The Black Whale, fifth tier.
This hellhole was the lowest level of the entire ship.
A sour stink hung in the air, mixed everywhere with the fucking reek of machine oil and cheap tobacco.
The dim ventilation ducts hummed so loudly they made people's heads ache.
Chrollo walked at the front.
He wore a black, high-collared trench coat, with white bandages wrapped tightly over the inverted-cross tattoo on his forehead.
His steps were steady, but his long face made his foul mood obvious.
That lunatic Hisoka had brutally murdered Kortopi before boarding, catching him alone.
It was an open declaration of war against the Phantom Troupe, grinding the Spider's face into the dirt.
Machi followed close behind Chrollo.
Even her pink hair looked grimy under the lousy lights.
Bonolenov, looking like a mummy, walked without making a sound.
Several unfamiliar faces trailed behind them. After having his Nen curse removed, Chrollo had urgently recruited these newcomers from his hometown of Meteor City to fill the vacancies left by that night's deaths in Yorknew City.
Illumi and Kalluto were among them, too.
They had been paid to help hunt down Hisoka.
The group stopped before an enormous alloy blast door.
This was the Xiuwu Family's main vault on the lower tier.
Chrollo intended to take some money and supplies here, then pry open the Mafia's mouths for information on Hisoka.
A newcomer named Bas eagerly stepped forward. With a vicious, fleshy face and a sharpened curved blade in hand, he was ready to show off before the leader.
Bas kicked the ponderous alloy door. Someone had already wrecked its lock.
With a piercing scrape, the doors slowly slid apart.
The sight inside froze every Spider preparing to go on a killing spree, leaving them standing there like someone had hit pause.