Chapter 218: The Homing Blowgun
Chrollo Lucilfer's objective was never to kill Saiyu.
The goal was to subdue the "Monkey" of the Zodiacs and add his unique sight-stealing Hatsu to the pages of Skill Hunter.
While Shalnark remained outside the copied building, he was the lynchpin of the entire operation. He had provided the unit with his two precious antennas. The plan was built entirely around planting one of those needles into Saiyu's nervous system.
Shalnark had anticipated that Saiyu, being a high-level Hunter, would have researched the Troupe's abilities. Even if he hadn't, the moment he heard the Spider was in town, he would have scoured the web for data—likely finding the intelligence Kurapika had leaked.
Shalnark's decision to control the waiter earlier was a deliberate signal to Saiyu. It told the Zodiac two things:
1. The antennas must be planted manually by the user.
2. One antenna was already occupied.
This was a masterful piece of disinformation. It made Saiyu focus his guard on Shalnark—who wasn't even in the room—and look for a manual strike.
Inside the copied building, Machi and Chrollo met briefly to exchange the needles. Chrollo had prepared a specific "Combo" to ensure the hit.
Saiyu was indeed on high alert for the antennas.
Machi had used In to hide a needle at the end of one of her threads. Saiyu's Sharingan (metaphorically, his elite Gyo) caught it, and he snatched the projectile out of the air before it could pierce his skin.
But he didn't realize that Machi was the distraction. The needle he caught was a lure.
Machi's real task was to leave a mark. As her thread grazed Saiyu, she had left a thin, circular trail of aura on his suit—a "Target" crafted from Chrollo's stolen Spider Silk.
The silk was incredibly adhesive. Saiyu tore the thread away, but the sticky residue remained on his jacket, forming a perfect Nen-circle.
This was the trigger for Chrollo's new ability: The Homing Blowgun.
Since his encounter with Ronin at the hotel, Chrollo had used his Double Face (Bookmark) to allow the simultaneous use of two stolen abilities.
He lunged forward, bringing the blowgun to his lips.
He didn't fire a poisoned dart. He fired Shalnark's second antenna.
The Homing Blowgun was a hybrid of Emission and Transmutation. It functioned on a simple rule: Any projectile fired from the tube will automatically seek out a Nen-circle within range via a spatial fold.
The antenna left the blowgun and vanished into a micro-rift in the air. A millisecond later, it reappeared and buried itself deep into the center of the circle on Saiyu's side.
The needle's aura pierced Saiyu's Ken through the spatial transition, sinking into his flesh.
The conditions for Black Voice were met.
Outside the twin towers, Shalnark stared at his phone screen. A new icon flickered to life: Target Locked.
He tapped the "Auto" command. On the 22nd floor, Saiyu's body went limp as his free will was overwritten by Shalnark's program.
The Prince's Villa.
An off-road SUV pulled up to the gates of a secluded estate. The door opened, and the reanimated Prince Tserriednich stepped out.
The private security detail was already on high alert.
They had been confused by the SUV—it had plowed through their checkpoints without stopping, yet no pursuit vehicles were behind it.
The spotlights from the guard towers swung toward the man. When the guards saw his face, their hands began to shake so violently they could barely hold their rifles.
It was the Fourth Prince.
But an hour ago, the state news had confirmed his death.
And the man standing before them didn't look like a survivor. His skin was the color of ash, covered in deep, jagged cracks that looked like parched earth.
The guards raised their weapons, aiming at their master's chest. But looking at that hollow, grey face, no one dared to pull the trigger.
The sound of a keypad chirping echoed through the courtyard.
The guards' hearts hammered in their throats. The villa's security system was state-of-the-art: it required a numerical code, a facial scan, and a fingerprint.
A disguise might fool the camera, but it couldn't replicate a biological signature.
"Welcome home, Prince Tserriednich," the automated voice chimed.
The massive iron gates slowly groaned open. The guards in the courtyard stood paralyzed, their eyes wide with a primitive terror.
Finally, a captain found his voice. "OPEN FIRE!"
Not everyone obeyed, but a few frantic guards squeezed their triggers. A hail of lead shredded the Prince's body.
He didn't dodge. He didn't block.
Tserriednich was riddled with holes, his expensive suit turned to rags. But as the guards watched, their sanity began to fray.
There was no blood. No scream of pain. The Prince didn't even slow down.
If it weren't for the kinetic impact of the bullets physically pushing his frame back, he would have reached them in seconds. He walked through the lead storm like it was a light drizzle.
Seeing a man take a bullet to the brain and keep walking without a change in expression was too much.
"GHOST! IT'S A GHOST!" someone wailed.
Guards dropped their rifles and bolted toward the villa's interior, fleeing the walking corpse.
Just then, a new figure appeared at the gate.
"Blinky, clear the field," a soft, monotone voice commanded.
A violent suction force erupted. The guards still holding weapons felt a titanic pull; those who refused to let go were dragged across the pavement toward the petite girl with the vacuum.
Some guards tried to shoot at the newcomer, but their bullets were caught in the atmospheric vortex of the vacuum's maw, disappearing into the void.
The defense collapsed into total pandemonium.
Kurapika and Neon stepped into the courtyard, systematically neutralizing the remaining guards with chains and high-speed strikes.
Ronin and Abaki walked calmly behind the reanimated Prince.
The Scarlet Eyes were hidden deep within the sub-basement of this mountain villa. It was a vault Tserriednich had designed personally—a fortress of steel and biometric locks that would have taken Ronin days to breach.
But in front of its master, the fortress was defenseless. The undead Prince pressed his cracked finger to the scanner, and the "unbreakable" vault doors swung open.
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