According to Joey's original plan, once the assassins entered the VVIP zone, he would immediately launch a surprise attack on Tier 2.
But Hisoka's clone suddenly vanishing disrupted that entire timeline.
Still, he couldn't afford to delay. The banquet was tonight—if the Second Prince planned to use Melody, it would be during that event.
Which meant Joey had only two options: either find Hisoka and have his clone replace him, or retrieve the Twelfth Prince himself.
Both were bad.
Hisoka's location was currently untraceable—Joey's beetles deployed in the VVIP zone hadn't picked up his signal at all.
The other option—interrupting the Twelfth Prince's exorcism—wasn't acceptable. Disturbing that process might not only fail the Nen removal but could cost the prince his life.
That left only one choice: go to the lower levels and find someone to impersonate the Twelfth Prince using Golden Experience—just as he had done the first time he met Hisoka.
Decision made, Joey contacted Fugates at 9 a.m., and had the two women portal him to Tier 3.
This time, it was his clone that arrived—still in the form of the Twelfth Prince.
He had no choice. It was also Kurapika's last day teaching Nen.
At 8:30 a.m., the remaining guards and attendants who hadn't opened their aura nodes came for instruction.
The training took place in the prince's chambers, where Joey's main body would stay behind and use Mirage to maintain the disguise. If he left the clone instead, the illusion risked breaking.
But the newcomers clearly carried suspicion in their eyes.
Joey understood why—Private Soldier Sakeo from the Third Prince's faction had disappeared. Tier 12 claimed they had nothing to do with it and said he returned to Tier 3 long ago.
But everyone here had observed Sakeo's habits. They knew something was off.
They just lacked proof.
Even Sakeo's corpse was missing.
Neither Joey nor Kurapika cared. This was the last day they'd interact with those soldiers.
Training began smoothly, while Joey's clone arrived in the room on Tier 3.
Finding a suitable substitute was easy—he didn't care about looks, just someone whose identity wouldn't bother him.
Ideal candidates? Mafia thugs or their lackeys. Anyone affiliated with them was scum in Joey's eyes.
Especially in Tier 3, where the Ai Ai Family held sway—none of them were clean. Whether inner circle members blessed by Morena's Nen, or outer agents running intel, they were mass murderers.
Joey had heard enough from Meizaston. Over a hundred reported cases, over five hundred confirmed corpses.
Still, he hadn't given Morena's location to Meizaston.
Not to protect her—but because Morena was already wary of him, and had few loyal members nearby.
If Meizaston approached her directly, it would expose Joey's link to the Hunter Association, turning him into a target for the Ai Ai Family.
No benefit there.
Could Meizaston even wipe out Ai Ai? Of course not.
They were one of Kakin's Big Three crime families.
And Morena's henchmen likely held unknown powers. Meizaston might not even make it past the door.
Strategically pointless for Joey.
He trusted Meizaston, yes—but not the hodgepodge squad of civilian guards she led.
Who knew if someone would leak info to Morena the moment he passed it along?
Lost in thought, Joey's clone emerged from Fugates' portal—and froze.
There were three unexpected people in the room.
Joey had installed bugs, cameras, and Golden Experience constructs in this room. If anyone entered, he should've known instantly.
The construct would've died and reverted to a coin—the ultimate alarm.
But none of those systems triggered.
That meant one thing: the intruders bypassed all his defenses.
And when Joey saw who they were—he understood how.
Chrollo, Shizuku, and Bonolenov.
Phantom Troupe members.
Chrollo was the biggest threat, holding a familiar book—his conjured ability book, the one Joey had seen at Heaven's Arena.
It contained stolen abilities. The disguises were likely from one of those.
But which one? Joey had no idea.
The moment he appeared, all three turned to face him.
"Hm?" Chrollo murmured in surprise.
A little girl had entered.
According to Shu Wu Wu members, this room should've belonged to Joey.
Chrollo had seen Joey's photo—he didn't match this girl.
But the girl looked exactly like the Twelfth Prince of Kakin.
He'd seen the royal children on camera during the pre-banquet gathering.
"Twelfth Prince? Alone? How interesting." Chrollo closed the book and stood up. "Real or fake?"
Joey's heart tightened at the question—but he kept calm.
After all, this was just a clone. Behind him, the dimensional door began slowly sealing shut.
He hadn't brought Fugates or Kajo—this place had long been compromised.
Outside were Henrigh's tracking beasts and Ai Ai operatives watching every movement.
If they saw suspicious activity, they might storm the room—especially with what looked like a royal inside.
Killing a prince would earn major credit from all sides.
The Ai Ai Family especially would see it as a fast track to promotion.
But with Fugates and Kajo safely away, and only a disposable clone in play, Joey relaxed.
He even considered negotiating with the Troupe.
Their strength was real—if he could manipulate them into entering the VVIP zone, that would be perfect.
After all, Hisoka was still there—an irresistible lure.
The real trick was baiting them in without revealing Fugates' role.
Working with the Troupe was like feeding your hand to a tiger—one slip, and you were a corpse.
So Joey had to be careful.
"You guessed right. I'm a fake," he declared without hesitation.
No point pretending. The Troupe didn't care whether he was a real prince.
With Pakunoda dead, there was no one left with mind-reading ability.
So why hide? Might as well reveal himself and open negotiations.
"Then are you Joey's clone? Or Hisoka's? Or someone else entirely—the one who makes the clones?" Chrollo asked calmly.
"Not Hisoka. He's definitely not down here," Joey replied, slipping that fact into his answer.
Chrollo smirked. "Then where is he?"
The moment Joey opened his mouth, Chrollo understood—the same type as Illumi. Publicly an ally to Hisoka, but the kind who'd betray him in a second for the right price.
Only someone that morally detached could get along with Hisoka.
Talented ones became toys. The rest were trash.
Scumbags attract scumbags.
And Chrollo counted himself among them.
"He's in Tier 1," Joey answered plainly.
Chrollo nodded. "So you want to make a deal."
"Correct," Joey confirmed.
With the passage between Tier 3 and Tier 2 closed, the Troupe had only one way up: brute force through the Royal Army blockade.
But that zone was guarded by heavy weapons.
Even the Phantom Troupe wouldn't make it without getting torn to pieces.
By revealing Hisoka's location, Joey was laying his cards down: he wanted to trade intel for cooperation.
But Chrollo had more to consider.
Phinks' report confirmed Joey and Hisoka had cooperated before.
Was this a trap?
And what did Joey want from him?
Joey had already admitted this was a clone—there was no real threat to himself.
Even if Chrollo killed it now, the real Joey would be untouched.
Annoying.
He'd hoped to catch the real Joey and extract some revenge for Nobunaga.
But that hope was gone.
"What do you want?" Chrollo asked directly. If this was a deal, he needed to know Joey's endgame.
Getting sent to Tier 1 carried risks—the situation up there was unclear.
"Don't destroy my clone. I still need it," Joey said plainly.
A flimsy excuse.
Golden Experience clones were easy enough for him to recreate.
But truthfully—he wanted the Troupe to wreak havoc in Tier 1.
The more chaos, the better.
Still, keeping the clone intact would be convenient. He had an urgent rescue mission involving Melody.
If Chrollo destroyed it now, Joey's plan would be delayed till afternoon—too late to act before the banquet.
This morning was his best—and possibly only—shot at saving Melody.