While Hisoka and Kurapika were exchanging intelligence in the abandoned amusement park, Allen had already reunited with Bodoro. Stretching under the bright moonlight, he exclaimed with a satisfied expression: "What a tense and fulfilling night! As a warm-up before the official hunt begins, this is more than enough."
"You call that a warm-up?" Baise's mouth twitched slightly and uncontrollably.
As one of the only two people who witnessed the entire battle from start to finish, she simply couldn't believe that the handsome, approximately fifteen-year-old boy before her possessed such terrifying cunning and power. He not only rooted out the entire Shadow Beast unit in one go but also forcefully killed a monstrous opponent right in front of so many Phantom Troupe members and escaped completely unharmed.
What was more terrifying was that neither the Phantom Troupe nor the Mafia's Ten Dons knew the truth; instead, they believed the other side was deliberately provoking an all-out war, leaving them no choice but to fight.
A monster? A devil? Or a terrifying lunatic?
Baise was utterly at a loss for words to describe her feelings toward Allen, having developed a powerful mix of fear and awe deep in her heart.
Fortunately. She hadn't detected any malice from him so far, so she figured she would be safe if she could just get through the next few days.
"If I remember correctly, your ability is a Manipulator type, the Instant Lover, which uses a kiss to make men obey your will. Right?" Allen suddenly crouched down and asked without warning.
"Ah! Y-yes," Baise replied subconsciously.
Due to her extreme nervousness, she even overlooked how he knew her ability and its activation conditions.
"Hmm, that sounds quite interesting," Allen proposed a hypothetical scenario with interest. "If you kissed a man, but his Nen ability was extremely powerful and had a wide area of effect, could you guarantee that he would release the ability without harming anyone nearby?"
Clearly, the person and ability referred to were Feitan's "Rising Sun" and the protective suit required for it.
"I... I think so," Baise's voice held obvious lack of confidence. "Because any man who falls victim to the Instant Lover cannot refuse any request I make."
She couldn't be confident. Because everything she had witnessed tonight, from the heinous Phantom Troupe members to the later-arriving Shadow Beasts, and especially the seemingly harmless but actually most dangerous boy before her, had repeatedly dragged her confidence out, thrown it on the ground, flattened, crushed, and finally scattered it to the wind as dust.
"Is that so? What a convenient ability, even if the activation conditions are a bit strict. Would you be interested in joining my team?" Allen extended his right hand, offering an invitation.
"Join your team?" Baise froze on the spot.
Because she really couldn't keep up with this kind of thought process that suddenly took a ninety-degree turn.
Allen smiled and nodded: "Exactly. Because your ability is precisely what I need. In return, I can teach you how to systematically train your Nen ability, as well as many methods for rapidly growing stronger. Furthermore, all team income will be divided into three equal shares; everyone takes one part."
"Are you serious?" Baise was clearly tempted.
No one would reject the prospect of having a powerful team backing them, along with teammates who could provide support and protection at any time, and she was no exception.
"Of course. I'm always serious. No need to rush your decision; you can take your time to think it over. Just give me your answer before the all-out war with the Phantom Troupe begins tomorrow night."
With that, Allen stood up and gave Bodoro a meaningful look. The latter immediately ducked into the woods and drove out the hidden off-road vehicle.
The three people and the wolf immediately drove back to Yorknew City.
Only this time, they didn't go to the small motel but drove straight to the hotel managed and controlled by the Cabrelli Family.
Marcus, who had been up all night without closing his eyes, immediately received the group in the top-floor suite without question.
The moment they met, he stared with bloodshot eyes and said excitedly: "Unbelievable! All your predictions came true! The Phantom Troupe really did attack the auction site! And they wiped out the Shadow Beasts unit! Now the Ten Dons have begun massively recruiting assassins and bounty hunters, swearing to make them pay. I hear they've even hired the assassin family, the Zoldycks!"
"Calm down, this is only the beginning; the real show starts tomorrow," Allen said, taking a big gulp of the champagne placed on the table. "Remember, do not send anyone to investigate or pursue Phantom Troupe members, and don't get involved in the peripheral security work for the auction, because that will be pointless, it's just a death sentence. When the Ten Dons die tomorrow, I'll send you a text message, and then you can begin your move."
It must be said that Marcus truly made no effort to hide his craving for the Mafia Syndicate's seat of ultimate power.
The moment he heard the Phantom Troupe was going to war with the Ten Dons, he immediately opened a bottle of champagne and secretly hid here to celebrate.
"Hahahaha! Understood! I'll follow your lead! Come! To a better tomorrow! Cheers!" Marcus enthusiastically raised a glass of champagne.
"To friendship! Cheers!"
Accompanied by the crisp clinking of glasses, the two immediately tilted their heads back and drank the contents in one gulp.
After emptying his glass of champagne, Marcus impatiently asked: "Tell me, what else do you need me to do?"
"Simple." Allen stated his requirement directly. "The Ten Dons are currently recruiting assassins and bounty hunters, aren't they? Arrange for all three of us to join them, but it must be under false names and fake identities. You know how to handle that, right?"
With the total annihilation of the Shadow Beasts, the Mafia no longer held much value to him. Joining as an allied force would simply make his movements more convenient.
"No problem, just give me a little time. If you don't mind, you can stay right here. I'll arrange three special, unregistered guest rooms for you, guaranteed to be untraceable," Marcus agreed without hesitation.
For a Mafia boss of his caliber, minor issues like this were never a problem.
Furthermore, the false identities weren't meant to last a lifetime; they only needed to fool the Ten Dons for a day or two.
"Then I'll leave that to you. Also, closely monitor the Mafia's movements and inform me immediately of any news."
Thanks to his meticulous preparations and planning, Allen had now planted important informants within both the Phantom Troupe (Hisoka) and the Mafia Syndicate (Marcus). Every move made by both sides was under his observation.
If it weren't for maintaining his image, he truly would have shouted, "This is an overwhelming advantage, how could I possibly lose?"
The only remaining problem was how to prevent Chrollo from approaching Neon without alerting him, thus cutting off the possibility of him stealing the "Lovely Ghostwriter" ability.
After all, this was a special ability that could accurately predict the future!
And if danger or death appeared in the prophecy, it could be averted through certain means; it was practically like cheating by getting the script ahead of time.
Although Allen himself wasn't extremely interested in the ability, and even felt a slight aversion to it, that didn't stop him from preventing his enemy from obtaining it.
Otherwise, if he obtained a prophecy about himself, Chrollo's intelligence would instantly recognize that Yorknew City was a death trap, causing him to abandon his original plan and simply escape with the Phantom Troupe.
In that case, he would be forced to use the most time-consuming and laborious method, relying on the Hunting Map to hunt these guys down one by one across the entire world.
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You can read the ahead chapter on Patr-eon if you're interested: p-atre-on.c-om/Overgod [Just remove the hyphen to access normally]