In the eyes with which he looked at Machi, a flash of sharp light passed.
It was an appreciative gaze, as if looking at prey.
It was unlike those other ignorant fools who looked at her with eyes full of greed for wealth or lust for her body.
Instead, it was filled with those kinds of eager impulses to kill her.
That's right, a pure, unadulterated desire for slaughter.
The desire to fight her, to cross moves with her, and then to use his own strength and methods to kill her!!
As if only by doing so could he satisfy that strange, almost perverted desire of his.
This was the perception her sixth sense brought to Machi.
Although the person in front of her had not spoken a single word about his intentions, and even though this was the very first time the two of them had met like this, Machi's sixth-sense warning and the vigilance arising in her heart caused her to be fully on guard.
At the same time, she realized that the man in front of her was absolutely extremely dangerous!!
Even the level of danger he possessed had already surpassed that of when she had previously been pursued by V5.
Even back then, V5 had dispatched many formidable Nen users.
But none of them had that same restless agitation, nor a… body that concealed a kind of grotesque, deranged power!!
"Who are you?"
Despite realizing the danger and unusual nature of the man before her, Machi asked calmly on the surface.
But in reality, she had already made all kinds of preparations in secret.
Over so many years, the experience and accumulation gained from training and traveling through this world, all of it had been transformed into the foundation she relied on to deal with emergencies like this.
Among these, the most important thing was nothing more than the strength she herself possessed, her greatest source of confidence, the most orthodox Nen training method that Luke had brought them.
No longer the unorthodox Nen training method they had previously relied on for self-cultivation.
Especially since she had gone to Kirimori Valley to receive advanced training from Miss Renko and develop a Nen ability most suitable for herself.
Perhaps the man in front of her was very strong, but for the current Machi… it wasn't that she had no power to fight him at all.
"My name is Hisoka, heh heh heh. Relax, I'm not here to cause you trouble."
Hisoka slowly walked into the room.
"I'm extremely interested in you, or rather, in the organization behind you..."
Walking in with a catlike gait, as if strolling leisurely into the room, Hisoka looked around the surroundings with interest while speaking in a casual tone.
"What organization?"
Machi looked at him quietly.
"If I'm not mistaken..."
Hisoka turned his gaze to Machi, who had her guard completely raised, and smiled as he said: "You should be a member of the Phantom Troupe, right?"
"Thanks to V5, you have really brushed up a lot of reputation in this world."
"Including quite a bit of information about your organization, which has started circulating in this world."
"For example..."
Hisoka raised a finger: "Your Phantom Troupe should have a dual-leader system, with a leader and a vice-leader."
"That vice-leader should be Chrollo Lucilfer."
"And the various internal systems of your Phantom Troupe, I also know a little about them..."
Regarding information about the Phantom Troupe, Machi did not find this surprising.
Previously, they had caused quite a stir in this world.
The earliest was the incident involving the head of the Mom's Help foundation, Risnorth.
This could be considered the Phantom Troupe's earliest act of making their presence known to the world.
After that came a series of matters involving the Ten Mafia Dons, Ambrossa, and others.
And then this most eye-catching event, seizing Liquid Titanium Ore and provoking an opponent of V5's level.
For the top-tier forces in this world, they naturally had sufficiently powerful intelligence networks and channels.
Whether through intelligence gathering or via certain special Nen ability–related channels, they could, in one way or another, learn some information about the Phantom Troupe.
And once more than two people knew something, it was no longer a secret.
For Hisoka to be able to find out was completely normal.
Just as Kurapika did in the original storyline, he knew the Phantom Troupe's operational system inside and out, deeply ingrained in his memory.
But as for the Phantom Troupe members themselves, their names, appearances, identities, and abilities, he knew nothing at all.
"One thing I really like about your Phantom Troupe..."
As Hisoka spoke, he flipped his hands.
Clatter, clatter.
In an instant, as if by magic, a card appeared in each of his hands.
Then they kept switching back and forth.
"Is that, you use playing cards as codenames between your members."
"I really like this point, because..."
The playing cards in Hisoka's hands continued to flutter: "I myself am also an expert at playing cards!"
In fact, not only did he play cards.
Hisoka himself also owned several pieces of clothing decorated with playing card patterns, simple in style and very convenient for combat.
He was a loyal enthusiast of playing cards.
And by combining playing cards with his Nen ability, he became the Magician who made people tremble in fear.
Playing cards were not only indispensable tools for him to use his abilities, but also the sharpest and most handy weapons he used to kill.
"Is that so?"
Machi said this aloud.
But in her heart, she immediately slapped a label onto Hisoka: "He's lying and trying to deceive me!!"
As a fellow Transmuter type, Machi was extremely sensitive and immediately discerned the fact that Hisoka was lying.
This guy might indeed like playing cards, and might also like the Phantom Troupe's system of playing-card codenames.
But the real reason he wanted to join the Phantom Troupe was absolutely not because of this!!
Combined with that pure gaze for battle and desire for slaughter, he revealed when he first saw her… it was obvious, he had come for the Phantom Troupe members themselves!!
"He even mentioned Chrollo just now, which shows that he currently still doesn't know of Luke's existence..."
"But since he pointed out Chrollo's name, it's clear that he pays close attention to figures at the leader level."
"That means..."