The Nostrade Family.
One of the Mafia families of the underground world, primarily dealing in smuggling. Their overall combat strength wasn't particularly impressive.
However, because of the Nostrade patriarch Light Nostrade's daughter—Neon Nostrade—the family rose rapidly in status. Neon possessed the ability of prophecy, a power that made her extremely famous within the Mafia world.
Relying on her, the Nostrade Family climbed from a minor Mafia family to a mid-tier power and even gained partial control over underground auction operations.
As long as Neon Nostrade remained alive and capable of making prophecies, the Nostrade Family's position was secure. But if she were to die—or lose her prophetic ability—the family would be dragged down instantly, losing all its former standing.
Light Nostrade himself was a man full of ambition. He wasn't satisfied with the family's current status and was still trying to climb higher.
Relying on his daughter's ability to do so…
Frankly, it was a bit shameless.
Because of that, Neon's safety was his top priority. He hired bodyguards specifically to protect her, while also indulging her various eccentric hobbies.
Inside the spacious courtyard.
Hyuga Arin stepped in through the main gate. On both sides, vicious guard dogs tried to bare their fangs and roar at him.
But with a single glance from Hyuga Arin, every one of them tucked their tails and let out pitiful whimpers.
As he entered the mansion, an elderly butler bowed respectfully.
"Welcome, honored guest."
The butler led Hyuga Arin up the stairs and toward a particular room.
As for why Hyuga Arin was here—
Of course, it was because this place was the key entry point.
Based on what Hyuga Arin knew of the plot, the Phantom Troupe would first rob an auction full of forgeries, then eventually trace things back to the Nostrade Family.
At the same time, Chrollo would use his ability to steal Neon's prophecy power, avoiding the deaths of most Troupe members.
Hyuga Arin intended to cut off Chrollo's access to that ability.
As long as Chrollo didn't know the Troupe members were fated to die, Hyuga Arin would have a chance to hunt them down one by one.
If Chrollo obtained the prophecy poems, it would heavily affect their future movements.
It might even force Hyuga Arin to remain stuck in the Hunter world, chasing them across the globe.
And this really wasn't a good place to level up—early progression here was painfully slow.
He still loved the ninja world where he'd grown up.
Reaching a room, the butler said politely,
"Please wait here for a moment."
Hyuga Arin stepped forward and opened the door himself.
Inside the lavishly decorated room, several gazes immediately turned toward him.
Hyuga Arin ignored everyone else and smiled directly at the blond youth standing there.
"Yo, Kurapika."
Kurapika frowned. "Who are you?"
At the moment, Hyuga Arin was maintaining his true appearance.
Hyuga Arin scratched his cheek and walked closer, saying helplessly,
"It's me—Hyuga Arin. This is what I actually look like."
"Why is there a kid here?"
Before Kurapika could respond, the pompadour-haired muscular man Basho couldn't help blurting out.
"If there's danger, are we supposed to let a kid protect people?" Basho shouted angrily toward the butler.
At only twelve years old, Hyuga Arin really did look like a child.
Kurapika reacted then, turning to Basho.
"If it's him, then he's very strong."
Still, Kurapika hesitated. The Hyuga Arin he'd known looked sixteen or seventeen—he hadn't expected his true appearance to be closer to Gon's age.
Seeing Hyuga Arin's white eyes, Kurapika suddenly understood why he'd hidden himself.
Whoosh.
An air cannon brushed past Basho's face, carving a shallow line of blood across his cheek.
Basho's pupils shrank as he stared at Hyuga Arin, who had raised his hand casually.
Hyuga Arin smiled.
"Is that enough? Don't let it end up with me protecting you, uncle."
Basho touched the blood on his face. That level of strength was clearly sufficient.
Still dissatisfied, he flexed his arms.
"Don't underestimate me, brat. I'm strong too."
"Hopefully."
Hyuga Arin shrugged. Other than the ridiculous pompadour, he really had no impression of this guy.
Was there such a character in the original story?
"Since everyone is here," the butler said, drawing everyone's attention,
"I will now explain the terms of the contract."
He pressed a remote, and the wall painting beside them transformed into a screen. A man appeared, seated and smiling.
"I'll state my conditions clearly," the man said.
"I don't care whether you have Hunter Licenses or not. What matters is whether you can obtain what I want."
"There is one month until the auction begins. Before that, I need you to find any one item from the list. Any one will do."
At that moment, the butler brought out several devices.
"These are the data terminals for this assignment."
Each person took one.
Hyuga Arin casually flipped through the device in his hand—various rare corpse parts.
This was because Neon was a collector with an obsession for such things.
However—
A faint killing intent surged from beside him.
Hyuga Arin glanced over and saw Kurapika, his face dark, struggling to suppress the murderous aura leaking from his body.
On the screen was an image of a pair of crimson eyes.
"Scarlet Eyes."
It wasn't hard to guess why Kurapika's killing intent had flared up.
"Kurapika," Hyuga Arin spoke up calmly, "this is our mission."
He was reminding Kurapika to stay focused. If the killing intent was noticed by the others, it would seriously affect what came next.
Kurapika finally calmed down.
Among everyone present, aside from Hyuga Arin, only Melody—whose body had been deformed by the Dark Sonata brought back from the Dark Continent—noticed anything unusual.
Hyuga Arin vaguely remembered that this woman was connected to the Dark Sonata quest line, which rewarded a top-tier support skill.
"Only after meeting the conditions will the contract officially take effect."
With the explanation finished, everyone prepared to leave the room.
But—
"The door won't open," Basho said, twisting the handle.
"There's something I forgot to mention," the man on the screen said as it lit up again, his large face reappearing.
"Having strength is the minimum requirement to hire you."
"You must at least demonstrate sufficient ability before you're allowed to leave."
BOOM!!
Eleven figures dressed in black burst through the walls and doors, crashing into the room.
Everyone immediately became alert, ready to defend—
Bang!
The eleven figures twisted and distorted, then vanished entirely.
Everyone looked dumbfounded.
Only Kurapika and Melody turned around.
They saw Hyuga Arin lowering his hand, while the brown-haired man beside him slowly collapsed to the floor.
"Next time," Hyuga Arin said lightly,
"try hiding your Nen a bit better. That was way too obvious."
He then turned toward the dark-skinned man, a strange smile appearing on his face.
It seemed he'd picked up some bad habits from Hisoka.
"Killing is allowed too, right?"
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