Kurapika's guess was spot on.
The Phantom Troupe was indeed the one currently in a difficult position.
Chrollo shared his thoughts on the possibilities with the members, and Shalnark was the one who agreed with his speculation the most.
When Machi also agreed, everyone was convinced that Chrollo's guess must be the primary secret behind Luo Ning's rapid rise in strength.
Since they were children, Machi's intuition had almost never been wrong.
But therein lay the problem.
The Scarlet Eyes were sold through their hands, but they had no idea who the specific buyers were at that time.
After all, the Scarlet Eyes themselves were just a tool used by Chrollo to open a special information channel.
That channel was related to the person who killed Sarasa in Meteor City years ago. Now, Chrollo had roughly narrowed down the key to the matter: a special website.
It seemed to be a network constructed entirely by Nen users using special items—so-called 'Artifacts'—and it stored a vast amount of useful information, including the video of Sarasa's death.
If not for the situation with Luo Ning, his next primary direction of investigation would have been this website.
Now that the matter of Luo Ning had arisen, possibly involving another Artifact, Chrollo prepared to swap the order of his priorities.
If Luo Ning truly possessed an Artifact, obtaining it might better help him bypass the restrictions of that special website.
"Luo Ning should have collected five pairs of Scarlet Eyes by now, right?" Shalnark calculated quickly while tapping on his phone. "The ones from Luo Ning's father, the ones Luo Ning bought during his time at Heaven's Arena, the ones obtained from killing Omokage, and the ones from the Kakin underground auction."
"Yes. There should be two more pairs in the Mafia's auction houses, and another pair at the Southern Piece auction on the 5th," Chrollo agreed with Shalnark's calculations. "We must get these three pairs before Luo Ning does."
"I'll head to Southern Piece to negotiate shortly. As long as the price is high enough, I think we can secure that pair from the auction house ahead of time." Shalnark was quite confident.
Moreover, the money in his bank account certainly supported such an action.
As for stealing them, that was always a viable secondary option.
Chrollo nodded in approval. "Have Machi, Nobunaga, Feitan, and Phinks go with you. The remaining five will stay here with me, ready to provide backup at any time."
"Do you suspect Luo Ning will ambush us at Southern Piece?" Shalnark asked, uncertain.
"Better safe than sorry. Also, Isley, you need to be careful lately. Those two from the Zoldyck family are likely coming for you," Chrollo reminded him. "You'd better try to figure out who is paying to have you assassinated. If you can't think of a specific person, then write down a list of everyone you can think of and give it to me."
Chrollo had some understanding of the Zoldycks' rules for killing.
As long as Isley could provide a list, he would pay to hire other members of the Zoldyck family to assassinate the people on that list.
If the employer who hired the hit on Isley could be killed, then the crisis surrounding Isley would naturally resolve itself.
A bitter smile appeared on Isley's gaunt face. "I'll try my best. You know, I've offended way too many people."
"I think you should think more about which disgruntled mistress it might be. You'll have a better chance of identifying who wants you dead from among them," Machi reminded him with a cold snort.
"Well..." Isley hesitated. "Those were all my true loves!"
Machi responded only with a massive eye-roll.
Chrollo was still pondering other matters. Although he didn't remember most of the people who bought the Scarlet Eyes, he did know the largest buyer.
The Fourth Prince of Kakin, Tserriednich Hui Guo Rou, who had a hobby of collecting human organs!
However, the waters in Kakin seemed to run deep.
Recovering the Scarlet Eyes from him might not be a simple task.
He would eventually have to go to Kakin, but not now.
According to his calculations, including the eyes of Luo Ning's father, there should be a total of 35 pairs of Scarlet Eyes in existence.
Among them, Luo Ning had already obtained 5, there were 3 known pairs here in Yorknew, and he had sold 11 pairs to Tserriednich. That meant 16 pairs could be found elsewhere.
Leaving Tserriednich for last, those 16 pairs would be the key to the upcoming competition.
Furthermore, he needed to conduct a more in-depth investigation into the Kurta Clan.
And what he had to guard against was the possibility that, during the process of investigating and collecting these 16 pairs, Luo Ning might turn the tables and become the one actively hunting the Phantom Troupe.
The prey and the hunter—the roles had shifted!
Chrollo pulled out his phone; it seemed he would also need some outside help.
...
September 4th.
The biggest news in Yorknew wasn't that the Phantom Troupe had been wiped out, but rather that a certain item had sold for an astronomical price, or that someone had struck it rich by finding a hidden gem in an auction.
During the seven-day auction extravaganza in Yorknew, these stories involving wealth were what people loved to talk about most.
Luo Ning had absolutely nothing to do today.
After absorbing the eighth pair of Scarlet Eyes yesterday, his strength had improved again. But simply increasing his aura capacity was no longer enough to satisfy him.
The key issue was still the awakening of his eyes.
The awakening of the Mangekyo was stuck. Until he found a suitable method, absorbing more Scarlet Eyes would only increase his aura and give him the feeling that the power contained within his eyes was growing.
Perhaps there would be a surprise waiting for him once they finally awakened.
During the previous battle with Uvogin, Luo Ning had realized that the Third Raikage's strongest Lightning Style Ninjutsu didn't perform ideally under his execution.
At the very least, the power displayed was completely incomparable to that of the actual Third Raikage.
If it had been the real Third Raikage, Luo Ning estimated Uvogin would have been turned into meat paste in a single encounter.
The key reason for this was that his own physical body strength was too far behind that of the Raikage. The 'fragile ninja' he had imagined might just have been his own stereotypical impression.
The physical fitness of powerful Taijutsu-type ninjas far exceeded his imagination.
No wonder the Third Raikage, combined with Lightning Style Chakra Mode, could directly go head-to-head with the Eight-Tails without being defeated.
That physical body was simply at a monster-level.
Luo Ning still needed to train. As long as his physical strength could improve, the eruptive power of his Lightning Style Chakra Mode would continue to strengthen!
Then there was the aura capacity.
The greatest benefit the Enhancement category gave him was incredible recovery capability.
He had fought two consecutive battles on September 1st with very little time in between. After continuously using Shadow Clone and Multi-Shadow Clone jutsu, he had been able to recover his main body's condition to about eighty percent in a short time through Kurapika's assistance and his own use of Zetsu. That was the best proof.
After putting on some disguises with Neon, the two of them left the hotel.
Today, he planned to take Neon to a few auctions. Since they were here, they might as well experience the charm of the Yorknew auctions.
"Let's get one thing straight: this is not a date," Neon said righteously.
"In your dreams," Luo Ning gave her a massive eye-roll. "I have absolutely no interest in an underdeveloped little brat."
"Oh! I get it." Neon had a look of realization on her face. "You like Sister Milia."
"Since when did you get so close to her?" Luo Ning was somewhat puzzled.
Neon gave a look that said 'I knew it' and didn't deny it, which was as good as an admission. "Hmph, none of your business."
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