Nen numbers formed at the tip of Ronin's finger as he held his manga.
"Three," Neon answered instantly.
Beside him, Neon was fiddling with a handmade piece—what she was working on was a pair of bat wings she had brought back earlier, taken off the Shadow Beast "Bat."
She planned to turn them into a specimen. She genuinely enjoyed the process.
Ronin couldn't really understand it, but he respected it. At least the "Troupe No. 11 Uvogin remains specimen" Neon had made was genuinely artistic.
And if needed, it could even be used later to create an Edo-Tensei-style "Uvogin."
That piece was currently displayed in the room's cabinet—Neon's first true artwork.
For it, she'd even signed up for classes in Yorknew, and she'd used the Hunter access Kurapika borrowed to find professional Hunter instructional videos online.
She was all-in.
Kurapika sighed and started doing push-ups while maintaining Ren. "If I were Chrollo, I'd also pause the hunt for us.
When we met at Adan Hotel, the mercenaries I hired like Miuhael, plus your constant breakthroughs lately—those all lowered Chrollo's confidence in successfully killing us.
And from your analysis of Chrollo's personality, it's clear he has extremely strong observation and analytical ability, and his style is meticulous.
So if he can't guarantee he can crush us 100%, his best move is to pull back temporarily, build strength, search for a weakness, then return with certainty and deliver a fatal blow."
Kurapika's breathing was already unsteady.
Maintaining Ren while thinking nonstop was making his head swell, but he forced himself to continue.
"So that gives us three choices:
One: ignore Greed Island, and gamble that Troupe members will still compete with us for Scarlet Eyes. Use that as an opening to strike dispersed Troupe members and reduce their numbers.
Two: buy Greed Island as well, enter the game, find Troupe members inside, and kill them there—revenge and reduction together.
Three: ignore the Troupe's actions, keep collecting Scarlet Eyes step by step, accumulate strength, and wait to crush them when they return."
Ronin fell silent, and the Nen at his fingertip began shifting shape again. It didn't become a number right away—it stayed messy, like it was mimicking his tangled thoughts.
Kurapika and Neon stared hard at the Nen on Ronin's finger, both maintaining Gyo.
But unlike Neon, who could focus on her specimen work without burning aura, Kurapika was struggling.
A patch of floor was already wet with sweat, and Kurapika felt he was near his limit.
Then Ronin's Nen digit settled on 1.
"One!" Kurapika answered instantly.
"Hmph." Neon snorted, set down her tools, and joined the push-ups too.
"Entering Greed Island to hunt them is honestly not a bad option either," Ronin admitted, voicing his hesitation. "Basically, anything that lets us reduce their numbers ahead of time is great."
To Ronin, Kurapika's first option was the more conservative one, while the second was more aggressive.
But compared to launching immediate proactive attacks, Ronin wanted even more to secure the remaining 16 pairs of Scarlet Eyes outside Kakin first.
If each pair added about 5,000 aura, then 16 pairs would push his total aura close to 130,000.
And that didn't even include the growth he'd gain while collecting them.
130,000 aura would still be far below the Chimera Ant King and the Royal Guards—but it would place him among the top tier for basically everyone else.
Especially for an Enhancer with 130,000 potential aura, the burst damage would be terrifying.
From Ronin's fight with Uvogin, he could clearly tell Uvogin's aura pool was at most in the mid–40,000 range—about where Ronin currently stood.
Even if Uvogin had lived and trained for three more years at full intensity, he might only have added 20,000 to 30,000.
Biscuit had explicitly said that extending Ren by ten minutes could take a month of training.
Ronin felt that truth in his own three months of grinding.
Even with Lightning Chakra Mode accelerating growth, Added-Weight Rock training, and Kurapika's recovery support, Ronin had only gained around 5,000 aura in three months.
Under normal conditions, gaining 600–800 aura in a month of full training was already close to the limit.
And aura capacity wasn't something that increased infinitely—effort, talent, and aptitude all influenced the ceiling.
Also, training wasn't only about increasing aura pool. Developing a finishing move, refining Nen techniques, and building real combat experience were just as important.
The kind of "gain 10,000+ aura in a month" growth Gon and Killua showed was basically cheat-level.
It was only possible because Biscuit's ability was absurd for training support—and because Gon and Killua's talent was freakish. Add in strong motivation, and you got that explosive growth.
Trying to replicate that was extremely hard.
As for why Kurapika could awaken Nen for only about half a year and still kill Uvogin in canon—only one answer made sense: his vows and limitations were ruthless. His ability was custom-built to kill Troupe members.
He gambled his life and his future to obtain that power.
"In the end, I'll listen to your advice," Ronin said, leaving the choice to Kurapika.
In Ronin's eyes, 45,000 aura was already "excellent Troupe member level" right now.
So aside from disliking option three, Ronin could accept whichever route Kurapika chose.
"I'm going to do both," Kurapika said. "In the short term, the Troupe can't clear Greed Island, but there's still a chance they find healing cards.
Either way, entering the game and progressing will give us conveniences.
So we have time to execute option one first:
Collect Scarlet Eyes as quickly as possible. If we find the Troupe during that process, we turn the tables and hunt them.
If we don't encounter them, we use that time to find a way to enter Greed Island—because buying the game isn't realistic. We don't have enough money."
Ronin understood why Kurapika said they didn't have enough.
After taking Raymond's Ten Don identity, their finances improved—
but not as much as Ronin had expected. Even a Ten Don like Raymond could only mobilize around ten billion jenny.