Tracking Down

Seeking out Argo was meant to plant a nail that would let him keep tabs on Feitan's movements at any time.

So he would not fall short at the very end.

He had not expected Argo to happen to have intelligence on the Phantom Troupe.

That surprised Moro, and immediately brought to mind the Phantom Troupe's two membership changes.

Though the original story gave very little information, he could at least determine the general direction.

One member had been replaced by Hisoka, while another had died at the hands of Silva, the current head of the Zoldyck family.

But Moro did not know when exactly the membership changes had happened. He only remembered that it was three years before the Yorknew City arc—in other words, this year...

In that case, could the bounty commission Argo mentioned targeting the Phantom Troupe have been taken by Silva?

If that was true...

Judging by Silva's attitude in the original story, and how he had told Killua and the others not to provoke the Phantom Troupe, completing that assassination commission must have been quite difficult.

And if he remembered correctly, Silva had also fought Chrollo...

From that alone, Silva had most likely killed the target right under the noses of multiple Phantom Troupe members.

Thinking of that, Moro suddenly felt a little worried.

There would not be some butterfly effect, would there?

What if Feitan had also been there and, by some cursed coincidence, ran straight into Silva's line of fire?

If that was possible, then he was in danger.

Because the Death Node could only be destroyed by his own hand. Before then...

If Feitan died an unnatural death, the Death Brand would drag Moro down with him.

Still, the odds of that were low.

The main reason for his concern was a scene from the original story that had left an especially deep impression on him, when Silva and Zeno had joined forces against Chrollo.

Zeno had seen at a glance that Chrollo was deliberately stalling for time, so he had not hesitated to restrain Chrollo with his own body, allowing Silva to attack both him and Chrollo without holding back.

They could have slowly worked him over with a two-on-one advantage, yet they had chosen a relatively dangerous strategy just to race against the clock.

That professional devotion to their commission had inadvertently revealed a streak of madness in the father-and-son pair, Zeno and Silva.

That madness was what worried Moro.

As his thoughts raced, Moro gave a slight shake of his head.

Before the intelligence was confirmed, his wild speculation was meaningless.

"Follow up on it, but I have one condition."

Reining in his wandering thoughts, Moro met Argo's questioning gaze. Without waiting for any response, he warned her in a grave, solemn tone:

"The Phantom Troupe has an intelligence expert. I don't care how you gather information—I only ask that you be careful, then even more careful. Do not let them catch your trail."

"Tch, you don't need to remind me of that."

Argo's slightly languid eyes turned exceptionally serious in that instant.

"How should I put it? I value my life. You don't think I took on such a dangerous commission just because I saw the money, do you?"

"..."

Moro could only remain silent.

Yet his gaze seemed to ask: Wasn't that exactly why?

Argo understood the meaning in his eyes. She immediately straightened her upper body, then planted both hands on her hips while sitting in her chair, saying in displeasure:

"You're far too shallow. I accepted the commission because I'm confident and prepared, absolutely, absolutely not because you offered too much money."

"Oh."

Moro nodded, thinking, What a fine double act of 'absolutely.'

Argo caught the perfunctory note in Moro's response.

"Looks like you still don't get it."

With that, she gave a cold snort and lifted her chin.

"Actually, within one second of you calling me, I had already obtained your basic information. You only got to meet me because I was willing to meet you."

"Impressive. Then I can rest easy."

Moro nodded again. He had already given his warning and did not intend to continue the topic.

"Knew you wouldn't bel... Huh?"

Argo stopped halfway through her sentence and stared blankly at Moro.

"Why is that your reaction?"

"What else would it be?"

Moro looked at her strangely.

Argo widened her eyes. "Convincing someone is hard, so at this point, you should keep doubting me. Then I'd show you a little of what I can do and make you completely convinced!"

"..."

Moro had no response. Inwardly, he considered whether he should ask for his money back and find another intelligence source.

Argo seemed able to glimpse some of Moro's thoughts. Suspiciously, she asked, "What are you thinking about right now?"

"Nothing. In any case, I'll leave the follow-up investigation to you."

Moro's expression remained calm.

Argo waved a hand. "I'm being paid to do a job. Forget the formalities."

"Fine. I'll wait for your news."

His goal achieved, Moro prepared to leave.

Argo watched Moro and did not resume the topic of "proving her intelligence capabilities." Instead, just as Moro turned to leave, she suddenly said:

"Since you're a major client, I'll give you one piece of basic intelligence for free."

"Hm?"

Moro stopped and looked back at Argo.

But Argo turned her chair back toward the row of computers on her desk and said:

"Someone is investigating you, and there's more than one group. Their intentions are clearly hostile. Oh, and let me be blunt: if something happens and you die, I won't burn those two billion for you."

Moro's gaze sharpened. Ignoring the latter half of her words, he asked, "Can you find out who is investigating me?"

"Of course. Intelligence is inherently a two-way thing. If someone is looking into you, then as long as you're capable enough, you can look into them too."

Leaning back in her chair, Argo said seriously, "But I said I was giving you one piece of basic intelligence. Further investigation costs money, so should I deduct it from the two billion?"

"Deduct it."

"Heh, you'll have the result before midnight."

Argo grinned.

Moro temporarily suppressed his surprise and suspicion. Without lingering, he left Argo's base.

Because of the intelligence Argo had given him, Moro remained highly alert throughout the trip back.

Who exactly was investigating me...?

People from the mental hospital?

Had they come looking to settle the score because he had killed the two men responsible for deliveries?

It was a pity he had not made a point of learning their background back then. Otherwise, he would not have to guess here.

But judging by the business the mental hospital conducted, as well as its methods of illegally arranging death certificates for others, the power behind it could not be small.

After all, arranging a death certificate for someone contrary to the facts was equivalent to erasing that person's identity records.

And in the Hunter world, international law explicitly stated that illegally destroying someone else's identity records carried the same penalty as murder.

The force behind it was evident.

After all, even a deliveryman had been a Nen user...

And who was the other group?

Was it trouble left behind from intercepting Shinra, or had he drawn attention by making too much money recently?

Whoever it was—

He would need to be even more careful for the time being.

Moro drove along the road.

The private shooting range where he was temporarily staying was located in the suburbs. After leaving the city's main boulevard, the density of buildings along both sides of the road noticeably decreased, replaced by tree-lined thickets.

Against the backdrop of night, light and shadow interwove, making the surroundings seem even more tranquil.

"Hm!?"

All of a sudden, killing intent struck without warning.

In the darkness, a fleeting ballistic trail was barely visible, aimed directly at the sedan traveling down the road.

The next instant, the car's windshield exploded.

Screech—

Amid the piercing shriek of brakes, the sedan lost control and crashed straight into a tree by the roadside.