Killua, Ikalgo, and I met up with the rest of the Extermination Team in an old building, getting ready to discuss the plan.

"Nine people will infiltrate the palace using Knov's Nen mansion. Shoot and me, Lizzy, Lynn, Gon, Killua, Meleoron, Ikalgo, and finally Morel. A few seconds after us, the Chairman will enter from outside Pitou's En. During that time, we must lure the Royal Guard away from the King as far as we can. Lizzy, Lynn, Gon, Killua, and Ikalgo will go in first. When we suddenly appear in the middle of the palace, what will their immediate reaction be?" Knuckle explained.

"To protect the King with their lives." Gon answered.

"They'll be in a tight formation. Breaking it won't be easy." Killua added.

"And that's where I come into play." Meleoron said, pointing at himself with his thumb.

We discussed what we were going to do to lure the Royal Guards away from the King so that we could take them on in groups. Chairman Netero would be taking on the King himself, and he was getting ready for battle as we spoke.

"Any questions?" Killua asked.

"Uh, so about Palm..." Gon started, and we turned to him. "Isn't there anything we can do to check how she's doing?"

"She's either dead or in hiding. If she'd escaped, she'd have contacted us by now. Since she hasn't, then that's the only explanation." He replied, making him sigh. "If she were captured, she would have taken her own life. When she left, she was prepared for that."

"If we try to check on her, I'm almost certain it would be an insult to her resolve." Shoot told him, and I noticed he was feeling sad from the look in his eyes.

"Hey, take it easy, will you? Gon's just concerned about Palm." Knuckle scolded Shoot for being too stern.

"His concern is worthless." Killua spoke up, angering Knuckle.

"What was that? You just came back! Where do you get off with that crap?!" He snapped.

"Let's assume that Palm was captured alive. In that case, the enemy knows our plan."

"Which would make us like moths flying straight into a flame." Shoot commented.

"We would be dead on arrival. But instead of worrying about worst-case scenarios, let's trust Palm to do whatever she has to."

"All that makes sense if you ask me, but I think Gon's point is that if Palm has really met such a fate, we still have time to change the plan." Meleoron stated.

"You're being too soft. He'll say that we have to save Palm before we do anything else, but he's not offering any plans for that. Right?" Killua turned to Gon, who was empty-headed for not thinking about that.

"R-right..." He stuttered.

"Uh, yeah. Good point." Knuckle said, unimpressed by his way of thinking.

"I know you're worried right now, but once the operation starts, you've just gotta forget her." Killua told him.

"If you get distracted, even by a fraction of a second, that might cause the whole operation to fail." Meleoron stated.

"We still have two days, plenty of time for Palm to contact us." Killua crossed out the number 3 on the wooden floor with a stick.

Two days left until the selection. I felt tense with a bit of anxiety. If we messed up one bit, this whole operation would be over, and soon, humanity would fall into the hands of the Chimera Ants.

"It's almost time for us to enter Peijing. The enemy should have noticed Morel's distraction by now. Once we're there, we'll make some noise to make them believe that this isn't all the work of one man. At the same time, many citizens will start moving toward the palace. If we disappear the day before the celebration, they'll believe assassins are hiding among the citizens, trying to kill the King, and their focus will be outside the palace, on the crowds. That's when we enter the palace using fourth-dimensional mansion." Knuckle slammed his hand on the map. "The King will definitely be right here. He'll be watching the selection from the third-floor throne room." He pointed at a place on the map, the throne room.

I remembered when Knuckle explained about the King's whereabouts and the plan to invade the palace at midnight. After splitting up from Knuckle and Shoot, I felt nervous. I didn't know why.

When we reached a cabin on top of a hill, that nervousness stayed with me until I fell asleep with my back against a crate. Moments later, I felt someone's hand moving my bangs from my face. I was touched by the feeling, but I couldn't tell who it was that was doing it. It couldn't be Lizzy. She was still angry with me, so there wouldn't be any reason for her to do that. I bet she wouldn't help me with anything either, so maybe that was why she didn't pay my part of the crazy expensive hospital bill.

In the morning, I woke up and stretched and did some exercises to get my blood pumping. Ikalgo was the last one to wake up, and we all smiled at him.

"Good morning!" Both Gon and Lizzy said at the same time, their voices as cheerful as always.

"You guys up already? It's kinda early." Ikalgo said, smiling back at us.

The clock on my phone read 5:02 A.M.

"We have nineteen hours until midnight strikes on selection day." Killua stated.

"We make our move tonight." I added.

"Right. Let's do one final check."

We paid attention as he was about to explain the plan.

"Once we're inside, the girls, Gon, and I will head up the central stairway to the throne room. Ikalgo will take the northeast elevator to the basement to search for Palm. If you find her, escape without us."

"You got it." Ikalgo raised one of his chopped off tentacles in agreement.

"If the King and his Royal Guards are in the throne room together when we get there, then we proceed with the plan. But if they're not there, then it's gonna be a huge problem."

"You're really hung up on that, aren't you?" Gon asked.

"What are the chances of that happening? It's pretty unlikely." Ikalgo stated.

"It is, but the unusual happens pretty often. You've gotta admit it." Killua replied.

"Aren't you contradicting yourself?"

He stood up from his seat. "We did a bunch of research on the enemy's behavior and used it to decide when to attack. When you're waiting for someone to be in a certain place, at a certain time, that's typically when the unexpected happens. In my old job, I saw this all the time. Plan all you want, but the unexpected will always find a way to trip you up. In my old job, I could wait for my next chance, to ensure my success. But in that case, that isn't an option. As soon as we make a move, there's no turning back. Hesitate for a second, it can mean death. We need to plan for every scenario and decide what we would do. Even if they're not in the throne room, if they're still in the palace, it's okay. Pitou's En is enough to cover the palace, the surrounding courtyards, and then some. So if we sense that creepy aura when we enter, we'll know that they're there. From there, we just follow that aura to where it feels the most dense. They'll be right at its center."

"But what would we do if we don't sense Pitou's aura? That could mean they're not in the palace, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. Or it could mean they are in the palace, but they're not using En." Killua added.

"Would there be a situation where they'd be in the palace, but not using their En to guard the King?" Ikalgo asked.

"That's what happened when Mr. Knov infiltrated the palace!" Gon exclaimed.

"Oh!"

"Right. That's what I can't figure out. According to Colt, Knov saw a guy named Pouf's aura. The Royal Guard never leaves the King's side. So if Pouf was there, the other two were also in the palace with the King. But then why did Pitou stop using their puppets and En, leaving Pouf to handle security, which allowed Knov to infiltrate the palace? I believe the reason has to do with how Pitou's power works..." Killua explained.

Gon stood up from his seat and smiled. "Then we should ask Colt himself."

"Yeah." Killua took out his phone and dialed the number. We waited for him to finish his conversation with Colt, and it ended a minute later.

"Now it all makes sense. Someone got hurt and needed healing. It was probably the King or maybe one of the Royal Guards. That's why the En and the puppets disappeared." He explained.

"But hold on. Who would have had the skills to injure one of those powerful monsters?" Ikalgo asked, confused.

"That's a good question." Gon said.

"An internal dispute?" Killua guessed.

"Maybe the King injured one of the Royal Guards for some reason?" Lizzy replied.

"No, that's impossible. Pitou would have to put the King in extreme danger by removing the En so that they could heal someone else, and that's not gonna happen. I'm sure of it." Ikalgo explained.

"Then the one who was injured..." Killua paused.

I gasped. "Was the King!"

Killua called Morel and told him everything we had, and he was shocked to hear our theory. None of the Royal Guards got injured, so we thought it was best to assume that the King injured himself for some reason.

It was six hours left, and the five of us jumped into the portal to Knov's dimension to meet up with the rest of the Extermination Team. I noticed Knov's hair had turned white, probably from the mental breakdown he experienced after infiltrating the palace about five days ago. Unfortunately, he was unable to continue, so Morel would have to take on Pouf himself.

"Everyone's here." Morel pointed out.

"Have you heard anything from Palm yet?" Gon asked with concern.

"No." The white-haired man looked down.

"I see."

"We'll keep waiting until half an hour before go time. If we knew what's going on before we get in, it'd be very different..."

This is a very serious matter that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible. We need to restore Kite and save humanity. We can't afford to hesitate before fighting. We are supposed to draw the Royal Guards away from the King and take them on. The one we requested was Pitou.

I noticed Gon getting fired up. He was probably thinking about the Royal Guard and what they did to Kite back in the NGL.

Gon. Dammit, now I'm worried about you. Who knows what will be waiting for you inside? Will your rage affect your ability to think carefully? Do you...even have the strength to take them on while we stand there and watch you fight them relentlessly, thinking about nothing but Kite?

My eyes landed on the floor, more thoughts filling my head.

What will I even do to help Gon get what he wants? What will I do to keep him from going too far and risking his life to defeat Pitou? Killua said unexpected things happen pretty often, even though some of them are unlikely to happen, so how will Gon react when he sees something unexpected happen to Pitou? Oh God, please help us in this mission to save your people and your world. Do not let me, my sister, or any of my friends die, no matter what.

I looked up, my eyes brimming with confidence.

We will win this battle!

"I'm going to check on the palace." Knov walked to the door and opened it before walking out to do what he had to do.

As I was speaking to Gon and encouraging him to beat the crap out of Pitou, my level of concern went down for a moment when he declared that Pitou would fix Kite and that he would do whatever it took to bring him back. He said that when Kite was returned back to normal, he would apologize for leaving him behind and we would have a great time together again.

"Our time's up. Let's go." Morel announced, and everyone got ready to move out, including us. We got in line to walk out of Knov's dimension, and I was behind Knuckle when I exited from the door. I lifted myself up to view the palace from a distance, and everyone else came.

Knov created three portals on the ground. "The closer the entrance is to the palace, the closer the exit will be to the throne room over here."

Everyone looked at each other with serious expressions on all of their faces.

"Okay. We're all in agreement. We'll use the closest exit, and bust in from beside the central stairway." Morel stated.

We went back into Knov's dimension to wait some more.

"Seven minutes. I'll call you when it's down to a minute left. Assemble near the exit then. Until then, stand by." Morel told everyone in the room, and they stood up to go in separate areas.

I sat down with my friends, including Ikalgo, and took a water bottle from the selection of snacks and drinks provided to us. I gave all of my attention to Knuckle and Meleoron and listened to their conversation carefully.

"Look, if you want to smoke, go ahead and do it." Knuckle said to the chameleon.

"If you underestimate their sense of smell, you'll die quickly. Tracking someone by the smell of cigarette smoke is really easy for them. We could be knocked out the second I take my first breath." Meleoron explained.

"The boss will put up a smokescreen when we go in. It'll be fine." Knuckle reassured him.

"I know, but I want to avoid unecessary risk." He bit his fingernail. "I don't want to do anything I might regret."

"The Royal Guard is on the move." I heard Knov say, and I turned to his direction. "All three of them were gathered on top of the main gate and were discussing something. Pitou stayed there, and Youpi went back inside. As for Pouf, he returned to the air to scatter his scales, so I don't think anything has changed."

He took out a key and unlocked the door. "I'll let you know if anything else happens."

"Yeah, until we leave, feed us as much information as you can." Morel told him before he left the room.

"That eliminates the chance the Royal Guard will be out of the palace." Killua stated as he poured some orange juice for Lizzy and Gon. They took their cups and started drinking it.

Yeah, that's right.

"Well, I can pretty much guarantee that they'll be near the King." Ikalgo said.

"You don't know that. How can you possibly guarantee that? There are lots of unlikely situations that we have to think about, and we should think about what we're gonna do if one of those situations happens." I firmly stated.

"And we don't wanna be off guard if something happens, so let's just figure out what to do just in case." Killua added.

"You guys only say that because you don't understand how loyal they are. I'm telling you there's no way they'd ever leave the King. The Royal Guard is always right there by his side. You can count on it." Ikalgo objected.

"And it's fine to believe that! We just need to be prepared if there are any exceptions!" Killua yelled at him.

"Exceptions? Like what?"

"Didn't I tell you? There are all kinds of exceptions to think about! For example..." I began listing all possible exceptions while Ikalgo contradicted me and Killua. Gon and Lizzy didn't get involved in our dispute and listened to us yelling at each other for a moment.

"One exception is a woman." Morel spoke up, catching everyone's attention and stopping our dispute. "Reproducing is one of his objectives, and we're still not sure what the King does when he's in the palace. Maybe he's making babies."

"Making babies?" Lizzy said.

"Yeah, I guess." Killua muttered.

"That would give the King a reason to keep the Royal Guard far away from his chamber. Perhaps Bizeff was bringing women in for the King." Knuckle guessed, and he and Morel suddenly shuddered.

"We're sticking to the plan. No matter what's happening to Palm!" Morel declared, and Gon grunted in agreement.

I scrunched up my face in disgust and realized something.

If we had seen that happen somewhere in the palace, we would totally be off guard and dead in an instant.

"Now do you get it? I'm telling you, you can never overthink something. And there are lots of other things that we haven't even thought of yet." Killua said, raising his voice at Ikalgo, who scoffed.

"Gon." He said, and the spiky-haired boy turned to him. "Palm will take care of herself. Do you get it?"

"You need to stop worrying about her! If you keep thinking about her, you can die! She knows what she's doing, so don't let her business stop you from doing your own, okay?" Lizzy pleaded.

"Focus on Pitou and nothing else. They will heal Kite. You know that." I told him more seriously.

"Right." Gon nodded.

But will they? Their ability can heal others, so if we separate them from the King, they can be able to heal Kite without having to protect the King. My only concern is prompting them to do so. I don't know how loyal they are to the King, but I believe they are loyal enough to fulfill the King's orders no matter what. If they heal Kite, that would mean they are being unfaithful to him.

"Does anyone have any idea why the King might have injured himself?" Killua asked everyone.

"Hold on. I thought that was just a theory." Knuckle replied, peering at him in confusion.

"Yeah, but you agreed that there was no other logical explanation."

"You're contradicting yourself. Didn't you just say to us that there could be other exceptions? Following that logic, Pitou could have stopped using their En for other, unexpected reasons."

"I understand that. But something doesn't feel right."

"We have three minutes left. Are you sure this is something worth thinking about?" Shoot asked as he stepped up to us.

"Yeah." Killua agreed.

"Right. Think about it. Why would anyone want to hurt themselves? For what reason?" Morel proposed.

I twitched my eyes at the triggering question. Why would anyone want to hurt themselves?

"When you can't forgive yourself." Gon replied, his eyes showing distress.

An image of a trembling boy came into my mind, and I shook my head to try to get it out. The others around me looked at me with concern, except Lizzy.

"When you don't think you are good enough for anything." I answered, my voice sounding grave.

"There was a boy my age who moved to my hometown about four or five years ago, and he kept crying to me and saying that he couldn't do anything right around his family, who would punish him as hard as they could. He told me they were almost heartless. I noticed all the scars on his arms and legs, and I couldn't do anything to keep him from hurting himself more. Then, the most shocking tragedy occurred. His body was found on the water near the docks with blood around it. People came to the conclusion that he stabbed himself and took his own life. They were grieved, and so was I, but I managed to fight back my tears. His family blamed themselves for treating him too harshly and had decided to move to someplace else to forget everything that happened to him. And so, people in my hometown kept quiet about the tragedy, including my grandmother and friend, and continued to live a happy, beautiful life." I explained everything while a flashback played in my head.

Lizzy seemed like she didn't remember, and everyone else, including Morel, felt very bad. Morel stood up and went to the exit, and everyone else did, too.

"You two could be right. Both of those reasons do make sense. But that would mean the King is a ruler with personal pride, not just a cold tyrant." Morel stated.

"Yeah, that's true." Knuckle said.

"For the sake of his pride, he's willing to endure pain. People like him will never be willing to compromise. I know that much from my own experience. If the King refuses to compromise, neither will his Royal Guards. You should assume that combat will be our only option!"