Ronin left.
He'd also made a promise with Huashi Doulang—not about fighting, but accepting the guy's invitation.
Huashi planned to challenge Hisoka again once he was fully prepared. He wanted Ronin outside the ring to witness the results of his training and the moment he beat Hisoka.
Ronin agreed.
Three days later the airship touched down in the northern Yorbian Continent. This was Pleasure City—Gramglaslan.
According to Milluki's intel, the Scarlet Eyes holder was a member of the biggest local clan here: the Grasse Clan.
Gramglaslan had once been nothing but poor red-soil mountains. The nomadic Grasse Clan discovered natural gas deposits, settled down, and built a city they named after themselves.
Heavy mining soon dried up the resource. The Grasse Clan, now swimming in cash, switched to casinos and luxury hotels.
To pull in guests, the hotels rolled out every kind of show imaginable. Performance arts slowly became the city's signature industry. Theater troupes, circuses, magicians—talent poured in, giving the whole place a unique artistic vibe.
It made total sense that one of the world's Seven Great Colors—the Scarlet Eyes—would end up in a wealthy noble's collection here.
"The Grasse Clan has held onto this kind of wealth and control over Gramglaslan for so long. Their family can't be underestimated," Kurapika said. Ever since they checked into the hotel, he'd been breaking down the situation for Ronin and the others. "So the best-case scenario is getting the Scarlet Eyes through a normal transaction."
"But best-case scenarios like that almost never happen," Shizuku cut in bluntly.
"Exactly," Kurapika nodded, a little helpless. "Contacting the collector hasn't gone smoothly."
Milluki had only found the lead because the guy left traces in underground auctions. That didn't mean he was willing to sell.
From the moment they arrived, they knew the collector wasn't hurting for cash.
Buying the eyes back at a premium was probably a dead end.
"Figures. The straight-up thief route is always the simplest, fastest, and easiest," Shizuku added, dead-on again.
"We're not the Phantom Troupe," Neon pointed out.
"True. But if the guy turns out to be a complete piece of shit, we can play vigilante thieves for a day," Ronin said. His style was flexible—different people, different methods.
He figured Kurapika would back him on that.
"Big Brother Ronin's right," Kurapika said. "It might complicate things, but that's exactly what separates us from the Troupe. I don't want us to kill the dragon only to become the dragon ourselves."
His hands could get bloody, but he refused to cross his own moral line.
That was the confidence Ronin had given him.
"So did Milluki dig up the guy's full background, including any criminal record?" Neon asked the important question.
"We have the identity info, but nothing on criminal records. Maybe Milluki didn't bother, or the guy's status means he doesn't leave that kind of paper trail," Kurapika shrugged. "Either way, we need to find a way to make contact while quietly gathering more intel on him."
"Assign the tasks," Ronin said, yawning.
He was better as the muscle and preferred it that way.
Plus, Gramglaslan had a big cosplay scene. Ronin was more interested in hitting the conventions anyway.
He'd probably send a Shadow Clone to handle Kurapika's assignments while his real body checked out the shows.
Kurapika knew the plan, but Ronin's abilities were useful for investigation too.
The split was simple: Ronin with Neon, Kurapika with Shizuku.
Shizuku wasn't much for analysis, but she was the strongest fighter on the team after Ronin thanks to her massive latent aura reserves. Kurapika and Neon still had a ways to go.
This made Kurapika even more eager to finish here and head to Greed Island soon.
He wasn't worried about Ronin and Neon slacking off.
Ryan Grasse had bought a pair of Scarlet Eyes at an underground auction several months back for seven hundred million Jenny.
What he hadn't expected was the price skyrocketing past two billion in just a few months.
But money wasn't what mattered most to him. It was the artistic value—the Scarlet Eyes were one of the Seven Great Colors.
Before getting them, Ryan had zero interest in collecting human organs. He'd even thought it was a low-class hobby.
After acquiring the eyes, he researched all the rare organs in the world and became obsessed. He'd even built a special exhibition hall in his family's hotel for it.
Right now the hall was still closed and only held a few premium pieces he'd collected.
Slowly filling it that way would take forever. But during a circus performance a month ago, Ryan discovered a fast track for acquiring special organs.
The circuses themselves.
To pull in crowds, plenty of them featured strangely shaped humans—or even sub-humans.
If he could kill them all, harvest the organs, and turn them into art pieces… the thought was thrilling.
So Ryan, acting in the name of the Grasse family, invited a freak show circus to perform.
The show was scheduled in two days in the Grasse family hotel garden. The performers were already staying at the hotel, preparing diligently.
They had no idea this would be their final performance.
What waited for them was to become art—admired, revered, discussed, and praised by future generations in their beautiful new forms.
Ryan raised his glass and downed the red wine in one gulp.
He could hardly wait.
As for the people who had been trying to contact him these past two days wanting to buy the Scarlet Eyes—who cared? They could go die for all he was concerned.