After settling on the plan, Kurapika disguised himself and left the hotel with Shizuku.
Ronin also sent out a shadow clone to follow the two of them as protection.
What Kurapika needed to do was simple: contact the players in the game and rally them to fight the three Phantom Troupe members together.
That part was easy, because he didn't even need to take the lead. Someone else was already organizing it, so all he had to do was volunteer to handle the job of tying down the Troupe members long enough to create openings for others to hit them with spell cards.
The real key to the whole operation, though, was still whether they could actually kill the Troupe members.
If Ronin hadn't been involved, the final outcome of this so-called encirclement would probably have been nothing more than teaching the three Troupe members one thing: the players in this game could unite, so you couldn't massacre all of them at once—but you could absolutely pick off isolated stragglers one by one.
It was obvious from the attitude of the people at the gathering that most of them still hadn't realized just how dangerous the Troupe members really were.
Some of them were still clinging to wishful thinking, assuming that since these three weren't hired by Battera, they probably wouldn't stay in the game for long.
But who could guarantee that?
After all, robbery and murder were an incredibly efficient way for the three of them to pile up designated-slot cards, and with their strength, they could easily use death as a threat and turn the players into card-gathering tools.
In the end, everyone who had previously had contact with the Troupe trio became the first wave of attackers.
And even that only happened because Kurapika didn't want to waste time, and openly stated that he would personally draw the three Troupe members' attention.
Still, the number of people willing to participate was noticeably smaller than Kurapika had expected.
He didn't care too much.
Because once the first wave managed to profit from the Troupe members, all the people still sitting on the fence would come rushing out on their own.
Profit was always the greatest bait.
The entire operation had only one real requirement:
Speed.
From the moment Kurapika joined the gathering to the moment the attack was finalized, Ronin had done nothing but sleep once at the hotel. The whole process took maybe three hours.
And Ronin's own task was simple: the moment Kurapika gave the signal, he would appear directly at the entrance of the spell-card shop and use [Relocate] on Bonolenov.
The destination for [Relocate] was Andoniba, where players were already waiting in ambush. The instant Bonolenov emerged from the Nen transfer, they would all attack him at once and strip every spell card out of his binder.
Especially the designated-slot cards.
Those would be the main prize after the spell cards were taken.
Aside from Ronin, the others were also assigned tasks by Kurapika, and everyone immediately began moving.
Because Ronin and Neon had prepared in advance, Kurapika's group also had a number of usable spell cards in their free slots, with transfer-type cards being the main focus.
Ronin went alone to the outside of the spell-card shop.
Ever since Feitan's trio had taken over the shop, the number of people on this street had dropped sharply. Even when the occasional city officer passed by, they would go around the shop instead of getting close.
Clearly, the way the Troupe trio was playing the game was something the game itself more or less tolerated.
Ronin had always felt that Greed Island's players were way too conservative. That probably had something to do with the fact that in this game, if you died, you really died.
This wasn't a virtual game.
It was reality.
And looking at it that way, realism was nice, but it also killed off a lot of possible ways to play, greatly reducing how much freedom the game offered.
That was probably why so many players, after spending some time in the game and realizing they couldn't get out and couldn't clear it either, had simply given up and chosen to live there instead.
Ronin didn't go into the shop. Instead, he sat down in a store across the street.
From there, he couldn't see what was happening inside the spell-card shop, but the people inside couldn't see into his store either.
He waited patiently.
Inside the shop, the three men finally completed the full set of spell cards after another roll of the dice came up Great Blessing.
Exchanging for Breath of Archangel was very simple. The moment Bonolenov's free slots contained forty different spell cards, all of them began glowing white, and a dialogue box popped up right in front of him.
As long as he pressed confirm, the forty spell cards would transform into Breath of Archangel and appear in his hand.
Bonolenov nodded to Feitan and Phinks, then pressed confirm.
White light flooded the shop.
The figure of an archangel appeared and gently exhaled onto Bonolenov.
The instant that breath touched him, the skinless parts of his body under the bandages began rapidly growing new flesh.
The whole process happened incredibly fast, but it was impossible for Ronin to miss.
And the moment the archangel appeared, Ronin received a [Contact] from Kurapika. From the look of it, Kurapika had already reached the area.
Ronin stood up.
His state was already at its absolute peak.
He had no intention of simply using [Relocate] to send one of them away.
Before sending him off, he planned to deliver a nice little gift first.
After all, according to the original plan, Bonolenov wasn't even supposed to be their real target yet, so…
The instant the shop door was pushed open, all three men inside turned toward the entrance at the same time.
No one had dared push that door open for days now—not even NPCs.
And yet someone had the nerve to walk in while the archangel was healing Bonolenov?
Were they tired of living?
But the moment they saw the face of the intruder, both Feitan and Phinks' pupils contracted sharply.
Ronin.
They knew that face far too well.
After all, most of the rare times the Troupe had actually suffered losses had been at Ronin's hands.
And they had already lost three members in succession because of him: Uvogin, Omokage, and Islly.
"Withdraw!"
Phinks made the most correct possible choice—the same choice Shalnark had urged them to make if they ever ran into Ronin.
At that moment, Ronin gave Phinks an overwhelming sense of danger, so he instinctively pulled a card from his binder.
It was [Leave].
As long as he got out of the game instantly, then no matter what arrangements Ronin had made, none of it could threaten him.
But unlike him, Feitan and Bonolenov—now fully restored under Breath of Archangel—had no intention of retreating.
Feitan vanished from where he stood in an instant, drawing the thin sword hidden inside his umbrella.
At the same time, the bandages slipped from Bonolenov's body, revealing smooth, pale new skin. The holes in his body gave off a sharp, battle-ready hum as he moved. His conjured battle armor appeared at once, along with a double-headed spear.
But what greeted Bonolenov was a pair of scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan eyes, swirling like spirals.
"Amaterasu!"
~~~
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