Six months.
To Hisoka, this might just be the process of letting the fruit ripen a little more, making it sweeter.
He was willing to wait.
After all, toys could always be found with a little effort.
So, before the six-month deadline arrived, Hisoka figured he could find other substitutes to satisfy his desires in the meantime.
And just like that, Hisoka left.
Though he had been entangled upon arrival, his departure was swift and decisive.
Moro knew that in six months, he would be facing a Hisoka who had reached the limit of his patience.
But that was fine—six months was more than enough time to accomplish many things.
"This is the border of the great Gugan Empire, very close to the Sahelta Federation. If I leave now, I should be able to make it to the Yorknew City auction."
Walking along the road toward Pritt Town, Moro pulled out his phone to check flights and the time required to reach Yorknew City.
The results came back quickly.
The next available flight was at 7 a.m. If there were no delays, he would arrive at Lin Palace Airport on the outskirts of Yorknew City on the morning of September 7.
"I'll make it, but I won't be able to register my items for auction… It all depends on whether the organizers are willing to make an exception. Given the rarity of the Scarlet Eyes, they probably will."
After thinking for a moment, Moro booked a ticket.
The Yorknew City auction happened once a year, running from September 1 to September 10, lasting a total of ten days.
During these ten days, tens of thousands of auctions were held.
Most were public, but some were underground auctions.
The latter were essentially controlled by the Ten Dons and primarily dealt with rare items that could not be legally traded, as well as goods related to criminal activities—such as spoils obtained by poachers and grave robbers.
The catalog for these auctions was thick—several dozen centimeters—and nearly every listed item started at a minimum bid of one hundred million.
For many top collectors, the underground auction was the main attraction.
It was also an annual social event where mafia bosses sought favor with the Ten Dons.
They would often spend extravagantly at these underground auctions, using their purchases to enter the Ten Dons' inner circle and boost their own status.
Since underground auctions were private, outsiders had no way of knowing the total transaction value.
However, even the publicly available auctions involved the circulation of nearly tens of trillions in capital.
If the underground auctions were factored in, the total sum would be astronomical.
This was the fundamental reason why Yorknew City was hailed as the world's largest auction market.
If someone wanted to sell valuable items at the highest price, Yorknew City was the place to go.
Since Moro had time, he planned to auction off the Scarlet Eyes along with several treasures he had stored in the bank.
If all went well, after deducting the 5% commission fee for underground auctions, he could make at least two billion.
Aside from selling these items, he also intended to look for objects infused with Nen before the auction ended.
"Even if I manage to squeeze my way in at the last minute, without some hype, it'll be hard to fetch a high price—especially for a collection piece like the Scarlet Eyes… At the very least, I need to make sure those human organ collectors know it's available."
After boarding the airship to Yorknew City, Moro started thinking about this problem.
The auction catalog was a traditional printed book that had already been sent to potential buyers, so it was too late to include the Scarlet Eyes listing.
The organizers would have to handle the marketing, and they needed to spread the word before he arrived on September 7.
With that in mind, Moro took out his phone and typed in a number from memory.
The number belonged to Aksai, a senior appraiser at Nampis Auction House, who had some influence within the company.
Nampis was the most prestigious auction house in Yorknew City, holding its auctions only from September 6 to September 10—essentially serving as the grand finale of the entire event.
Before his death and rebirth, Moro had spent a year in Yorknew City and had coincidentally built a connection with Aksai.
But in this timeline, they had yet to meet.
Still, that was an easy problem to solve.
Aksai was an enthusiast of untreated gemstones, especially natural, unprocessed ones.
As long as he could provide such a gem, Aksai would likely be willing to help.
In his past life, Moro had gotten close to Aksai by using a natural emerald that he had pried from an antique clock.
That antique clock was still collecting dust in a curio shop on Yorknew City's Lower Water Street…
All Moro had to do was promise Aksai the gemstone, then retrieve the clock once he arrived.
That should be enough.
Moro pressed the dial button…
A Mansion in the Mountains
The mansion was lavish beyond measure.
Its courtyard was enormous—stretching nearly a kilometer from the main gate to the house itself.
Surrounding the courtyard were three-meter-high walls, reinforced with cutting-edge security systems.
Guard dogs and security personnel patrolled every corner, maintaining 24-hour vigilance.
Beyond the walls, the surrounding forest was also under surveillance, disguised as a ranger station to conceal the web of informants stationed throughout the area.
The owner of this mansion was Nolan Gambino, the founder of the Menu organization.
Thanks to the mansion's formidable security, even his father, Gambino, one of the Ten Dons, occasionally stayed here.
Suddenly—
"AHHH!! AHHHH!!!"
Screams of agony echoed from within the mansion.
The gangsters stationed throughout the estate heard the wailing but remained indifferent.
They knew that whenever this happened, it meant their young master was in a bad mood.
Time passed.
At last, the seventh scream was cut short, and silence filled the mansion.
Water rushed from a faucet.
A pair of bloodstained hands, flecked with skin and flesh, were being scrubbed clean under the stream.
The hands belonged to Nolan.
Head bowed, he expressionlessly picked at the bits of meat stuck under his fingernails.
Whenever he was upset, he had an uncontrollable urge to tear people apart with his bare hands.
Yet every time he was done, he found himself disgusted by the bits of flesh stuck under his nails.
"With my father's name, I can directly call on Earthworm from the Shadow Beasts… Additionally—"
Nolan suddenly looked up.
Through the mirror, he met the gaze of one of his subordinates standing behind him.
Coldly, he commanded:
"Tell Poison Mosquito that I accept the terms he proposed last time. But he needs to work with Earthworm to help me handle this."
"Understood," the subordinate replied.
Nolan lowered his gaze but then muttered, "Not enough."
His subordinate tensed.
Nolan turned around, his chilling stare making the man shiver.
"Hire an assassin from the Zoldyck family."
"Money is no object."
Clenching his fingers, Nolan's mind flashed with the images of Hisoka and the masked man who had ruined his plans.
The underground virus research lab had been destroyed.
Nolan didn't care about financial losses.
He didn't care about the precious researchers who had died.
But he would have revenge.
He would tear apart anyone who dared to cross him!
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50 Powerstones? (5 Bonus Chapters)
20 Advance Chapters: patreon.com/milezen