The next day.
He had slept well last night; the nights in Wenqian were very quiet.
On the main street of Wenqian, Leo raised his hand.
"BOOK."
The card binder emerged beside him, floating in mid-air.
He reached out and flipped it open to the Spell Card pages, his gaze sweeping over the cards.
[Drift] — four copies.
The effect of this card was to teleport the user to a town they had never visited before.
He had already been to Andochibbal, Mashadora, and Wenqian.
Of the major towns, only Soufrabi, Limeiro, Duliya si, and Aiai remained unvisited.
Since he had four Drift cards, it was the perfect time to try them out.
"Use [Drift]."
He pulled out a card and chanted the spell.
The card instantly transformed into a soft white light that enveloped him.
"Whoosh—!"
In the next moment, he turned into a beam of light and soared into the sky; Wenqian beneath his feet rapidly shrank into a tiny speck of light.
The wind howled in his ears, and the scenery in his vision receded at high speed—forests, rivers, mountains, and plains looked like a stretched oil painting.
The flight lasted only a few minutes.
The speed slowed, the light dissipated, and his feet touched solid ground again.
Leo looked up to see a magnificent, bustling city before him.
Giant neon signs of dice, roulette wheels, and playing cards were everywhere, and the streets were crowded with people.
Some waved their arms in excitement, some slapped their thighs in frustration, and some walked out of casinos with empty pockets and expressionless faces.
The air was thick with the mixed scent of money and tobacco.
"Oh? The Gambling City, Duliya si?"
Leo raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit of interest.
He walked into the nearest large casino.
The entrance was golden, with exquisite patterns carved on the doorframe, and two greeters in tuxedos stood on either side with smiles on their faces.
As he pushed open the doors, a wave of heat hit him—the roar of voices, the clatter of chips, the clicking of the roulette wheel, and the thumping of dice in bowls blended into one.
Leo went to the exchange counter and swapped his remaining change for a few chips.
He casually walked to a roulette table and placed his chips on several numbers.
The wheel spun, the ball bounced between numbers, and finally landed on a red slot—he won.
He played a few more rounds of dice; with his extraordinary observation skills and a little help from Nen, he won a significant amount.
He wasn't here to make money, just to experience the casino atmosphere.
Chips flowed in and out of his hands, and before long, his initial change had increased tenfold.
He exchanged them for cash, put them in his card binder, and turned to leave the casino.
After spending some time in Duliya si, Leo used his second [Drift] card.
As the light faded, the scent of flowers and perfume hit him.
Leo looked around and found himself standing on a street lined with flowers.
As far as the eye could see, there were couples everywhere.
They walked arm-in-arm, shoulder-to-shoulder, some whispering softly, others intimately feeding each other.
And on the streets, there were even more young ladies, each with a different style.
"The Love City, Aiai..."
Leo's mouth couldn't help but twitch as he sighed softly.
"Whoever designed this city is a Genius."
If you just went up to the young ladies on the street and struck up a conversation, you could gain their favor and then develop a relationship.
He remembered that in the original work, Hisoka was very familiar with this place and was particularly skilled at various pickup techniques.
He wandered around with interest, admiring the unique and beautiful'scenery' of the town.
There were indeed a few sights that were easy on the eyes, but he didn't linger.
After his walk, he went to an open square and took out the third Drift card.
"Use [Drift]!"
The light enveloped him once more and soared into the sky.
Meanwhile, Hisoka was walking out of another street, a wide smile on his face, seemingly enjoying himself immensely.
After the light faded, the salty and moist sea breeze immediately filled his nostrils, and the faint sound of waves crashing against the shore and the cries of distant seagulls reached his ears.
He stood on a slightly elevated slope, overlooking a town nestled between the mountains and the sea, with mostly white buildings and a bright, open style.
In the distance, a lighthouse stood on the coast, its light at the top flashing rhythmically.
"I've arrived at Soufrabi."
Leo smiled slightly.
He didn't enter the town, but walked directly toward the lighthouse.
Half an hour later, a seaside fortress converted from a lighthouse, exuding a rugged and solid aura, appeared before him.
The stone walls were covered with marks from the crashing waves, with varying shades of color and moss growing in some places.
Figures moved on the watchtower, seemingly observing his arrival.
Before Leo could even get close to the fortress gates, several men wearing white shirts and tricorne hats stepped out and blocked his path.
The leader was a very burly man with a face full of flesh and an impatient expression.
He looked Leo up and down and scoffed.
"Hey, this isn't a place for someone like you. Get lost! Watch out, or the waves might sweep you into the sea to feed the fishes!"
His companions erupted in laughter, several of them crossing their arms and looking at Leo with contempt.
Leo looked at them and smiled as well.
The next second—
Crack.
A crisp sound of breaking.
It wasn't a bone breaking; it was teeth shattering.
The burly leader didn't even see how Leo moved; he only felt a gust of wind pass by, followed by a numbness in his mouth as a salty, metallic taste exploded in his oral cavity.
He clutched his mouth in pain and looked down to see his hands covered in blood.
His teeth—the ones that had been grinning just a moment ago—were all shattered.
"Agh—!!!"
The man let out a muffled scream and doubled over, blood and broken teeth dripping through his fingers.
The companions behind him instantly turned pale.
Their laughter caught in their throats as if someone were choking them.
No one saw how Leo had attacked—it was too fast, so fast that their eyes couldn't capture it at all.
Leo shook his hand and spoke in a flat tone.
"Please go inside and inform your boss that I'd like to see Mr. Razor."
The men looked at each other, the contempt in their eyes long gone, replaced by deep fear.
They didn't dare say another word and scrambled to support their burly leader as they ran back into the fortress.
Leo stood quietly on the spot with his hands in his pockets.
The sea breeze blew, catching the hem of his clothes and making them sway gently in the wind.
Before long, a tall, thin man walked out of the fortress.
His steps were steady, and his face was expressionless. He just glanced at Leo and said briefly,
"Follow me."
Leo followed behind him into the interior of the seaside fortress.
After passing through several corridors, they came to a door.
The tall man pushed it open, and a strong smell of sweat wafted out.
Behind the door was an extremely spacious training room filled with various heavy exercise equipment and punching bags.
Over a dozen muscular men who were sweating profusely during their workout stopped their movements simultaneously.
Some were holding barbells, some were hitting punching bags, and some were using resistance machines.
Everyone's focus was on Leo as he walked in.
Leo ignored those murderous glares.
He looked toward the very center of the training room.
There, an exceptionally tall and burly man in training clothes was lying on a bench press, easily lifting two massive dumbbells.
The size of the dumbbells was staggering, yet they looked like toys in his hands.
He had a squinty-eyed smile on his face, his breathing steady and his movements composed.
This was the Game Master—Razor.
The tall man who led the way walked up to Razor and whispered,
"Boss, I've brought him."
Without pausing his rhythm, Razor steadily placed the dumbbells back on the rack with a dull thud.
He sat up, picked up a towel from a nearby chair, and unhurriedly wiped the sweat from his face.
After wiping himself down, he casually tossed the towel back onto the chair and slowly turned his head, his squinting eyes looking at Leo.
"Hmm? You're the one looking for me?"
Leo stood his ground, sizing up Razor.
His thoughts spun rapidly in his mind—
An Emitter, the administrator responsible for the entire Greed Island spell card system.
In the comprehensive attribute assessment, Razor's Cultivation level was ranked as 'Excellent', which was the lowest tier.
However, the fact that he was personally captured and recruited by Ging Freecss, one of the world's top five Nen Users, meant his strength was worth the effort Ging spent.
In the original work, when the Genei Ryodan members secretly landed on Greed Island by boat, Razor personally appeared and made Phinks and the others not dare to act rashly, making them leave obediently.
Given the Genei Ryodan's personality, if Razor's strength were too poor, they would have just attacked him directly.
This indicated that in a one-on-one or even a one-on-three situation, Razor held the advantage; even if he couldn't defeat the entire Phantom Troupe, he could at least severely injure or take down two or three of them.
Having stayed on Greed Island for so many years without experiencing more life-and-death battles, while also providing the Emitter spells for the entire island, his strength likely hadn't improved significantly.
But his Nen Ability had clearly reached a level of perfection—he could materialize fourteen Nen Beasts, and these beasts possessed strong autonomy, could speak, weren't just simple Nen Beasts, and had great power.
Compared to Shaqimono of the Nostrade Family in Yorknew City, whose ability was to control eleven puppets that could only follow simple instructions and would just stand still if they left his range, the difference in strength was immense.
This highlighted Razor's power.
"That's right, my name is Leo."
Leo introduced himself calmly.
Hearing the name, Razor's squinting eyes twitched imperceptibly and slowly opened a sliver.
"I see... it's you."
Eta had contacted him a while ago.
Eta was the administrator in charge of the game's starting point reception; she usually didn't talk much, but that day she had rarely taken the initiative to find him.
She said there was a very troublesome new player named Leo, and even mentioned he would come looking for him.
Eta's tone had carried a hint of helplessness and a headache, saying the player kept touching and looking at her console and asked questions she couldn't answer.
"So, what can I do for you?"
Leo smiled.
"My purpose for coming is simple: I want to ask you some questions about this game."
The training room fell silent.
The dozen or so men who were training stopped their movements, their gazes moving back and forth between Razor and Leo.
They could feel that the atmosphere between these two had instantly changed.
Razor didn't speak again.
He just squinted his eyes again, re-evaluating the young man in front of him.