When Liam and Shizuku had accidentally photographed passerby Kurapika, they'd immediately known his Kurta tribal costume was so distinctive that anyone with even passing knowledge of that massacre would recognize him instantly.
As expected, Wing had recognized Kurapika's identity early on. "Are you a surviving member of the Kurta Clan?"
Kurapika's eyes unconsciously flared scarlet. He answered with silence. The color caused by rage was listed as one of the seven most beautiful in the world. Such a rare eye color—even seeing it for the first time, you'd never mistake it.
After spending these days together, Liam was gradually understanding why Kurapika did this.
Who else in this world would wear this outfit besides him? He was already the last member of the Kurta Clan. How could he bear to even stop wearing his people's traditional clothes? The Kurta were the victims. The ones who should be condemned, the ones who should be hiding in gutters, were the scum of the Phantom Troupe.
In response to Kurapika's inquiry, Wing answered reluctantly, "Honestly, I don't really know. I've never had contact with anyone from the Phantom Troupe. In fact, there are very few people who've actually seen them and fought them. Even fewer who fought them and survived."
Kurapika closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they'd returned to calm. "I understand."
Wing's words already revealed an underlying meaning: among the people Wing had encountered, not many were qualified to be opponents of the Phantom Troupe.
Of course, in Liam's view, the reason the Phantom Troupe had escaped justice all these years was certainly partly due to their power. But the convenience brought by their origins couldn't be ignored.
These people from Meteor City were basically a group of "non-existent people."
They were powerful, so they had high mobility. They acted without scruples, so they didn't rely on social rules and regulations. Naturally, they wouldn't leave any real, reliable traces that could be tracked.
In the manga, Hisoka had been able to ambush Killua at Heavens Arena by tracking his online records. But when Hisoka pretended to join the Phantom Troupe to challenge Chrollo? He'd probably spent one, two, maybe three years and still couldn't find an opportunity to catch Chrollo alone.
Even as a member of the group, Hisoka couldn't contact Chrollo easily. According to Hisoka, at the end of each operation, Chrollo would evaporate and disappear. Even when found, he was usually accompanied by two or three companions. When multiple skilled Nen users cooperated tactically, even a pervert like Hisoka had to weigh his options carefully.
"Do you want to get your revenge on them?" Wing asked.
If this were Kurapika before meeting Liam, he would've nodded without hesitation.
But now, before taking revenge on the Phantom Troupe, he had a higher priority goal. One that took precedence.
"If I can get revenge, of course I won't let them go," Kurapika said. "But before that, I want to know their information. What I want to know even more is information about my tribe's eyes that were taken by them."
"Their information isn't easy to obtain." Wing sighed. "There are many bounty hunters in the Hunter Association who want to arrest this A-rank criminal gang, but even information about their whereabouts is difficult to find. Sometimes the intel is false. Sometimes it's true, but the Troupe has vanished by the time anyone arrives. Sometimes the news is accurate and the Troupe is there, but the bounty hunters never come back."
"There must be experts in the Hunter Association capable of defeating them, right?" Shizuku asked curiously.
"Not all Professional Hunters are bounty hunters," Wing explained.
The meaning was clear: even if powerful hunters existed who could deal with the Phantom Troupe, they might not be willing to spend energy collecting intelligence, tracking them down, and risking their lives fighting a group of over ten skilled Nen users.
To give an unrelated example: the father of manga protagonist Gon, Ging Freecss, was rated as one of the top five Nen users in the world by Netero himself. Strong enough, right?
But he didn't even have time to deal with his own son. How could he spare energy for the Phantom Troupe?
Hunters and Nen users were themselves the privileged class, or they served the privileged class. Social rules and moral laws in the conventional sense couldn't restrain such people at all. If you really thought about it, among the groups with Hunter licenses, there were probably members who'd committed crimes more egregious than the Phantom Troupe. Take Hisoka, for instance. Later he'd even show up to vote in the Hunter Association's chairman election. As a Professional Hunter who voted, had he killed fewer people than the Troupe?
At the time, Kanzai had called Hisoka a "murderer" to his face. But even such a murderer had been openly resting in the Association's election hall without anyone caring.
Kurapika left the ward slightly disappointed.
Liam wasn't in a hurry to leave.
Wing saw that the three of them must be companions and reminded, "The Phantom Troupe is genuinely dangerous."
"Don't worry. His life is mine. I won't let him die pointlessly." Liam smiled and pulled a card from his pocket. "I want to ask—what's the address of the Hunter website?"
He held up the Hunter License in his hand.
Wing looked genuinely surprised. "So you're a Professional Hunter?"
"I didn't say that." Liam smiled faintly.
Wing paused, then understood.
Black license.
The Hunter Association stipulated that once a license was issued, it wouldn't be withdrawn or reissued if lost. So the Association didn't deal with black licenses at all. Wing naturally had no objections. Not to mention that with Liam's strength, if he wanted to obtain a Hunter License legitimately, it would be as easy as bending down to pick up a piece of paper from the ground.
"Are you going to check the Phantom Troupe's information on the Hunter website?" Wing recited a URL. "Even if there's information for sale, I'm afraid it'll be astronomically priced."
"Thanks." Liam put away the license. "Even without information, it's not bad to browse the Hunter official website and see what's new."
"Why have you become so restless?"
After saying goodbye and leaving the ward, Liam and Shizuku found Kurapika outside the entrance on the first floor of Heavens Arena.
"Have I?" Kurapika opened one palm, lowering his head as he muttered. "Maybe it's because my ability is gradually being completed. It makes me feel a bit impatient."
"In that case, it's time for me as the boss to fulfill my promise," Liam said.
Kurapika looked at him.
"Information about the Phantom Troupe's abilities." Liam spoke seriously. "I don't want our members to go out like a candle before we reach the Dark Continent. No matter what, I can't let you throw your life away. How about this—tomorrow morning, come to the apartment where Shizuku and I live. We can talk about the Phantom Troupe."
"Alright." Kurapika took a deep breath and responded earnestly.
Watching Kurapika walk away, Liam said to Shizuku, "Let's go find an internet cafe."
In the high-rise ward of Heavens Arena, Wing was concentrating his aura to accelerate his body's recovery when his phone suddenly rang again.
The nurse coming in to check on him glared and told him he needed to rest.
Wing raised his hand apologetically and answered the call. He didn't dare ignore his master's calls.
"I forgot to tell you," Bisky's voice came through the receiver. "Next month's Sensui Mountain Conference—Heavens Arena should send invitations to you fighters, but remember not to accept it. You can participate as a Shingen-ryu disciple instead." She paused. "Because President Netero will also be going this time."
"President Netero?" Wing said in surprise. "Master, aren't you going?"
"I'm busy recently. You can go for me." Bisky hung up.
With President Netero's mischievous nature, who knew what would happen?
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