Half a year.
To Hisoka, it might simply be the time needed for fruit to grow sweeter.
Hisoka was willing to wait.
After all, toys like these could always be found with a little effort.
So before the six-month deadline arrived, Hisoka believed he could easily find other substitutes to satisfy his desires.
Hisoka left.
He had arrived unrelenting, yet departed without hesitation.
Morrow knew that in six months, he would be facing a Hisoka who had been pushed to his limits.
But it didn't matter. Half a year was more than enough time for him to accomplish many things.
This is the border of the Kukan'yu Kingdom, close to the United States of Saherta. If I leave now, I should be able to make it to the Yorknew Auction.
Walking along the road to the town of Preet, Morrow took out his phone to check flight schedules and the estimated travel time to Yorknew.
Soon, the results appeared.
The earliest flight was at 7:00 AM. As long as there were no delays, he would arrive at Lingon Airport on the outskirts of Yorknew by the morning of September 7th.
There's enough time, but I won't make the auction item registration deadline… It'll depend on whether the organizers are willing to bend the rules. Given the rarity of the Scarlet Eyes, it's highly likely they will.
After a moment of consideration, Morrow booked a ticket.
The Yorknew Auction was held once a year, running from September 1st to September 10th, a total of ten days.
During this period, tens of thousands of auctions would take place.
Most of them were public, while a select few operated as underground auctions.
The latter were primarily orchestrated by the Ten Dons, specializing in rare items that couldn't be openly traded on the market, as well as goods tied to criminal activities, such as trophies sold by poachers and grave robbers.
The catalog of these auction items alone was dozens of centimeters thick, with starting bids for each piece typically beginning at 100 million.
For many top-tier collectors, the underground auctions were the main attraction.
At the same time, the underground auctions also served as an annual networking event for underworld bosses to curry favor with the Ten Dons.
They would often splurge extravagantly at these auctions, using the opportunity to catch the Ten Dons' attention and elevate their own status.
Since the underground auctions were private, outsiders had no way of knowing the total transaction volume.
But even just the public auctions saw the circulation of trillions in funds.
If the undisclosed transactions from the underground auctions were included, the figure would be staggering.
This was the fundamental reason why Yorknew was hailed as the world's largest auction market.
If one wanted to sell high-value goods at the best price, the Yorknew Auction was the place to go.
Morrow figured he had enough time, so he planned to sell the Scarlet Eyes along with a few other valuables stored in the bank during the auction.
If everything went smoothly, even after deducting the 5 % fee for the underground auction, he could still expect earnings of at least two billion.
Aside from selling these items, he could also look for objects imbued with aura before the auction ended.
Even if I can get in after the registration deadline, without some hype, it'll be hard to fetch a high price, especially for a collectible like the Scarlet Eyes. At the very least, I need to make sure the human organ collectors know they're up for auction.
After boarding the airship bound for Yorknew, Morrow began considering this issue.
The auction catalog was a traditional printed book, which had long been distributed to buyers by now. It would be difficult to add information about the Scarlet Eyes auction at this late stage.
This matter needed to be resolved by the organizers; they would have to promote the Scarlet Eyes before his arrival in Yorknew on the 7th.
With this in mind, Morrow took out his phone and dialed a number from memory.
The owner of this number was Aksel, a senior appraiser at the Southernpiece Auction House, who held considerable influence within the organization.
Southernpiece was the most authoritative auction house in Yorknew, hosting auctions only between September 6th and 10th each year, effectively serving as the grand finale of the entire Yorknew Auction.
In Morrow's previous life before Death Rewind, he had spent a year in Yorknew and had coincidentally established a connection with Aksel.
But in this timeline, they had yet to cross paths.
Still, this wouldn't be too difficult to handle.
Aksel was an enthusiast of untreated gemstones, particularly those in their pure, natural state.
As long as this condition was met, his cooperation could be secured.
The reason Morrow had connected with Aksel in his past life was through an untreated emerald pried from an antique clock.
Right now, that very clock was still gathering dust in a collectibles shop in Yorknew's Sewer Street...
Morrow simply needed to make a promise to Aksel first.
Then, upon arriving in Yorknew, he could head straight to Sewer Street and acquire the antique clock.
That should suffice.
Morrow pressed the call button...
—--
A lavish mansion built on a mountainside.
The mansion was opulent, with a courtyard so vast that the distance from the main gate to the residence spanned nearly a kilometer.
Three-meter-high walls surrounded the courtyard, equipped with cutting-edge security systems.
Guard dogs and security personnel were everywhere, maintaining round-the-clock vigilance across the entire estate.
Even the surrounding forested areas were tightly monitored under the guise of forestry personnel.
The owner of this estate was Nolan Gambino, founder of the Menu Organization.
Given the exceptional security here, Nolan's father, Gambino of the Ten Dons, occasionally stayed here as well.
"Ah... ah...!!!"
A bloodcurdling scream echoed from within the mansion.
The mafia members stationed at every passageway of the mansion heard the continuous shrieks but remained indifferent.
They knew that whenever this happened, it meant their young master was in a foul mood.
An indeterminate amount of time passed.
Only when the seventh scream abruptly cut off did the mansion fall into silence.
Splish-splash...
A pair of hands, stained with blood and flecks of skin, were rinsed under running water.
Their owner was Nolan.
Head lowered, he scrubbed the bits of flesh from beneath his nails with an expressionless face.
Whenever he was in a bad mood, he was overcome by the urge to tear people apart slowly.
But afterward, he was always disgusted by the remnants stuck in his nails.
Under Father's name, I can directly mobilize Worm from the Shadow Beasts. Also...
Nolan suddenly looked up, meeting his subordinate's gaze through the mirror as he said coldly, "Tell Mosquito I accept the terms he proposed last time. But he must work with Worm to resolve this matter for me."
"Understood."
The subordinate bowed in acknowledgment.
Nolan's eyelids drooped slightly, and he muttered to himself, Not enough.
The subordinate turned his gaze toward Nolan's back at those words.
But at that moment, Nolan glanced over his shoulder, his icy glare sending a shiver down the subordinate's spine.
"Hire an assassin from the Zoldyck Family. No matter the cost."
Nolan clenched his fingers tightly, images of Hisoka and that figure in a gas mask flashing through his mind.
The Virus Research Lab built within the tomb had been utterly destroyed.
Nolan could overlook the financial losses. He could even dismiss the deaths of those precious talents.
But he had to retaliate!
Tear anyone who dared defy him to shreds!
--------
I'll publish a bonus chapter today.