Joey stepped forward—and in an instant, the entire scene changed.
Countless gun barrels pointed straight at him.
They belonged to the Gashya Family members and Royal Army soldiers who had entered from Room 3101.
Joey's eyes swept past them, shifting to examine the room he was now in.
There were numerous doors. Some were guarded by tense soldiers. Others had soldiers actively entering, as if something had been discovered inside.
A few doors stood open—revealing what lay within.
Joey glanced casually inside—and saw rooms splattered with blood and strange machines whose purpose was unclear.
Blood coated the machines. From a distance, he could even make out chunks of flesh. The cloth caught in the gore made it clear: the flesh belonged to humans.
"Hands up!"
A harsh voice barked in Joey's ear. A rifle muzzle jabbed into his lower back—trigger-happy fingers poised to fire at the slightest movement.
Joey raised his hands—but his eyes returned to scanning the room's inhabitants.
This place… he was sure it lay near Room 3321.
But the sheer scale of it gave Joey a new impression—it was likely a man-made space, artificially created.
Which meant the one who created this room was a Conjurer, someone whose ability was likely similar to Knov's.
If that were the case, then this space wasn't necessarily tied to any fixed physical location.
Finding the Conjurer sustaining the space was the key. And the most probable place for them to be was near Room 3321.
If that person sensed danger and moved, the Ayii Family's hideout would move with them.
Now that Joey had discovered Room 3321, would they relocate?
He focused, sensing the positions of both his clone and the Gold Experience constructs that had been teleported in.
There was no sign of movement.
Quick judgment: they hadn't relocated yet.
Under these circumstances, the best move was to keep the clone here post-teleport, while Joey's main body descended to investigate Room 3321 directly.
But he had to be cautious—there were still eyes watching that corridor at all times.
Even if Joey went in person, he might still get intercepted.
He narrowed his eyes, pulled out his phone.
If Hisoka wanted the Ayii's exact location—so be it. It would come down to a fight either way.
He sent a short message:
"3321."
Just that.
He had no plans to leave the upper decks himself.
Meanwhile, his clone—now tied up by the Gashya Family—didn't resist.
Joey didn't care. The clone was expendable.
Before entering the room, he'd already released his last Gold Experience construct. All that remained on him now were a few coins.
With his remaining time, Joey had the clone observe the collaboration between the Gashya Family and the Royal Army.
From a nearby room, gunfire echoed nonstop.
But Joey noticed something odd: the soldiers and mafiosos charging into that room never came back out.
Instead, strange toy-like soldiers appeared at the doorway.
They didn't attack, merely blocked others from entering—pushing people back.
They shouted something, but with the constant gunfire, Joey couldn't make out the words.
Behind them, bullets kept mowing down both soldiers and gangsters.
And every corpse was dragged away by two large teddy bear puppets.
They emerged from the room, collected bodies, and reappeared elsewhere.
In one of the other rooms—which soldiers had broken into—Joey saw a conveyor belt.
Next to it stood people—calm, expressionless, ignoring the soldiers and gangsters.
They dismembered the corpses and sent the pieces down the belt, destination unknown.
The soldiers tried to storm the room, but anyone who crossed the threshold would reappear next to Joey a moment later.
Clearly, the body-processing room had a teleportation trap.
Thinking fast, soldiers and mafia began firing into the room from outside.
But their bullets were stopped—not by a wall, but a massive sword, as wide as a door.
Joey could see clearly—that was a Conjured weapon.
It blocked bullets effortlessly.
And judging by the wielder's aura, they weren't low-level.
Based on Joey's earlier estimates, this person was around level 30.
That meant they'd killed at least thirty people to reach that power.
The Ayii Family truly was insane.
But Joey didn't care. He was just observing.
Just as he prepared to gather more intel, a dead-eyed soldier stepped in front of him—and sucker-punched his gut.
Joey's clone didn't flinch—Nen protected it—but he still frowned.
"Name? Why are you here?" the soldier demanded, massaging his fist with a hint of fear.
That punch had been a warning shot.
But the fact that Joey didn't flinch confirmed something else—he wasn't normal.
He was probably someone important—maybe a Family heir or one of those with "superpowers."
Now the soldier was tense. It was clear: if this guy went all out, their guns might not be enough.
Joey didn't answer.
The clone was expendable. Even if it vanished now, it had served its purpose—he understood the setup.
He would need a new clone to keep observing Tier 3, especially since his bug mics were still jammed.
And if the clone should fight back before vanishing? Joey decided—no need.
Let the Gashya and the Royal Army exhaust themselves fighting the Ayii.
Joey, now fully resolved, didn't give the soldier another chance to speak.
He took one last look around—and let the clone fade into nothingness.
Only the handcuffs it had worn clattered to the ground.
He hadn't seen anyone with Nen among the soldiers or gangsters.
Either they were in disguise—or they simply weren't present.
Either way, Joey couldn't fix the hacking on his phone through them.
So he had to descend to Tier 3 himself.
This time, not to watch Hisoka or the mafia war.
He was going to find Piyon.
Piyon was an electronics expert—if anyone could fix his phone, it was her.
Back in the VVIP section of Tier 1, Joey opened his eyes as the clone vanished.
A wisp of aura spun from his body—forming a new clone in front of him.
After modifying its appearance so it no longer resembled him, he sent it back down to Tier 3.
Joey himself followed shortly after.
Piyon, as a specialist from the Hunter Association, was always busy.
Without phone contact, Joey would need to go through the Association to reach her.
But doing so openly would be risky—his current status made him a shadow player.
So he'd start by contacting someone easier to approach.
That person was Mizaistom, who knew him and could keep it discreet.
Mizaistom had been investigating murders on Tier 3—essentially searching for hidden Ayii members.
To find him, Joey needed to find the latest crime scene.
He knew from earlier intel—Mizaistom hadn't joined the joint operation with the Royal Army and gangs.
Instead, the Association had sent other agents—not from the Zodiacs.
This meant the Association didn't want to get involved in the Ayii conflict.
And that was Joey's opening.
After a brief investigation, Joey pinpointed Mizaistom's location.
He shifted the light around him to become less visible, weaving silently through the corridors of Tier 3.
Within minutes, he reached the area.
He saw the room number—3281.
Not far from 3321.
Joey didn't approach directly—he spotted numerous soldiers nearby.
They were there both for order and to monitor Association Hunters.
Joey summoned a Gold Experience bee, sending it to Mizaistom's room.
Moments later, he ducked into an empty room—3252.
A sealed-off crime scene. But Joey didn't care. He waited.
Ten minutes later, a knock came.
Joey opened the door.
Mizaistom entered, flanked by Tita.
"Is it something important?" Mizaistom asked, straight to the point.
"Yeah. My phone got hacked. I need Piyon. Also, I've found the Ayii Family's base—or rather, I've identified the Conjurer who created it."
Joey didn't beat around the bush.
His clone had already returned to the hallway near 3321.
This time, though, it kept its distance—just monitoring.
The corpse embedded in the wall was gone.
Someone had cleaned it up after Joey entered the room.
And yet… even after all this time—no one had shown up.
Had Hisoka still not made a move?
Joey was puzzled.
But regardless, the bug on the wall near Room 3321 still transmitted only static.
That meant the Conjurer hadn't moved. They knew the room was compromised—but hadn't relocated.
Were they unable to move? Or simply unwilling?
"I'll contact Piyon for you," Mizaistom replied. "As for Ayii intel—I don't want it. I'm not looking for them."
Joey nodded. "So the Association really plans to stay out of the fighting?"
"Yeah. Cheadle wants to keep the conflict contained to Tier 3—don't let it spread to civilians," Mizaistom said.
"The Royal Army agrees. They're evacuating people to Tier 4, to the Shu-Wu-Wu Family's domain."
If war erupted on Tier 3, with the Army, Association, and mafia all involved—they could still suppress it before it wrecked the whole ship.
Each lower tier held 50,000–60,000 people. The mafias only had 2,000–3,000 members.
Even a full-blown gang war wouldn't endanger the entire population.
But if tens of thousands rioted? Even the Army and Hunters wouldn't be enough.
Joey hadn't realized the Association and Royal Army were already prepping for war.
From Mizaistom's calm tone, the situation didn't sound too dire—but in reality, things were heating up.
Still, one issue remained.
Joey's face grew serious.
"You've found and dealt with the Ayii Family's method for sending people to lower tiers, right?"
(End of Chapter)