Chapter 49: Ally?
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"Go catch him."
Su Xiao contacted Jian Ji, who was stunned upon receiving this order. His first reaction was that he had offended Su Xiao, and that Su Xiao was sending him to his death.
Who was Jian Ji? He was notoriously afraid of death. He immediately dispatched his subordinates to capture Fenks, and not only that, he also notified Kurapika. The reason was that he disliked the 'Nosler Family,' and Kurapika was a bodyguard for the 'Nosler Family.'
Dozens of gang members rushed out of the auction hall, heading straight for Fenks's location, Kurapika included.
Seeing Kurapika's figure on the surveillance footage, Su Xiao shook his head. He had originally wanted Kurapika to deal with Franklin, but it was fine if he went after Fenks instead. As long as Kurapika could hold off or kill one of the Phantom Troupe's combatants, that was enough.
This might be a trap set by the leader, Chrollo. Su Xiao didn't know Kurapika, and the latter was willingly stepping into the 'minefield.'
Before the gang members and Kurapika could swarm him, Fenks had already killed those few gang members and turned to flee into the night-shrouded city.
"He fled too decisively."
Su Xiao felt something was off, but he couldn't pinpoint what. The situation tonight could only be described as bizarre.
Boom!
A loud crash came from downstairs, and his phone rang almost simultaneously.
Su Xiao grabbed the phone, answering it as he walked out.
"Still alive?"
Su Xiao's words received no response. After a long while, Bick's breathless voice came through.
"Still alive, but I've lost my freedom for the time being."
"Alive is enough. Are the other Ten Dons dead?"
"Probably... dead."
Bick sighed. He felt like he had become a traitor.
"Being able to contact the outside world is enough. The Zoldyck family wouldn't dare go there to kill you. Even if they had the audacity, they wouldn't."
A smile appeared on Su Xiao's face. The Zoldyck family had a great reputation, but Bick's current location was a place the Zoldyck family dared not set foot in. Even if it meant tarnishing their name, they wouldn't dare kill someone there, unless the Zoldycks had a death wish.
At this moment, Bick was in the V5 Organization branch of the 'Invasion of the Bian Continent.' V5 was a United Nations organization composed of five terrifying national machines. The Zoldycks were, at best, a famous assassin family. The two were not on the same level.
Even if Maha Zoldyck's strength was terrifying, he absolutely wouldn't dare go to the V5 branch to kill someone. Absolutely not.
As for how Bick got into the V5 Organization branch, that had to do with the cyclops's eyeball. The V5 Organization was interested in this item. Bick offered it unconditionally and took the opportunity to contribute four-fifths of his wealth.
Perhaps the V5 Organization didn't expect Bick to be so cooperative, and they directly gave him a small position. This delighted Bick immensely. He had leaped from a gang member to a minor official in the V5 Organization, even if the position was very, very small.
Moreover, the V5 Organization planned to change its strategy. Instead of the 'harvesting' method, they intended to secretly support Bick as a puppet to manage the underworld in an orderly fashion. Existence was reason. The existence of the underworld helped the V5 Organization manage several continents.
"You're in charge of the auction side of things. I've just taken over this side recently."
Bick was now riding high and didn't want to get further involved in the auction matters. This was good news for Su Xiao. He now had full control over the auction house. As for the Ten Dons' power, it still belonged to Bick. That couldn't change, especially after the V5 Organization's intervention.
"Don't forget the 'final payment.'"
"It's already prepared for you. Don't worry."
The call ended. Su Xiao quickly walked down to the lower levels of the auction house. A fight had broken out below, but it was very brief.
When Su Xiao arrived, Zeno and Silva were standing amidst a pile of rubble. The window in the room was shattered, and there was blood on the floor.
"Who was the enemy? The Phantom Troupe leader?"
Su Xiao crouched in front of the pool of blood. There was a significant amount, meaning the intruder was at least lightly injured.
"It was a member of the Phantom Troupe named Franklin. As for his purpose..."
"Delivering a message, I suppose. Telling you that the Ten Dons are dead. With the employer dead, your commission ends here."
"Oh?"
The old man Zeno looked at Su Xiao with a smile. Setting aside his identity as an assassin, Zeno was a kind and witty old man.
"Although I don't know how you guessed, that's probably the gist of it. Nine of the Ten Dons are dead, and the remaining one has been co-opted by the V5 Organization, so he's no longer one of the Ten Dons. That means our employers are all dead, so of course the mission is over.
But how did that one Don who escaped to the V5 Organization know someone was going to assassinate him? Did our family's information leak?"
The smile on Zeno's face faded.
"Maha Zoldyck, Illumi Zoldyck, and Kalluto Zoldyck took the commission to kill all the Ten Dons. That's not exactly a secret. Just like how Chrollo found out you took the commission to kill him. How did he find out about that commission? And then immediately hire your family members? An inside job in the Zoldyck family?"
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Zeno looked a bit embarrassed. They shared intelligence within the family. How the news reached the Phantom Troupe leader was unknown, but one thing was clear: the details of his and Silva's commission had been leaked, which led to the enemy hiring their family members to kill their employers, the Ten Dons.
"How troublesome. Oh well, the mission is over anyway. See you around."
Zeno waved at Su Xiao, ready to leave.
"If you're interested, you're welcome to visit our Zoldyck family as a guest. Consider it compensation for this commission."
Zeno and Silva walked away. The Zoldyck family's withdrawal from the auction matters wasn't necessarily good news, but it wasn't bad news either.
The main issue now was what the Phantom Troupe leader was plotting. With no clues or references, Su Xiao could only temporarily set this aside.
In any case, the Phantom Troupe's goal was to take revenge on him, so they would definitely come to the auction house.
Just as Su Xiao was racking his brain, Black Mary ran into the room, panting.
"Mr. White Night, there's a girl looking for you. She says she's from your hometown, and it's urgent."
"Hometown?"
Su Xiao pondered for a moment, then immediately thought of something.
"Take me to her."
Su Xiao was not from this world. If she was from his hometown, there was only one possibility.
He quickly arrived on the first floor and saw a blue-haired girl surrounded by gang members. There were a few bloodstains on her clothes.
"You are?"
Su Xiao had never seen her before, but he felt a vague sense of familiarity.
"I am... the 'Turret' who once attacked you."
The moment the girl finished speaking, Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in Su Xiao's hand.
"State your purpose."
She couldn't be here to die. She wasn't a contractor from the Ten Dons' faction, and she might even be a contractor from the Phantom Troupe's faction. Her appearance here meant the situation might have changed drastically, or it could be an enemy trap.
"Find a place where we can talk privately."
The girl was quite injured, so it was unlikely she was here to assassinate Su Xiao. Besides, Su Xiao wasn't afraid of enemies trying to assassinate him.
Under the envious gazes of the gang members, Su Xiao led the girl into an empty room. He always maintained a 3-meter distance from her, a distance that allowed him to react to any sudden situation and also made it easy to attack her if needed.
"Can you talk now?"
"Yes." The blue-haired girl, Weini, took a deep breath and habitually grabbed her meter-long braid, flicking it.
"Here's the thing. After I became a temporary member of the Phantom Troupe, my main mission was to steal the auction items. Half an hour ago, for some reason, my main mission was forcibly changed by the Paradise to participating in the auction. At the same time the mission was forcibly changed, someone suddenly attacked me. As for who that person is, I don't need to tell you. Two old yinbis have teamed up. So, let's team up too. To deal with those countless creatures that came from who knows where."