"Let those two idiots have fun."
Feitan glanced at them and then ignored the commotion they were making.
He found a quiet corner and took out the treasured book from his pocket.
He gently wiped away what might have been dust, then opened the book.
He began to read The Taste of Candy and Pain with great interest and seriousness.
Phinks, also an Enhancer type, watched the clash with great interest.
Nobunaga, meanwhile, observed the battle while looking around before asking: "Where's Franklin? I haven't seen him."
"He's still keeping an eye on that Don, who seems to be hiding very well."
Machi, arms crossed, calmly replied: "The captain assigned him to keep an eye on that Don."
"And he was given the order, the moment the other party shows up—"
"Kill him instantly."
Yeah, no one is more suited to be a sniper than Franklin, a man with machine guns in his hands.
If one bullet doesn't kill him, then those ten machine guns should at least turn him to pieces, right?!
Perhaps that Dons also knew someone was watching him from outside.
Or maybe he was simply afraid of dying and had been hiding inside his building.
Yes, inside the United trade building where Uvogin and the others were currently standing.
Since he wasn't planning to come out, the Phantom Troupe simply came here.
Originally, after dealing with the Kute Gang of Thieves, the Phantom Troupe was planning to leave.
However, Luke seemed to have something to discuss with the Don here for some reason.
And it seemed to concern Meteor City, so everyone stayed behind for the time being.
Once Luke and Chrollo had thoroughly researched that dangerous thing, they would go and have a proper discussion with the Don behind the scenes.
Before they could even approach, the Shadow Beast unit directly under the Ten Mafia Dons launched an attack.
"The Ten Mafia Dons command consists of ten Shadow Beasts. Normally, each of them should only be authorized to use one Shadow Beast."
Shalnark analyzed as he watched the battle.
"However, the fact that this Shadow Beast was able to find us means our location has been exposed."
"The Don here probably already knows we're on the rooftop."
"So what if they know?"
Phinks rubbed his arm, nonchalantly saying: "What kind of Shadow Beast did he send?"
His disdain was palpable.
In his eyes, this Shadow Beast was less powerful than even the weakest members of the Kute Gang of Thieves.
"That Don knows of our existence, and in his mind, we must be very powerful."
Shalnark said logically: "Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to use such a powerful fighter as the Shadow Beasts specifically to deal with us."
"Hmm, who told Uvogin to wipe out all of their elite subordinates?"
Nobunaga stroked his beard, speaking words that stung the old man's heart: "If he still had other forces to use beside the Shadow Beast, he wouldn't have sent it here."
Clearly, deploying the Shadow Beasts, the highest-level combat power under the Ten Mafia Dons, meant several things: They wanted to eliminate trouble as quickly as possible, crush rebellion with overwhelming force, and show everyone that opposing them would bring fierce retaliation.
But the real meaning was unavoidable: the Ten Mafia Dons had no other way to fight them.
Shadow Beasts were the Ten Mafia Dons' strongest power and their final trump card.
Once they send them, it means they have no other solutions.
And if even the Shadow Beast fails, then, let's just say: The positions of Ten Mafia Dons are not as permanent as one might think.
"So basically, that Don sent out his Shadow Beast because he thinks there's nothing left worth living for?"
Everyone understood what Shalnark meant, but Phinks was the one who said the quiet part out loud.
In his view, if Shadow Beasts are the last resort, they should be saved for personal protection, not sent out to fight others.
If they win, fine.
But if they lose, well, Phinks couldn't imagine Uvogin losing anyway.
So to him, this Don's decision was as good as suicide.
Or maybe they simply had blind, ridiculous confidence in the Shadow Beasts' strength.
"But as warm-up opponents..."
Suddenly, a soft laugh came from behind the troupe.
"... Shadow Beasts are actually not bad."
"Captain!"
Everyone instantly turned and saw Luke and Chrollo standing behind them.
"That dangerous thing in your hands, did you finish dealing with it?"
As usual, Phinks blurted out the question.
"Yeah, more or less."
Luke nodded.
After Chrollo killed Kute, the Stone of Seven Emotions and Six Desires naturally fell into their hands.
Luke wouldn't use such a stone, even if its ability was special.
Because he would have to constantly guard against it: Whether it would turn against him, or quietly manipulate his emotions and take control of him.
Something that dangerous had no right to exist in the world.
Luke and Chrollo separated themselves from the other troupe members and thoroughly studied the stone, but gained nothing.
"Maybe we need someone more professional to research it."
Chrollo was the first to give up.
He easily drops anything he can't learn through study or effort.
If it's analyzing battle situations, fighting, or stealing abilities, he enjoys it.
But research? Archaeology? Medicine?
Not his territory. He abandons it cleanly.
Speaking of stealing Nen abilities, Chrollo sighed with regret.
"Too bad Kute's ability was sacrificed to that stone. His Forgery of Time sounded pretty useful."
He genuinely regretted Kute losing his Nen ability.
Chrollo was gradually developing his own Nen ability, still revolving around stealing abilities, the same as his original concept.
But even if Kute still had his Nen ability, Chrollo could not have kept it permanently.
Because if a stolen Nen ability's owner dies, the ability automatically disappears from Chrollo's skill hunter book.
Whether controlled or not, Kute was doomed to die.
His Nen ability was almost certainly lost.
Why almost and not absolutely?
Because there exists a tiny possibility: If someone dies with an extremely strong lingering will, their Nen ability may remain.
To steal someone's Nen, Chrollo must meet four conditions:
He must witness the Nen ability in action with his eyes.
He must ask questions about Nen's ability, and the victim must answer them.
His victim's palm must touch the handprint on the cover of Bandit's Secret.
All of the above must be completed within one hour.
After Kute sacrificed his Nen ability, he could no longer demonstrate it.
So stealing it became impossible.
But Chrollo didn't mind.
Even without Kute's Nen ability, the world is full of other interesting Nen abilities to steal.
And he had zero interest in that stone.
Its functionality was too singular, far less exciting than stealing others' Nen abilities.
Thus, the stone was handed to Luke to dispose of.
Conveniently, Luke knew exactly the right expert for this kind of dangerous artifact.