Ronin left.
He had also made an agreement with Kastro, though it wasn't about fighting.
Instead, he had accepted Kastro's invitation.
Once Kastro had fully prepared himself, he would challenge Hisoka again.
And when that time came, he hoped Ronin would stand outside the ring to witness the results of his training—and the moment he defeated Hisoka.
Ronin agreed.
Three days later, the airship stopped in the northern part of the Yorbian Continent, at the City of Pleasure—Glam Gas Land.
According to the information Milluki had provided, the person in possession of the Scarlet Eyes was a member of the city's largest clan, the Glam family.
In its early years, Glam Gas Land had been nothing more than a barren stretch of red-earth mountains.
But the nomadic Glam-Gara tribe discovered natural gas there.
So they stopped wandering, settled on that land, and built a city there, which was named after the Glam clan.
However, excessive extraction quickly depleted the natural gas reserves. So after earning billions from selling natural gas, the Glam clan shifted to opening casinos and building hotels in Gas Land.
To attract guests, the hotels began introducing all kinds of live performances.
In the end, the performance industry gradually became Gas Land's signature trade. Large numbers of theater troupes, circus performers, magicians, and other entertainers gathered there, giving the entire city a unique artistic charm.
Something like the Scarlet Eyes—one of the Seven Great Beauties of the World—being acquired and collected by a powerful noble living in this city was only natural.
"The Glam clan has held vast wealth and controlled Gas Land for so long. That means this family definitely can't be underestimated," Kurapika said, analyzing the situation for the three of them ever since they checked into the hotel. "So if we can obtain the Scarlet Eyes through a normal transaction, that would be the ideal outcome."
"But usually, the ideal outcome never happens," Shizuku said bluntly.
"That's true." Kurapika nodded helplessly. "Getting in touch with the collector hasn't gone smoothly."
The only reason Milluki had been able to investigate the person was because they had left traces during an underground transaction. But that didn't mean they had any intention of selling the Scarlet Eyes.
And from the moment they came here, Ronin's group already knew that this wasn't someone who needed money.
So buying them back at a high price was basically a dead end.
"As expected, the thief's approach is still the simplest, most efficient, and most convenient," Shizuku said again, with uncanny precision.
"But we're not the Phantom Troupe," Neon said.
"True. But if the other party is a truly vile person, then we can play the role of gentleman thieves for a bit too." Ronin was still very flexible in how he handled things.
Different people deserved different treatment.
And he believed Kurapika would approve of that approach too.
"Ronin's right," Kurapika said. "Even if that makes things more complicated, that's what separates us from the Troupe. I don't want us to be dragon slayers who end up becoming dragons ourselves."
That was how he truly felt.
His hands could be stained with blood, but he could not betray his morals and conscience.
That confidence was something Ronin had given him.
"Then did Milluki investigate his identity in full, including any criminal record?" Neon asked the key question.
"We have his identity, but not any criminal record," Kurapika said with a shrug. "Maybe Milluki simply doesn't care about that sort of thing. Or maybe the man's status is exactly what gives him the privilege of never leaving a record behind.
"So next, we need to find an opportunity to make contact with him, while also secretly gathering information."
"You assign the tasks," Ronin said with a yawn.
He was better suited to being the muscle, and he preferred that role too.
Besides, Gas Land had also gathered quite a few cosplay enthusiasts, and Ronin was much more interested in something like a convention.
So he would most likely send shadow clones to carry out the tasks Kurapika assigned, while his main body went off to join the convention.
Kurapika knew exactly what Ronin was planning, but Ronin's ability was also very important in an investigation.
So the team split was simple: Ronin would move together with Neon, while Kurapika would pair up with Shizuku.
Shizuku might not be much help when it came to analysis and planning, but in combat she was the strongest member of the team aside from Ronin.
That had a great deal to do with her latent aura pool. Kurapika and Neon still needed a long period of training before they could catch up to her.
That only made Kurapika more eager to head to Greed Island as soon as possible after collecting the Scarlet Eyes here.
As for whether Ronin and Neon might slack off, Kurapika didn't really care.
Ryan Glass had purchased a pair of Scarlet Eyes at an underground auction a few months ago for 700 million Jenny.
What he hadn't expected was that only a few months later, the price of that same pair had already been driven up to over 2 billion.
But compared to money, what he valued more was the Scarlet Eyes' artistic worth as one of the Seven Great Beauties of the World.
Before obtaining the Scarlet Eyes, Ryan had never been interested in collecting human organs. In fact, he had considered that kind of collection crude and tasteless.
But after acquiring the Scarlet Eyes, he began looking into the many strange human organs that existed in the world, and gradually developed a deep fascination with collecting them.
He had even gone so far as to build a special exhibition hall inside his family's hotel for that purpose.
At the moment, though, the hall was still closed, and it contained only a handful of rare human organs he had managed to acquire.
If he kept collecting like this, who knew how long it would take before the hall was full?
But during a circus performance he watched a month ago, Ryan discovered a channel that would let him rapidly acquire unusual human organs.
And that channel was the circuses.
In order to attract attention, many circuses featured humans with bizarre appearances, and even demi-human performers.
If he could kill them all and turn their organs into works of art, just how thrilling and intoxicating would that be?
So, in the name of the Glass family, Ryan sent an invitation to the Freak Show Circus.
In two days, their performance would be held in the garden of the Glass family hotel. And now, those "freaks" had already checked into the hotel and were devoting themselves to preparations for the show.
But they probably had no idea, did they?
That this freak show would be the final performance of their lives.
And what awaited them afterward would be dazzling new forms—forms that future generations would gaze upon, admire, worship, discuss, and praise, after they had sacrificed themselves for art.
Ryan raised his glass and drained the wine in one gulp.
He could hardly wait.
As for those idiots who had spent the last two days trying every possible way to contact him and buy the Scarlet Eyes from him—who cared?
They could all go die.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 70 Chapters Ahead of Others!