The Strongest Assassin of the Zoldyck Family!

After arranging his schedule, Ron figured he'd need about two more months to secure his tenth win. 

Once he got the right to challenge a Floor Master, there would be time to choose his opponent—up to six months. 

By the same token, after a Floor Master was selected, they could also pick any date within six months for their match. 

"Any advice, Monde?" Ron asked. 

"It's tough to say right off the bat," Monde replied. "But once you qualify, feel free to call me and Doppo. We can all talk it over together." 

"Thanks, Monde." 

"Don't mention it." 

Before long, the car fell silent. The driver focused on the road, while the others rested with their eyes closed. 

Ron gave little thought to the Scarlet Eyes themselves, nor to killing or money. The only thing that mattered to him was absorbing the Kurta Clan's traits to create a new Nen Beast. 

"Though this is already different from what I'd expected," he mused. 

"In the original storyline, it seemed like the Kurta Clan massacre was just the Phantom Troupe's doing. But it's not so simple here." 

"The Heil-Ly Family from Kakin…" 

"They've hired so many people." 

"The Phantom Troupe is probably among them, too." 

"So how strong is the Kurta Clan?" 

Ron remembered that in the aftermath of their massacre, the outside world eventually saw thirty-six pairs of Scarlet Eyes. Tserriednich held only a few of them, so clearly, many others wound up in different hands. The culprits must have been terrifyingly powerful. 

A few hours later, Ron and the others switched vehicles—this time to a small airship. Several more hours passed before they finally touched down. 

Ahead lay a vast area of thick mist, blocking any further flight. They landed, where Ron saw many other figures already gathered. 

Some wore the same style as Lajin, evidently Heil-Ly personnel. The rest were various hired individuals of differing aura levels—some strong, some relatively weak. 

"According to our intel, the Kurta Clan's hiding place is somewhere in this region," Lajin explained, looking at Ron and the other two. "My job was just to bring you this far. Now it's up to you." 

"If you manage to get your hands on any Scarlet Eyes, give me a call, and I'll arrange the exchange." 

"If you come up empty, call me anyway, and I'll transfer the ten million Jenny fee into your account." 

With that, Lajin departed. 

Ron, Xinjili, and Monde exchanged glances. 

Xinjili spoke first. "Fate brought the three of us together. How about we stick together and see what we can find?" 

Ron and Monde looked at each other and both nodded. 

"All right." 

So the three formed a small team and began searching the area, like everyone else. 

Appearing beside Ron was Natsu. With so many powerful Nen users—some extremely dangerous—Ron wanted to be fully prepared, especially since the Phantom Troupe could be among them, even if Ron hadn't spotted their members yet. 

Suddenly, a shout rang out in the distance: "There's something here!" 

All eyes turned that way, including Ron's group. 

Up ahead, a certain faction blocked the entrance they'd found. 

"We discovered this, you can't just walk in and take over," one of them declared. 

Ron frowned slightly. In a place like this, multiple factions were competing. The ones who found something first weren't about to share it openly, nor would they bar others completely—better to strike a deal. At the end of the day, they wanted to maximize their own advantage. 

"Realistically, everyone is trying to profit," Ron thought. "Of course, some people act purely on emotion. Neither way is right or wrong—it's just a difference in style." 

Before long, deals were struck between various parties. 

A Heil-Ly Family officer walked over to Ron's group. 

"They've reached an agreement. You can all head inside soon. But nobody knows what's beyond that point. You can decide if you want to go. If you don't, you forfeit the ten million Jenny. If you do, what happens inside is on you. We're all adults here, and you're all Nen users, so I'm sure you understand." 

A passage opened up along a rock wall—a hidden cave entrance that, from the outside, was seamlessly camouflaged. Apparently, it had been discovered purely by chance and was undetectable even by standard Nen techniques. 

One by one, people went in. Ron and his two companions got in line. 

Suddenly, a figure drew Ron's attention—someone he recognized: Franklin, a member of the Phantom Troupe. 

He was known as the "easygoing" one among the Troupe, an Emitter with "Double Machine Gun" abilities in the original storyline. Though the details hadn't been shown much there, Ron could sense Franklin's aura was no joke. 

"He's hiding a lot more power than I have right now," Ron noted to himself. "Judging by Silva's scale, I'd guess he's around B-level. The Phantom Troupe is indeed formidable." 

Still, Ron wasn't especially concerned. Franklin was already in his twenties, while Ron wasn't even twelve yet. By the time Ron reached twenty, he'd surely surpass Franklin. 

Franklin glanced back, feeling eyes on him, but Ron had already turned away. Franklin saw no one of note and moved on. 

As everyone entered, Monde looked back at Ron. 

"Ron, we should stick close once we're in there," he said. "We have no idea what we'll be dealing with. Traps and hidden mechanisms might be the least of our worries." 

Ron nodded. He knew exactly what Monde was implying. Once inside, it might be easy to get separated. That gave certain people—rivals, opportunists—the perfect chance to strike. 

Monde went in first, then Ron followed.