The past day and night had been incredibly long for both the Nostrade Family guards and the Phantom Troupe mbers.
First, the Yorknew Auction was attacked. Then, Dalzollene led the Nostrade guards to pursue the Troupe, while Qin Lun asked Yin and Liza to kidnap Neon Nostrade. Following that, both the Mafia mbers and the Shadow Beasts were wiped out in the Goude Valley, and Kurapika seized the opportunity to capture Uvogin, a mber of the Troupe.
Then, Qin Lun sched to kill Uvogin, intensifying the conflict between the two sides. Enraged, the Troupe killed Squala and others in an underground cell, captured Dalzollene, and extracted information about Qin Lun, Kurapika, and Neon from him.
Finally, today Neon was rescued by Kurapika. The Troupe secretly prepared to disturb the auction once again, intending to hold a grand morial for their comrade, Uvogin.
So many events packed into just one short day felt like they had lived through a whole week.
…
At dusk on September 2nd, Yorknew City Airship Airport.
The spacious terminal hall was bustling and lively, crowds pulling luggage carts moving relaxed through the waiting area. Shops selling famous brand clothing, gold, and jewelry lined both sides of the hall, with travelers occasionally entering to buy souvenirs.
At that mont, in front of one of Yorknew City’s souvenir shops, several black-suited n wearing sunglasses clustered around an older man and a younger girl.
The elderly man, in his fifties, looked dignified and well-off, holding a cigar. The formally dressed young girl holding his arm was beautiful, with flowing cerulean hair. But she was pouting, clearly unhappy.
This group was the Nostrade family’s bodyguards, along with father and daughter, Light and Neon Nostrade.
Light hadn’t brought Kurapika or lody with him. Unlike in the original historical plot, Light hadn’t witnessed Kurapika’s abilities. Combined with the deaths of Dalzollene and others, he trusted the boy and lody even less, preferring to bring only ordinary bodyguards to the airport.
“Another half hour, and they’ll board!” Qin Lun looked at his newly bought digital watch, tucked the newspaper he was holding under his arm, and stood up. He walked towards an automatic vending machine, though his perception never strayed from the Nostrade pair.
He had followed them to the airport just as a precaution. If Neon boarded safely, it would put his mind at ease. The Phantom Troupe, at this critical juncture, probably wouldn’t leave Yorknew City to capture her.
“Clank!” A can of milk tea slid down the dispenser chute. Qin Lun retrieved it from the slot, but his eyes narrowed slightly as they t the vending machine’s glass window. He sensed Neon leaving Light with two bodyguards, heading towards distant restrooms.
Qin Lun sat back down on a seat in the waiting area, sipping his milk tea and reopening his newspaper. Unnoticed by anyone, the pupil of his left eye had transford into a small black-and-red bullseye target.
“That little girl… Surely not!” Qin Lun suddenly shook his newspaper in disbelief, switching the leg he crossed.
Through the X-ray vision of his “Ganitus Left Eye,” he saw Neon imdiately change into a white sundress and a wide-brimd sunhat inside the restroom. She then opened a window on the side wall, clearly having planned her escape all along.
“What a nuisance. Wouldn’t it be easier to just take the airship?” Qin Lun muttered softly. Yet, he remained calmly seated, making no move to stop her.
“Ouch!” Neon had barely jumped from the window when a loud shout reached her. She’d landed right onto a noblewoman passing behind the restrooms.
“Damn brat! What do you think you’re doing?” The portly, pig-like noblewoman struggled up from the ground. Eyes wide with fury, she seized the fleeing girl.
“Let go! Let go!” Neon looked anxiously behind her. The woman had a surprisingly strong grip; Neon couldn’t shake off that plump, pale claw no matter how hard she tried.
“Think you can just run after bumping into soone?” the noblewoman shrieked frantically, waving her plump arms.
“Miss! Neon Miss!” The commotion finally drew the attention of the two bodyguards posted outside the restroom entrance.
“Hmph! You’re lucky!” Seeing the large bodyguards approach, the noblewoman reluctantly let Neon go and hurried away.
“Heh.” Over at his seat, Qin Lun chuckled quietly, turning a page of his newspaper happily. To any onlooker, the young gentleman seed to have read a pleasant piece of news.
“Neon! You are being absolutely disgraceful!” Light scolded his daughter loudly, though his expression was one of helplessness.
“Hmph! Daddy lied to . I want to go to the auction!” Neon pouted, her face a picture of discontent.
At that mont, Qin Lun, previously relaxed, suddenly stiffened as his previously composed expression turned serious. His brows knit slowly together. He sensed sothing—was it an airport staff mber? A server? Or—the person he had controlled through the “noblewoman” now had a tail.
Sweat beaded on Qin Lun’s temple. Good thing he hadn’t intervened personally to stop Neon. If he had, things might be getting very ssy right now.
The “noblewoman” appeared unaware she was being followed. Calmly, she slipped into an unmanned water refill station near the waiting area, positioning herself beside a trash bin inside the small room.
Then, sothing astonishing happened!
The “noblewoman” thrust her arm directly into the trash bin’s chute. Her plump body seed to liquefy, suddenly becoming as slippery as noodles. In seconds, along with her clothes, she slithered entirely into the narrow bin, vanishing as if she’d never been there.
Tap tap tap… Exactly one minute after she vanished into the bin, the doorway of the water refill station saw another arrival. It was a well-dressed young man, a white bandage wrapped around his forehead.
“Huh?” The young man glanced around the small station, his brow furrowing as he rested a hand on his chin, deep in thought. The room had no windows, not even a vent. Besides the entrance, the only things inside were a trash bin and a water heater. There were absolutely no hiding spots.
A faint white glow flickered in the young man’s eyes as he scanned the bin and heater. He stepped closer, reaching into the bin to pull out the corner of a sundress.
“Transmutation earth escape? Or is it Conjuration with a puppet?” A faint smile touched the young man’s lips. “Neon’s appearance… a mistake? Or deliberate bait… Regardless, this must be the work of the mastermind behind the scenes. Intriguing. Let’s have a look.”
After the young man left, the inner wall of the trash bin slowly shed a layer of sothing aty and mbranous. It quickly coalesced into a small atball. Hopping out of the bin, the atball gradually began to transform and stretch…
“ow…” A ginger cat rubbed affectionately against Qin Lun’s pant leg.
“Kuroro Lucilfer. Leader of the Phantom Troupe.” Qin Lun picked up the ginger cat wearily. He looked at the newly appeared prompt on his Death Notice, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Controlling the Flesh Golem remotely over such a distance had drained a significant amount of his Stamina Points.
Thank goodness he hadn’t stopped Neon himself earlier. Otherwise, the Troupe Leader would have received two ‘gifts’ at once.
After Qin Lun’s first use of the Flesh Golem during the tropolis Domination War, he quickly grasped this Apostle item’s imnse latent value. Within the range his Perception could reach, this thing was incredibly versatile.
Of course, it had almost no offensive or defensive capabilities. Only an Apostle like Qin Lun, possessing both potent Eye Techniques and an extraordinarily long Perception range, could maximize the Flesh Golem’s camouflage potential.
“Such trouble. Since Neon is already targeted by soone like him… then there’s no other choice.” A cold glint flashed in Qin Lun’s eyes. He pulled out a fist-sized tal sphere from his coat.
The Troupe Leader was less than 100 ters from his target; he should be able to save Neon instantly when the explosion hit. Can’t do it in the waiting hall! Kuroro has detected . He’ll probably follow us onto the airship! Qin Lun’s eyes flickered as he brought the tal sphere close to the ginger cat’s mouth.
“Gulp!” The cat’s mouth stretched impossibly wide, opening like a flipped lid all the way past its ears. It swallowed the tal sphere whole. It then leaped from Qin Lun’s arms and trotted cat-like towards the airship’s luggage conveyor belt.
…
“Shalnark!” Kuroro pulled a cell phone from his pocket.
“Leader? How’s things on your end?” The voice coming from the phone belonged to a young man, sounding sunny and vibrant.
“Hehe, I seem to have encountered sothing quite interesting,” Kuroro replied softly. “Join . I might need your ability.”
“Oh? Sothing even our Leader finds challenging!” Shalnark chuckled lightly, clearly surprised.
“Enough. Less talk. Hurry up.”
…
Whoosh… Four massive propellers mounted atop the enormous airship began to spin rapidly. The colossal craft slowly ascended into the sky.
“Leader, the ship is clear. Seems like the person you ntioned didn’t co aboard,” Shalnark walked into the airship coffee lounge and slid into the seat opposite Kuroro. “Besides Neon and us, there are no other Nen ability users on this flight.”
“Anything else?” Kuroro set down his coffee cup.
“Light Nostrade is still in his room. The two bodyguards with Neon… they’re under my control.” Shalnark nodded towards the window where Neon sat alone. He added with a grin, “But… Leader, we need to move quickly. The auction tonight starts in just two hours!”
“Hmm.” Kuroro gave a brief acknowledgent and stood up, walking towards Neon.
“Well now, isn’t this Miss Neon?” Kuroro approached the lancholy girl, adopting a pleasantly surprised tone.
“And you are?” Neon glanced at the two bodyguards assigned to protect her. Seeing them make no move, she looked back at him, puzzled.
“Miss, this gentleman is Master’s friend,” one of the bodyguards leaned closer to Neon, whispering an explanation. “He must have t you at so social event.”
Unseen by Neon, a tiny steel needle protruded from beneath this bodyguard’s collar at the nape of his neck.
“I am Kuroro Lucilfer. A pleasure to et you, Miss Neon.” Kuroro bowed politely. “May I sit?”
“Sure, go ahead.” Neon took a sip of her drink, her voice bored.
“You seem rather downcast, Miss Neon. Perhaps I could help lift your spirits? Would you tell what troubles you?”
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