"Great, he really can't move once his ability activates!"
The two girls, one older and one younger, exchanged a look and high-fived with a cheer.
Feitan hadn't been idle, either.
The instant the suction restricting his movements disappeared.
The most ill-tempered Spider shot forward like a meteor, thrusting his sword at Blondie as he scrambled to dodge the Nen bullets.
Blondie had just dodged the Nen bullets, only to find Feitan's sword aimed at his neck.
Terrified out of his wits, the man suddenly felt someone yank him into the air.
A second later, a distinctively flamboyant male voice rang out from the exhibition hall's entrance.
"Oh my~ oh my... is this what they call perfect timing? I just got here, and you're already ganging up on someone, Feitan. I suppose I'll help this poor fellow out! ♥"
Hisoka was dressed like a magician as usual, with a star and a teardrop painted on his face, red hair swept high, and low heels on his feet.
Feitan glared at Hisoka.
"What are you doing here?"
Hisoka deliberately ignored Feitan and looked toward A Luo and Shizuku instead, greeting them with sparkling eyes.
"Hi~ ♥ Long time no see, A Luo!"
"And the beautiful young lady beside A Luo-is she a new member? This is our first meeting! ♦"
A Luo: "..."
Shizuku: "..."
Why had Hisoka suddenly shown up here?
Had Chrollo called him in for the operation, or was it pure coincidence?
A Luo blinked as she watched the perverted fruit grower, who had provoked Feitan and rescued Blondie the moment he arrived.
Who knew what he was secretly plotting this time?
While A Luo mulled all this over, Shizuku suddenly leaned in and began whispering to her about Hisoka.
"Who's this guy? He's dressed so strangely! And he started giving us those slick greetings the moment he arrived. He doesn't look like a good person at all. Should we help Feitan beat him up?"
A Luo: "..."
What was Shizuku talking about?
Help Feitan beat up whom? Hisoka?
When had Hisoka and Feitan started fighting?
A Luo hurriedly looked up toward the exhibition hall's entrance, where Feitan's figure flickered in and out of sight amid a flurry of playing cards.
It turned out that while Hisoka was greeting them, Feitan, whom the fruit grower had been ignoring all along, had finally lost his patience.
He had charged in with his sword, looking ready to beat up both Hisoka and Blondie, who was still suspended in midair!
Hisoka was a battle maniac who got excited whenever there was a fight to be had. He immediately switched into combat mode and fought Feitan to a standstill.
"A Luo, tell me! Who should we help now?"
Help whom?
Shizuku had asked a very good question.
As far as A Luo was concerned, both Hisoka and Feitan had put her through plenty of misery before.
If A Luo had her way, the best outcome would be for those two to kill each other today... then she wouldn't have to suffer any more bullying if she fell into their hands again.
At that thought, A Luo ignored the two locked in combat and looked straight up at Blondie, whom Hisoka had just rescued.
Perhaps because he saw that Feitan was occupied, Blondie immediately used Gyo to locate the clump of Nen Hisoka had stuck to his back.
This was one of Hisoka's Nen Abilities: Bungee Gum.
Apparently, this Nen Ability gave Hisoka's aura both stickiness and elasticity.
The reason Blondie had suddenly been pulled into the air was that Hisoka had stuck some Nen to his back at some point, then yanked him upward the instant Feitan attacked, allowing him to avoid that fatal strike.
Blondie gritted his teeth and squeezed out the last scraps of Nen remaining in his body, channeled them into his palm, and severed the clump of Nen Hisoka had attached to him with one forceful chop.
Once free, he decisively chose to run.
These people were far too strong!
Enemies of this caliber were simply beyond his ability to fight.
Besides, the measly sum his employer was paying wasn't worth risking his life for.
Above all, the man could tell that every one of them was a cold-blooded killer. If he didn't want to die, this was his best chance to escape.
Having realized that, Blondie seized the moment when Hisoka and Feitan were too busy fighting to pay attention to him.
He found a way to free himself in midair, then turned and ran for his life without a second thought.
To give him credit, he had made a very sensible choice.
If A Luo and Shizuku hadn't been in the exhibition hall today-especially A Luo, who had never forgotten to keep an eye on him.
With how quickly Blondie had assessed the situation and decisively seized his chance to run, he might actually have escaped Hisoka and Feitan with his life.
Unfortunately, the cruelest thing about this world was that there were no ifs!
A Luo and Shizuku had been watching them the whole time. When A Luo saw Blondie break free and try to flee... she hurriedly told Shizuku beside her to stop him.
According to their original plan.
Shizuku and Feitan were responsible for dealing with the guards inside and outside the exhibition hall, while the Boss and Pakunoda were responsible for obtaining the display cases' passcodes and the locations of the other jewels.
Chrollo and Pakunoda had now successfully completed their task.
Only their side's task remained.
"Shizuku, we can't let Blondie get away. He's seen our faces. If he escapes, we'll definitely end up wanted throughout East Gorteau, and that could cause us a lot of trouble."
Hearing A Luo's words, Shizuku immediately summoned Blinky and charged toward Blondie.
At that critical moment, a black-haired man wearing an open fur coat dropped from above.
"Where do you think you're going, young man?"
Chrollo landed right in front of Blondie, his pitch-black eyes icy and seemingly filled with boundless murderous intent.
Then, before Shizuku could reach them, the Boss knocked the man unconscious with a single chop of his hand.
"Boss?"
Shizuku stopped and looked at the man Chrollo had dealt with, quietly defending herself.
"It's really not that we were slow. This guy was just too good at running... oh, right, a guy who plays with cards suddenly showed up, too. He was dressed really strangely and started fighting Feitan as soon as he arrived. They still haven't settled it!"
In a rare feat of remembering so many things, Shizuku told Chrollo everything that had just happened.
Chrollo's eyes weren't merely for show, either. The moment he arrived, he had spotted the two men still locked in a fierce fight off to one side.
"Hisoka! Feitan! Have you both forgotten the Troupe Rules prohibiting infighting between members?"
A Luo sneered inwardly.
Feitan had never been much of a rule follower, and now he had run into Hisoka, a fake member but a genuine battle maniac.
How could those two possibly meet without getting into a fight?
Before you continue