The reunion of the Troupe was an inevitable outcome.
Although Hisoka, as the mole, provided intelligence, the true purpose of the Troupe's gathering would only be revealed once Hisoka arrived.
But before that... deal with Phinks's team first.
Morrow put away his phone and, following Kalluto's directions, sharply turned the steering wheel while slamming the accelerator to the floor.
The engine roared like a wild beast, and the car shot forward like an arrow from a bow.
As the car sped along, the reaction from the living paper doll grew increasingly intense.
At the same time, the surroundings grew more desolate.
The members of the Phantom Troupe hailed from Meteor City. They lacked proper identification and were burdened with the highest-level warrants.
Perhaps for this reason, when traveling to their destinations, the Troupe had grown accustomed to choosing remote, seldom-traveled routes.
On lucky days, they might hijack a car.
If no such opportunity arose, they didn't mind trekking to the next location on foot.
This behavioral habit, however, worked to Morrow's advantage in his hunt.
Driving at high speed along the barren road, Morrow kept his focus entirely on the path ahead.
As long as the direction was correct, there was always a chance he would spot Phinks's team on the road ahead at any moment.
Half an hour later, a black sedan appeared at the edge of his vision.
Morrow immediately glanced at Kalluto.
Kalluto had also spotted the black car ahead. Judging by the intensity of the living paper doll's reaction, it was almost certain that Phinks was in that vehicle. He gave a slight nod to Morrow.
Confirmed, Morrow floored the accelerator, his gaze fixed on the black car growing steadily closer.
On this red wasteland dotted with sparse wild grass, the two cars, one leading, one following, stood out starkly.
Due to the open terrain, the black car ahead quickly noticed Morrow's car tailing them.
In the driver's seat, Phinks glanced swiftly into the rearview mirror. His brow, devoid of eyebrows, twitched slightly, and a flash of ruthlessness gleamed in his eyes.
In the passenger seat beside him, Shizuku adjusted her signature large black-framed glasses and calmly reminded him: "Phinks."
"I know."
Phinks responded curtly before abruptly slamming on the brakes. The tires skidded across the red earth, leaving a trail as the black car came to a sudden halt.
"Whoever it is, we'll take them out first."
He pushed the car door open, stepped out, and stood beside the vehicle with his hands in his pockets, coldly watching the approaching car.
Shizuku also stepped out calmly, positioning herself beside Phinks.
She looked curiously at the car heading straight for them.
Though their identities were unclear, such blatant pursuit clearly indicated they were the targets.
Regardless of the pursuers' motives, this overt tailing alone was enough to stir Phinks's bloodlust.
She glanced sideways at Phinks and saw that all his aura nodes were wide open. Boiling aura surged like scalding water, and he radiated unmistakable bloodlust.
"Phinks, do you need me to step in?"
Shizuku asked softly.
She wasn't entirely sure why she asked the question.
It was just an instinctual feeling that Phinks would prefer to end the fight alone.
In fact, throughout their journey as a team, Phinks had always taken on battles single-handedly, never letting Shizuku intervene.
However, Shizuku had forgotten about those matters.
Normally, Phinks should have handled the fight alone as before.
But now the situation was different.
The leader had issued an assembly order, and everyone had to rush to the gathering point as quickly as possible.
"Together."
Phinks cracked his neck. "We're in a hurry. Let's finish this in ten seconds."
"Ten seconds?"
Shizuku hesitated. "Isn't that too rushed?"
"If there are many, just take one."
Phinks flexed his wrists, his knuckles popping as his muscles tensed, entering combat readiness.
"Oh."
Shizuku nodded calmly, channeling her Nen. In the blink of an eye, a vacuum cleaner with large eyes and a mouth materialized in her hands.
This was her Conjuration ability, Blinky.
Though called a vacuum cleaner, it resembled a Nen Beast more closely.
Blinky's ability allowed it to suck in any non-living object Shizuku deemed suitable.
However, to use this ability, Shizuku needed to give Blinky instructions.
Additionally, Blinky could not absorb anything imbued with Nen.
"Shizuku, what are you doing?"
Phinks glanced at her, his eye twitching as she conjured Blinky without a word.
"Getting ready to fight."
Shizuku replied matter-of-factly, holding the vacuum cleaner steadily.
"..."
A vein throbbed on Phinks's temple as he facepalmed. "Forget what kind of opponents they are; we haven't even started fighting, and you're already revealing your ability. Are you trying to announce to everyone that you're a Conjurer?"
"Is that not allowed?"
Shizuku tilted her head, her eyes behind her glasses filled with confusion.
"Whatever..."
Seeing the pursuing vehicle closing in within a hundred meters, Phinks lacked the energy to correct Shizuku further. His aura surged explosively, kicking up a shallow crater in the red soil beneath his feet.
"Let's go."
Before the words faded, Phinks charged toward the car ahead.
"Oh!"
Shizuku acknowledged, hoisting Blinky over her shoulder as she hurried after him.
—--
Meanwhile, Morrow slammed on the brakes.
Screech!
The ear-piercing sound of tires skidding filled the air as the car jerked to a sudden halt.
Morrow immediately rolled down the window and hurled a series of smoke grenades forward.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The smoke grenades traced arcs through the air, erupting into dense white smoke upon impact, obscuring Phinks and Shizuku's vision.
"Tch."
Phinks snorted coldly, refraining from charging recklessly into the smoke.
While approaching, he had glimpsed the aura surrounding the two in the front seats.
Acknowledging them as Nen users, he afforded them basic respect; even pressed for time, he wouldn't foolishly rush in.
Seeing Phinks halt, Shizuku also stopped, eyeing the spreading smoke with caution.
Suddenly, both Phinks and Shizuku heightened their alertness.
Faint sounds emerged from the smoke, followed by intense fluctuations of Nen.
As they braced themselves, the thick smoke was abruptly pierced by countless Nen bullets, instantly riddling it like a honeycomb.
These were Morrow's Shooting Stars.
After splitting, they enveloped Phinks and Shizuku's positions from all directions.
An Emission user... Similar to Franklin's Double Machine Gun, but the power is lacking. With this coverage, dodging entirely is impossible. Guess we'll have to tank it.
In the blink of an eye, Phinks assessed the power of the fractured Shooting Star and made no attempt to dodge. Instead, he evenly distributed his aura output across his entire body.
Ken.
Phinks crossed his arms in front of his face, leaving a narrow gap to observe through.
Beside him, Shizuku gasped in surprise, then wisely retreated behind Phinks.
!?
Noticing Shizuku's action, Phinks' eyelid twitched, but he had no time to comment.
A barrage of fractured Shooting Stars shot toward them like a storm, crashing against Phinks' body.
Countless stars exploded against him, scattering sparks of Nen, yet none could breach his defensive aura.
While blocking the onslaught, Phinks kept a vigilant eye on his surroundings.
"Shizuku, stay alert. Don't let them exploit an opening."
He even had the composure to warn Shizuku.
"Mhm."
Shizuku acknowledged.
She wasn't foolish; even without Phinks' reminder, she knew that smoke bombs combined with such wide-area suppression attacks were meant to create openings for ambushes.
That's why she had stopped in her tracks earlier, avoiding recklessly charging into the smoke.
As long as they guarded the front and waited for the smoke to clear…
Huh?
With Blinky here, they could just suck up the smoke!
The realization dawned on Shizuku belatedly, and she immediately commanded Blinky: "Blinky, vacuum all the smoke!"
"Hah-yoh hah-yoh!"
Blinky let out a strange cry, its fang-filled mouth expanding abruptly to generate a powerful suction force.
The thick smoke, which had been spreading, instantly twisted into a spiral and was completely devoured in the blink of an eye.
However, the moment the smoke dissipated, a sharp whistling sound shot from the side!
It was a slender, compressed paper spike, aimed precisely at Shizuku's temple from a tricky angle.
Since Shizuku was activating Blinky's ability, she had inevitably dropped her Ken state and couldn't maintain balanced aura defense across her body.
But Shizuku wasn't fighting alone.
Just as the paper spike was about to strike, Phinks' arm shot out like lightning, his fingers snapping open to catch the spike squarely in his palm.
"Tch!"
With a soft sound, the paper spike imbued with Kalluto's Nen shattered in Phinks' grip.
Grip strength had always been one of Phinks' strong suits.
Combined with his Enhancement-type traits, it made for exceptional lethality.
Beyond his grip and bone-tendon strength, Phinks also possessed remarkable reflexes. In the original story, he had easily seen through Killua's high-speed feints, overwhelming him with absolute dominance.
So, dealing with an ambush of this level was naturally well within his capabilities.
But the assault from Morrow's group was far from over.
No sooner had Phinks crushed the paper spike than a chain, its presence erased by In, coiled toward Shizuku like a venomous snake.
Yet Shizuku remained highly vigilant. With Phinks alleviating the pressure, and upon noticing Kalluto and Kurapika positioned on either flank, she instinctively applied Gyo to her eyes.
Immediately, her eyes behind her lenses flared with fiery aura, allowing her to see the Chain Jail concealed by In.
Without hesitation, she directed Blinky to smash forcefully toward the chain.
Kurapika's eyes narrowed slightly. With just a flick of his wrist, the taut Chain Jail instantly transformed into a wave-like motion.
As Blinky lunged forward, it not only failed to make contact with the Chain Jail but was instead firmly ensnared by it under Kurapika's masterful control.
Such strong constricting force... How strange. Chains that can extend freely should belong to the Conjuration type.
Shizuku keenly sensed the peculiarity of the Chain Jail but couldn't comprehend how it worked.
The next moment, her internal alarms screamed, and she reflexively looked up at the sky.
Above, Nen bullets resembling a meteor shower rained down toward her and Phinks.
It was another of Morrow's fractured Shooting Stars.
Initially, under the cover of smoke, one had been launched directly at Shizuku and Phinks.
But before Phinks could block the first fractured Shooting Star, Morrow had already thrown another Shooting Star into the sky.
At that time, Shizuku hadn't yet commanded Blinky to absorb the smoke.
So, at this precise moment, the Shooting Star split mid-air and blanketed the area where Shizuku and Phinks stood.
Shizuku's pupils reflected the dense points of light. With no chance to hide behind Phinks this time, she decisively dismissed Blinky.
As Blinky dissolved into aura and vanished, the Chain Jail lost its target and immediately coiled into a tangled mass.
Seizing the opportunity, Shizuku regained her freedom, leaping backward out of the Star Rain's range.
In that split second, Phinks observed Shizuku's overly cautious reaction.
These fragmented Nen bullets, unless they achieved a 100% Enhancement conversion rate like Franklin's, posed no real threat in terms of power.
But Shizuku was, after all, a Conjurer with only 60% affinity for Enhancement...
So even if Phinks thought she was being excessively cautious, he wasn't in a position to criticize.
Unlike Shizuku's swift evasion of the Star Rain, Phinks capitalized on his Enhancement advantage, arrogantly charging through the falling projectiles straight toward Kalluto, whom he perceived as the weakest.
Thud thud thud...
The pellet-like Shooting Stars pelted Phinks like raindrops.
Just as he had judged, these Shooting Star Nen bullets were far too weak. Maintaining a state of Ken was enough to easily block them.
However, the sheer density of the Nen bullets, while unable to breach Phinks' defenses, still managed to somewhat hinder his movement speed.
Having learned about Phinks' Nen type from Morrow, Kalluto naturally didn't foolishly stand still. Instead, he quickly created distance, retreating toward Morrow's position.
Morrow watched calmly as Phinks tanked the fractured Shooting Stars and continued his charge. He condensed another Shooting Star in his palm.
The previous two Shooting Stars hadn't utilized the Deceptive Shooting Star mechanism but were instead modeled after Zeno's star rain technique.
In terms of power, they were naturally far inferior to Zeno's version.
And due to the excessive fragmentation, they couldn't possibly cause even the slightest harm to Phinks.
Nevertheless, Morrow repeated the tactic, firing the Shooting Star from his hand with exceptional precision.
Whoosh...
The Shooting Star split abruptly mid-air. One portion accurately targeted Phinks, while the rest bombarded the ground around him.
Boom boom boom!
The concentrated explosions kicked up clouds of dust everywhere.
Although unable to breach Phinks's defenses, he successfully left him covered in dust and grime.
The billowing red smoke obscured his vision, forcing him to slow his charging pace.
An attack of this level...
Phinks waved his hand, enveloped in Nen, dispersing the lingering smoke. His eyes glared fiercely at Morrow as he coldly remarked, "Isn't even enough to scratch an itch, trash..."
"Phinks."
Just as Phinks was delivering his threat, Shizuku's voice suddenly came from behind. "It's been ten seconds already."
"..."
The ferocity on Phinks's face abruptly froze, and he snapped angrily, "Hey, Shizuku, can you not undermine me at a time like this?!"
"But... you said you'd finish it in ten seconds."
Shizuku replied bluntly.
"..."
Phinks was left speechless.
Morrow watched the scene calmly, completely unfazed by Phinks's threats.
Not even enough to scratch an itch?
It was only natural for him to have such a "sensation" and "reaction."
After all, he hadn't even activated Deceptive Shooting Star's power amplification mechanism, nor had he attacked with his full strength.
All of this was for one purpose... to make Phinks underestimate the intensity of his assault.
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Bonus chapter @100 power stones.