Downpour

Boom!

Thunder roared and lightning tore across the night sky as a torrential downpour hammered against the bulletproof glass.

The earthy smell of rain and mud seeped into the room through the cracks around the window.

"Stay here with me tonight."

After contacting the relevant people on the room's landline, Luona made the suggestion to Lianke.

As a local power in Meteor City, she naturally wouldn't let her friend go back in the pouring rain.

The casino alone had plenty of rooms set aside for guests to stay overnight.

"You don't need to worry about those children anymore, either. The person in charge of the black market this month just told me it wasn't even open tonight."

"Once the rain stops tomorrow, I'll send my people to help. We'll find those children for sure!"

Rubbing the dice in her hand, Luona patted Carl's head comfortingly.

She wasn't a fool. From what she knew of Lianke, her friend was not the sort to meddle in other people's business!

So the one who really wanted to find those children had to be Lianke's disciple, Carl!

"Cheapskate."

Glancing at Luona's dice, Lianke pursed her lips.

"It's been two months since I last came by. Can't you at least treat me to dinner?"

Hisoka's cooking was always the same, and she'd gotten tired of it ages ago...

It was rare for her to visit Luona's turf, and Lianke was not about to pass up the chance to make her pay!

"Hehe~"

Luona's face darkened, and the dice in her hand creaked under her grip. "Then let's go to the restaurant first."

If she weren't afraid of frightening Carl beside her, she would have torn Lianke's mouth apart today!

"That's more like it!"

"Carl, eat as much as you want later. Have plenty! Your auntie Luona is a local power in Meteor City, and she's loaded!"

Only then did Lianke nod in satisfaction.

Northern district of Meteor City, the church.

Tap, tap~

Footsteps sounded amid the wind and rain. In the projection room, Hisoka, sitting against the wall with his knees drawn to his chest, instantly raised his head. A flicker of confusion passed through his narrow eyes.

Whoosh!

Hisoka moved quickly. Bungee Gum shot out, and as he activated the ability, his body stuck to the ceiling.

Texture Surprise became a thin sheet of paper, concealing Hisoka's entire body.

Bang!

The projection room door was pushed gently open, and the members of the Phantom Troupe filed in.

"The body has been stitched back together. Carl's teacher has already been here."

Looking at Old Will lying on the table as though asleep, Paku froze for a moment, then her eyes reddened.

"Tears are the most useless thing in this world. No matter how much you cry, Grandpa Will won't come back to life!"

"Chrollo..."

Paku wiped her red, swollen eyes and nodded through gritted teeth.

Chrollo had loved coming to the church to read since he was little, and he could only have been closer to Grandpa Will than she was.

Leaning against the stained-glass window, Chrollo's already deep-set eyes were now bloodshot.

"Everyone should know who killed Grandpa Will by now."

"..."

When he finished speaking, no one answered.

Most of the Phantom Troupe's members silently lowered their heads.

Remembering what they had seen at home, their hearts bled.

"Why are you all looking down? If you found a clue, say it! Why are you all being so cryptic?"

Bang!

When no one spoke, Uvogin punched the wall, his voice filled with anger and confusion.

He and Machi had relied on each other since childhood. Although they usually went around with everyone else, they had no foster mother.

But apart from them, everyone else in the Phantom Troupe had a foster mother.

"The killer... the killer..."

Shalnark's face was deathly pale, his lips moving without a word coming out.

Phinks pressed his forehead against the bloodstained wall, forcing broken words through his teeth.

"I saw communion wafers at home. So many, so many communion wafers."

When he returned that afternoon, he had seen his family for the first time in a month. They were all well, their faces rosy, with no sign that they had gone hungry.

But could someone tell him why there were so many communion wafers in the kitchen?!!

Where had they come from? Where?!

Bang!

A shallow dent suddenly appeared in the wall, and scarlet blood ran down Phinks's forehead.

But even with blood streaming down his face, he did not stop.

"Our foster mothers might be the killers."

Though his knuckles had already turned white from clenching his fists, Feitan spoke slowly.

One family might have been an exception, but it was the same for everyone. That made it an ironclad fact!

Boom!

A silvery-white thunderbolt exploded, illuminating the pale faces of everyone by the window.

"Don't... don't joke about that. It's not funny at all."

Uvogin leaned weakly against the wall and forced a smile.

"Don't lie to me. If that's true, then what about Sheila? Why is she missing?"

"Besides, Grandpa Will always gave out communion wafers for free. How could everyone have attacked him, and even..."

"Haha, you must be joking."

"Hahaha..."

As Uvogin said words he didn't believe himself, great tears streamed from his eyes, ran down his neck, and soaked the front of his shirt.

Crash!

The stained glass shattered under Uvogin's fist, and wind and rain poured into the projection room.

Icy rain struck everyone, soaking their clothes in the blink of an eye.

"We've found the killers. So are we going to take revenge?"

Machi brushed aside the ends of her hanging hair, her voice calm.

"Are we... going to kill them?"

Crack~

A silvery-white serpent of lightning wound through the clouds, illuminating Chrollo's deep, dark eyes.

"Of course."

He raised both hands and gently swept his soaking black hair back.

"But!"

Everyone's expression changed drastically. Nobunaga spoke up on instinct, but though he opened his mouth, he ultimately had nothing to say.

"They do deserve to die, but they did nothing wrong. They only wanted to survive."

Gazing into everyone's lost eyes, Chrollo slowly turned around.

Through the gap in the window, he gazed into the dark curtain of rain, seemingly able to see the outside world's deep malice toward Meteor City. As far as he could see, there was not an inch of pure land.

"From birth to death, the people of Meteor City seem to struggle all their lives, clinging desperately to a cliff called survival.

"No matter how long they hold on, they can never escape the fate of falling.

"No matter whether they're good or bad, they can never avoid the coming of death.

"No matter how diligently they work, they must endure exploitation and persecution from the outside world.

"If that's how it is, then kill!

"Kill until there is no more oppression or bullying in this world.

"We're not the ones who are wrong. It's this world..."

"The world is wrong..."

Franklin repeated Chrollo's words, one word at a time.

As he repeated them over and over, he seemed to draw something from them, and the confusion in his heart gradually faded.

"On my dignity as a human being, I will spend my life correcting what is wrong with this world!"

Chrollo looked at everyone, then slowly raised his right hand and made the Cleanup Squad's gesture.

"On our dignity as human beings, we will spend our lives correcting what is wrong with this world!"

Without the slightest hesitation, the members of the Phantom Troupe raised their right hands together and shouted.