At the same time, Ilo also activated his ability, applying nearly a quarter of the success points he had accumulated during this period to the act of casting on Pakunoda in order to increase the odds of success.
Very quickly, Pakunoda's face began to twist in pain, and miserable cries started spilling from her mouth. It was the sign that the spell was about to succeed.
And Pakunoda's reaction only made the Troupe members even angrier.
Feitan had even already changed clothes, ready to unleash his ultimate move and kill everyone in front of him, regardless of his comrades' condition.
But unfortunately for him, before he could even condense his fireball, Roy's three summons knocked him unconscious.
Poor Feitan. In such a short time, he had already been knocked out twice in a row.
Machi was in much the same situation. She had also been pinned down by the clones and was using the last of her strength to produce Nen threads.
Soon, Pakunoda's wails gradually faded, replaced by a calmer and calmer expression, while Roy's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Finally, Roy saw a large L appear on Pakunoda's forehead.
It had succeeded.
"Roy-sama."
Pakunoda's expression had already returned to calm. With a respectful look, she lowered her head and reported to Roy.
"Hey! What did you do to Paku?!"
"Paku, what's wrong with you?! Wake up!!!"
"Damn it, Paku!!!"
Seeing Pakunoda like this, every member of the Troupe understood that Paku, who shared unusually deep feelings with their leader, had been controlled by some special method the enemy possessed.
And all they could do was watch it happen with their own eyes, utterly powerless to stop it.
To see a former companion turned into the enemy's puppet was even more agonizing than being killed themselves.
At the same time, all of them were seized by the same grim sense of shared doom.
If even Paku had been controlled, would their own fates really be any better?
They had all more or less guessed what awaited them next. For a moment, the atmosphere of sorrow and despair only grew heavier.
Then, in the next instant, they saw several of Roy's summons move at high speed.
Crack. Crack.
In just a few swift motions, the jaws of the ones who still had consciousness were dislocated.
Just moments ago, Roy and the others had noticed that Phinks and the rest would rather die than become puppets under someone else's control. They had been planning to bite their tongues and kill themselves.
But obviously, their teeth were not faster than Roy.
Now, even death had become a luxury beyond their reach.
After having their jaws dislocated, they could clearly feel the evil aura around Roy rising to an even higher level.
Especially when, right afterward, they saw Roy use [Dende's Healing Technique] to heal Pakunoda's wounds and then undo her restraints, only for her to stand up with the same respectful expression and take her place behind Roy.
"Paku!"
Grief spread through everyone's eyes, both for Paku and for themselves, knowing what was coming next.
"Then I'll leave the rest to you, Paku."
Seeing that the Troupe's spirit had obviously taken a major blow, Roy nodded inwardly.
Things were going even more smoothly than he had expected.
After loading six confusion-inducing memory bullets into the gun, Pakunoda aimed it at the unconscious Feitan, Machi, Franklin, Phinks, Kortopi, and Shizuku.
Exactly six people.
The Troupe members were already beginning to despair.
They did not fear death.
What they feared was ending up like Paku—having someone precious to them killed by an enemy, yet being controlled by that same enemy and forced to serve him.
That was more unbearable than death itself.
Bang!
With a single gunshot, the memory bullets shot mercilessly toward the heads of those six.
At the same moment, aside from the unconscious Feitan, everyone else lowered their heads, their pupils gradually losing focus. Clearly, they were suffering severe mental shock.
And in precisely that state, under the combined effects of Roy, Ilo, and Pakunoda, every remaining member of the Phantom Troupe ended up with an L appearing on their foreheads.
All except Shizuku.
This cute girl was airheaded by nature, and though her appearance seemed harmless, she was still someone who had made it this far inside the Phantom Troupe. She seemed unruly and not especially dark-hearted, but the very fact that she protected the Troupe's rules was itself the greatest form of lawlessness. She did not distinguish between good and evil and acted only according to her own preferences. It could be said that she was truly dark by nature.
The Phantom Troupe had only one strict rule: no infighting.
Anything else was unrestricted.
Shizuku clung stubbornly to that one rule while disregarding every other rule in the world. That alone showed that, from the very beginning, she had been destined to have nothing to do with the side of light.
Still, it did not matter that she had not been controlled.
With all the other Troupe members already under control, Shizuku, swept along with the rest, naturally would not be a problem. Things could stay the same as before.
"Next, that only leaves Shalnark and Nobunaga~"
Roy thought for a moment, then healed everyone's injuries.
"But before that~~~"
Roy cast a glance toward the corner, where the severely wounded Hisoka had witnessed everything.
Sensing the malicious look in Roy's eyes, Hisoka remained outwardly calm, but inwardly his heart skipped a beat as he secretly searched for an escape route.
But his body had just been blown into a heavily wounded state by Chrollo's [The Sun and Moon], and even moving was a problem for him right now. Otherwise, given his cautious nature, he would have run long ago.
"Hehe, little Ilo, between us—"
Bang!
Hisoka dropped to the ground.
There was no pointless back-and-forth.
Roy simply acted. Clean and direct.
And so, the L-Spider army gained yet another member.
…
After Shalnark and Nobunaga were knocked unconscious by Android 18, they too were brought before Roy and naturally became glorious new members of the L army.
In fact, even before the spell was cast on them, their mental states had already been fluctuating violently.
That was only normal.
After all, anyone who learned that their leader was dead, that their comrades were now serving their enemy, and that they themselves would soon share the same fate—if their mind had not collapsed on the spot, that already meant their willpower was exceptionally strong.
(End of Chapter)
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