Out of the 26 people currently gathered in Prince Woble's Suite, eight could be immediately ruled out as suspects.
These included Joey, Kurapika, Hisoka, the First Prince's private guard, the Third Prince's guard, and Prince Woble herself.
Among them, Slakka, a member of Prince Zhang Lei's guards, drew Joey's particular attention.
Slakka had already demonstrated the use of Nen and was known to be close to the Seventh Prince's guard, who had also come to learn Nen.
Joey's interest was focused on two people: the guards of the Seventh Prince, and of the Eighth Prince.
The former, because of what Joey had deduced about the Seventh Prince.
The latter, because the most likely assassin had to be among the Eighth Prince's entourage.
"We know for a fact that the guards of Princes Zhang Lei and Tserriednich don't possess Nen," Joey said. "So even if Tserriednich's guards seem incompetent, we can exclude them as suspects."
"Zhang Lei makes sense," Kurapika replied. "But what makes you so sure about Tserriednich's guards?"
"Because Tserriednich just started learning Nen," Joey answered. "And the one teaching him isn't one of his private guards—it's one of the Hunter Association operatives assigned to his suite."
This wasn't just conjecture—Joey and Kurapika had obtained a full list of Hunter Association members embedded in each prince's suite prior to boarding the ship, thanks to Cheadle, the current Chairman.
And Cheadle had agreed to support them in large part due to Joey's "Gold Experience" ability.
As for confirmation that Tserriednich had only recently begun Nen training, Joey had seen it with his own eyes while passing the hallway—and Kurapika had no reason to doubt that.
"Okay," Kurapika continued, "then what about the Seventh Prince's guard? I assume you noticed he didn't raise his hand when asked who already knew Nen?"
That was true.
Satobi, the Second Queen's chief officer, had not acknowledged his Nen ability.
But his subordinate Slakka could use Nen—making Satobi's omission suspicious.
And according to Basho's intel, despite being a lower-ranked prince, Prince Luzurus had one of the largest Nen-capable retinues, second only to Prince Benjamin and Camilla.
Why?
Because many of Prince Luzurus's guards came from the Second Queen's forces—and all of them reported to Satobi.
This could even suggest that Second Queen Duazul had a soft spot for Prince Luzurus—except, curiously, she resided in Prince Camilla's suite, and supported her far more openly.
But the contradictions didn't end there.
The Seventh Prince was the one who chatted casually with Basho about helping drug addicts. He seemed kind.
And yet, behind one of Kakin's three largest mafia families, the Gasha-Aya, stood none other than Prince Luzurus.
Prince Zhang Lei backed the Shu-U Family, greedy and opportunistic.
Prince Tserriednich was behind the Ai-I Family, corrupt and sadistic.
Prince Luzurus backed the Gasha-Aya, violent and ruthless.
No one joins a mafia in Kakin without becoming an enemy of the other two—meaning its members are either lunatics or the most dangerous kind of idealists.
Could any of these princes truly be "normal"?
Even Zhang Lei, the most outwardly reasonable of them, might not be so clean.
With all this considered, Joey's suspicions toward Satobi and Slakka intensified.
But the problem was—they didn't show any abnormal behavior during the assassination incident.
That meant either:
Slakka didn't know about Satobi's ability, or
Satobi wasn't the assassin.
"Still, he's highly suspicious," Joey admitted.
"He doesn't quite fit the assassin profile, though," Kurapika mused. "And interestingly, all the deaths have been ordinary guards or servants. No actual prince has been targeted. And no Nen users have died."
Kurapika's words struck deep.
"Which means," he continued, "maybe the assassin's Nen ability only targets non-Nen users, and the selection method is partially random."
"Ribely saw a woman no one else could see," Joey added. "She screamed and pointed, then—bam! The Fifth Prince's guard was killed. That woman is likely a conjured Nen Beast. But what's the link to the white snakes?"
Kurapika furrowed his brow.
"The woman is the decoy," he muttered. "The white snakes are the real attack. But why only target non-Nen users? Is it because they're easier prey, or is that a limitation of the ability?"
"Most people in any suite aren't Nen users," Hisoka suddenly chimed in.
That got Kurapika thinking.
"What if the ability automatically targets the larger group?" he said. "If Nen users are the minority, the non-Nen users get attacked. But once everyone here learns Nen, the tables turn."
"Then what's the activation condition?" Shurikenv asked, intrigued. "And more importantly—who's using the ability?"
He already had a target in mind.
"It has to be someone who knows Nen," Joey replied. "If we eliminate Satobi and Slakka, then only the guards from the Eighth or Ninth Prince remain."
"Not Ninth," Joey added, giving Shurikenv a sidelong glance. "They barely grasp Nen. More likely they're being manipulated by someone else."
Shurikenv's eyes lit up. He was being fed a clue.
"Then the activation condition must be—"
"Doesn't matter," Joey interrupted. "If the assassin doesn't reveal themselves, we can't touch them anyway."
Shurikenv gave a toothy grin.
"That's right. If you act against someone in this room without hard proof, I'll deem it a threat to Prince Woble, and use force immediately."
Everyone present felt the chill in his words.
"We're supposed to be allies," Kurapika reminded him.
"And this is me acting as an ally," Shurikenv smiled coldly.
Joey ignored him and dropped another key point:
"According to Juan, the Fifth Queen's man, Tuffody, was a confirmed Nen user. The guy here now, Kinoshita, is likely one too—even if I can't sense Nen on him."
Tuffody had previously been assigned to Prince Woble, and was the one Hisoka had slit the throat of.
In the manga, he was the one who killed Prince Woble.
But that wouldn't happen this time—he'd already been eliminated before he could act.
So, who's left?
Kinoshita, who arrived in his place.
That narrowed it down.
Joey and Kurapika both now believed the assassin was among the Eighth Prince's entourage.
They just needed to figure out how to prove it, and then kill them—without giving Shurikenv a reason to interfere.
Besides, once everyone knew Nen, the assassin's power—targeting the majority—would become obsolete.
Joey had already deduced:
There were four white snakes that drained Longi's blood.
It took 10 to 13 seconds to kill him.
That means a single snake would take 40+ seconds to drain a grown man.
If four snakes is the maximum, and he can eliminate them in under three seconds, then his Gold Experience could save the victim.
But he wouldn't.
It would expose his ability.
Instead, he wanted to test something:
"If I can use a burst of wind to knock the snakes away before they fully bind someone, I might be able to trigger the assassin's panic reaction."
Because assassins relying on specialized kill setups often suffered backlash if their powers were disrupted.
Joey had seen it before—like with the chimpanzee Chimera Ant, who crumbled once its ability was broken.
A shame, really. Joey could've kept that ant as a pet. But he killed it instead.
He wasn't in a rush to execute the assassin now.
Kurapika had promised to train everyone in Nen over the course of two weeks, giving Joey plenty of time to set the stage.
The best time to strike would be outside of Prince Woble's suite, or during the next attempted kill.
After an hour passed, no one left.
Even those who feared being the next victim chose to stay—orders from their princes and queens couldn't be defied.
Only Ribely was taken away by the Royal Army.
No one cared except her companion.
Kurapika didn't flinch, and continued the lesson.
Meanwhile…
Inside Prince Sale-Sale's suite, a new guard had arrived to replace the First Prince's prior envoy.
He stood silently beside another, blending in with the decor.
Above the prince's head, a Guardian Spirit Beast exhaled a strange mist, oozing like gas from its many mouths.
"Come on~ tell me how you're going to change the world," giggled one woman.
"Yeah~ we're dying to know!" chimed another.
"Then I'll give you a hint," Sale-Sale purred, lowering his voice.
But the mist had a Nen effect.
According to Kurapika's intel, it created unconscious affection toward Sale-Sale the longer it was inhaled.
Even though the new guard couldn't see the beast, he could feel its aura.
"With that confirmed… eliminating the beast will be simple," he whispered.
He opened his palm, revealing five stars embedded in his hand.
This "guard" was none other than Prince Benjamin himself.
A bold and unexpected move.
Now that he had inherited Rihan's ability, he had chosen to personally eliminate Guardian Beasts of lower princes.
He could take on a new form thanks to his ability:
"Another Person for a Day".
He could become an entirely different man for 24 hours.
And if caught, he had a disposable body double ready to take the fall.
That's why Barousamilco, his top officer, approved the mission.
"The longer you inhale the gas, the stronger the affection," Benjamin noted.
"But if someone starts out hating Sale-Sale, the effect takes much longer. Emotional manipulation takes time—and can be undone."
"This Guardian Beast uses diffusion-type Manipulation Nen. The aura mist creates mini-beasts above the heads of those affected. Those mini-beasts then emit their own gas within a two-meter radius—enough to cover one-on-one conversations."
"Eventually, Sale-Sale could build a cult of personality strong enough to birth a dictatorship."
"Not on my watch."
He pressed his hands together.
"Target acquired: Prince Sale-Sale's Guardian Spirit Beast. Category: Manipulation. Method: Wide-area diffusion."
"Appear now—The Outsider."
The room darkened as a twisted beast materialized before him.
It had a flower-like maw filled with spiral fangs, an inky gaze, and hairlike tendrils twitching above its mouth.
It crouched low—then leapt skyward—
—and devoured Sale-Sale's Guardian Beast in one bite.
"Target consumed," it declared.
Benjamin tapped his earpiece. The signal to initiate the assassination plan had been sent.
But he hadn't noticed—
A tiny hidden camera in the bookshelf had captured everything.
And elsewhere…
Joey smiled as he watched the footage of The Outsider's kill on his phone.