Luo Ning quickly obtained Hisoka's phone number from Milia, then thought for a moment and simply passed the number along to Kurapika. At the same time, he made a call to explain the situation.
"I don't know what he said to Milia to make her believe he could help us, but I've already made contact with him using a different identity and have figured out his objective."
Luo Ning spoke briefly to Kurapika: "Hisoka's goal is a 1v1 duel against Chrollo, the leader of the Phantom Troupe. However, it's difficult to judge where his bottom line lies, and it's just as hard to predict what he might do to achieve his ends. So, whether you want to play along with him is entirely up to your own judgment during your contact with him. One thing is certain: after he achieves his goal of fighting Chrollo, his target will likely shift to me."
"Will it be trouble?" Kurapika asked, cutting to the chase.
"No." Luo Ning didn't hesitate.
While Hisoka's combat intelligence and talent were certainly impressive, Luo Ning had even more confidence in his own strength.
"Alright, I understand. Leave it to me," Kurapika said confidently.
At that moment, standing on the edge of the rooftop, Luo Ning saw the mafia members below suddenly open fire on their own comrades in a mad frenzy.
The Phantom Troupe had begun their move!
The person responsible for this scene was likely Shalnark using [Carrying Others' Fate].
Hanging up the phone, Luo Ning had no intention of returning to the building. Instead, he stood on the edge of the roof, enjoying the coolness brought by the gentle night breeze.
Meanwhile, at the middle levels of the building, two figures were slowly making their way downstairs.
A massive [En] was released from one of the slightly shorter figures, covering a hundred-meter radius in the blink of an eye. This range was enough to encompass the entire Cemetery Building.
The one releasing such a massive [En] was none other than Zeno Zoldyck.
"This business really isn't cost-effective," Zeno lamented from the bottom of his heart. At the same time, he sensed Luo Ning on the rooftop. "What a reckless fellow, starting to slack off at a time like this."
Luo Ning also detected the presence of this [En] at the same time. He had sensed it once before during his battle with Hisoka, and judging by the aura, it belonged to Zeno. It was different from the [En] he had perceived as an anomaly during the fight.
However, one of the shadow clones he had dispatched had already approached the location of the two Zoldycks.
Zeno, who was releasing the [En], seemed to suddenly notice something. He nodded slightly to Silva beside him, and Silva's body quickly released even more Nen. In the next second, both of them accelerated and charged downstairs.
Below, in front of the vault, Chrollo and his group appeared without any attempt to hide.
There were five of them in total, led by Chrollo. Beside him stood Pakunoda and Kortopi, while Bonolenov and Franklin stood guard around them.
Pakunoda's hand touched the building manager in charge of the vault.
The method to open the vault was quickly extracted from the man's memories. But when the vault was opened, all five members of the Troupe frowned deeply.
"In his memory, only a youth wearing round glasses and flip-flops entered the vault. After he left, the vault was never opened again," Pakunoda quickly described the images from the manager's memory.
Chrollo's eyes lit up.
He had previously made a point of looking for someone with a spatial-type ability capable of storing items, but he had never found one. He hadn't expected the mafia to have such a talent.
"Remember his appearance. He likely used his ability to move all the items. Find him." Chrollo turned away, not sparing another glance at the vault.
Just then, a roar echoed from above.
"It seems Phinks and the others left upstairs have already engaged the enemy," Pakunoda said.
"Since the items are gone, we should stick together. There's a high probability Luo Ning won't show himself, so let's withdraw for now," Chrollo analyzed rationally.
Under the current circumstances, the Troupe had become the ones operating in the light, while Luo Ning—the one being hunted—had become the one hidden in the dark holding the initiative. This feeling was not pleasant at all.
"This method doesn't seem like something Luo Ning would have come up with before. It seems someone is advising him," Chrollo thought. "It would be best to find that person. Otherwise, with them assisting Luo Ning, our attempt to kill him will become even more difficult."
"There should be a man and a woman beside Luo Ning. The man's identity is uncertain, but the woman seems to be the deceased eldest daughter of the Nostrade family," Pakunoda followed Chrollo's pace.
She had previously searched the memories of ordinary people who had seen Luo Ning and the others fighting the Shadow Beasts. From those memories, she had seen two of Luo Ning's companions, a man and a woman.
She could recognize Neon because they had captured Light Nostrade earlier to make their operations in Mordin City more convenient. While checking Light's memories, Pakunoda had learned what his daughter, Neon, looked like.
However, according to Light's memories, Neon was just a girl with special hobbies who liked to watch programs about fortune-telling and prophecies. Then again, if Neon were truly useless, why would Luo Ning keep her by his side?
Therefore, Neon must have something special about her that even her father, Light, didn't know. As for the boy, Pakunoda truly had no recollection of him.
...
When Luo Ning's shadow clone reached the first floor, he saw two corpses already lying in the lobby.
One was the Mohawk Youth; he was still clutching a baseball bat, but his body had been snapped in two, and blood was splattered everywhere.
The other was the Red-haired Beauty. Her death was even more gruesome, with dozens of puncture wounds of various sizes covering her body, all pierced by a thin sword.
Both of them had been hired by the Ten Community Leaders specifically to deal with the Phantom Troupe, but from the current situation, the gap in strength between them and the Troupe members was far too wide.
Zeno and Silva were currently standing on the second-floor staircase, looking down from above at the three Troupe members staring up at them, though they didn't strike immediately.
"Three on the first floor, five in the basement. There should be three more on the perimeter. That mechanic died outside; he was hung up." After Zeno finished speaking, his [En] began to contract, no longer covering such a vast area.
"This business really isn't worth it." Silva flexed his fingers, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Are you going to act? Are you confident? I can help stall one of them for about two minutes," Luo Ning's shadow clone approached and proactively offered a suggestion.
If he could get the Zoldycks to act—even if they only killed two Troupe members—it would be a massive help to Luo Ning.
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