The number of patrol officers on the streets of Mauldin City had increased, and many suspicious individuals had been apprehended. Among them, many had criminal records, mostly involving the organ trade. The sudden influx of such people had strained the security forces of this small city.
Luo Ning drew the curtains shut. "It seems someone has tracked us down; they really are quite resourceful."
"No, it's more that Milia's promotion was too successful," Kurapika added with a hint of helplessness.
Even though they had reached the continent of Yorbian, Luo Ning's status as a high-profile fighter from Heaven's Arena made him easily recognizable. In particular, those in the paparazzi profession possessed a keen insight far exceeding that of ordinary people. As long as Luo Ning did not use the Transformation Jutsu, his disguises were practically non-existent in the eyes of those professionals.
However, the fact that most of the people arriving were criminals suggested that the primary draw was the Sharingan Luo Ning had revealed in the arena. In several previous battle videos, that glimpse of crimson had already sparked the greed of many. Anything unique was either worshipped or cast out as an anomaly. Luo Ning's Sharingan was clearly being coveted; it remained to be seen whether those eyeing his eyes had the capability to actually deal with him.
The decision regarding Omokage had already been made.
Choosing to flee was never Luo Ning's style; taking the initiative to attack was his true character. Of course, there was also the factor that fleeing increased the probability of being intercepted. By taking the offensive, he could set traps and use Shadow Clones to test the situation first. Since the ability of a puppet to steal eyes required eye contact with the original person, as long as Luo Ning's true body stayed away, even if a Shadow Clone met with an accident, it would not affect him.
The key to the prophecy poem lay within Luo Ning himself. Once his eyes were stolen, everything would be over.
Inside a church in Mauldin City, a tall, thin man with long silver-grey hair appeared, his right hand wrapped in bandages. This man was the #4 member of the Phantom Troupe, Omokage. He liked churches, perhaps because he used to receive food in them during his childhood, or perhaps because he viewed churches as the resting place for souls. Here, it felt as though he could touch a soul just by reaching out his hand.
Chrollo had developed an interest in Luo Ning, but this time, Omokage didn't plan to take the leftovers. He wanted to seize Luo Ning's eyes first. He had seen the videos Shalnark sent to Chrollo and was certain that Luo Ning's ability to use his powers was closely linked to the changes in his eyes. If Chrollo, that thief, confirmed this first, Omokage wasn't sure if Chrollo would develop a desire for those special eyes himself.
Omokage had gone to see Uvogin.
The boisterous Uvogin spent every day either roaring in pain from the burns on his body or cursing Luo Ning, wishing to eat him alive. In Omokage's view, Uvogin was a pure madman. But even madmen had their uses. With a little guidance, the madman replayed his memories of Luo Ning in his mind. By extracting this memory, Omokage created a puppet in Luo Ning's likeness.
However, a Luo Ning puppet without eyes couldn't exert even a fraction of the power Uvogin described. To Omokage, that puppet was just a fool, like a miniature version of Uvogin. 'Why couldn't that Luo Ning fellow just burn Uvogin to death?' he thought. If that had happened, Omokage could have at least gouged out Uvogin's eyes to give the puppet more power.
Now, he had to come alone to collect those eyes. As for Shalnark's analysis regarding Luo Ning's danger level, Omokage didn't care at all. He had already collected puppets of several Troupe members; he was confident that even alone, his combat capability was comparable to more than three Troupe members combined. With his eye-stealing ability added to the mix, Omokage believed Luo Ning was nothing to worry about.
Furthermore, Shalnark had analyzed that the reason Luo Ning could fight Uvogin on equal footing was likely because he had borrowed Nen from someone else. The person who lent him that Nen was most likely the gold-medal manager, Milia. Since Milia was still at Heaven's Arena, a version of Luo Ning who couldn't borrow Nen should be easy to handle. 'If I still can't deal with him, I might as well just gouge out my own eyes and be done with it,' Omokage mused.
Sitting in the front row of the church, two jars appeared in Omokage's hands. These jars were filled with Scarlet Eyes—the trophies he had selected during the massacre of the Kurta Clan. Unfortunately, he hadn't seen any difference between Scarlet Eyes and ordinary eyes; at the very least, they didn't show any remarkable performance when installed in puppets. However, using them as bait, he truly didn't believe that Luo Ning, a survivor of the Kurta Clan, would fail to take the hook.
'Though, the one who comes will likely be a clone,' he thought. According to Shalnark's analysis, Luo Ning's true body shouldn't be too far from the clones. Thus, as long as a clone appeared, he could search the surrounding area using the clone as the center to find the real Luo Ning. Once found, he would use an eyeless puppet to complete the eye contact, and the rest would be simple. He assumed Uvogin wouldn't mind whether the Luo Ning they caught had eyes or not.
Two pre-prepared puppets appeared by Omokage's side. One was a puppet of the Troupe member Nobunaga, with a katana at his waist. The other was one Omokage had specially crafted—a puppet of a black-haired boy who looked very easy to talk to. If Kurapika were here, he would certainly call out the boy's name: Pairo!
He was Kurapika's best friend and the only member of the Kurta Clan whose head had been severed and taken away. Omokage still remembered those exquisitely beautiful eyes. Unfortunately, they didn't belong to him.
Now, Omokage handed a pair of Scarlet Eyes to the Pairo puppet and the Nobunaga puppet respectively. Subsequently, the Nobunaga puppet was the first to walk out of the church, while the Pairo puppet climbed to a high point within the building. He didn't need to do anything; sitting there was enough.
All Omokage had to do next was wait. However, he didn't have much time. By the time he found the clues, Chrollo's business was already in the final stages. Once the others arrived, he might not have a chance to act.
One by one, puppets quickly appeared in the vicinity and just as quickly hid in various parts of the church. As long as someone entered, these puppets could coordinate with Omokage at any time to surround and kill the target. As for the priests and others in the church, their eyes had already been stolen, and they had died silently.
The Nobunaga puppet, eyes glowing scarlet, appeared boldly on the streets of Mauldin City. The hunters who had flooded into the city were like sharks sensing blood, swarming toward the vicinity of the Nobunaga puppet. The price of Scarlet Eyes had been hyped up to billions—no small sum. But when Nobunaga was the one who left safely every time, those plotting for the Scarlet Eyes had to re-evaluate whether they had the ability to leave with them alive.
Luo Ning's Shadow Clone also discovered the Nobunaga puppet. Specifically, the pair of Scarlet Eyes in the puppet's sockets made Luo Ning's eyes light up. If he could get his hands on that pair of Scarlet Eyes, his strength would be further enhanced. Not only would his eyes evolve from Two-Tomoe to Three-Tomoe, but his aura capacity would also be greatly increased.
'I'm doing it!' he decided. To ensure he could securely take those Scarlet Eyes, he would have his original body come and act together with the clone. That was the only way to have the highest level of certainty.
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