Trouble

"How about you wait outside the church for a bit? I'll bring you a couple of fruits when I get back."

"Five at least."

"Deal!"

Leaving Hisoka behind, Carl passed through the fence in front of the church and walked slowly along the rutted dirt road.

The church was not far from the fence, and after a short walk, its front door came into view.

"This..."

Sunlight shone through the remaining half of the door, stretching the shadows into the vertical bars of a cage. Carl ran her fingers over a crack in the wood, and her heart gave a sudden jolt.

After a while, she abruptly bent down, the hem of her black robe brushing over a bloodstain on the inside of the threshold. The dark red stain had an eerie, glazed sheen in the sunlight.

If she wasn't mistaken, this was dried blood...

She had only been gone a little over a month. What on earth had happened at the church?

"Is anyone there?"

Carl took a few steps back to the foot of the stairs and called loudly into the church from a distance.

After a while, no one answered.

Carl frowned and promptly backed away again.

With no idea what was happening inside the church, there was absolutely no way she would go straight in!

After retreating two or three steps, Carl suddenly crouched low and pressed her right ear against the cold stone floor.

Nen Aura flowed into her inner ear like liquid gold. A rustling, gnawing sound came from underground-like rats chewing through cables, or a blunt object scraping against a coffin lid.

One second, two seconds.

Apart from that constant sound, not another noise came from the church.

Enter the manor.

Seeing that something was wrong, Carl promptly spoke the words in her mind.

When in doubt, running was the best option!

As long as she entered the manor, her safety would be assured.

Then she could take her time observing the church!

Space-time rippled, and Carl's body instantly vanished from where she stood.

Inside the manor, three great suns cast warm sunlight over the amber-colored soil.

Beside the empty furrows, Shalnark was slacking off with a stalk of wheat in his mouth when his vision suddenly blurred.

A familiar black-robed figure appeared before him.

Only, Carl had been standing when she left two days ago, but now she had come in lying sideways.

"Carl?"

Once Shalnark realized what he was seeing, he let out a dolphin-like shriek like a groundhog whose toe had been stepped on: "Everyone, come quick! Something happened to Carl!!!"

Several figures came racing over from the warehouse, and the clothes rack Uvogin knocked over traced a silver arc through the air.

Nobunaga's straw sandals sank deep into the soft soil, and even the katana he always carried had been left behind.

"What happened to Carl?"

Before he even arrived, Uvogin's unmistakably booming voice rang out.

"I'm fine. Stop shouting."

Carl propped herself up with one hand and pulled down her hood.

At her words, Shalnark's shrieking stopped instantly.

Soon, everyone had gathered around Carl. Seeing that she was all right, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Chrollo pushed Uvogin's backside out of his way and spoke with a calm expression:

"You didn't enter the manor for two days. Nothing happened to you, did it?"

"I'm fine, but I'm afraid something's happened at the church."

Carl sighed, summoned the outside-view panel with a wave of her hand, and enlarged it.

"Hey, isn't that the church's front door?"

Uvogin's eyes widened as he looked at the image of the broken half of the wooden door on the panel.

"What about Grandpa Will? Is he all right?"

Paku stepped forward and asked, a little anxiously.

"I don't know."

Carl shook her head.

She understood how Paku felt. After all, Old Will had always treated the Phantom Troupe's orphans well!

Leaving aside the original owner of her body, who was an exception, Old Will, the priest, had actually shown kindness to the entire Phantom Troupe!

"As soon as I realized something was wrong, I came straight into the manor!"

"I was injured recently, so it's hard for me to fight. I thought I'd come in and get some Bomb Pomegranates for self-defense!"

As Carl spoke, she lifted her black robe so everyone could see the gauze on her abdomen.

"You're hurt?"

Seeing this, Sarasa hurried forward and asked with concern.

"It's a minor injury. It won't hinder my movements."

Looking at the church door on the panel, Carl paused before adding:

"Chrollo, can you make anything out?"

She actually trusted Chrollo's clever mind more than her own powers of observation...

"Enlarge the panel and focus on the door handle."

Chrollo knitted his brows and pointed to a spot on the panel.

Carl did as he asked, enlarging the handle on the panel.

"The handle's still clean. There's no dust on it."

After observing it for a few seconds, Chrollo's eyes suddenly lit up:

"Quick, Carl, let us out!"

"We might still make it in time!"

"Let's go to the warehouse and take some Bomb Pomegranates first."

Carl shook her head and refused.

The situation inside the church was unclear. It was far too dangerous to let everyone in the Phantom Troupe go straight in like this!

It was better to carry some bombs with them and give themselves a little more means of self-defense!

With that, Carl led the way to the warehouse.

Soon, the warehouse doors opened.

Golden sunlight streamed in through the doors, making the pyramid of Bomb Pomegranates glitter.

"Twenty each,"

Carl's voice echoed through the warehouse.

In Meteor City, the midday light was swallowed up by roiling leaden clouds. Dead leaves whirled in a sudden chill wind and struck the church's weathered stained-glass windows.

Inside the manor, Chrollo knelt on one knee in a furrow, his fingertips digging deep into the soft soil as sharp lines gradually formed a rough map of the church.

"Listen carefully! We're going in to find people, not to throw bombs!"

"Twenty steps to the confessional," he said, tapping the southeastern corner with his fingertip, where the kitchen was marked. "Uvogin, guard the corridor after you break down the door. Nobunaga, seal off the passages on both sides."

Uvogin grinned, baring a mouthful of gleaming white teeth. Nobunaga carefully stroked the katana in his hand, its cold metallic gleam flickering in everyone's eyes.

"Feitan and Franklin, take the chapel." Chrollo scooped up a handful of amber soil and let it sift through his fingers onto the roots of a pumpkin vine. "Shalnark, check for traps. Machi, keep an eye on the vents."

The remaining few nodded.

They had always trusted Chrollo's command!

"If anything happens, Carl, we'll be counting on you to get us out!"

Chrollo looked at Carl and brushed the dirt from his palm as he spoke.

"Don't worry!"

Carl nodded in agreement.

"Good! Send us out!"

Having laid out the entire plan, Chrollo spoke decisively to Carl.

As soon as he finished speaking, Carl had a thought, and the members of the Phantom Troupe instantly vanished from the manor.

"Carl, do you think Grandpa Will will be all right?"

Sarasa, who was too young to be assigned a task, squatted on the ground and looked at Carl with some worry.

"I don't know."

Carl opened the outside-view panel before her and watched the situation outside without taking her eyes off it-Chrollo and the others had already pushed open the church doors and were heading inside.

"I hope he's all right."