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Chapter 118: Speculations on Illumi's Actions
Ronin didn't dwell on the matter. After speaking with Hisoka, the group boarded a garbage disposal ship leaving Meteor City.
Airships weren't exactly rare here, but few people used them—mostly because too many had been blown out of the sky. Hitching a ride on a garbage scow was a much safer bet. Once they reached the port city outside Meteor City, they could transfer to an airship heading to Heaven's Arena. The entire route would take about two days, meaning Ronin would arrive on the 30th.
Kurapika had already made arrangements regarding Meteor City. Even with Ryan's manor reduced to rubble, his contingency plans ensured they'd have a steady flow of intelligence from the city.
This time, their ship wasn't blown up halfway through the journey. They reached the port safely and transferred to an airship. This marked Shizuku's first time ever leaving Meteor City, and she looked at everything with wide-eyed curiosity.
Meanwhile, Ronin sat with Kurapika, discussing the Zoldyck family.
"Illumi probably won't give up on the mission so easily," Ronin sighed. "We should be on relatively good terms with the Zoldycks. Does he have a death wish, taking a hit on me?"
Their previous collaboration in Yorknew City should have shown Zeno and Silva that he wasn't an easy target. Unless Chrollo offered a price the Zoldycks couldn't refuse, Ronin had never really worried about anyone taking out a hit on him. After all, Kurapika had placed a long-term, open-ended contract with Silva to assassinate the Troupe members. That move alone should have fundamentally eliminated the possibility of the Zoldycks coming after Ronin.
But clearly, the internal dynamics of the Zoldyck family were far more complicated than he had anticipated.
"We can only restrain Zeno and Silva. The other family members are much harder to control," Kurapika noted with frustration. He also couldn't fathom why Illumi would accept such a thankless, nearly impossible task.
Ronin had a theory, though it sounded utterly absurd.
He had only interacted with Killua briefly in the arena, barely exchanging a few words. If that alone was enough to trigger Illumi's jealousy, then the man was beyond psychotic. Yet, the more Ronin thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
Fuck!
If he ran into that twisted freak again, he absolutely wouldn't hold back. If he got the chance to put him in the ground, he'd take it without a second thought! As for the consequences... he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.
"Don't worry, just fight normally," Kurapika said, waving his phone. He had already informed Silva, the head of the family, about Illumi's assassination attempt.
Silva's response had been brief and absolute: "If he dared to take the mission, he's prepared for the consequences. If he fails and dies, it just means his skills were lacking. The Zoldyck family does not avenge failures."
It was a chillingly cold response, but Ronin took him at his word.
"I thought he might use his authority as family head to make Illumi drop the job," Kurapika said, a bit disappointed.
The Zoldycks were insane. They were actively taking hits on each other's clients!
"No, this mission will likely only end when either I or the Phantom Troupe is killed. If one side's employer dies, the mission naturally cancels out, maintaining their 100% success rate," Ronin deduced based on his meta-knowledge.
In the original manga, the Zoldycks did exactly that. Part of the family took a contract from the Ten Dons to assassinate the Troupe, while another part took a contract from Chrollo to assassinate the Ten Dons. Ultimately, Illumi, Maha, and Kalluto succeeded in killing the Ten Dons, which forced Silva and Zeno to halt their assault on Chrollo.
But it had been an insanely close call. If Illumi had been even a second slower, Chrollo would have almost certainly died at the hands of Silva and Zeno.
Wait.
Ronin suddenly remembered Chrollo's prophecy poem from the manga. It explicitly stated: "Even if only half your companions remain, your supreme status will stand firm." This meant Chrollo knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that as long as he stuck to his plan, the battle against Silva and Zeno would be his best opportunity to steal their abilities! And as long as he fought with everything he had, he didn't need to worry about being killed by them!
In other words, everything that transpired had been completely within his calculations.
It was chilling. Reviewing Chrollo's maneuvers even now left Ronin in awe.
"Let's hope the October fortune-telling gives us some good news," Ronin said, looking expectantly at his ace in the hole, Neon, who was sitting nearby.
"Illumi will probably bring either Maha or Zigg," Kurapika said. He had already learned the family's structure from Ronin.
But even Ronin only knew that these two elders—both older than Zeno—were still kicking. He had no idea what kind of abilities they wielded. He did know, however, that Zigg had accompanied Chairman Netero and Gourmet Hunter Linne to the Dark Continent, and all three had made it back to Mobius Lake in one piece.
That alone proved Zigg's monstrous strength.
After all, official records documented 149 attempts by humanity to explore the Dark Continent. Across all those expeditions, there were only 5 instances of survivors returning, totaling a mere 28 people. For Zigg and his trio to explore the Dark Continent and return alive meant they were absolute freaks of nature!
And Maha? He was an entity who had lived even longer than Zigg!
If Illumi actually dragged those two out, Ronin would be sweating bullets. Pinning down anomalies like them would be incredibly difficult. The best strategy would be to set coordinates in advance and run the moment things went south.
Ronin shared his plan, and Kurapika wholeheartedly agreed. Truth be told, Kurapika had been worried that Ronin might get battle-crazy and try to take on Zigg or Maha head-to-head. Hearing that Ronin was fully prepared to cut and run brought him immense relief.
"Running away isn't shameful when you aren't strong enough yet. In fact, surviving against overwhelming odds is a testament to your own skill. We can always settle the score later when we're stronger," Ronin said casually.
He didn't possess some foolish pride that demanded he fight to the death. He had been training for less than a year; fighting monsters who had lived for over a century was completely unfair. Give me a couple more years! Then they'd see who would come out on top!
Ronin had absolute faith in his growth, especially with his Mangekyou Sharingan. It was the foundation of his certainty that he would eventually surpass everyone!
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