Book 7: Chapter 25: Collision

“Qin Lun, do you know what happened with the big explosion at the Auction Building?” Kurapika asked softly, “Also, are you also chasing that hydrogen balloon right now?”

Hydrogen balloon? Qin Lun rolled his eyes and immediately understood. The streets near the Auction Building were all blocked by the Mafia. Perhaps the Phantom Troupe didn’t want too much trouble, or maybe they just didn’t care about the Mafia at all, so they used this high-profile plan of traveling back and forth through the air.

While this was more convenient, it made it even harder to shake off the Mafia’s pursuit. Right now, there were at least hundreds of Mafia thugs following underneath them. This time, he didn’t need to worry about following the wrong direction; probably soon, he would see Kurapika and the others’ car.

“Everyone at the auction place was killed by the Phantom Troupe. That big explosion was the Mafia’s final counterattack method.” Qin Lun didn’t hesitate and directly pinned the blame for the explosion case on the Mafia. “I’m following the Mafia vehicles in pursuit right now. I still can’t see the hydrogen balloon yet, so I’m probably a bit behind you guys.”

Qin Lun rolled his eyes and asked casually, “Is the entire guard team of your Nostrade Family in the car?”

“Yeah, except for Ivanov, Shachmono, and Baise…” When mentioning Ivanov and the others, Kurapika’s voice grew softer. Even though they had only been together for a few days, the young man still felt a bit sad. He was much kinder than Qin Lun.

A faint smile appeared on Qin Lun’s face. Baise really hadn’t contacted Kurapika and the others again, and he had also tested the real situation at the hotel where the Nostrade Family was staying.

If Dalzollene took the remaining guards and were all pursuing the Phantom Troupe, then Yin and Liza would surely succeed, and he had eliminated the biggest potential problem.

“Vault completely empty, killed people at the auction and encountered counterattacks.” As long as the Phantom Troupe weren’t all idiots, they would definitely figure out that the news had been leaked. Neon’s Divination Poem wasn’t exactly a secret. Once the Troupe ruled out the possibility of a traitor among themselves, capturing a few Mafia survivors wouldn’t make it hard for them to learn about Neon’s existence.

The Divination Poem was a double-edged sword; it could hurt others, but also hurt oneself. From the first time he saw Neon, Qin Lun knew she was the key figure in this Historical Plot.

No matter which side he joined, the first variable he needed to erase was Neon. If he couldn’t control this girl, he absolutely couldn’t allow her to fall alive into the enemy’s hands.

Judging from the current situation, if Neon hadn’t left Yorknew City by tomorrow, she would soon fall into the Troupe’s hands. In other words, if they failed to seriously damage the Troupe tonight, then tomorrow or the day after, the Troupe would reverse their disadvantage in intelligence.

“Kurapika, tell Captain Dalzollene that after catching up with the Phantom Troupe, don’t act recklessly. The Shadow Beasts have also chased after them. First, observe the outcome of their fight.” Qin Lun reminded him seriously. “By the way, which direction is the hydrogen balloon floating?”

“Oh… their altitude is decreasing. It seems like they are going to land in the Goude Desert on the southern outskirts of Yorknew City. Maybe they are running out of fuel!” Kurapika stuck his head out the car window, observed for a moment, and then replied.

“Mm, got it. I’ll hurry over right now!” Qin Lun closed his phone, chuckled lightly, and stepped on the accelerator. The car made a loud roar and began overtaking other vehicles on the road.

Qin Lun curled his lip. The Troupe members were still so straightforward, or perhaps arrogant. How could the hydrogen balloon possibly run out of fuel right now? They were definitely doing it on purpose. Maybe they wanted to get the whereabouts of the auction items from the pursuers and find out the reason for the intelligence leak!

…

The hydrogen balloon moved quickly under the starry night sky. The basket below carried seven Troupe members. Franklin and the other two, who had been slaughtering Mafia bosses at the auction earlier, were now resting in the basket.

At this moment, the lion-like man Uvogin was holding a phone, talking to the Phantom Troupe Leader, Kuroro.

“The auction items are gone?”

“Yeah, the vault was completely empty. Also, Feitan and the other two were attacked by doll bombs at the auction. Franklin and Shizuku got some minor injuries.” Uvogin said cautiously. “According to the confession of the real auctioneer, the day before the Auction opened, members of the Ten Dons’ direct Shadow Beasts organization moved the goods. They seemed to know in advance that something would happen today!”

“Is that so?” A mysterious smile appeared on Kuroro’s face.

“Leader, don’t you think this is a bit too much of a coincidence?” Uvogin said with a fierce expression. “There might be a betrayer among us!”

“Uvogin, are you saying there’s a traitor among us?” Nobunaga, dressed like a Japanese samurai, had a cold glint in his eyes and slowly looked up. The other Troupe members in the balloon basket also frowned slightly, their expressions somewhat unpleasant.

“Heh, there’s no such person among us!” Kuroro’s hearty laughter came through the phone. “If there was a traitor, what could they possibly gain by selling us out to the Mafia? Money? Fame? Status? Would any of us be satisfied with such boring things?”

“Hiss, seems like there really isn’t!” Uvogin scratched his face and sighed in frustration.

“Right! If the Mafia really knew we were going to attack the Auction, would they only use doll bombs to counterattack Feitan and the others?” Kuroro said with a laugh. “They probably would have prepared more and stronger methods! Also, the Auction guests were unarmed and didn’t put up any prepared resistance.”

“Leader, so you mean…” Uvogin grinned, seeming to understand.

“The Mafia probably got some not-very-certain intelligence, but a few higher-ups likely believed it and made some not very complete precautionary measures because of it!” Kuroro said calmly. “However, they should be able to confirm our purpose by now.”

“Alright, though I still don’t fully understand… So what should we do next?” Uvogin scratched his head indifferently.

“Do we know where the auction goods were moved to?” Kuroro asked with a frown.

“That auctioneer said he didn’t know until he died. Feitan was in charge of the interrogation. I think he probably wasn’t lying!” Uvogin glanced at the short figure beside him and said with a chuckle.

“That guy is the most pitiful person today.” Feitan shrank his neck slightly and said flatly.

“Then who moved them, did you find that out? Whoever got close to the vault would have left a name with the guards!”

“It was a Shadow Beast named Owl. He just went in for a moment and took away all the goods in the entire vault. Probably similar to Shizuku’s Nen Ability type.” Uvogin replied with a laugh.

“Uvogin, since there was a big explosion at the auction, your whereabouts should be exposed by now, right?” Kuroro showed a confident smile.

“Yeah, there’s a huge crowd following right behind us!” Uvogin showed a strange smile. “Maybe those Shadow Beast members are among them.”

“It seems your opponents are powerful Nen Ability users too!” Kuroro said with a laugh.

“Oh, so… can we kill them?” Uvogin blinked and asked quietly.

“Of course, give those people a taste of suffering. If you can directly find that Owl, that would be even better!” Kuroro replied with a smile.

“Hahaha, finally something fun to do. Really something to look forward to!” Uvogin’s wild laughter rang out in the balloon basket.

…

The Goude Desert on the southern outskirts of Yorknew City was actually a small gourd-shaped valley. The area around the valley was full of strangely shaped rocky cliffs. There were only two exits, front and back, and in the middle was the flat valley clearing.

This was the best battle ground for both sides. The size of the valley clearing could accommodate hundreds of people in a chaotic fight. Furthermore, the surrounding area was enclosed by hard rock, allowing firearms to be used to their full potential.

When Qin Lun arrived at the Goude Desert, he heard deafening gunfire from afar, occasionally mixed with the explosions of grenades and rockets.

“Has the fight started?” Qin Lun’s eyes lit up. He used both hands and feet to quickly climb up a steep rocky hill and looked into the valley.

However, after just one glance, Qin Lun couldn’t help but twitch his eyelid. A moment later, his face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.

There were seven members of the Phantom Troupe in the valley. Besides the three Qin Lun had seen before, Feitan and the others, there was also a man as strong as a lion. Seeing him, the Death Notice immediately indicated he was Troupe member Uvogin.

The other three were respectively a sunny, big boy Shalnark, a swordsman dressed as a Japanese samurai, Nobunaga Hazama, and finally a beautiful girl in short-sleeved training clothes, Machi.

Among the dozens of Mafia members fighting, only Uvogin from the Troupe was engaged. The other Troupe members were playing cards on the cliff at the back. They didn’t even glance at the battlefield, as if winning the card game was their top priority right now.

By now, the valley floor was already littered with Mafia corpses. A rough count showed almost a hundred bodies. Qin Lun estimated that the group currently fighting was probably the third wave of Mafia combatants to arrive.

Going by the current situation, this group wouldn’t last much longer and would soon be completely wiped out. The only relief was that among the bodies on the ground, Kurapika and his group weren’t there. It seemed they were probably also hiding nearby watching the battle and hadn’t recklessly joined in.

Because the Mafia members used powerful firearms, a layer of dust and smoke covered the valley clearing. However, Qin Lun’s scouting ability was strong; the dust couldn’t hinder him.

“Enhancement Type! His base physical quality is extremely powerful. Forget Agility for now, but with his Nen Ability added, his strength was at least seven times mine, and his surface defense should be more than three times mine.” Qin Lun’s face twitched slightly as his gaze swept over the many mangled corpses.

His current strength was over 40 points. His Constitution, including equipment, gave him a Protection of 30 points. In other words, Uvogin’s strength was over 300 points, and his Protection was around 100 points. Such strength and defense surpassed human limits; he was practically a mini-version of Godzilla.

“A baby fighting a sumo wrestler!” Qin Lun shook his head with a bitter smile. His judgment was correct. When the remaining Mafia members finally broke after Uvogin crushed a rocket with his bare hands, they cried and screamed as they fled towards the valley exit.

However, just as he took out his phone, ready to persuade Kurapika to retreat for now, he felt a sudden impulse and turned to look towards the valley entrance.