"Yo, Ronnel! Long time no see!"
Under the shade of a dense tree stood a group of people, each dressed in their own unique style.
A blond young man with a baby face rushed toward Ronnel with a grin, greeting him enthusiastically.
"Finished your meeting with that Ging Freecss?"
At first glance, the gathered Phantom Troupe members were nearly unrecognizable in the dim light. As Ronnel approached, he identified Shalnark, Franklin, Feitan, Phinks, Bonolenov, Nobunaga, and Machi among them.
There was also a new yet somewhat familiar face.
"This is our new No. 4, replacing Hisoka. His name is Kalluto."
Noticing Ronnel's curious gaze, Shalnark took the initiative to explain.
Ah, the cross-dressing Zoldyck sibling.
Ronnel nodded slightly in understanding. "How's your card hunt going?"
"Not great—way more troublesome than we expected," Machi admitted with a shrug.
"Originally, we thought some item cards in Greed Island might be able to lift Nen restrictions on the boss, but..." Feitan trailed off, glancing briefly at Ronnel.
'This guy got even stronger again,' Phinks muttered, cracking his knuckles before continuing. "After interrogating a bunch of players and analyzing the effects of every card we could find, we realized there isn't a single card that can remove Nen restrictions."
"Only two might be useful for the boss," Nobunaga added. "One is [Angel's Breath], and the other is [Fickle Genie]."
"[Angel's Breath] is described as a cure for severe injuries and terminal illnesses," Franklin noted in his usual slow, deliberate tone. "There's no guarantee it can remove Nen."
"And we can only use [Angel's Breath] outside the game after clearing it," Kalluto added matter-of-factly.
"Tch." Phinks clicked his tongue in annoyance. "That squinty-eyed GM is a real piece of work. If he had an exile card on him, the boss wouldn't have had to enter through the console directly. If I get the chance, I'm definitely picking a fight with him."
Since Chrollo couldn't use Nen, he couldn't enter through the usual means and therefore couldn't receive the effects of [Angel's Breath].
"So our only real option is [Fickle Genie]. We managed to get one and tried using it."
Shalnark sighed. "The problem is that while the devil grants three wishes, you have to make a thousand wishes first, and he picks three at random."
"And no, just spamming 'Give me 10 billion Jenny' with slight variations doesn't work," Machi added, rolling her eyes, clearly having tested that loophole.
"Coming up with a thousand wishes was already exhausting," Phinks muttered, rubbing his temples. "And after all that effort..."
His expression darkened as silence fell over the group.
"So what did you guys end up getting?" Ronnel asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Bonolenov got a brand-new pair of gloves. Phinks received an elaborate Egyptian Pharaoh outfit. And..."
At this, everyone turned to Machi.
"I got the most comfortable ultra-thin sanitary products in existence."
She said this with a straight face, brushing a hand through her violet-pink hair.
Ronnel: ...
Right. Probably should've seen that coming.
Feitan shot Machi a glance, his eyes narrowing slightly.
He'd had a wish in mind, too, but it hadn't been granted.
A tinge of resentment flickered in his gaze: Why couldn't I have just gotten taller?
"So, we've put the card collection on hold for now and asked Kalluto to use Nen to track down a Nen Exorcist instead."
Shalnark continued, "Thankfully, the boss's prediction was spot on—Kalluto confirmed there is an Exorcist somewhere on the island. We just haven't pinpointed their exact location yet."
After explaining their current status, Shalnark suddenly seemed to remember something and turned back to Ronnel.
"By the way, Ronnel, you've been sticking with Ging Freecss for a while now. You must've learned a lot about Greed Island's mechanics, right?"
"Well, a bit. He won't tell me everything, of course, but I did pick up some intel on how to trigger certain card acquisition quests. For example, No. 2—[Plot of Beach]."
Ronnel said this with a completely straight face. In truth, he hadn't even bothered asking Ging about card mechanics. That guy would never share that kind of information willingly.
"Card info, huh?"
Most of the troupe immediately lost interest. They weren't in it for the cards—they only cared about breaking Chrollo's Nen restriction.
"With this many of us searching, we should find the Exorcist soon enough," Franklin remarked.
"With or without you, the results will be the same," Phinks added confidently.
"Fine by me. If anything comes up, just contact me. Otherwise, I'll be staying on this island for now."
"And what exactly are you going to do?"
"Nothing much. Just looking around."
Ronnel smiled at Kalluto, who had been silent the whole time, then summoned his card book. Before anyone could react, he activated a spell card and vanished in a flash of white light.
Kalluto, watching him leave, suddenly spoke up for the first time.
"That guy is strong."
"Yeah," Franklin agreed. "He's No. 8 in the Troupe. In terms of raw power, he's probably the strongest aside from the boss."
"But in full power mode, he shouldn't be able to beat Shalnark's autopilot function, right?" Phinks mused, rubbing his chin.
Feitan scoffed, saying nothing.
"Is that so?" Kalluto murmured, glancing between Ronnel's exit and Shalnark's boyish face before falling silent again.
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