September 2.
The mafia had put a bounty on the Phantom Troupe, offering a staggering two billion Jenny for each member.
Even though the Phantom Troupe were already Class A wanted criminals, their bounties had never been this high.
Once the figure was announced, practically every bounty hunter and everyone strapped for cash in the city was swept up in the excitement of the manhunt.
Amid the chaos and excitement, some people also offered considerable sums for information and leads.
These upfront investments drew even more people into the affair. After all, a single photograph of a spotted Troupe member could fetch a reward of over a million Jenny.
The mafia's operation the previous night had also yielded photographs of several Troupe members.
Once those photographs were released, as long as the Troupe members remained in Yorknew City and made any moves, they were bound to be discovered.
Qiao Lun did not join the search, because he had something more important to do: collect the bounties.
Uvogin's and Machi's bodies were both in his shadow space. Those two corpses alone would bring him four billion Jenny, giving him financial freedom outright.
Achieving financial freedom on his very first day after crossing into this world left Qiao Lun quite satisfied.
As for somehow ending up in a fight with the Phantom Troupe, he did not actually care at all. Having constantly needed to fight Cursed Spirits in the Jujutsu world, he had long since grown accustomed to all kinds of challenges.
A sense of security was what he sought.
When he chose to flee only to be pursued by Troupe members, the Troupe became no different from Cursed Spirits in his eyes: beings that had to be eliminated.
If the Troupe had not pursued him then, he would not have gone out of his way to provoke them.
Now that he had killed Uvogin and Machi and was even preparing to collect their bounties, he and the Troupe could be said to have entered a fight to the death.
When he parted ways with Hisoka the previous night, Qiao Lun had asked him a tentative question.
Since the condition for joining the Troupe was defeating or killing a member, could someone like him, who had killed two, still make peace with the Troupe by joining them?
But Hisoka's answer was not what Qiao Lun had wanted.
"Someone hates you to the core. If you show up, I think he'll most likely ignore the leader's orders and attack you outright."
"I don't actually want to join the Phantom Troupe. I was just curious," Qiao Lun explained to Kurapika after they left.
Just as he could never side with the Cursed Spirits the way Suguru Geto had, his basic values would not allow him to join the Troupe.
"I know." That had been Kurapika's answer.
Today, Qiao Lun handed the bodies over to Dalzollene.
"I'll take the bodies. The money will be transferred to your account later." Dalzollene accepted the bodies. "The mafia desperately needs the corpses of Phantom Troupe members to assert its authority right now. You've solved an urgent problem for them."
Qiao Lun did not have a bank account at present, so he said directly, "Transfer the money to Kurapika's account for now."
He had already discussed this with Kurapika well in advance, and Kurapika had simply told him that he could hold it for him temporarily.
Four billion Jenny was no small sum, and Kurapika had also urged Qiao Lun to get an account set up as soon as possible.
In fact, the best time to hand over the bodies would have been after the third, because Qiao Lun knew all too well what the mafia would do once it received them.
If that enraged the Troupe, it could very well make things more troublesome, or even completely derail his plans.
The problem was that whether the Ten Dons would even still exist after the third was an unknown. If the Ten Dons really were gone by then, even if he handed over the bodies, there was no telling whether he would receive the money.
Since the plot had already changed dramatically because of him, he might as well secure the benefits first.
As for whatever happened afterward, he would deal with it as it came.
That settled the matter of the bodies. Next to arrive was the big boss, Light Nostrade, who had only reached the hotel that morning.
Light Nostrade was a very composed middle-aged man who looked to be in his fifties.
"Changing hotels was an excellent response. Even the Ten Dons' Shadow Beasts have temporarily avoided a direct clash with the Phantom Troupe. Had you been a step slower, my daughter might already have been in danger, so thank you." Light Nostrade's tone was deeply sincere.
"The Phantom Troupe probably used the Hunters-only website. Although we moved here discreetly, there's still a risk of being discovered," Kurapika reminded him.
He gave that warning entirely because he and Qiao Lun had dealt with two Troupe members together.
"I know, so my next step is to send my daughter home first." Light Nostrade turned his gaze toward the pink-haired girl sitting to one side of the room with her arms around her knees, and his voice began to soften. "Neon, is that all right?"
Neon could be called the lifeblood of the Nostrade Family. Light Nostrade would never let her fall into danger.
Neon pressed both hands against her cheeks, looking thoroughly disgruntled. "There's no helping it. The auction items were stolen, and the auction was forced to stop. There's no point staying any longer. Aaaah, but I still really want to go!"
"Don't be discouraged. The auction will be held again anyway, and Daddy will make sure to get the things you want back from those thieves." Light Nostrade stood up and hurriedly tried to soothe her.
"Really?" Neon asked in delighted surprise.
"Yes, I promise." Light Nostrade immediately raised his hand. "Has Daddy ever lied to you?"
"You hardly ever keep your word, Daddy, and you still dare say that!" Neon grew even angrier.
Nostrade turned awkwardly toward the bodyguards who were also in the room. "Basho and Melody, right? I'll leave escorting the young lady home to you for now."
Qiao Lun quietly watched Light Nostrade make the arrangements, taking a few extra looks as Neon and her maid were led away.
Only then did Light Nostrade move on to another matter. "For those of us in the mafia, killing is ultimately just a means of intimidation, not our specialty. Even the Shadow Beasts are no exception. But the Troupe is an organization of killers, so naturally, handing this matter over to experts will get it resolved faster.
"So for tomorrow night's auction, the Ten Dons will not only send the Shadow Beasts to stand guard, but have also hired several excellent assassins to form a team. We won't have to act. They'll eliminate the Troupe.
"However, the Ten Dons have specifically invited you two, Kurapika and Qiao Lun, hoping you'll join the assassin team as well.
"Of course, I also have some personal interest in this. It's a good opportunity to put ourselves forward to the organizing mafia families, and I don't want those assassins taking all the benefits."
Light Nostrade was certainly being frank.
But in Qiao Lun's view, he was underestimating the Phantom Troupe far too much, just like the Ten Dons.
That did not stop him from joining the assassin team, however, so he agreed outright. "Sure, but the pay can't be low. The Troupe isn't easy to deal with."
Light Nostrade held up five fingers. "Five hundred million Jenny, as long as you join, whether or not you manage to kill another Troupe member."
"Deal." Five hundred million was already a considerable sum, and if he really did kill any of them, the Troupe members' lives could be exchanged for additional bounties.
Even if the Ten Dons' bounties disappeared, there were still the bounties on the Troupe as Class A wanted criminals, and those were substantial too.
Farming the Troupe was much better than farming those penniless Cursed Spirits Qiao Lun used to deal with.