Once the Seventh Queen's condition stabilized, Joey and Biscuit left the warehouse, carrying the two unconscious captives with them.
The scene outside the warehouse would be discovered quickly—not just due to surveillance in the area, but also because the mafia guards maintained regular contact.
If not for that, Joey could have used Weather Report to mask their tracks. But now, the better choice was to get out.
"Will Belilent know you escaped?" Joey asked as they moved. "And if I remember correctly, you weren't the only ones in Zone 13, right? Also… how did the mafia manage to get close enough to hurt the Queen under your watch? That part seems off."
Joey had too many unanswered questions about Biscuit's situation. Now that he had rescued the Queen and reunited with Biscuit, he wasn't going to miss the chance to dig deeper.
And since Biscuit's knowledge of abilities far exceeded his own, he also planned to ask her advice on the matter of the coffin zone.
"Wasn't Belilent taken away by the King's Guard?" Biscuit asked, surprised. "Zone 13 should've only had him left."
"If it's ability-related, maybe he can still access special intel even in custody?" Joey offered, unsure.
Biscuit shook her head. "No. His ability is different from the other two. His role was just to mark a location. Once that's done, the rest of the ability activates independently.
"If he can still get real-time intel from the lower tiers even in detention, that just proves how well-connected the Gyasha family really is."
Joey nodded. Biscuit made sense.
Unlike the disappearance case he'd reported from Zone 12, no one could confirm Belilent's survivor story from Zone 13.
At least in Zone 12, the Twelfth Prince hadn't gone missing—only expendable guards.
"What do you plan to do with these two?" Joey shifted the topic.
"You want to use them?" Biscuit was as sharp as ever.
"Yeah. If their abilities match what I need, I'd like to send them to Tier 1's VVIP sector." Joey was direct.
"Then go ahead. Even if they die, the King's Guard will clean it up—nothing to do with the Association." Biscuit waved it off like it was nothing. "Spatial abilities are always tricky. These two actually complement each other pretty well."
"Tell me more?" Joey's eyes lit up.
Biscuit nodded, shrinking back down into her petite form mid-run.
"The chubbier guy is a Conjurer. He can place a special marker on a space, and once it's set, he can transport all people inside that marked space into a bubble dimension he creates. The conditions are probably complex, but it works.
"The darker-skinned one is an Emitter. He can release confining bubbles that trap things inside.
"The chubby one trapped me and the Queen in his space bubble, and the other guy wrapped his bubbles around it—locking us in. We couldn't break it from the inside."
"As for the guards from Zone 13 who followed along… unlucky. I snapped their necks."
She didn't explain why.
But Joey understood immediately.
Oxygen.
That's why she said they were "unlucky."
The Queen, by contrast, had been lucky to survive.
Still, after hearing all this, Joey was a bit disappointed.
He'd hoped one of them had an ability to reinforce spatial structures.
But these bubble-type techniques weren't ideal for sealing a huge empty room like the one in the VVIP area.
The teleportation marker, though—that might be worth testing.
The Thirteenth Prince's guardian beast had a power that created an "inner world" dimension to hide things.
So if Joey used this guy's marker inside the room, and activated the teleport—
Would it work on the real-world layer, or would it also affect the inner space?
If it was the former, he'd just waste some time.
But if it was the latter, it could directly bypass the Thirteenth Prince's beast's power.
Wait.
Spatial reinforcement.
Joey muttered, what if the area was strengthened while the marker was being set?
What would that do?
Also, how big was the effective range of their abilities?
"How big is the area their abilities can affect?"
"Big enough to cover about two-thirds of a prince's bedroom," Biscuit replied. "Judging by how strained the confinement guy looked, that's probably his limit. Can't say for the conjurer, though."
From her tone, it was clear—she'd thoroughly analyzed both abilities during the fight.
"Just those two?" Joey asked.
"There was a third. I shattered him." Biscuit glanced back, smiling—but it was a cold smile. "An Enhancer. Focused all his Nen into a gun. Absolutely ridiculous."
Joey got it.
No wonder the Queen had gotten hurt.
He hadn't been able to figure out how those two could break through Biscuit's guard—
Turns out, there was a third attacker.
And Biscuit's "shatter" definitely meant physically obliterated.
Joey recalled the blood and shredded clothing in one corner of the warehouse.
So there was a body there.
If true, Biscuit's punch might rival Uvogin's Big Bang Impact.
When they reached the hallway where Joey had fought Nobunaga earlier, he noticed something troubling—
No King's Guards.
A bad feeling crept in.
Sure enough, when they reached the warehouse that had once held the teleport trap, it had turned back into a normal freight room.
Joey laid the Seventh Queen down inside, stroking his chin and pacing twice around the room.
Then he turned to Biscuit.
"The Queen's mostly stable now. Contact the King's Guard and have them escort you both back to the upper tier. I'm a wanted man—it's not safe for me to deal with them directly."
"Eh?" Biscuit blinked in confusion.
She'd expected to make the call, but hadn't thought that Joey had become a fugitive in such a short time.
"What did you do?" she asked.
"Got ambushed by the King's Guard when I tried to save Melody. Nasubi Hui Guo Rou learned I was investigating the succession war and tried to trap me on Tier 1." Joey explained briefly, even as his two captives floated beside him, lifted by wind.
"And Melody?" Biscuit's eyes showed concern. "You're really going back to the VVIP sector alone? Your ability's good, sure—but going solo means blind spots. Even fighting will be harder without backup.
"As for the Seventh Queen, she doesn't care about Momose's fate. Even if we bring her back up, she'll just drown herself in pleasure in Zone 13."
Her meaning was obvious. She wanted to help Joey directly.
"I've still got my clones. Easier to move solo. Not like I'm gonna run up and duel Nasubi head-on. Relax." Joey politely declined, but felt warmed inside.
He knew how dangerous it would be for Biscuit to investigate on Tier 1.
If not for his own arsenal of survival abilities, he'd never have risked the top deck either.
Biscuit stared at him for a long moment, then sighed.
"Fine. But be careful. And give me a ladybug—if something happens, dispel the Nen on it."
Joey didn't refuse this time. He'd already given one to Kurapika.
If things went wrong, Kurapika would be the first he'd call anyway.
Then Joey turned and swiftly flew back toward the tunnel he'd drilled earlier, his two prisoners in tow.
Back on Tier 5, meanwhile, the Gyasha family discovered the bodies of their men near the warehouse.
Soon after, their young boss Ken'i arrived at the scene.
His perfectly combed hair framed a face thinner than when he'd last seen Joey.
Adjusting his glasses, Ken'i looked to a subordinate.
"Did you identify the bodies?"
"Yes," the mafia man replied nervously. "According to boarding records, there were 7 + 1 corpses.
"Three were VIPs from Tier 2. One was a pro Hunter from the Association.
"Three others were private guards of the Thirteenth Prince.
"The last one—'+1'—was shattered. No way to recover the face. Based on the remains, he was likely smashed to death by blunt force."
The man gulped. Only when he saw no change in Ken'i's face did he continue.
"Judging by the scene, they had been living here at least five days. We don't know why."
Ken'i nodded, neither satisfied nor critical.
If they'd lived here long-term, it had been planned.
This was just a minor storage unit—only four guards had been posted after the recent riots.
But the three Thirteenth Prince's soldiers… that was the crux.
The "Zone 13 disappearance" incident had already leaked to the mafia.
Getting intel from the King's Army was never a problem for them.
But now those guards had reappeared—while the Queen was missing.
Ken'i's gaze landed on the warehouse door. It had clearly been opened from outside.
With the clues in hand, it was easy to infer—
Someone rescued the Seventh Queen, who had somehow ended up imprisoned here.
"Troublesome…" Ken'i muttered.
Whoever saved her, it happened on Gyasha turf—and that would be all anyone cared about.
People would point fingers at Gyasha, not ask whether the real culprits were theirs.
This had to be reported to the Seventh Prince immediately.
Ken'i made his decision: "Inform the King's Army. Tell them the Seventh Queen was kidnapped and then rescued by a mystery person."
If this was a setup to frame Gyasha, it couldn't be buried.
And if it wasn't—once the Queen recovered, she'd reveal the warehouse, and they'd be implicated anyway.
This was beyond his pay grade.
Ken'i pulled out his phone.
While his men contacted the King's Army, he made a separate call.
"Hello." A hoarse, deep voice answered.
It belonged to the head of the Gyasha family—Yatsuka.
At the same time, the Hunter Association and King's Army received the rescue report.
Short on manpower, the Army quickly dispatched a unit, joined by professional Hunters.
The Judiciary Bureau, too, received the intel—and their vast machinery began to turn.
But as all these forces mobilized, far above, in the quiet of night—
A small slip of paper appeared silently in the Seventh Prince's palm.
He unfolded it where none of the guards behind him—Basho included—could see.
As his eyes scanned the message, his brow furrowed.
Holding his long smoking pipe, he didn't take a puff.
Instead, he tapped the pipe gently against the desk.
A guard behind him, dozing off, instantly snapped to attention—but pretended to still be sleepy.
When the pipe tapped for the seventh time, Basho glanced curiously at the Prince.
At that moment, the Prince rose, stretching exaggeratedly.
"Getting late. Go get some rest. Didn't do much today, but still feel tired. Guess this smoke does nothing for me," he yawned, laying the pipe on the desk.
(End of Chapter)