Phinks had already sent the update: the Shadow Beast member who specialized in quickly relocating goods was dead—killed by Ronin.
Chrollo felt it was a damn shame.
But Shizuku's sudden appearance changed everything.
So he accepted the Elders' request and asked them to forward every scrap of intel they had on the intruder.
The moment the file landed on his screen, Chrollo's gaze sharpened.
The description matched one person perfectly.
Ronin.
That bastard had beaten him to Meteor City and already found Shizuku.
Why?
Chrollo couldn't wrap his head around it.
He had run through every scenario: Ronin's crew slipping into Greed Island to pick off lone Troupe members. Ronin tracking him to Southpiece. Ronin clashing with Hisoka over the Scarlet Eyes.
Never once had he imagined Ronin would storm straight into Meteor City.
Now the headache was his.
If he rushed back with the Troupe scattered, he had no guarantee of winning. But letting Ronin run wild in Meteor City was completely unacceptable.
After turning it over in his mind, Chrollo made two calls.
The first went to the Zoldyck family. Last time he'd tried to clean up Illumi's mess after the Isley assassination attempt, he'd planned to go through Illumi.
This time the goal was simple: hire the Zoldycks to assassinate Ronin. Price was no object.
"Ronin?" The name made Illumi pause. His first thought wasn't the guy who'd embarrassed the Troupe in Yorknew, but the one who'd beaten the hell out of Killua at Heaven's Arena.
"Name your price," Chrollo said. He knew exactly how the Zoldycks did business.
"One hundred billion Jenny," Illumi answered without missing a beat.
Even Chrollo had to admit the number was insane.
When silence stretched, Illumi added, "That's my friends-and-family discount. And realistically, no one else is taking this job."
After Yorknew, Ronin's ability profile and going assassination rate had already been logged in the Zoldyck network.
"Done," Chrollo said.
A hundred billion wasn't unacceptable. Money could always be stolen later. Banks were full of it.
"Fifty billion deposit up front. No refunds if the assassination fails," Illumi continued.
"He's in Meteor City. Move fast, or that money's probably going down the drain," Chrollo warned.
Illumi didn't bother replying. His success rate was one hundred percent.
If not for curiosity—and the fact that Killua had recently mentioned Ronin's name—he wouldn't have touched such a messy job.
Chrollo hung up and transferred the deposit immediately.
Then he dialed the second number.
The voice that answered sounded surprised, but it still carried that skin-crawling edge no matter what.
It was Hisoka—the man who dreamed of a proper one-on-one deathmatch with Chrollo.
"You actually called me first!"
"I can accept your conditions," Chrollo said, skipping the pleasantries. "But my condition is simple: Ronin must die."
"I refuse," Hisoka answered almost instantly.
Chrollo frowned. "Why?"
"Because he smells even more delicious than you do right now!"
The answer made Chrollo go quiet for a beat. Then he switched gears. "What if I help you?"
"Help me with what?" Hisoka's voice took on a playful lilt. "We already have a date—October 1st at Heaven's Arena. You're more than welcome to come watch."
Hisoka had flipped the invitation around.
"It was you," Chrollo said, understanding clicking into place. Hisoka had been the one who pointed Ronin toward Meteor City and traded Troupe intel for a one-on-one fight.
"I still have some things I need to take care of, but if you've taken an interest in me, I don't mind postponing them a little."
Hisoka's tone dripped with anticipation.
Ronin's various abilities—especially that overwhelming close-combat power—had completely hooked him. He wanted to peel back every secret. More than that, he wanted a real, no-holds-barred fight.
October 1st couldn't come soon enough.
So much so that his original main course was slowly turning into a side dish.
A delicious appetizer before the feast didn't sound bad at all.
And Chrollo was perfect for the role.
"I was the one who sent him to Meteor City. What can I say? He asked, and I couldn't exactly refuse!"
Hisoka's words dripped with mockery. He completely glossed over the fact that Ronin had been looking for someone, putting all the spotlight on himself.
"You did well," Chrollo replied, his voice eerily calm.
The calmer Chrollo sounded, the wider Hisoka's grin stretched.
Too bad it wasn't a video call. He would've loved for Chrollo to see just how pleased he looked right now.
It would've been spectacular.
The dial tone cut Hisoka off mid-thought, forcing him to swallow the words on the tip of his tongue.
So it didn't work after all.
What a shame.
Chrollo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, the killing intent from earlier had vanished.
Relying solely on the Zoldycks wasn't insurance enough.
But if Ronin thought Meteor City was an easy place to rampage through, he was sorely mistaken.
The true core of Meteor City was something even Chrollo had to treat with caution.
"Let's go. We're heading to Heaven's Arena," Chrollo said.
He chose not to return to Meteor City. If Ronin wanted to cause chaos, then let him.
After all, Meteor City wasn't his territory right now anyway.
In fact, Chrollo was genuinely curious just how much trouble Ronin could stir up there.
---
The first piece of news Ryan received inside his villa was that Elder Theodore and all his subordinates had vanished at the same time.
Dead.
Ryan made the judgment instantly.
Just like the missing clinic—after death, even the bodies had been taken away.
But how could it have happened so fast?
Theodore was one of the more capable Elders. Yet he had been crushed in almost no time at all.
From the moment his men made contact to Theodore's death—had it even been ten minutes?
Could a monster this powerful really be handled by the ragtag group he had gathered in this villa?
Ryan began to hesitate.
Maybe… he should just sacrifice all of them.
The corners of Ryan's mouth curled into a twisted smile. His eyes narrowed into crescents.
At the same time, heavy iron doors suddenly slammed down outside the room where he had gathered elite fighters from several other Elders.
Along with the falling doors came sleeping gas spraying from every vent in the room.