The Strongest Assassin of the Zoldyck Family!

Ron vanished.

His silhouette quickly disappeared from the Phantom Troupe's line of sight.

"Boss," Hooker said, stepping up to Chrollo.

"Go," Chrollo replied, already understanding what Hooker meant.

Back then, Ron had saved Hooker—perhaps just a casual act for Ron, but to Hooker, it was everything. Without Ron, he probably would've died that day. From that perspective, even the Phantom Troupe owed Ron a debt of gratitude.

Hooker wasn't the strongest among them, but his abilities were still useful. Now he clearly wanted to catch up to Ron and thank him.

"Thank you, Boss!" he said, and ran off in Ron's direction.

"Let's rest for now." Chrollo looked around at the others. "Everyone's been through a lot."

With Ron gone, the tension visibly lifted.

They had just survived a brutal fight. Ron's overwhelming power had kept them all on edge until he left. Now that he was gone, the tension snapped, and one by one, they slumped to the ground.

Nobunaga walked over to Uvogin's body and sat cross-legged beside it, falling into a long silence.

Bonolenov moved Kubi's corpse aside. Chrollo sat on a rock, took out a book, and flipped through its pages—but his thoughts weren't on reading.

This incident had hit the Phantom Troupe hard. Two members are dead. And worse than that— this whole plan had been a failure because of his misjudgment.

Chrollo suddenly stood. He bowed deeply to everyone.

"I'm sorry," he said. "This happened because I failed to think things through."

"Uvogin and Kubi's deaths... I bear a heavy responsibility."

"I didn't live up to my role as leader."

Hisoka looked at him. For some reason, hearing Chrollo speak that way left him bored. His interest in Chrollo faded slightly.

"But," Chrollo continued, straightening his posture, "this won't be the end of it."

"If things have come to this, then we're going to tear everything apart."

"Let's have a real, absolute celebration of destruction."

Hisoka's eyes lit up again. His interest in Chrollo shot back to full.

Nobunaga stood up.

"One thousand."

Pakunoda turned to him. "What do you mean, one thousand?"

"I'm going to kill a thousand members of the Underworld Mafia. For Uvogin."

His eyes burned with rage.

The rest of the Troupe didn't argue. The weight of their silence, heavy with grief and shared purpose, was more telling than words. In that moment, Nobunaga's vow became their own.

"You think... it was Machi who hired Ron?"

"It probably was," Shalnark said. "We Phantom Troupe members don't have friends, and the only one who'd go that far for us is Machi. No one else."

"I don't know what she offered him," he added. "But whatever it was, it couldn't have been simple."

Everyone had their guesses.

But no one said it out loud.

Because to them, there weren't many things Machi could offer. Money? Ron didn't need it. Strength? She was far weaker than him. That left only one possibility—herself.

"We didn't expect the Underworld Mafia to have someone this strong," Bonolenov said. "Their strength might even surpass the old KUTE thieves."

"Who knows if they've got more hidden power."

The truth, however, was that the Underworld Mafia didn't have that kind of strength.

If not for Ron, Dandins's experiments might have succeeded.

But Dandins had no loyalty to the Mafia. If he succeeded, he likely would've taken his research and left.

The Underworld Mafia's only reliable Nen users were the Shadow Beasts. They didn't have people like Elita or Oster. The bio-squad never belonged to the Mafia. That power belonged to Oster.

Oster came from the United Republic of Saherta. And would return there once he was finished with his experiments.

"That brute wasn't so bad," someone said. "Nobunaga and Uvogin had already beaten him on their own."

"The guy with the spider nen beast was the real snake—no one could've predicted he had a hidden ability like that."

Pakunoda looked down, guilt written across her face.

"Uvogin died to protect me," she said. "If he hadn't stepped in, it would've been me."

Nobunaga's expression softened slightly.

"It's not your fault, Pakunoda. It's our job to protect each other. Even if it hadn't been you, Uvogin would've done the same for anyone. So would I. So would Feitan. So would Phinks."

Shalnark added, "That woman with the flute—she was controlling those beasts. Feitan and Phinks finally took her down."

"If only we'd taken out the spider-user earlier."

"We didn't pick the best matchups," he admitted. "If we'd swapped opponents, things might've gone a lot better for us."

"The strongest and most dangerous was the white-haired youth. His ability... it's terrifying. We didn't have a good way to counter it."

"You'd need large-scale attacks to disrupt that ability. Otherwise, it was always his territory."

That's why Ron was able to suppress him so decisively.

Natsu's flames broke through the white-bone forest. That was a key factor.

"The boss isn't weaker than him," Shalnark said. "But there's no easy way to counter that ability."

Shalnark wasn't sure whether Chrollo or the white-haired youth was stronger.

But at this moment, he needed to say it. They all needed to believe it.

The Troupe needed their confidence rebuilt.

"And then there's Ron."

"He used three nen beasts."

"The boy with fire—close combat power, mid-range flames, and massive area attacks. He had no weaknesses we know of."

"The boy with lightning—he could transform into a red giant. His strength and defense were incredibly high. And he could also use fire attacks."

"The lantern—its mist could block vision and disrupt aura perception."

"All three were powerful."

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