Nostrade was originally just an insignificant small-time gang leader.
Until one day, his daughter Neon suddenly awakened a Specialization ability: Lovely Ghostwriter.
This ability allowed Neon to unconsciously write prophecies foretelling the future in the form of prophetic poems.
Nostrade keenly recognized the business opportunity and began using Neon's prophetic ability to predict the future for high-ranking gang members.
With these accurate prophecies, Nostrade not only easily amassed enormous wealth but also rapidly accumulated powerful connections.
Soon, Nostrade's status skyrocketed, and in a short time, he rose to become a direct subordinate under the Ten Dons.
As the Yorknew Auction approached, many high-ranking gang members requested Nostrade to divine their fortunes to ensure their goals at the auction would proceed without a hitch.
Thus, an unprecedented situation occurred: the first stanza of the prophetic poems for several high-ranking gang leaders all yielded the same result.
"The grand event arrives as promised; what you seek is right there."
"Choose: the staircase ascending to great heights, or the narrow corridor descending into the depths."
"If you hear the crow's call, do not disappoint it."
"If you see the God of Death's footprints, do not let him see you."
"Lower your head and carefully count where the shadows should fall; among the ten who meet each other's gaze, one has no shadow."
"Then descend, for the darker the place, the safer it is."
Neon's prophetic poems typically consist of four to five stanzas, each corresponding to a week of future events.
This time, the first stanza of the prophetic poems for several high-ranking gang leaders was exactly the same.
And all of them would be attending this year's Yorknew Auction.
This meant that the prophecy essentially pointed to the first week of September, the time of the auction.
Dalzollene, the captain in charge of the Nostrade Family's security, had the regular duty of supervising Neon's use of her ability and conveying the divination results to clients.
But this situation was too unusual. After obtaining the prophecy, he did not immediately notify the high-ranking gang members but instead reported directly to Nostrade.
"Based on past interpretation patterns, the appearance of a crow generally foretells impending danger or disaster. The God of Death often represents an unstoppable, lethal assailant. And as for this final hint about ten people, if it's linked to the Yorknew Auction..."
Dalzollene analyzed the content of the prophetic poem but trailed off deliberately.
After all, the hint about ten people was too sensitive. It could very well point to the Ten Dons.
When it came to such topics, Dalzollene knew what should and shouldn't be said.
So, while his eyes showed gravity as he reported this, his mindset held a trace of detached indifference.
After hearing Dalzollene's report, Nostrade fell into silence.
Among the ten, one has no shadow.
If these ten people truly referred to the Ten Dons, didn't that mean... At the upcoming Yorknew Auction, one of the Ten Dons would meet with misfortune?
Considering this possibility, Nostrade quickly made a decision after a brief silence. "Do not inform the clients of the divination results for now. I will call you again."
"Understood."
Though puzzled, Dalzollene responded immediately.
Previously, regardless of the divination results, Nostrade would always have Dalzollene inform the clients right away.
But this time, he had unusually overturned the usual practice.
After hanging up the phone, Dalzollene vaguely sensed Nostrade's intentions but didn't dwell on it further.
As the head of security, his duty was to protect Neon's safety. Anything beyond that wasn't worth his attention.
—--
On the other end, Nostrade lowered his head, gripping the phone tightly with both hands.
The hidden messages in these prophecies likely concerned the life and death of the Ten Dons.
If he personally alerted the Ten Dons, not only could he demonstrate greater value in their eyes, but he might also seize the opportunity to gain more influence.
How could he simply hand over the divination results to those high-ranking mafia bosses? That would be giving away ready-made credit.
Nostrade was ambitious and would never let slip any chance to advance further.
After calming himself slightly, he prepared to report the matter to the Ten Dons.
—--
The whereabouts of the Ten Dons had always been shrouded in mystery.
Like masterminds operating in the shadows, they would only gather at certain times and places to issue various directives.
Even during the annual Yorknew Auction, a major event, their presence had never been seen.
But this auction was ultimately the mafia's most important wealth-gathering moment of the year. The public auction alone involved tens of trillions of Jenny, not to mention the private underground auctions.
So, during the Yorknew Auction, the Ten Dons would gather in a certain location, keeping a close watch on the event.
In a conference room, the Ten Dons, all over fifty with imposing auras, sat around the conference table.
The content of the prophecy poem reported by Nostrade, along with its interpretation, had been written on paper and presented before them.
"What do you all think?"
One of them, an elderly man with white hair and beard, pressed his hand on the paper and looked at the others around the table.
Someone said coldly, "Using 'God of Death' to refer to the perpetrator, along with the interpretation of being 'unable to resist'... Does that mean we can't even handle a mere assailant?"
"Let's treat it as a warning."
Among the Ten Dons, two were in their forties or fifties. One of them, a blond middle-aged man, clasped his hands under his chin and said calmly, "As long as we take precautions in advance and avoid the prophecy's path, there's no need to worry too much."
"But this divination was for Capiro and the others. Perhaps..."
Another middle-aged man with a broad forehead and a mustache suggested, "Should we also get a divination for ourselves?"
"I heard divination requires full names, birthdates, and blood types?"
One of the Ten Dons casually reminded them.
At the mention of personal information, their expressions shifted.
After a brief silence, they all turned their gaze toward the conference room door, where a muscular man in a green vest with a crew cut stood.
Their eyes held clear inquiry.
The vest-clad man understood, explaining expressionlessly, "Judging by the nature of the ability, the Nostrade Family's divination falls under positive effects. Information such as name and blood type typically serves as prerequisites for locking onto a target. However, the difficulty of activating the ability and its potential risks often depend on whether the target voluntarily provides such information."
At this point, he paused briefly, allowing the Ten Dons to digest this information before continuing, "Everything has two sides, and abilities are no exception. Since there are divination abilities that seek good fortune and avoid disaster, naturally there would also be curse-type abilities or those that locate targets. Based on my personal experience, unless absolutely necessary, it's best not to casually disclose your key information."
'...'
After listening to the vest-wearing man's explanation, the Ten Dons exchanged silent glances, completely abandoning the idea of seeking divination from the Nostrade Family.
As giants controlling the underworld, they valued their personal safety more than anyone else and would never easily expose their personal information.
"The most troublesome aspect of this warning-style prophecy poem is that it only indicates the existence of the 'God of Death' without clarifying identity or origins..."
A Ten Don with a receding hairline stroked his beard and said gravely, "So we can only presuppose scenarios and make preventive preparations in advance."
"Exactly."
A blond middle-aged Ten Don lowered his head to gaze at the verses on the paper, calmly stating, "Don't ignore the crow's warning, and don't make eye contact with the God of Death. Then as long as we avoid direct confrontation, or even show appropriate weakness, we can evade danger."
"At least we know what to do..."
—--
August 28th.
Morrow arrived in Yorknew City alone.
As for Kurapika, under Morena's arrangements, he had already been disguised as an inconspicuous newcomer of the Heil-Ly Family, remaining within the Heil-Ly Family's territory in Kakin.
This was all preparatory work for successfully obtaining the Scarlet Eyes.
With several days remaining until the auction's opening, Yorknew City was already bustling with crowds.
This was always the case during this season every year.
After all, this top-tier auction was open to the entire world and had always been grand in scale.
That it could be held year after year as scheduled was a testament to the Ten Dons' influence.
Upon arriving in Yorknew, Morrow went straight to the free trade flea market with familiar ease.
His current Tree Rings energy stood at one ring and 11%. While this was sufficient to support one rewind, such life-preserving energy was naturally better to have more of.
So before the auction officially began, he planned to search for as many antiques imbued with aura as possible.
From daytime until evening, Morrow found four Nen-imbued objects, but after absorbing them, the energy ring only increased slightly, still remaining at 11%.
However, by reselling these Nen-imbued objects, he netted a profit of one billion in just one day.
Only during auction season could such easy flipping be possible.
After the free trade flea market closed, Morrow went to the Southernpiece Auction House in advance to purchase the product catalog that included admission tickets.
During this period, the probability of Nen-imbued objects appearing in flea markets would skyrocket, while the likelihood of items carrying Post-Mortem Will appearing in auctions would also increase.
Morrow returned to his hotel with the auction catalog, preparing to learn about the items going up for auction on September 1st.
He had just returned to his hotel room and hadn't even opened the catalog when he received a message from Morena.
The Heil-Ly Family's operation in Yorknew this time was led by the family head, so Morena wasn't clear about the specific itinerary. She could only confirm that their group would arrive before the auction began.
Additionally, Morena provided basic information about the four Nen users accompanying them.
They were the Heil-Ly Family head and his son, along with two other capable members of the family. One of them was the expert Morena had mentioned earlier.
Morena's intel focused particularly on this expert.
His name was Lopez, an Enhancer from a martial arts school in Kakin, who had earned the deep trust of the current family head.
According to Morena, as long as they could take down Lopez, the family head's son and the other executive wouldn't pose much of a threat.
As for the family head... Although the heads of Kakin's three major mafia families all possessed Nen abilities, their prolonged life of luxury meant their direct combat capabilities were far inferior to those of the executives who regularly handled fieldwork.
At the end of this information, Morena specifically mentioned that communication devices would be confiscated after the airship departed.
The only absolute certainty was they would definitely attend the Southernpiece Auction on the evening of September 1st.
After reading the contents of Morena's message, Morrow didn't need to reply. Instead, he crushed the entire backup phone and flushed it down the toilet.
I hope this Lopez has a high enough level.
Currently, both his level and Tree Rings energy had reached a point where further progress was extremely difficult.
If his hunting target had a sufficiently high level, he could at least gain noticeable experience rewards.
—--
This year's auction schedule was different from previous years.
The headline auction items, which usually only appeared between the 5th and 10th, were being released gradually starting from the 1st this year.
This change prompted many regular customers to adjust their schedules and come to Yorknew earlier.
Naturally, among these people was the wealthy Battera.
He came every year, especially since seven sets of Greed Island games were going up for auction this year.
Arriving in Yorknew around the same time as Battera were Killua and Gon, who came from Heavens Arena.
Over the past two months, they had fought their way up to the 200th floor of Heavens Arena, each earning over 200 million Jenny in prize money.
Following Morrow's earlier advice, they particularly valued the practical combat experience at Heavens Arena. They stayed on the 200th floor to continue competing and eventually achieved an impressive record of 10 wins and 1 loss, earning the qualification to challenge Floor Masters.
Before heading to Yorknew, they didn't waste their challenge opportunities. They each defeated a current Floor Master and successfully claimed the title themselves.
As for their only defeat in the arena... Naturally, both losses came from Hisoka.
It's worth mentioning that besides formal arena matches, Killua and Gon often sparred with Kastro and Calista during their free time.
At first, Killua, leveraging the characteristics of Godspeed, mostly emerged victorious.
Gon, however, suffered heavy losses.
He didn't possess a rare ability like Killua's, nor did he have the Zoldyck Family's inherited combat techniques. Coupled with a significant experience gap, he stood almost no chance against Kastro and Calista.
But as time passed, their situations gradually reversed.
Gon's learning ability was exceptional. He grew rapidly through repeated crushing defeats and even began to occasionally defeat Kastro and Calista.
In contrast, Killua, after multiple actual combats, had his stamina weakness exposed by Kastro, who then suppressed him using his own solid foundational skills and tactics.
Thus, by the mid-phase of the practical training, Gon's win count had surpassed Killua's.
However, by the later stage, the terrifying talent of the two young men was once again proven.
They had fully adapted to the high-intensity combat rhythm, and by the end, they were able to consistently defeat both Kastro and Calista.
Faced with such results, Kastro and Calista felt both astonishment and bitterness.
What astonished them was the monstrous growth speed and talent of Killua and Gon.
What pained them was that their own strength, cultivated through years of arduous training, had been completely surpassed by these two young men in just over a month.
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Bonus chapter @1000power stones
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