece stands facing another with short wavy hair. The headpiece woman declares her intent: "So that once I get out of here, they can't lay a hand on us." She continues, "Limitations and vows... I'll make full use of them..." The current number of members, including yourself, is 23. The short-haired woman presses, "You, of course, will keep your promise after I leave." The headpiece woman replies, "If I manage to get out of here safely... I intend to forget everything that happened here, including all the information I learned..." She confirms "Yes" to the question of whether she will kill if "No" is her last card. A close-up shows her eye as she answers "Yes" again. The short-haired woman notes, "The number of enhancers among the members is one... You know all the abilities of the other 20... Of the 21 members, you are the only specialist." The headpiece woman responds "Yes" while the short-haired woman threatens, "I'll wring out every last drop...! This information on their members..."

The short-haired woman accuses, "You have no intention of changing your goal." Morena responds, "But you... I'm thinking of changing Kakin in my own way..." She reflects, "I've learned so many things talking with you... I've come to feel grateful for this chance." The short-haired woman asks her last question: "If... I end up with the card that allows me to leave..." Morena firmly answers "No" multiple times, stating there is no way to compromise and she will not change her goal even a bit. Close-ups capture Morena's resolute expression and the short-haired woman's serious gaze as the repeated "No" echoes through the panels.

A boy with short light hair holds up two glowing cards marked B and R, eyes wide with intensity. Nearby, another figure watches with a tense expression while a close-up shows a long-haired girl with a stitched headband and facial scars reacting silently. The long-haired girl suddenly grabs and smashes an object with forceful motion, sound effects WSH and GSH ringing out. In a wider view, the boy stares at a grid of faces including the long-haired girl and several onlookers. She touches his face and says NOW... while instructing SLIDE THE CARD TOWARD ME THAT YOU'LL DISCARD. At the table, two large transparent cards rest on the surface as the boy points forward, declaring FOR YOUR LAST CARD...! and MAKE THE DECISION... The long-haired girl watches him closely from across the table.

The short-haired boy leans over the table and taps a card with his finger, producing a TAP sound. Close-up shots focus on the long-haired girl's eye and the boy's eye in tense silence. At the table, the boy and long-haired girl sit opposite each other with cards laid out. The boy states THE TWO OF US... WILL FLIP THEM AT THE SAME TIME. The long-haired girl responds WE'LL FLIP THEM AT 0. The boy replies THAT'S FINE. WELL THEN... She begins counting 3... In a dramatic panel she warns IF I FLIP THE "R", I'LL FORGET EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED HERE AND LEAVE. The boy counters IF YOU FLIP THE "R", I'LL DIE. Both prepare to flip their cards simultaneously.

At a checkered table, the woman with the thorny headband and the short-haired player sit facing each other. The short-haired player reaches forward and places a card marked with a bold R symbol onto the table. The woman with the headband reacts sharply, eyes widening as a large O!! exclamation erupts above the table. Impact lines and motion effects emphasize the moment. Several other cards lie face-up, including one marked N and another with a question mark. The short-haired player leans back, sweat visible, hands clasped tightly as they exclaim, "I... MADE IT." The woman with the headband stares at the revealed cards with a tense expression.

The game concludes as the woman with the thorny headband announces, "ALRIGHT, ONCE YOU EXCHANGE THE 'R' CARD FOR THE CARD YOU WANT, THE GAME IS OVER." The short-haired player apologizes, saying "UM... I'M SORRY" and "AND ENDED UP CRUMPLING IT. I GRIPPED THE 'R' CARD TOO HARD..." while holding a crumpled card. The woman claps and offers, "CONGRATULATIONS. IT'S A PITY, BUT I CAN'T BE HELPED." The short-haired player sighs in relief, "THAT'S A RELIEF." The woman replies, "HEHE, IT'S FINE. WE REPLACE THE CARDS WITH NEW ONES EVERY TIME." Close-ups show the woman's neutral expression and the short-haired player's concerned face. In a wider view, the woman walks away down a corridor while the short-haired player and other onlookers watch; someone asks, "IS THAT NOT... A MISTAKE?"

The short-haired girl stands across the table from the long-haired woman, her expression tense. "No," she says firmly. The woman, wearing a thorny headband and a long black dress, reaches forward and flips over a card on the table. The revealed card displays a bold "Yes" design. "It is not a mistake," the woman states. A close-up shows the short-haired girl's wide-eyed reaction as narration reads, "Her choice is 'yes'?! And the reason is...?!" Sound effects punctuate the tense moment with sharp impacts and dramatic emphasis around the card and figures.