Illumi fiddled with his phone, still weighing his options.
The wound on his shoulder wasn't anything serious. A few silver needles and the Zoldyck family's special recovery tricks would have him back to normal in no time.
What actually had him stuck was whether he should call in backup for another shot at Ronin.
The guy's abilities were a pain in the ass, and his raw power wasn't anything to sneeze at.
With Silva and Zeno staying out of it, Illumi's choices were pretty damn limited—only Gotoh or Maha were realistic. Gotoh's location was anyone's guess, so that left Maha.
Chrollo's payout was fat enough to tempt the old man, but success wasn't guaranteed.
This whole job really was as shitty as his father Silva had warned. Even bumping the price didn't change that.
Ronin's growth rate had blown past Illumi's expectations.
On top of that, he'd figured out Chrollo definitely knew something and had kept his mouth shut.
Dealing with a client this slippery was its own headache.
Chrollo glanced at his phone. By now Illumi should've already made his move.
No updates on the screen meant only one thing: the assassination had failed.
If it had just been Ryan, Illumi wouldn't have missed. So Ronin had to have swapped in with one of his clones. That was the only explanation for why Illumi's hit went south.
Whether Illumi was still breathing was another question.
If he was alive, he'd probably line up another attempt.
Chrollo had deliberately withheld everything he'd learned from Hisoka. The smartest play for Illumi was to call in reinforcements. Any Zoldyck showing up next time would give Ronin real trouble—maybe even take him out for good.
That was Chrollo's read after watching Silva and Zeno at the Cemeta Tower. Ronin was stronger than anyone in the Troupe. Hell, Chrollo had suspected those two didn't actually lack the power to kill Illumi's target in front of the whole Spider crew—they'd just weighed the risks and walked away, looking for a cleaner opening later.
They didn't like unnecessary danger.
Ronin's improvement was insane, sure, but against veterans like the Zoldycks, Chrollo doubted the kid could walk away unscathed right now.
And the people around Ronin? Strategy experts. They weren't going to turn the tide in a straight fight.
If Illumi actually died on this job, the whole Zoldyck clan would come sniffing around. They'd launch their own hunt—probably without Chrollo having to pay another cent—under the banner of avenging their eldest son.
Chrollo had used Illumi's identity to the absolute limit this time.
Sure, there was a chance the family wouldn't bother avenging a failed assassin. So what? Zero loss for him either way.
From Illumi's reaction alone, Chrollo could already confirm one thing: Ryan was dead, and Ronin had replaced him with a clone.
All he had to do was leak that intel back to Meteor City—
Chrollo's train of thought slammed to a stop. Another possibility hit him.
Everything that had happened might not have been fully inside Kurapika's predictions… but Kurapika could still flip it to his advantage.
Because leaking the news back to Meteor City would only produce one result.
The extremists there would launch another attack on Ronin's position.
Would it work?
Chrollo already knew the answer: no chance in hell.
Those lunatics never worked together. They'd come one at a time, feeding themselves straight into the meat grinder. In the end, Ronin's side would just wipe out half the city's biggest headaches for free.
Chrollo felt the situation getting thornier by the second.
Ronin was the perfect enforcer. Kurapika's scheming brain worked best when it had Ronin's fists to back it up.
Their partnership brought out the absolute best in both of them.
If Chrollo kept his mouth shut, Ronin's crew could lock down Ryan's identity and carve out real influence in Meteor City.
Ryan had been a veteran Elder, after all. The exploded ship and the "dead" Ronin group would become Ryan's crowning achievement. His position would be rock-solid.
But Chrollo had spotted the blind spot.
October 1st.
Ronin would be fighting Hisoka at Heaven's Arena that day.
Chrollo faced two choices: head to the Arena and try to hit Ronin after the match, or swing back to Meteor City and rip out the thorn Ronin had planted there.
Only two real moves.
He still hadn't found an ability that could counter Ronin. Even if he gathered the whole Troupe and went to the Arena, it could end the same way Uvogin's fight had—total disaster.
Worse, Kurapika might have already set traps. The Troupe could lose more members.
Ronin and Miria the promoter were tight. Miria had serious pull at Heaven's Arena.
Throw in the Rock Mercenaries as another wild card, and a fixed-location ambush was the worst possible setup for the Spiders.
Or, to put it bluntly, the October 1st Arena fight was one giant bait trap Ronin's side had deliberately dangled.
Chrollo let out a slow breath. The amount of room he had to maneuver in all of this was painfully small.
At this point, he might as well sit tight and focus on finding an ability that could actually take Ronin down.
Chrollo's guess was spot-on.
After Illumi's failed hit, Kurapika's plan had been simple: let Ronin slaughter every extremist who came knocking.
Two full days passed. Miria's people had already arrived. Still no sign of the hardliners.
That meant their cover hadn't been blown by the assassination attempt.
"He figured it out," Kurapika said quietly.
The "he" was obviously Chrollo.
Chrollo himself hadn't shown up, but in Kurapika's mind the real opponent had always been the one pulling strings from the shadows.
The total silence after the assassination told Kurapika everything: Chrollo had chosen to do nothing. It was the smartest move he could make.
Kurapika could already guess what Chrollo would try next.
According to Ronin, Chrollo was extremely cautious. Until he found a way to beat Ronin with one hundred percent certainty, he probably wouldn't show his face.
Timing-wise, Miria should be starting to hype up Ronin's Arena fight any day now.
So on October 1st, when that trap was waiting… there was a high chance Chrollo wouldn't take the bait.
If he didn't go to Heaven's Arena, where would he go?
Would he really just leave the "Ryan" nail sitting in Meteor City?