Inside the hall, seeing Cipher and Shizuku enter, Franklin asked, "Is the outside cleared?"
Cipher nodded, then glanced at Shizuku, who walked over to the piles of flesh and commanded Blinky, "Suck everything here clean, including the chairs and tables."
Upon receiving the order, Blinky let out a 'Ha-yo!' sound. Its gaping maw generated a powerful suction force, forming a vortex that sucked in all the flesh, blood, and even the debris of chairs and tables.
Under Blinky's efforts, the hall was soon spotless, without even a drop of blood remaining.
Just then, Shalnark and Akatake emerged from an inner door.
Shalnark looked at the others, his expression serious. "The vault is empty. Someone moved the auction items ahead of time."
Akatake, who had come with him, was dragging a terrified man, whom he threw in front of the group.
"Feitan, he's yours," Shalnark said.
They had kept the auctioneer alive specifically for interrogation.
Feitan narrowed his eyes, a cold expression on his face. "No problem."
Five minutes later, the group of six Troupe members didn't leave the Cemetery Building but went straight to the rooftop.
Once on the roof, Shizuku conjured Blinky again, which spat out a hot air balloon.
Her Blinky could suck in any number of inanimate objects regardless of size and could also spit them out again, provided she remembered what they were.
Everyone boarded the hot air balloon, which lifted off into the night sky.
Down below, the mafia members responsible for blocking the exits sensed something was wrong because the routine ten-minute check-ins had stopped.
The external commander kept trying to contact the inside but received no response.
"Something's up."
Without hesitation, the external commander immediately rallied his comrades and stormed into the auction hall.
The subordinates of various mafia lieutenants waiting outside saw the organizers rushing into the Cemetery Building, their expressions changing, and followed them inside.
Since the auction only allowed each buyer to bring two people, many mafia members who had come with their bosses had to wait outside.
Now, sensing something was wrong, they naturally worried about their bosses inside the auction hall.
The large group of mafia members who rushed in went straight down to the auction hall and were stunned to find that all five hundred guests and their security comrades had vanished.
Seeing the situation was dire, the organizers' people hurried to check the vault, only to find the vault door open and the interior completely empty.
Furious, these mafia members, who had been kept in the dark, began cursing and mobilizing their personnel.
Meanwhile, Dalzollene also received news from Basho: all the guests and security personnel inside the hall had disappeared into thin air, including Baise and the others.
Dalzollene's face changed. He contacted Melody and the others, who were stationed on rooftops near the Cemetery Building, and got the first-hand information from them.
"A hot air balloon?"
Dalzollene was stunned, 'There had been over five hundred guests inside the hall. If they had been kidnapped, a hot air balloon couldn't possibly hold them all.'
Without time to ponder, Dalzollene immediately relayed this information to the lieutenant in charge of the auction.
At that moment, the hot air balloon carrying Shalnark and the other five drifted away from Yorknew City.
"The items are gone?"
Chrollo's calm voice came through the phone.
Shalnark replied, "Yes. The only informed person, the auction host, said someone moved the auction items a few hours before the auction started."
"I see..." Chrollo lifted his gaze to look at the others in the base.
The call continued...
On the roof of a distant building, Law and Kurapika stared at the hot air balloon floating away into the night sky.
Below, on the streets, black cars sped by.
"Six people. See them clearly?"
Law broke off a piece of stone from the rooftop parapet, looking at the distant hot air balloon.
"Yes." Kurapika held binoculars to his eyes, clearly seeing the six Phantom Troupe's members on the hot air balloon.
"Get ready to move closer. Let the mafia make the first move, then we intercept." Law gripped the stone, condensed Nen around it, and suddenly hurled it into the distance.
With a sonic boom, the stone cut through the night sky, vanishing in the blink of an eye, accurately piercing the hot air balloon.
With a dull thud, the immense force directly blasted the entire balloon apart.
"Huh?"
The six people on the hot air balloon were slightly startled as the basket carrying them plummeted toward the ground.
The stone from afar had not only shattered the hot air balloon but also dispersed the gas inside.
"Be careful, the attacker is an Emitter, and not a weak one," Franklin warned.
Before the basket hit the ground, the six jumped out separately, landing steadily on the ground.
The basket then crashed down, causing an explosion and a loud noise, immediately attracting the attention of the mafia members searching for the enemy.
Thus, black cars converged on the crash site.
Meanwhile, Chrollo, still at the base, heard the commotion through the phone and inquired about the situation.
"Our hot air balloon was shot down. Likely by a skilled Emitter. And the mafia is closing in," Shalnark reported.
"Location?" Chrollo asked.
"Huaron Street, intersection in District V," Shalnark glanced around and immediately reported the location.
"Break through according to the planned route. We're coming to support you now," Chrollo said.
"Understood." Shalnark acknowledged and hung up.
He looked at his gathered companions, "The Boss says we break out directly."
Screech!
A series of violent braking sounds echoed.
The intersection was quickly surrounded by black cars from all four directions. Fierce-looking mafia members emerged, armed with firearms.
The commotion didn't attract a single police officer. It was as if this area had become the mafia's domain.
Seeing the hundreds of mafia members swarming in so quickly was a testament to their efficiency.
"Split up. Meet at the agreed location," Shalnark assumed a sprinting stance.
"Fine."
Feitan was the first to respond, his figure darting out like a ghost.
Except for Franklin, everyone moved. Franklin raised his hands and unleashed a barrage, blowing up the cars in front before heading in the predetermined direction.
The mafia members roared, raising their submachine guns and unleashing a hail of bullets at the fleeing Troupe members.
The Troupe members moved as fast as cars, sprinting through the streets and quickly leaving the mafia members behind.
Shalnark simply hijacked a car, killed the owner, and drove towards the rendezvous point.
Behind them, mafia members pursued in their cars, ramming other vehicles out of the way along the route.
Law and Kurapika were positioned in two different directions, at higher elevations, clearly observing the Troupe members' movements. They also spotted the Shadow Beasts sent by the Ten Dons.
Only four Shadow Beasts had come. They seemed to have grasped the Troupe members' movement and blocked the path ahead.
Since there were only four of them, they could only block four, leaving two Troupe members unaccounted for.
'These two people...'
Kurapika couldn't hold back. He informed Law via phone and went to intercept one of the Phantom Troupe's members.
Law didn't stop Kurapika's action. He checked the remaining targets… it seemed Shalnark, driving a car, was heading in his direction.