"Are you Luke?"
When he approached Elder Veyron, that deeply wrinkled face came into Luke's sight.
He even saw the way Elder Veyron's furrowed lips writhed as he spoke.
"Lisores often praise you before me."
Elder Veyron said slowly: "You know, Meteor City has many problems that need to be addressed as soon as possible."
"But right now, we're facing a very serious problem."
"Many people from the outside world treat this place as their playground for committing evil."
"I would like to ask, do you have any solutions for this?"
He didn't hesitate and simply got straight to the point.
This was a problem known to everyone in Meteor City, from the elderly to the children.
So, Luke, unsurprisingly, also gave a straightforward answer: "Kill every last one of those who come here to do evil."
"Of course I know that."
Elder Veyron's eyes were filled with indifference: "And not only me, this is the first thought of most in Meteor City as well."
"So, you should know that the answer I want to hear isn't that simple."
"Yes, I understand."
Luke nodded. While such a broad answer was correct, it was no different from no answer at all.
Everyone knew this was the approach, but the key was… How to do it!!
If Elder Veyron truly could eliminate the outsiders himself, he would have already done so.
Why would he need Luke's opinion?
The point was, he couldn't do it!!
So, what he wanted to hear was Luke's specific approach.
"I think there are two aspects to solving this problem: focusing on the present and looking to the future."
Luke smiled slightly: "As for focusing on the present, as far as I know, there are many outsiders in Meteor City right now who abduct children here to achieve their hidden agenda."
"So, the first step now is to find these individuals and give them a taste of their own medicine. They must pay the price and suffer the same fate as they did to those children."
"As for how to find those guys…"
Luke raised his head and met Elder Veyron's gaze without hesitation: "Leave that to me."
"Do you have a plan?"
Elder Veyron asked gravely.
"Yes."
Luke nodded.
"Okay, then. I want results within a week, at the very least."
"No problem."
In a few words, the two of them settled the matter.
Elder Veyron's message was simple: since you've proposed a solution, then it's up to you to implement it.
He won't question the specific methods or measures; it's entirely up to you to execute.
All he wants is the ultimate outcome of achieving his goal.
As for whether Luke's method ultimately succeeds or fails…
Success would be best, and Elder Veyron would certainly not be stingy with those who have demonstrated merit or ability.
By then, the entire Meteor City would be supporting Luke.
If it fails… that wouldn't matter much.
The problem already remained unsolvable anyway, so Luke's failure would change nothing.
Either way, Elder Veyron lost nothing.
"I now have some faith in Father Lisores's assessment of you."
Elder Veyron nodded slightly at Luke, his eyes softening slightly.
Luke had accepted the task so decisively and without any preconditions or conditions.
This style alone impressed Elder Veyron.
Of course, all of this was based on Luke's success.
A loser is worthless.
"So, what about looking to the future?"
Focusing on the present is, after all, only a temporary solution. There are too many criminals out there.
Even if they drive off one group, another wave of reckless individuals will still arrive.
The key is how to eradicate this problem.
"Actually, it's not that difficult to eradicate this."
Luke's lips curled slightly: "I once heard a saying."
"A single punch thrown prevents a hundred punches from coming."
"We must let the world know that we, in Meteor City, are not to be trifled with."
"Anyone who tries to harm us will inevitably pay a heavy price."
"Only by making those guys outside feel the pain will they stop coming our way."
A single punch thrown prevents a hundred punches from coming…
Elder Veyron pondered the meaning of this statement, finding it quite sensible.
"How should we do this?"
"To make the outsiders realize this, we must have a point that they will remember deeply…"
Luke continued: "This point can be an event or a sentence."
"It's best to use a single sentence to promote it, and then use an event to reinforce it, deepening their impression."
"As for the words…"
Luke paused, then looked up.
As Elder Veyron listened intently and Father Lisores, who remained silent, looked over, he saw:
"We accept anything you leave here, but don't try to take anything from us."
"I didn't expect you to come up with such a declaration!"
As Father Lisores led Luke out of the room, he was still slightly dazed. Especially as he muttered these words, his gaze toward Luke was particularly complex.
But beyond that complexity, there was also relief.
As expected, he hadn't misjudged him.
Luke's words also proposed a seemingly completely feasible path for Meteor City.
Perhaps it would involve considerable blood and fire, but for the people in Meteor City, this was commonplace, a daily occurrence.
As for whether such an approach would cause a backlash…
You must understand that they are the ones truly suffering!!
As Luke said: "We accept anything you leave here, but don't try to take anything from us."
If you simply want to come to Meteor City, then yes, it accepts anything.
But if you intend to do something awful to Meteor City, then don't blame them for overreacting.
"After all, in my opinion, anyone who wants to cause trouble in Meteor City isn't a good person."
Luke, walking ahead, shrugged: "And they're not powerful either."
Well, what kind of good or powerful person would go out of their way to attack a deserted place like Meteor City?
Strong people, faced with anger and humiliation, will only strive to become stronger, drawing their swords against those more powerful than themselves.
Weak people, on the other hand, will simply turn their attention to those weaker than themselves, venting their anger.
Evil people, needless to say, are even more deceptive.
So, Luke had no problem attacking these guys.
Incidentally, he also prefaced the famous saying that would later become widely circulated around the world.
Well, in the manga, the troupe's flashbacks specifically mentioned this.
"Before Meteor City reached a cooperation with the mafia, offering manpower in exchange for safety, hundreds of casualties occurred every year."
"Seventy percent of them were children under fifteen."
"Later, as ties with the mafia deepened, one of the elders of Meteor City awakened Nen. From that came an oath, forming the rule of retaliation: a life for a life."
"We accept anything you leave here, but don't try to take anything from us."
"In a place where victims, not recognized as human, lived, when the world gradually equated the name Meteor City with terror, the Phantom Troupe was born…"
In other words, this declaration would not emerge until later, when Meteor City's name began spreading across the world…
As Luke had said, something needed to be remembered and deeply impressed upon the world.
Like the homeless man's wrongful conviction.
(T/N: Can skip.)
At that time, a certain local police officer arrested a homeless man on the charge of murder.
After verifying his identity, it was revealed that the homeless man had no nationality and no proof of social existence.
He claimed to be a resident of Meteor City. The police officers forcibly prosecuted him despite his denial of guilt.
Then the court convicted him without giving him a chance to explain himself.
Three years later, a drug addict was arrested, and his remaining crimes were gradually exposed... Proving the homeless man's innocence.
Following this incident, police officers, judges, prosecutors, eyewitnesses, jurors, and lawyers... the 31 people involved in his wrongful imprisonment were killed.
Regarding the method of the murder, it was said that the killer carried a trigger-type bomb, intended to kill himself and his victim simultaneously, a near-suicide.
According to eyewitness accounts, they smiled and shook hands before the bomb exploded.
Thirty-one people, in different locations, were killed simultaneously.
And beside the incomplete corpses of the victims, the declaration remained: "We accept anything you leave here, but don't try to take anything from us."
(T/N: Continue here.)
The Nen ability behind this bombing was the same one Chrollo used during his battle with Hisoka in the Heavens Arena.
Nen ability: The Sun and Moon
Ability description: On the backs of the hands are marks of the sun and the moon. The left hand imprints a sun, the right hand a moon. When the two marks come into contact, an explosion occurs. The mark itself can be stamped instantly, but to maximize its power requires maintaining contact for 3–5 seconds.
When residents in Meteor City are threatened by outsiders, the elder uses Sun and Moon to transform their fellow comrades into bombs, delivering death notices to the enemy.
In Chrollo's words, in the eyes of that elder, there's really no difference between humans and puppets.
And coincidentally, Chrollo himself sees things the same way.
"We accept anything you leave here, but don't try to take anything from us…"
In the elders' room, Elder Veyron was still pondering these words: "It's truly a declaration perfect for Meteor City…"
His wrinkled face finally broke into a barely discernible smile.
"Let me see how far you can go."
"I'm very much looking forward to seeing your achievements."
"And if you truly succeed, I promise you'll gain far more than you can imagine…"
…
"Luke, where have you been?!"
After Luke and Father Lisores returned to the church, the members of the brigade who had been quietly waiting there immediately gathered around.
Uvogin asked casually.
"I went to take care of something."
Luke smiled and then saw the joy still lingering on their faces after the performance.
Well, except for Feitan.
"Okay, now I have something to tell you."
He clapped his hands lightly: "Whatever it is, just tell me. As long as I, Uvogin, can do it, I'll do it for you!"
Uvogin continued to pat his chest and cheerfully promised.
But… When he saw Luke's calm expression, his smile slowly faded.
And not just him, but the other members of the brigade as well.
They also noticed the look on Luke's face and gradually quieted down.
Chrollo observed Luke's expression, then glanced at Father Lisores, who stood silently beside him.
He seemed to have realized something.
"I know everyone yearns for the outside world, eager to spread their works and performances to every corner of the world…"
Luke looked at the crowd calmly: "But have you ever considered the dangers of the outside world?"
"To be more precise, it's those malicious people out there."
Seeing the thoughtful expressions on everyone's faces, Luke continued.
"It's undeniable that there are many kindhearted and decent people out there."
"But there are even more who trample life, bully the weak, commit every evil, and treat humans as less than human…"
Sarasa suddenly raised her hand: "Like the outsiders that recently invaded Meteor City?"
"Yes."
Luke nodded: "And that's just the tip of the iceberg."