Why—
Why is Phinks of the Phantom Troupe here?
And he's disguised himself as Saixing; this is clearly a targeted operation.
Watching Phinks, who had deactivated his transformation ability, Moruo's pupils constricted.
In an instant, Moruo thought of many things.
He confirmed that Phinks was specifically here to cause him trouble.
He then thought of Saixing's situation, and the possibility of other Phantom Troupe members being nearby.
The worst outcome would be the Phantom Troupe acting collectively, and specifically targeting him as their prey.
But—
What was the motive and reason?
Moruo and the Troupe had never had any dealings.
Was it a whim, or did they take a fancy to his antique shop?
Unlikely.
The value of the antique shop was negligible; it wouldn't even rank in Yorknew City.
Given the Phantom Troupe's style of robbing all goods from an auction house, why would they be interested in his antique shop?
A whim?
Even less likely.
If it were truly a whim, they wouldn't have gone to the trouble of first dealing with Saixing, and even adopting a more cautious method like transformation.
This was clearly a pre-arranged plan, intended to make the outcome foolproof.
And among the Troupe, the one who would obsess over such methods... Chrollo Lucilfer.
The worst-case scenario.
This was enough to suggest that, besides Phinks, the Troupe members targeting him included at least Chrollo, and Pakunoda, who was always by Chrollo's side.
This was dangerous...
But precisely at times like this, he needed to be calmer.
Why was the Phantom Troupe targeting him?
There was no point in dwelling on the root cause now; what he needed to consider was how to escape the danger.
Moruo suddenly retreated, and as he passed the reception desk by the door, he casually grabbed an ashtray.
Amidst the wind and rain.
Phinks saw Moruo's actions, but didn't pay much attention, and wasn't in a hurry to attack even after his disguise was exposed.
He hadn't completed the boss's arrangement, but the outcome wouldn't change.
"Hmm?"
Phinks suddenly raised an eyebrow.
A dull thud came from inside the antique shop, followed by all the lights going out, plunging the shop into darkness.
Seeing this, Phinks realized that Moruo had grabbed the ashtray to quickly destroy the circuit breaker.
But what good would that do?
Phinks remained motionless, standing in the wind and rain.
Inside the completely dark antique shop.
Moruo looked towards the back door, clearly feeling a turbulent, wild killing intent, utterly undisguised.
He was blocked.
Moruo let out a long breath.
From Phinks' actions, he deduced that Chrollo and Pakunoda were likely nearby, but it was clearly not just three of them...
With no intention of confronting the killing intent at the back door, Moruo calmed himself as much as possible, then immediately walked out of the antique shop.
In just a moment, three more people appeared on the street.
The one at the forefront had short black hair, a purple cross tattoo in the center of his forehead, and deep, dark eyes.
His calm expression subtly revealed a hint of cold indifference.
The person on the left was a tall, voluptuous blonde woman with cold, beautiful eyes, though her aquiline nose somewhat marred her overall beauty.
The person on the right was a blonde, baby-faced young man with emerald green eyes, his face full of smiles.
Chrollo, Pakunoda, Shalnark.
Some distinct facial features allowed Moruo to instantly recognize their identities, and his heart sank.
Chrollo, hands in his pockets, looked at Moruo as if he were an inanimate object devoid of any life.
Beside him, Shalnark placed one hand on his hip and smiled,
"He's very alert and decisive. It seems he knows us..."
"Let's just restrain him first," Pakunoda said, crossing her arms, emphasizing her ample chest.
Chrollo silently raised his right hand, drawing Nen to his palm.
Watching Chrollo's action of channeling Nen, Moruo's gaze deepened, his tone devoid of any emotional fluctuation:
"The Phantom Troupe... you certainly think highly of me. But we've never had any direct or indirect contact, have we?"
Chrollo's eyes were as calm as still water, and he remained silent.
The other Troupe members also showed no intention of answering.
No answer...
Moruo took a deep breath, trying to think of an escape opportunity.
It was at this moment that Chrollo used his Nen ability.
Skill Hunter (Bandit's Secret)
As Nen surged, a book with a red handprint appeared out of thin air in his right hand.
Rustle, rustle...
Against the sudden rain, the book flipped its own pages.
When the page stopped, Chrollo's left hand materialized a monocle connected by a golden chain.
Seeing the monocle that Chrollo had materialized, a sudden shift occurred in Moruo's eyes; he wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or angry.
That monocle was precisely Saixing's Conjuration ability.
Now that this ability had been stolen by Chrollo, it meant Saixing was still alive.
However, given the Phantom Troupe's methods, even if he were alive, his fate would undoubtedly be tragic...
Chrollo held the monocle, but didn't put it on.
"No rush."
He spoke slowly, stopping Phinks, who was about to act.
Originally, Chrollo intended to use the act of materializing the monocle to affect Moruo's state of mind, thereby creating an opportunity to ensure Moruo's capture alive.
Strangely...
Moruo's displayed reaction didn't contain a trace of surprise or doubt.
When a comrade's ability was used by someone who came looking for trouble.
Even with an extremely firm resolve, one should at least show the doubt expected of a human.
But the Moruo that Chrollo saw showed no reactions such as shock, surprise, or doubt; instead, it was...
Relief?
What was he relieved about?
The possibility Chrollo could think of was that Moruo, upon seeing the monocle, instantly realized that the ability holder was still alive.
In that case, the premise for making such a judgment would be to have knowledge of his Specialization ability, 'Skill Hunter (Bandit's Secret).'
That makes it very interesting.
"Moruo, is it... As you said, we've never had any direct or indirect contact."
Chrollo delivered a conclusion with a certain tone, his eyes then revealing a hint of inquiry.
"But your reaction is conveying a piece of information to me: you—understand my Nen ability."
It wasn't a question, nor a guess.
It was a definitive conclusion.
Hearing Chrollo's words, Shalnark, Pakunoda, and Phinks all showed expressions of surprise.
"..."
Moruo was silent, a little surprised himself.
Just because of a brief change when seeing Saixing's ability, Chrollo had seen through it and confidently reached a definitive conclusion.
This was Chrollo Lucilfer.
Moruo suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and at the same time, forced himself to look at Pakunoda.
If there was still a chance to escape, it was... information.
Moruo was almost certain that Pakunoda had used her memory-searching ability on Saixing to extract information about him.
And this information contained a crucial error.
Namely... in Saixing's perception, he was an Enhancer.
But in reality, he was an Emitter.
The opportunity lay within that.
(End of Chapter)
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