[DING! Success! Acquired: {Memory Read} (Gold), {Memory Bomb} (Gold).]
[DING! Talent {Lucky Star} Activated! Forced drop initiated...]
[DING! Acquired: {Specialist Talent} (Purple).]
A symphony of notifications played in Ryker's mind.
Jackpot.
Ryker felt the energy surge through him. Another piece of the puzzle. {Specialist Talent} (Purple)wasn't a breakthrough like the Gold version he got from Neon, but it stacked. His affinity for Specialization was now unparalleled.
More importantly, he had Pakunoda's abilities.
[Trait: Memory Read (Gold)]
[Effect: Read the memories of any target by asking a question while maintaining physical contact.]
[Trait: Memory Bomb (Gold)]
[Effect: Convert read memories into Nen bullets. Firing them into a target transfers the memory. Firing them back into the original owner erases the memory (or resets them to a blank slate).]
Pakunoda was the Spider's Number 9. Their intelligence officer. Their glue. Without her, the Troupe was blind.
Ryker smiled. Perfect.
The only downside was the daily limit on his Lucky Star talent. He had burned today's charge on Pakunoda. Killing more Spiders today might not yield the best loot. But that was fine. He wasn't in a rush.
The game had just begun.
Underground Vault. The Aftermath.
The vault was an oven. The walls glowed red from the heat of the explosion. The massive alloy door was gone, blown off its hinges and embedded in the far wall of the corridor.
Four figures stumbled out of the smoke, battered and burned.
Uvogin looked like a charcoal briquette. His skin was scorched, his clothes tatters. He had taken the brunt of the blast, shielding Kortopi with his body.
Kortopi was shaking. His ability—Gallery Fake—was crucial for the Troupe's operations, but his combat durability was low. If Uvogin hadn't tanked the explosion, the Spider would be down two legs instead of one.
Nobunaga was in worse shape. His katana was snapped in half. His left arm hung limp, the bone shattered. He looked like he had been run over by a tank.
"ROAR! DAMN IT! WHO DID THIS?! WHO?!"
Uvogin bellowed like a wounded beast. His aura flared uncontrollably. He had never been this humiliated. He had nearly died.
"Shut up!" Nobunaga hissed through gritted teeth. "Pakunoda... is dead."
The silence that followed was heavier than the blast door.
Uvogin froze. He stared at the spot where Pakunoda had been standing. There was nothing left but ash.
The Phantom Troupe were thieves. They were murderers. They were monsters. But they were family.
Pakunoda was gone.
"We kill them," Uvogin growled, his voice trembling with rage. "Whoever did this... I will tear them apart piece by piece."
"Who do you want to kill?" Nobunaga snapped. "We don't even know who the enemy is! We are exposed! We need to retreat! Now!"
He grabbed Uvogin's arm. "Kortopi! Make fake corpses! Copy Pakunoda, copy us! Make them think we all died here! We need to go underground!"
Nobunaga was furious, but he was rational. Staying here was suicide.
"Understood..." Kortopi whispered. He touched the ground, conjuring four charred bodies, replicas of their own.
Uvogin clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked. He looked back at the ruin one last time, then turned and ran.
The Sky Over Yorknew.
A hot air balloon drifted silently away from the city.
Inside the basket, the mood was funereal.
Feitan, Franklin, and Shizuku had returned from their slaughter at the auction hall. They had expected a celebration. They had expected loot.
Instead, they got a call from the Danchou.
"The mission is over. Return immediately."
Now, they looked at the survivors from the vault.
"Pakunoda... is dead?" Shizuku blinked, her expression blank but confused. "How? She doesn't die."
"And the vault was empty?" Feitan's eyes were cold slits. "Someone knew we were coming."
"It was an ambush," Phinks growled. "They knew the plan. They knew the timing. They set a trap in the vault."
"Worse," Nobunaga said, wincing as Machi stitched his arm back together. "The vault was cleaned out before we got there. And there was a calling card."
"A playing card," Kortopi muttered. "A Joker."
"HISOKA!" Uvogin roared, chugging a beer to dull the pain. "That bastard! He wasn't with us! He set us up! He took the treasure and killed Pakunoda!"
It made sense. Hisoka was the only variable. He was the only one absent. And the Joker card was his signature.
"I have proof," Nobunaga said, tossing a video tape to Shalnark. "I raided the security room on the way out. Check it."
Shalnark inserted the tape into a portable player.
The grainy footage flickered to life.
A man in a jester suit walked into the vault. He killed the guards with playing cards. He smiled at the camera. He mocked the Ten Dons.
It was Hisoka.
"See?!" Uvogin smashed his beer can. "I'm going to rip his head off!"
"Wait," Nobunaga interrupted. "Something is wrong."
The samurai narrowed his eyes. "The auction host said the goods were moved 'hours ago.' If Hisoka stole them, why were the guards still alive when we got there? And why would he leave a tape proving his guilt?"
"He's arrogant!" Uvogin argued.
"Or he's being framed," Nobunaga countered. "It's too perfect. Someone wants us to fight Hisoka."
A Ruined Church.
Chrollo Lucilfer sat on a stone block, sipping a soda.
Standing in front of him was Hisoka.
The phone on the crate was on speaker. Chrollo had heard everything.
"So," Chrollo said, looking up at the magician. "They have video evidence. You killed the guards. You stole the treasure. You killed Pakunoda."
Hisoka smirked, leaning against a pillar. "And you believe that?"
"Did you do it?" Chrollo asked.
"No," Hisoka replied smoothly. "I have no interest in treasure. And killing Pakunoda? Not my style. I prefer my toys... lively."
"I see."
Chrollo took a sip of his drink.
"It wasn't Hisoka," Chrollo announced to the phone.
"WHAT?!" Uvogin's voice cracked the speaker. "Danchou! The tape! The card!"
"Think, Uvo," Chrollo said calmly. "Judas sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. What does Hisoka gain by selling us out? Money? Fame? Status? Does he care about any of that?"
Silence on the line.
"If someone informed on us," Chrollo continued, "the Mafia would have fortified the vault. Instead, the security was weak. The guards were sacrificial pawns. Someone wanted us to enter that vault. Someone wanted us to trigger that trap."
"Someone is playing a game," Chrollo concluded. "And we are the pieces."
"But Danchou!" Uvogin yelled. "Pakunoda is dead! Someone has to pay!"
"Of course," Chrollo's eyes darkened. The temperature in the ruins dropped.
"She will not die in vain. We will find the one pulling the strings."
Chrollo crushed the soda can in his hand.
"And when we do... we will play a Requiem for them."
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