September 3rd.
A certain piece of news had somehow begun to circulate through Yorknew City.
The news concerned the game Greed Island; specifically, it was rumored that the game contained an ability that could restore one's youth.
Luo Ning saw this information online while sitting in his hotel suite. However, he had little interest in it. Or rather, he had very little interest in the Greed Island game as a whole.
If there was anything in Greed Island that attracted him, it was perhaps only the monsters living in the wilderness. Those were excellent subjects for training his abilities. But he had already passed the stage of training with such weakling monsters. On the other hand, they would be quite suitable for Kurapika and Neon to hone their skills through combat.
As for the items within the game, Luo Ning couldn't think of anything worth fighting for, let alone something he absolutely had to bring out.
He let out a yawn.
The fusion of two pairs of Sharingan had not immediately granted him the Mangekyō Sharingan. Although he had a feeling in his heart that he should be able to open the Mangekyō, when he actually tried, it always felt like something was missing!
It seemed that to awaken the Mangekyō, one needed more than just the fusion of enough eyes; a special catalyst was also required.
Luo Ning thought about the conditions for awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan in the manga: it required the stimulation of special chakra triggered by intense negative emotions to evolve the Three-Tomoe into the Mangekyō.
'If I have to follow that rule, does it mean I have to experience the death of someone close to me to awaken the Mangekyō?'
Luo Ning ran his hand through his hair.
He felt a bit irritable. If awakening the Mangekyō was truly the same as in the manga, would long-term use also cause his vision to deteriorate?
However, he also considered that awakening the Scarlet Eyes similarly required emotional stimulation. Could it be that the deeper layers of the Scarlet Eyes also required more intense emotions to trigger? Just like when the Troupe slaughtered the Kurta Clan, they waited until the tribesmen's emotions were at their peak before killing them to obtain the eyes at their most crimson moment!
Furthermore, the news about Pairo that he had obtained when he last purchased Scarlet Eyes from Wesly made Luo Ning more inclined toward this theory.
Luo Ning planned to get his hands on the Scarlet Eyes that were about to be auctioned at Southern Piece. He had two choices then. First, he could keep them temporarily and continue the fusion once the Mangekyō was actually awakened. Second, he could fuse them directly to see if quantitative change could trigger a qualitative transformation.
In his heart, Luo Ning leaned toward the second option. Even if it didn't cause a qualitative change, the fusion of Scarlet Eyes would still bring an increase to his aura capacity.
Luo Ning had already obtained the auction catalog for Southern Piece; the Scarlet Eyes were scheduled for the 5th. He definitely had enough money. Over the past few months, even though he hadn't been constantly participating in matches at Heaven's Arena, Milia's management had ensured his wealth continued to grow. By now, it had exceeded ten billion.
Luo Ning could only say that Milia truly lived up to her reputation as a gold-star manager.
"Milia asked if you still need more Nen?" Kurapika tossed a canned drink to Luo Ning and asked casually.
"I don't need any for now." Luo Ning opened the drink. "But you guys can rent some from her; they're quite useful."
"If we can't separate the members of the Troupe, attacking them is too dangerous. Even if you have the ability to divide the battlefield like the Four Violet Flames Formation, we can't take that risk." Kurapika sighed. "In this situation, it's best to use the preparations I've already made to see if there are any opportunities."
"That's fine." Luo Ning had no objections.
A diamond-shaped mark had appeared on his brow; it was the mark left after Luo Ning performed the Yin Seal. The principle of the Yin Seal was simple: it involved continuously compressing and storing chakra in the diamond mark on the forehead during daily life. When that stored chakra was needed, it could be released by undoing the seal.
Through the complementary Strength of a Hundred Technique and Creation Rebirth developed by Tsunade, the user could achieve high-speed regeneration and enhanced monstrous strength during battle. Furthermore, a skilled user could rely on the low output and micro-adjustments of the chakra within the Strength of a Hundred Seal to maintain a youthful appearance and keep the body's functions in their prime state.
Luo Ning had only been using the Yin Seal for a short time, and the chakra stored within was still negligible. It was too early to trigger the full effects of the seal.
Currently, the Troupe members were sticking together completely. If he really faced them, even if he used special explosive means to kill a few, he would put himself in a dangerous position. It would be entirely not worth the cost. Besides, ever since he killed Uvogin, the Phantom Troupe should be the ones feeling anxious.
Additionally, tonight might present an opportunity.
The Ten Community Leaders had spent a fortune and actually managed to hire assassins from the Zoldyck family. Aside from completing the tasks arranged by Kurapika, Luo Ning also planned to go and see if there was a chance to profit. He didn't mind picking up the scraps, but if there was no chance, he wouldn't force it.
Moreover, he wanted to know if Chrollo would also hire the Zoldyck family this time, just like the Ten Community Leaders did. If Chrollo wanted to end the Zoldyck family's attacks on the Troupe members by killing the Ten Community Leaders, he was going to be disappointed.
Because Raymond would absolutely not die! After all, the current Raymond was his Shadow Clone. Even if one was taken out, he could create a second one at any time.
At seven in the evening, a large number of Mafia members gathered at the Cemetery Building. Every Mafia member was armed with a gun, and every vehicle arriving at the building underwent a strict inspection.
At the same time, in a room on the upper floors of the building, Luo Ning had already appeared, using the Transformation Jutsu to disguise himself as Kakashi.
White hair, a mask covering his face, and a short blade on his back, but he wore the outfit of a mercenary.
There were several others in this room as well.
There was Silva Zoldyck, who had long silver-white hair just like Luo Ning's Kakashi disguise, and Zeno Zoldyck, who also had silver hair. The appearance of these two was consistent with the situation of the Yorknew Auction in the manga.
However, among the other four people present, there was one figure that surprised Luo Ning.
The man had a circus clown's makeup with a teardrop and a star painted on his face. His fiery red hair was styled to sweep backward. His midriff-baring top featured a club and a spade from a deck of cards on the front, while the back featured a heart and a diamond. His waist was tightened by a pink sash, and beneath his white trousers were a pair of black cloth shoes with curled tips.
It was Hisoka.
Luo Ning recognized him in an instant. Because Omokage had been killed by him, Hisoka indeed had not joined the Phantom Troupe at this point in time. However, his presence here was still a bit of a surprise to Luo Ning.
As for the remaining three Nen users, one was a youth with numerous tattoos and a mohawk. He didn't look like an assassin, but rather a street punk. One was a middle-aged man in mechanic's overalls with a wrench tucked into his pocket, looking as though he could repair a broken car or a sewer pipe at any moment.
The last one was a rather beautiful young woman with long, red wavy hair. She had a sexy beauty mark under her left eye and was wearing a tracksuit. Her attire made it look like she was going for a night run, yet her makeup made it feel like she was heading to a nightclub.
None of them were ordinary individuals. At least from the observation of [TEN], these people felt stronger to Luo Ning than the Shadow Beasts he had encountered before.
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