In the afternoon, inside a luxury suite at the hotel operated and controlled by the Cabrelli Family.
Allen stood before the massive floor-to-ceiling window, looking down upon the glittering, modern metropolis of debauchery, occasionally glancing at the Hunting Map he had recently created.
On the map, the red dot labeled Chrollo Lucilfer was rapidly approaching another red dot named Neon Nostrade.
After about a minute, he smiled and remarked: "You really live up to your reputation. Finding the key to the auction items' disappearance so quickly. But this time, I won't let you steal the Lovely Ghostwriter so easily."
"The Lovely Ghostwriter?"
Baise, who was undergoing basic Nen ability training, instinctively looked up, her face showing extreme surprise. She knew this was the ability of Neon, the Nostrade Family daughter.
"Exactly." Allen turned around and explained meaningfully. "This Mafia daughter, who has a penchant for collecting human body parts, is now being targeted by Chrollo, the leader of the Phantom Troupe. And just to mention, his ability allows him to steal the right to use other people's Nen."
Since Baise had agreed to join the team this morning and signed an unbreakable contract with the Red Dragon, he no longer needed to hide certain things from her.
And he genuinely needed the "Instant Lover" to help him collect and plunder more Nen abilities with development potential. After all, this Manipulator ability was like a natural enemy to men, effectively lowering the difficulty of stealing certain overly dangerous abilities.
As for why he didn't steal it directly... just consider the activation conditions for the " Instant Lover."
Leaving aside the issue of cross-gender differences, from a woman's perspective, it might be manageable if the target were a handsome man. But what if it were some unbelievably ugly guy who hadn't bathed in two weeks, hadn't brushed his teeth in six months, and just getting close to him would make you throw up yesterday's meal?
Probably only a woman as indifferent to discomfort as Baise could bring herself to do it.
To some extent, this was paying a rather "painful" price, requiring extremely strong willpower and resolve. Allen certainly didn't feel he had the courage to use such an ability.
"Damn it! Then we must stop him! Neon's ability is unique; she can predict events over the next month using quatrains. Especially situations concerning death or catastrophe, they are clearly expressed in the poem. In other words, if the Phantom Troupe gets her ability, all your plans will be instantly exposed." Baise immediately became tense.
But Allen smiled reassuringly: "Relax, things aren't as bad as you imagine. And if I already know this is happening, do you think I wouldn't have prepared any countermeasures?"
"Countermeasures? You mean..." Baise clearly realized something and immediately glanced towards the next room. If she remembered correctly, the stern, quiet martial artist hadn't shown up for several hours.
"No need to look. Bodoro was dispatched long ago to monitor the movements of the Nostrade Family's bodyguard team. If that willful young mistress is attacked, or dares to pull off any vanishing acts, he will directly knock her out and take her to a safe place. The Lovely Ghostwriter absolutely cannot fall into the hands of the Phantom Troupe. I'm clearer about that than you are."
With that, Allen glanced at the red dot next to Neon on the Hunting Map out of the corner of his eye. It was obvious that this dot represented the martial artist Bodoro.
Combined with the power of the Eyes of the Dead, whatever Chrollo and the Phantom Troupe did, he would know instantly.
With this kind of comprehensive, omnidirectional surveillance, let alone Chrollo, who doesn't even know who his true enemy is, even the top three-star Hunters from the Association wouldn't be able to cause trouble.
After all, the first and most crucial rule in battles between Nen users is intelligence gathering—knowing the enemy's every move as much as possible.
Moreover, as the usage count of the two skills, the Hunting Map and Eyes of the Dead, increased, Allen grew more satisfied with his previous transaction with Luna, even considering it the most profitable deal he had ever made.
As long as he could keep his Nen capacity significantly higher than everyone else's, tracking anyone's movements would be effortless.
"So, you predicted the Phantom Troupe's move before they even acted? Do you have some kind of precognitive ability?" Baise widened her eyes and probed.
This wasn't just a gap in intellect, strategy, or logical analysis; it was an utterly unreasonable preemptive knowledge of the enemy.
Allen did not answer the question directly, decisively choosing to change the subject: "Heh heh, instead of worrying about that, you should hurry up and finish today's training, then lie down and rest well. Because tonight, I will be using your ability, and not just once."
…
Meanwhile, on the other side of Yorknew City, Neon was having a tantrum.
Just a few minutes earlier, she had learned from her father that the annual auction had been temporarily canceled due to a bandit attack, and several bodyguards had been tragically killed at the venue.
Of course, she was much more concerned about the precious mummy she wanted most than the deaths of a few bodyguards.
Thus, with the goal of retaliating against her promise-breaking father, Neon secretly ditched her bodyguards and maids, changed into inconspicuous clothes, and sneaked out.
Her reasoning was simple: since her father lied, she would just go to the auction site herself.
"Hmph! No one can stop me from buying what I want! Most importantly, I'm free now, and I can go play wherever I want." The girl mumbled softly while standing on the street, looking left and right, starting to scout out interesting or fun places.
She had no idea just how dangerous her current situation was.
Suddenly, a handsome young man in a suit walked toward her. Immediately behind him, a very strong and serious man appeared out of nowhere.
The two men stared into each other's eyes from a distance of several meters, unintentionally radiating a powerful and astonishing aura.
Upon feeling this, other passersby scattered in terror, not daring to linger for even a second.
It was obvious the former was Chrollo, the Phantom Troupe leader coming to steal a Nen ability, and the latter was the martial artist Bodoro.
"Who are you?" Chrollo spoke first to test the waters. He clearly hadn't expected his foolproof operation to run into such major trouble.
Bodoro immediately disguised himself as a bodyguard hired by the Nostrade Family, as instructed by Allen: "My duty is to ensure Neon-san's safety. Please step back and turn around immediately, or don't blame me for being rough."
"A hired Mafia bodyguard?" Chrollo's face instantly showed surprise. At the same time, he rapidly debated in his mind whether he should risk a major fight to forcefully kidnap the girl suspected of having a prophecy ability, or retreat first to summon the other Troupe members and act together.
But before he could make a decision, Bodoro seized the brief window, instantly flash-stepping to Neon's side, lightly tapping the back of her head at an imperceptible speed, hoisting her onto his shoulder, and leaping away toward the Mafia headquarters.