The sudden appearance of two Hisokas didn't faze Franklin in the slightest.
It had to be a Conjuration-based clone technique. But Franklin remembered clearly—Hisoka was a Transmuter, and his ability was Bungee Gum.
Chrollo certainly wouldn't have hidden that from them. Besides, Franklin had once teamed up with Hisoka and was familiar with how he fought and used his abilities.
Yet now Hisoka was using clones that could wield Bungee Gum.
A collaborator?
A Support-type user, capable of conjuring doppelgängers for Hisoka?
Franklin swung his arms; Nen bullets rained down like a storm, indiscriminately blanketing everything—both Hisokas and the clutter they hurled his way.
He was a pure Emitter; mid-to-long range was his killing zone. Anyone charging in had to gamble with death.
The cost of such overwhelming firepower wasn't light, but Franklin didn't care.
Because he knew one thing: this battle would only last a short while.
The mafia, the Troupe, the Hunter Association's guards posted below—none of them would allow Hisoka and him to rampage unchecked in the cafeteria for long.
This was about burst power.
Hisoka had to break through Franklin's firestorm in seconds to close the distance—close combat was Hisoka's domain.
Franklin, meanwhile, had to reduce him to dust before that happened.
The only wildcard: Hisoka's hidden ally.
Who could it be?
The first person that came to Franklin's mind was the Chain User who had taken down Uvogin in Yorknew.
Pakunoda had left behind intel before she died—intel confirming Hisoka and the Chain User had once worked together.
But would the Chain User really be on the ship? Their abilities didn't match what Hisoka was showing now.
Franklin stopped firing. In just thirty seconds, everything around him was dead or destroyed.
Hisoka was gone.
Footsteps echoed from afar. Franklin furrowed his brow but didn't move.
Ten seconds later, a large group of mafia thugs appeared at the cafeteria entrance.
But Franklin's expression didn't ease. His fingers remained spread, ready to fire again at a moment's notice.
"Stop. No closer than fifteen meters," he commanded.
Not all the Kakin mafia were cowards. Several angry-faced men ignored his warning.
But as they stepped within the fifteen-meter line, Nen bullets landed precisely at their feet, leaving small craters in the floor.
A warning shot.
The men halted, expressions shifting. One, however, kept walking—and raised his gun at Franklin.
He never got to pull the trigger.
Several bullets slammed into him, punching bloody holes through his body. As blood sprayed, he gave Franklin a cold smile before collapsing.
His body twitched once, then went still.
"They're not invincible! Take them down!" someone roared, and gunfire erupted.
The tension exploded. The mafia opened fire on Franklin en masse.
"Engage! Hisoka's hiding among them!" Franklin roared back, unleashing a barrage of Nen bullets into the crowd.
And someone else charged forward—a small, dark figure moving at breakneck speed.
Spiky-haired and wielding an umbrella, the newcomer unsheathed a thin blade from its shaft.
It was Feitan.
He weaved through the crowd, his blade flashing. Mafia members with no Nen fell instantly, throats pierced clean.
A few Nen users blocked his strikes—but that only drew Franklin's attention. His Nen bullets tore them down.
Within thirty seconds, over twenty mafia members lay dead on the cafeteria floor, unable to even shout their affiliations.
Feitan halted beside Franklin, flicking his pristine blade. "He's not here."
"He ran." Franklin retracted his fingers.
"He planned this." Feitan narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah—deliberately provoked a fight between us and the Kakin mafia. Seems they weren't thorough in their investigations. And he's got backup now," Franklin agreed, unfazed.
Feitan shared his calm. "Pretty sure those guys were from the Gasha family. Three Nen users—not even strong ones. Probably second- or third-tier."
"Hisoka has only a few possible allies. One: people he already knew—most suspicious being the Chain User's team. Two: Kakin mafia. We're using the mafia to find him; he uses the mafia to strike at us. Logical." Franklin reasoned.
"The Chain User's here?" Feitan's eyes gleamed.
"Unclear—just a theory." Franklin shrugged. "Based on what we've seen, it's probably the Kakin mafia."
"If so, most likely from the Ai-Ii family. Their stance is different from the other two, and they probably want chaos onboard." Feitan sounded disappointed.
He realized the Chain User theory was a stretch.
"Should we recall the boss and the others to Deck 5?" Feitan hesitated.
"According to mafia intel, Hisoka wasn't on Decks 4 or 5. They checked thoroughly. That intel should be reliable—yet they still missed him." Franklin hesitated too.
"Let's tell the boss to move in pairs. One-on-one is fine if it's just Hisoka. If he has allies, that's different." Feitan made the call.
"No need to tell most of them—only Machi's solo. The rest are already paired. That leaves you and me." Franklin glanced at the ravaged food counter.
He started walking into the back of the cafeteria. "Just inform Machi. From now on, you and I stick together."
But even as he spoke, more people approached the cafeteria.
"Let's go. Now," said Feitan.
The two quickly slipped into the kitchen.
Moments later, Kakin's Royal Army and security teams arrived—heavily armed.
Among them were Association Hunters Botobai and Mizai.
Mizai frowned at the carnage. "Looks like Hisoka attacked the Troupe—but something's off. Doesn't feel like a death match. More like a probe… or bait."
"Agreed." Botobai nodded. "We had setup near the cafeteria, but just as the fight broke out, disturbances erupted in nearby civilian zones—fights and explosions.
Our teams were diverted, and the cafeteria battle started. This was coordinated. Not a lone actor."
"Hisoka probably made contact with the Ai-Ii family's boss—or struck a deal. Otherwise, they wouldn't have covered for him," Mizai deduced.
The other two mafia families were helping the Troupe hunt Hisoka. Only Ai-Ii was the outlier.
Hisoka contacting Morena wouldn't be hard.
He probably learned from Joey that Morena betrayed the Fourth Prince and was stirring trouble below decks.
Given that, she'd welcome Hisoka's involvement. Not just tolerate—but possibly support him outright.
Hisoka was the perfect bait to stir conflict between the Troupe and the mafia.
Since the Gasha and Xi-Yu families also wanted to use the Troupe, letting Hisoka turn them against each other was ideal.
The Troupe's presence had been a surprise from the beginning.
"Two headaches. Lower decks are on the verge of all-out war," Botobai sighed. "We never should've let Joey send Hisoka down there."
"That would've made the upper decks even worse," Mizai countered.
It was only the eleventh day of the voyage, and everything was spiraling. Between the succession war and mafia chaos, nothing could be resolved quickly.
Worse still—the Royal Army had mostly been collecting corpses. That hamstrung any real progress.
"Any chance of pulling a guard from Beyond's watch?" Botobai asked again.
"No. Not happening anytime soon," Mizai answered firmly.
Botobai understood. "So even the inner circle's in disarray."
"Yeah," Mizai sighed. "Joey's on the lower decks. His ability might come in handy. I'll find him."
"Do that. Once things settle here, I'll return to Deck 3."
Neither showed any intention of chasing the Troupe. After assigning tasks, they split quickly.
On Deck 3, Joey stood silently, watching a strange trail of blood creeping along the wall. He signaled Kaztro and Fugates to stay quiet.
That drop had entered his En—it was a Nen ability.
He vaguely remembered someone on the ship who could manipulate blood. But was this it?
He hadn't seen that ability in use before.
What he did remember was the user's companion—Hinrigh, heir of the Xi-Yu family.
Joey wasn't struck by Hinrigh's status—but by his ability.
Something like Hold the Sun in My Hands—a Conjuration skill similar to Joey's own Golden Experience. Both gave life to inanimate objects.
But Hinrigh's version was even more practical.
If he turned a rifle into a snake, it didn't awkwardly lunge to bite. It fired like a gun.
Hinrigh had been the last character Togashi had drawn before the hiatus.
Back to the blood.
Joey could sense aura from it. Just a little.
More importantly, he saw an eye in it.
The blood was a surveillance device. The user could observe through it.
Joey guessed the user wasn't watching in real-time. The drop was too small.
It was probably part of a spread—meant to detect something and alert the caster once triggered.
Human minds couldn't process that many viewpoints. They weren't dragonflies.
Joey released his Weather Nen Beast, which distorted light and masked the two Princes' presence.
To the blood drop, only Joey was visible.
Within thirty seconds, the blood scouted the room and slid out through the door.
But Joey remained uneasy. He had used Nen during that process.
Could the drop detect En?
And who was the user? What were they looking for?
"I'm going out," he told the Princes. "If Fugates's ladybug turns to a coin, open the escape route. Don't return until Kaztro's turns too. If it takes over an hour, go straight to Area 12."
"Got it. Be careful," said Kaztro.
It sounded a bit off. Joey glanced at him.
"Fine," he muttered, and left the room.
His En remained active, but only covered about ten meters.
Enough to span the adjacent rooms.
Opening the door, he spotted another blood drop crawling into the next room—along with a man and woman approaching from down the hall.
The man held an IV stand—its bag filled with blood.
His hair was wild, dark circles under his eyes, and he looked pale.
The woman, in wide-legged pants, was strikingly attractive—and her eyes locked on Joey.
Joey recognized them instantly—members of the Xi-Yu family. Hinrigh's subordinates.
They were probably investigating Hisoka.
That confirmed something—news of the fight above hadn't reached them yet.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be poking around.
Hisoka's last known location was on Deck 1.
The upper two decks were sealed off from the lower three. If Hisoka was here, it meant he had a Spatial-type ally.
Even if they found him—they'd get nothing.
Joey didn't hide his aura. In fact, he expanded his En to envelope them.
They were likely here because the blood drop flagged him as a Nen user.
So there was no point pretending otherwise.
They were about twenty meters apart—well within range.
Even without hostility, Joey's En made them stop.
But he didn't approach. He leaned against the doorway, pulled a lollipop from his pocket, popped it in, then shrank his En to a few meters.
The gesture was clear: stay out of my business, I'll stay out of yours.
The two relaxed. As they passed, they noted Joey's room number and gave him a small nod.
No words exchanged.
Watching them go, Joey frowned.
He'd made no attempt to hide his identity. Once reported, they'd find out who he was. That would blow his decoy in Area 12.
What would the Third Prince and Xi-Yu family decide then?
Killing them now would be pointless.
He remembered the woman's ability.
It might be a tool for gathering intel.
Losing someone like her in a hallway? A waste.