One minute ago.
On top of a tall building facing the fountain plaza.
Silva stood at the edge of the rooftop, his long hair fluttering in the wind.
He took out his phone, glanced at the content of a text message, paused, and then put away his phone.
His wolf-like eyes looked down at several figures in the plaza below.
As the night descended, the tall fountain in the center of the plaza flashed with multicolored lights.
The light show, dancing with the water flow, attracted the attention of most pedestrians in the plaza.
They smiled and walked toward the fountain, and even the frolicking children ran over with laughter.
The members of the Phantom Troupe, led by Chrollo, avoided the crowd drawn to the fountain's light show.
They stepped across the constantly flashing, dazzling light effects on the ground, and amidst a multitude of elongated shadows, they walked across the other side of the fountain toward the edge of the plaza.
On the rooftop.
Silva's gaze closely followed Chrollo and the others below, slowly locking onto one person—
The Phantom Troupe's No. 8 member.
Silva stared at the person.
The Nen on his body surged relentlessly like a torrent.
He then raised his right hand, and the wave-like Nen around it instantly took on a sharp, pointed shape.
This stalactite-like, sharp Nen formation is a phenomenon where the Nen user concentrates the focus of their attack on one point, and it is a prominent characteristic of an Emitter before striking.
However, as Silva channeled his Nen to attack, not a single trace of killing intent was revealed in his aura.
His Nen was like a turbulent river, yet without any audible water sound.
This was clearly the result of long-term refinement.
Then he struck, leaping up high.
The sharp Nen surrounding his palm instantly transformed into an electrified Nen sphere over a meter in diameter.
Next, he plummeted like a meteor tearing through the night, precisely crashing down onto the Phantom Troupe's No. 8 member.
Before this trajectory, imbued with terrifying destructive power, descended vertically, Chrollo, Pakunoda, Kortopi, Shalnark, Machi, Omokage, and the No. 8 member named Lucius, who was directly targeted in the scattered formation, all perceived a fleeting sense of crisis.
That sense of crisis was like an electrical signal flashing through the mind.
Its terror lay in the fact that...
Even if you "saw" it, your body did not have time to react.
Accompanied by a colossal sound that resonated across the city sky, a pit appeared on the plaza paved with hard stone slabs.
Spiderweb-like cracks spread for dozens of meters around the pit's center across the surrounding stone ground.
Within the pit, Lucius was instantly killed, his entire back twisted and severely caved in.
Silva stood beside the corpse, his expression unchanged, and took out his phone.
As for the other Phantom Troupe members, they all retreated onto the cracked stone ground, looking at Silva, who had suddenly killed Lucius, with chilling killing intent.
The opponent's assassination technique...
The speed and power were self-evident, but the terrifying aspect was the utter silence after the attack.
Chrollo's eyes were cold, devoid of any other emotion.
In contrast, the other members, from surprise to the look of killing intent, remained internally shaken.
They knew very well that if Silva's target had been any one of them, their fate would basically have been the same as Lucius's.
It wasn't that they felt Silva was overwhelmingly powerful; rather, this thought stemmed more from Silva's ability to strike unexpectedly, making it impossible to guard against.
Facing the death stares from Chrollo and the others, Silva was unmoved.
He used the tip of his foot to flip the corpse over, then took out his phone and snapped a photo of the corpse's face.
He had deliberately avoided hitting the head during the attack to ensure the face's integrity.
Actually, given the credibility established by the Zoldyck family's elders, such measures were unnecessary.
But Silva's decades-long professional career had inevitably developed some professional habits.
After sending the photo of the corpse to the client, Silva immediately dialed the designated contact number.
One second later, the call was answered.
"The contract has been completed. Please transfer the funds to the previously specified account."
Silva hung up immediately after speaking, putting his phone away, demonstrating a complete sense of ease.
However, this action of his was also a declaration of his assassin identity to Chrollo and the others.
Chrollo's eyes remained cold and sharp, staring intently at Silva.
"You killed one of my members. Now, you have two choices."
His voice was clear and cool.
Even with his companion dead before him, his tone showed no trace of anger or sadness.
Silva ignored Chrollo's words and calmly walked out of the pit.
As he did so, the atmosphere in the plaza instantly became tense.
Machi and the other members watched Silva walk to the other side of the pit, releasing their killing intent without reservation.
It was at this moment that the stunned pedestrians in the plaza, as if time had started moving again, finally reacted.
They fled the plaza in panic, shouting as they went.
Suddenly, the entire plaza presented an extremely chaotic scene, filled with screams and the cries of children.
Only the light show in the fountain remained unaffected, continuously flashing and dancing.
Chrollo did not restrain his members from expressing their emotions.
He stared at Silva on the other side of the pit.
When facing various situations, the Troupe's rules must take precedence; this is the foundation of the Troupe's existence.
Therefore, regardless of skill, the moment Silva killed Lucius, the rule for member replacement instantly took effect.
Chrollo discarded the hat, sunglasses, and other items used for his disguise, tossing them aside.
He then looked at Silva and continued in a tone as calm as still water:
"One, accept recruitment and join my team. Two, refuse and die here."
Hearing Chrollo's words, Silva abruptly stopped and looked back at Chrollo, who had already adopted a fighting stance.
From the wave-like Nen emanating from Chrollo, Silva saw an unmistakable meaning.
Very good aura. This young man... is not simple.
Silva made an internal assessment, then withdrew his gaze.
Still ignoring Chrollo's proposal, he walked away without saying a word.
Seeing Silva consistently refuse to respond to Chrollo, Machi and the other members suddenly released the maximum extent of their visible aura, each baring their sharp fangs.
Chrollo, however, took direct action.
Silva's dismissive reaction was already tantamount to a refusal.
Swish!
Chrollo's figure flashed and disappeared.
On the other side of the pit.
Silva, who had his back to the members of the Troupe, slightly raised his gaze.
As he put his foot down, his figure also flashed and disappeared.
The next moment.
A dull collision sound of a fist and an elbow suddenly rang out in the plaza.
At the source of the sound, two figures materialized out of nowhere: Chrollo and Silva.
Bang! Bang! Bang...!
The two engaged in a fierce exchange.
Rings of Nen ripples spread out as their fists and feet collided.
In just one second, the two exchanged over ten rounds using pure martial arts and Nen techniques, and then suddenly separated.
As Chrollo retreated, his feet plowed the ground, kicking up white smoke.
A streak of blood appeared on his arm, but he didn't even look at it, keeping his eyes solely on Silva.
Silva also retreated and dug his feet into the ground, but he was as steady as a mountain, looking at the young man who was about the same age as Illumi.
—
On the street.
People fled from the plaza, their faces filled with panic.
Hisoka, however, walked against the crowd, his eyes slightly narrowed, looking in the direction of the plaza.
In the distance.
Moro was also walking against the crowd, but he was looking towards the nearby high ground.
(End of this Chapter)
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