Clang!
The sharp ring of metal on metal echoed—Feitan's blade had been blocked. But it wasn't Kurapika who had stopped him. It was Hooker.
Feitan's eyes narrowed. "Hooker… are you betraying the Troupe?"
"I have no intention of betraying the Troupe," Hooker replied calmly, "but I don't agree with what you're doing. If you insist on continuing, I won't hesitate to fight you. That's my stance."
By sheer strength alone, Hooker was no match for Feitan. But the current situation wasn't a life-or-death fight.
"Then let's flip a coin," Feitan said coldly.
Just then, Franklin's voice cut in. "Enough, Feitan. This operation was entrusted to me by the boss. There's no coin flip involved. I make the decisions—you follow. Don't do anything unnecessary."
Franklin turned to Kurapika. "Let's talk privately?"
Kurapika hesitated for a moment, then nodded. One-on-one, he wasn't afraid of Franklin.
The two moved to a quiet corner. Hooker positioned himself near Feitan, silently cutting off any path he might take to go after Kurapika. Pakunoda stood between them, just in case.
Franklin sat on a rock. Kurapika sat across from him.
"You're Kurapika, right?"
"Yes."
"I'm Franklin. A member of the Phantom Troupe." Franklin paused, then said, "I won't lie. I was involved in the attack on your Kurta clan. I fought against your people back then."
"Some of them died by my hand."
"I don't remember all the details anymore. But if I had to guess, we killed three or four of your clan. They were strong—especially the old man who showed up at the end."
"You want revenge. That's completely natural."
"But Kurapika… are you really willing to give up on your revenge against the Troupe just to learn the truth of what happened back then? We killed your people. Can you really let that go?"
Kurapika was silent for a few moments.
"I can."
"Ron already told me some of it. Besides the Phantom Troupe, there were many hired hands involved in what happened. If it were up to me, I'd want to kill everyone responsible—anyone whose hands are stained with Kurta blood. Anyone who played a role in our extinction. I want to kill them all, one by one."
"That would be true justice for my fallen clan."
"But there are too many of them. If I tried to take revenge on everyone… I'd never finish."
"So now, I'll only kill the ones who led the operation."
Franklin nodded. "Alright. Then we can make a deal."
"There were three main forces behind that incident. One was Meteor City. The ones in charge at the time were several Elders. They're still alive but retired—still living in Meteor City."
"The second was the Kakin Empire, led by the Heil-Ly Family."
"The third was the Minbo Republic, and their lead force was the Black Duke."
"I can give you the names of those Meteor City Elders. But as for the people in charge from Kakin and Minbo, I don't know who they were. Neither I nor the Troupe have that intel."
Franklin handed over a folded slip of paper. "But those Elders had a deal with the Troupe. If they're in danger, we're supposed to protect them. So before you act, wait until we're no longer in Meteor City."
Meteor City wasn't as unified as outsiders believed. Especially not between the Troupe and the Elders. Those Elders had been involved in human trafficking too. The Phantom Troupe had agreements with them, but there were always times when the Troupe wasn't around. If the Elders died during those times, the deal wouldn't technically be broken.
Kurapika took the note, glanced at the three names, and slipped it into his pocket. "Deal's done. I hope we never meet again."
He had traded away his chance at revenge—for now—in exchange for information. But that didn't mean his hatred had vanished. Not at all. The Troupe's hands were still stained with Kurta blood.
Kurapika had merely made a deal—one he had no choice but to accept.
"If only I had Ron's strength," he thought. "No… even with Ron's strength, it wouldn't be enough. Kakin… Minbo…"
The Troupe left.
Four of them in total—Franklin and Feitan in front, Hooker and Pakunoda behind.
"Hooker," Franklin said over his shoulder, "before we arrived, was Ron here?"
"Yes," Hooker replied. "While we were facing off, we learned that Ron knew both me and Kurapika. That's why Kurapika called him."
Franklin nodded. "What do you plan to do next?"
"Plan?"
"That's right. The Troupe doesn't have any collective operations planned right now. Everyone's gone their own way. The rest of us don't need to return to Meteor City—we're free to act."
Hooker's eyes flickered slightly. "In that case, I want to go to Aurean."
"For revenge?"
"I was captured for no reason. Even though Kurapika didn't kill me, it still left a bitter taste. I won't touch Kurapika… but the Underworld Mafia? I have no such restraint."
Franklin turned to Feitan and Pakunoda. "What about you two?"
"I'm going back to Meteor City," Pakunoda said. "Back to the boss."
There wasn't anything she personally wanted to do. For Pakunoda, the most important thing was Chrollo.
Feitan shook his head. "I haven't decided yet."
Hooker looked at the three of them. "If that's the case, I'll go first. See you around."
"See you," Pakunoda replied. She left, and soon only Franklin and Feitan remained.
"Franklin, why?"
"Why what?"
"You know what I mean. No need to pretend."
Feitan frowned. Franklin stared into the distance for a long time, then sighed.
"Feitan, do you remember our childhood?"
"We're criminals. But we weren't born criminals."
"All the things we've done… we did them for Meteor City."
"But there's more than one Meteor City in this world."