The details of Ronin and Netero's battle appeared on the desk of Pariston, the vice chairman of the Hunter Association, right around the time Ronin left the airship.
It was not a complete video, only a set of photos taken from the airship. Clearly, they had been captured by someone Pariston had planted near Netero.
As long as one focused Nen into the eyes, the presence of Nen could be seen in the photos.
The towering Hundred-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva and the sword-wielding Susanoo were both clearly visible in the images. The battle between the two sides was nothing short of breathtaking.
Pariston rested his crossed hands beneath his chin, his gaze drifting over the photos as if lost in thought. It was only when the phone suddenly rang that his contemplation was interrupted.
"I think we both know what Ronin wants from him."
The voice on the other end was calm and steady. If Ronin had been there, he would have recognized it immediately as Beyond's voice.
"He wants to cut you out and head to the Dark Continent on his own," Pariston said bluntly.
"Exactly. And from the look of things, the old man will probably help him," Beyond said in a low voice. "We can't let him leave. Can you handle that?"
"You know I'm best at this kind of thing," Pariston said, sounding delighted. "But how long do you want me to stall him? And even if I can keep him here, there's no way he'll cooperate with you, is there?"
Beyond fell silent.
Only then did Pariston continue, "When does your plan begin?"
"Soon."
"So you still need some time." Pariston pondered for a moment. "Let him leave first. But make sure he comes back at the critical moment. Only then can we tie him to the chariot without letting him accidentally derail the plan.
"I know that one of the key pieces in your plan came from the ruins Ronin was in. Ronin himself even fought it inside those ruins.
"If he really notices something, there's no guarantee he won't interfere. He seems like the type who really hates evil."
"I didn't see that in him," Beyond replied. "But we can do it your way. The hard part is limiting how long he stays away."
Pariston's fingers tapped rhythmically against the desk.
"You still have some Scarlet Eyes, don't you?"
"I do. About seven pairs. They should be the last seven pairs remaining within the range of Lake Mobius," Beyond said.
"That's enough." Pariston organized his thoughts. "Set a deadline. One year, maybe two. When the time comes, you'll put the Scarlet Eyes up for auction. If he wants them, he'll have to come back obediently."
"Works for me." Beyond instantly understood what Pariston meant.
Since Pariston dared to say it, that meant he had already calculated everything. With Beyond himself posing a threat, Ronin would never trust anyone else to bid for the Scarlet Eyes on his behalf and still be able to keep them safe afterward.
In fact, this was an open scheme.
Either Ronin left Lake Mobius and missed the last Scarlet Eyes…
Or he stayed obediently within Lake Mobius and waited for the auction to arrive.
But no matter which option he chose, if he wanted those Scarlet Eyes, he would have to come in person. Otherwise, Beyond, the one who had produced the Scarlet Eyes, would simply take them back.
Those Scarlet Eyes Beyond had collected in advance were the perfect bait for Ronin.
"Make it three years," Beyond decided. "At the Yorknew auction three years from now, I'll have someone send all the Scarlet Eyes there."
"You still need three years?" Pariston had thought Ronin's appearance would make Beyond move the plan forward, but now it seemed things were still troublesome.
"The key issue is the ship," Beyond said, getting straight to the point.
He intended to drag Kakin into this. But if Kakin wanted to launch a large-scale voyage, they would need an enormous, sturdy ship capable of withstanding attacks from giant birds of prey.
Kakin was already working overtime to build it, but a ship of that scale was not something that could be completed in ten days or half a month.
On top of that, Kakin would also need time to build momentum when the time came. In Beyond's eyes, being able to push the schedule to August or September three years from now was already the best possible outcome after efforts from multiple sides.
Pariston naturally understood how difficult that was.
Fortunately, Beyond had now given him a specific timeframe, which gave him much more room to maneuver.
After hanging up the phone, Pariston got busy as well. But as he sorted through what exactly he should do, a particularly annoying face surfaced in his mind.
Ging.
He probably wanted to go to the Dark Continent too.
Should he leak Ronin's information to him?
Pariston felt a little conflicted.
But after thinking it over, he still took out his phone, found that familiar number, and sent a text message.
…
For something like mass-producing ships, Kurapika directly helped Ronin contact a shipping company.
After all, Kurapika still controlled one of the Ten Dons' mafia organizations. Something like this was effortless for him.
When Ronin saw Kurapika again, it was at the shipyard of the shipping company Kurapika had contacted.
Ronin had already chosen a suitable type of vessel. It was not large, roughly the same kind of fishing boat the Phantom Troupe had used to smuggle themselves to Greed Island.
After all, the personnel Ronin could currently think of were himself, Kurapika, Neon, Shizuku, and Abaki.
In his view, that was already enough. After all, inside the Fun Fun Cloth he controlled through Owl, there were still Owl and Kortopi. If necessary, Ronin was even prepared to put Kurapika and the others directly into the Fun Fun Cloth.
But in that case, the responsibility of carrying supplies would fall almost entirely on Shizuku's shoulders.
There was no helping it. Owl could only control a limited number of Fun Fun Cloths at the same time. Ronin had to keep one or two free for emergencies, meaning at most only one or two could be used.
If they were used to store the boat, it would be very difficult to use them for supplies as well.
Especially because when items were released from the Fun Fun Cloth, everything inside was dumped out all at once. It was not like Shizuku's ability, which allowed her to precisely extract the item she wanted.
In terms of spatial abilities, the one Ronin had the highest hopes for was actually Knov's Hide and Seek, the Fourth-Dimensional Apartment. But Hide and Seek also had weaknesses. For example, it would be difficult to put a ship inside it.
Even Shizuku's ability was not convenient for storing a ship.
That was because Shizuku's space was not truly infinite. Maintaining a large amount of stored items inside it required her to constantly consume Nen.
Shizuku had no complaints about having to carry the supplies. In fact, after learning about it, she immediately rushed off with Neon to raid a nearby large supermarket.
The money Ronin had earned from the billionaire Battera was more than enough for him to spend freely.
Abaki, however, stayed behind. Judging from her slightly awkward expression, she probably had something she wanted to say to Ronin.
As for Kurapika, he had gone to make his final farewell to Pairo. When he returned, he would likely hand Pairo's eyes over to Ronin.
Ronin was still looking forward to that.
~~~
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