Chapter 887
Ron gave a slight nod.
"Hooker. It's been a while."
Hooker pushed the door open.
One after another, the remaining Phantom Troupe members came into Ron's view. Chrollo sat on a stool, but this time there was no book in his hands. Instead, his fingers were interlocked, his breath faintly unstable—gone was his usual calm and composure.
Franklin's eye sockets were sunken.
Feitan sat in a shadowed corner, collar pulled up high to cover his eyes, his expression unreadable.
Phinks leaned against the wall and looked toward the doorway as soon as he heard movement.
"Ron," Kurapika called out first.
Among those present, Kurapika was the one Ron was most familiar with, aside from Machi who had already left the Troupe. Hooker owed Ron his life, but they hadn't interacted much since.
"Kurapika."
Nobunaga exhaled shakily. A weak aura clung to his body.
Cough! Cough!
A gust of wind blew in through the open door, triggering another round of violent coughing.
When Nobunaga saw Machi, he forced a smile, then glanced at Ron. In that moment, he understood the situation clearly. His eyes returned to Machi.
"Machi, I'm fine."
Machi looked at him with concern. They were no longer teammates, but still—he was her friend.
Ron scanned the room. Hooker. Chrollo. Franklin. Feitan. Phinks. Nobunaga. Kurapika. Seven people in total. This was already far from the original state of the Phantom Troupe during the voyage aboard the Black Whale.
In the canon story, their numbers were much larger. Machi was still active. Pakunoda was alive. Illumi and Kortopi had joined the group.
But it was Ron's presence that had altered the Troupe's current makeup. Illumi and Kortopi hadn't even boarded the ship. Following the principle of not putting all their eggs in one basket, Illumi and Ron had no plans to sail on the same vessel bound for the Dark Continent.
Kalluto, meanwhile, wouldn't be going at all—for now.
Silva had a contingency in place. If the worst came to pass—if Ron, Illumi, and Zeno all failed to return—then he would cultivate Kalluto as the next heir of the Zoldyck family.
In terms of talent, Kalluto was nowhere near Ron or Killua, and not even on Illumi's level. But he was still stronger than Milluki. And if all of Ron's generation failed to return, most other major factions would also suffer devastating losses. In that scenario, Kalluto would be more than capable of carrying the Zoldyck name forward.
Ron recalled that in the original canon, the author had said outright: many Phantom Troupe members would die during the Black Whale voyage. The current situation wasn't far off from that prediction. The ship's journey to the Gatekeeper Continent was nearly over. The Succession War was also approaching its conclusion.
"Ron, could you take a look at Nobunaga's condition?" Chrollo asked, glancing up. "Whatever it takes—any condition, as long as it's something I can fulfill."
"I'll check first."
Ron stepped in front of Nobunaga and halted at a short distance.
"Gyo."
His aura concentrated in his eyes.
A strange energy coiled around Nobunaga's body—not a disease in the traditional sense, but something closer to a curse. And it wasn't a conventional Nen-based curse either. This one was infused with a type of Sequence power.
A normal Nen-based curse could be removed by a Nen exorcist. Among the princes, Camilla's spirit beast had a similar ability, allowing her to bind subordinates and have them curse other princes. The unlucky target's fortune would plummet, often leading to death. It was safe to say that several of the deceased princes had met their end in part due to her.
But this—this was something else.
"Sequence power…"
Standard Nen users had no way of dealing with that. Ron raised a hand.
A figure appeared beside him—Cell, now fully transformed and known by her current name: Gluttony. A Sequence 1 entity.
"Try devouring the Sequence aura around Nobunaga," Ron commanded.
Gluttony moved forward. The Troupe members turned to watch it, each one tense. Their expressions were grave.
On one hand, they hoped Ron could help—after losing Pakunoda, they didn't want to lose Nobunaga too. On the other hand, they were stunned by Gluttony's sheer presence.
"It's strong," Feitan muttered, pupils narrowing. "Stronger than anyone I've seen before… beyond what's considered normal."
"Stronger than that guy from the Underworld Mafia," he added.
The one Feitan referred to was Oster.
Of course it was. Even without a Nen beast, Ron was already stronger than Oster. Now, Gluttony had reached Sequence 1.
When Gluttony's power descended upon Nobunaga, the Sequence aura visibly weakened. For a moment, it seemed to be working.
But just as hope flickered to life, the opposite happened. The aura intensified instead, pushing back against Gluttony's energy. It couldn't overpower it, but it strained Nobunaga's body severely, worsening his condition even faster.
Gluttony halted immediately. At Ron's command, it vanished.
"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do."
Ron looked at Chrollo. "Unless you can hold out until we reach the Dark Continent, there's no one on the Black Whale who can resolve this. Sequence power can only be dealt with by a Sequence user."
Right now, the only ones aboard who fit that description were Ron—and, in the future, Nasubi.
But even if Nasubi awakened as a Sequence user, that didn't mean he'd be able to help. Just like with Nen, Sequence users had their own areas of expertise. And unlike Ron, Nasubi had no reason to help Nobunaga at all. He wasn't known for being cooperative.
After Ron spoke, the room fell silent. The mood dropped sharply.
A while later, Nobunaga let out a soft laugh.
"Don't be like this, everyone. We're all human. This is just part of what it means to live."
"Uvogin. Shalnark. Kortopi. Pakunoda…"
"And let's not even talk about the ones we've killed."
"If I die here, it's not a big deal."
"Maybe this is the ending I deserve."
"I was born in Meteor City. I fought to survive. I've killed so many I can't even remember their faces."
"Uvogin is already gone."
"To be honest, I really miss him."
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