Damn it! A miscalculation! Chrollo hadn't anticipated that Bodoro would take Neon away in this manner and immediately gave chase.
But he couldn't be blamed. After all, according to his investigation the previous night, there was no such person among the Nostrade Family's hired bodyguards.
Moreover, generally speaking, a bodyguard wouldn't attack their own employer, let alone in such an extremely rough manner.
But the problem was... after chasing for a long time, Chrollo realized he wasn't closing the distance; instead, his target was pulling further and further ahead.
Clearly, in terms of basic Nen skill, especially movement speed, he was no match for the Enhancer Bodoro. Thus, out of necessity, he immediately materialized the "Skill Hunter" and, quickly flipping to one of the pages, activated the ability within without hesitation.
The next second... Bodoro, running frantically with Neon on his shoulder, suddenly found that his position had inexplicably rewound by more than fifty meters.
At the same time, Chrollo gave him no time to think, swinging his fist down hard.
Thud!
As a typical Enhancer, Bodoro easily blocked the strike with one hand, asking with a hint of surprise: "Spatial movement ability?!"
Chrollo issued a direct death threat: "Hand over the girl! Or I'll kill you!"
Unfortunately, Bodoro was completely immune to the bluff, sneering fearlessly: "Hmph! Empty threats! We're less than two hundred meters from the building controlled by the Mafia. If you dare fight me here, they'll notice the abnormality within minutes. Simply attempting to kidnap the Nostrade Family's daughter will instantly make you the enemy of the entire Mafia Syndicate."
"Are you truly a bodyguard hired by the Mafia?" Chrollo narrowed his eyes, probing.
Bodoro retorted: "What else would I be?"
"No. That's wrong. You are definitely not a hired Mafia bodyguard. I've never heard of a bodyguard knocking out the person they're protecting. And you don't care if this girl lives or dies; you just don't want me to get to her. Who are you?" Chrollo's gaze instantly sharpened.
"I apologize, but I am under no obligation to answer any of your questions or reveal any information. Furthermore, if you don't leave now, the Nostrade Family bodyguards will arrive within minutes. At that point, you might not even be able to escape."
As he said this, Bodoro glanced out of the corner of his eye at the street behind them and the increasingly clear sound of a car engine.
According to the strategy set by Allen, if Neon snuck out and a Troupe member appeared nearby, his task was to knock her out and quickly move toward the Mafia building.
On the other side, after Allen received an emergency distress signal on his phone, he would immediately have Marcus call the Nostrade Family bodyguards.
The moment Kurapika mobilized, whoever came would have no choice but to retreat. They might even suffer a heavy loss or have one or two members captured.
This achieved the dual goal of muddying the waters and diverting the Troupe's attention onto the "Chain User."
Chrollo also clearly noticed the sound of the car engine, pursing his lips and saying with a playful tone: "It seems you really did prepare everything in advance. Tell me, what is your objective? Or are you an accomplice of that fellow called Rabid Dog?"
It was obvious that he was trying to extract more intelligence from this stranger.
But Bodoro, already informed by Allen about the nature of the Phantom Troupe leader, didn't believe he would gain anything by engaging such a person in a verbal and intellectual duel, and decisively chose to remain silent while staying fully on guard.
Only when the black car appeared around the corner did Chrollo reluctantly turn and flee.
There was no choice. As mentioned before, they were simply too close to the Mafia building. If a fierce battle broke out, he would not just be facing a few Nen users, but would be ganged up on by the entire Mafia.
Because of the events of the previous night, the Mafia Syndicate had currently pulled out a good deal of automatic weapons from their secret warehouses. Furthermore, he was not the Enhancer Uvogin, who was confident in using Ken to directly withstand sniper rifle bullets and rocket launchers.
"Phew… we finally made it through." Bodoro finally breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the other man leave, immediately turning and handing Neon over to Kurapika and Melody, who had just emerged from the car. "Here! She's fine, I just knocked her out."
Kurapika took the girl and asked warily: "Who was that man just now?"
Bodoro stated the truth directly: "Chrollo. The leader of the Phantom Troupe. He clearly found out about the Nostrade Family daughter's ability from somewhere, so he was waiting here specifically to steal it."
Since he had used an ability Allen stole from a perverted assassin to change his facial muscle structure, he wasn't recognized by the other party.
Ostensibly, he was just a Nen user temporarily hired by Marcus Cabrelli.
However, Kurapika obviously wouldn't simply trust a stranger's word, so he immediately turned his gaze to Melody.
The latter gently nodded in response: "His heartbeat is calm, he isn't lying."
Hearing his comrade's judgment, Kurapika relaxed slightly, forcing a small smile as he bowed slightly with one hand over his chest: "Thank you. Thank you for protecting Neon-san. Light Nostrade-san will remember this favor!"
"You're welcome. I was only following orders. If there's nothing else, I'll be heading back. If all goes as planned, we should have an opportunity to cooperate tonight. After all, hunting spiders is quite an interesting endeavor, so interesting that I can barely contain the excitement and impulse within me." Bodoro subconsciously cracked his knuckles.
If it hadn't been for the burden he was carrying, he definitely would have tried to challenge the Phantom Troupe leader, whom the outside world described as vicious and ruthless.
"I hope so."
Kurapika clearly didn't want to reveal his intense hatred for the Troupe to a stranger, so he only replied with a polite phrase. He then placed Neon on the back seat and drove off with Melody.
Having gone through this incident, he would surely heighten his vigilance considerably, making absolutely sure Chrollo never got another chance to approach the Mafia daughter.
After all, he had personally witnessed the predictive power of the Lovely Ghostwriter; if it fell into the hands of his enemy, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Watching the black car gradually disappear, Bodoro also immediately returned to the hotel operated and controlled by the Cabrelli Family.
He completely failed to notice that Chrollo, who had ostensibly fled, had been following far behind, silently watching him enter the elevator, a strange light glinting in his eyes.
But Chrollo also didn't know that his every move was being observed by Allen from the luxury suite on the top floor, who was literally looking down on his every action.
It perfectly encapsulated the phrase, "I predicted your prediction."
If Kurapika was on the first level in this scenario, Bodoro on the second, and Chrollo on the third, then Allen felt he must be on at least the fifth level.
Because he had successfully disrupted a critical step in the opponent's plan...