Luini being easy to deal with was within Joey's expectations.
After all, the guy was a half-baked Nen user—his ability had its quirks, but his grasp and application of Nen were shallow at best.
Even his dagger thrusts screamed amateur.
The swallow hadn't even left Joey's En, so maintaining control was simple.
Dodging Luini's stab was child's play.
Taking him out here saved Joey the trouble of hunting down Mizai Storm to investigate the murder cases and deduce Luini's marking locations—
Which was a convoluted mess anyway, wrapped up with other members of the Heil-Ly family.
Hidden inside Mirage, Joey sensed through En that the two auras who'd arrived had met up with Phinks.
No conflict broke out, but all of Joey's cockroaches nearby were swiftly eliminated.
Thankfully, none of those had eavesdropping functions left, so the overall loss was acceptable.
Judging by their reaction—and especially from their height via En—Joey was certain the two arrivals were Feitan and Franklin.
Their appearance likely stemmed from the chain reaction caused by Hisoka's recent movements.
In the manga, Feitan should've been paired with Nobunaga, while Franklin waited alone in the Level 5 dining hall for Hisoka to come to him.
If they were here, it suggested one thing—
Hisoka wasn't far.
Joey's severed left arm was gradually regenerating.
He floated midair in the corridor, carried by the wind, as Royal Guards streamed out from the warehouse below.
The brief clash with the Troupe had given him a better grasp of his own strength.
Weather Report was powerful for support, but it lacked that one-punch finisher.
His real execution tool was still Killer Queen.
Golden Experience's constructs felt too fragile in direct combat.
They couldn't be reinforced with Nen, so even a casual Nen-imbued rock could obliterate them instantly—rendering the First Bomb they carried useless.
Joey never considered remote detonation either—
The blast alone wouldn't harm a prepared Nen user.
He hadn't even shown the full scope of Weather Report.
This battle had been a probe. If he could win easily, great. If not, concealment was key—
The more intel he kept to himself, the more chances he'd have later.
Go all in too early and fail? That'd be a devastating loss.
Even one leak about his ability could lead to tailored counters.
Besides his own assessment, Joey now had a decent read on the Troupe's strength.
Take Nobunaga for example—Joey could pressure him.
It wasn't just a matter of aura.
Their abilities clashed directly, and if there was any area Nobunaga outclassed him, it was experience.
The man had faced death countless times—
Even with a scalpel at his neck, he'd calmly chosen the best counter and forced Joey back.
If they crossed paths again, Joey wouldn't use the scalpel.
Killer Queen's First Bomb was far more efficient.
If he could suppress Nobunaga, then his power ranked fairly high among the Troupe.
Still, Joey had seen the Chrollo vs. Hisoka battle. Compared to them, Nobunaga lagged.
So his aura wasn't bad—but winning or losing would come down to performance in the moment.
Hisoka still radiated danger—
That visceral, instinctive threat Joey hadn't felt from Nobunaga.
If Nobunaga fought Hisoka solo, he'd probably lose.
Especially since his ability was obvious.
He wasn't a pure Enhancer like Uvogin, Phinks, or even Gon.
Instead, he enhanced his katana.
That made his offense deadly—
But his defense was weaker than a brute-force type like Uvogin.
That was likely why Joey's scalpel, even without Shu, could slice through Nobunaga's aura-hardened skin.
Against Hisoka's elastic Bungee Gum, Joey didn't like Nobunaga's odds.
Of course, at their level, these fights could go either way.
If Nobunaga popped off, he might pull an upset.
Joey hit the warehouse entrance.
He could sense En covering the area—a Royal Guard Nen user stationed at the gate.
Their En radius was tiny, completely enveloped inside Joey's own 50-meter range.
And inside the warehouse, Joey sensed no major presences.
Aura-wise, he detected only three Nen users.
There might be more in hiding, but he couldn't confirm that yet.
One stood at the entrance, and two more were heading that way—likely alerted by the earlier scuffle.
This level of defense was laughable.
If Kent's info was right, these were just Royal Guards posted to protect the armory.
Then fair enough.
But if Morena was right—and this place held something secret—then it was total bullshit.
There had to be something hidden.
Like a storm crashing through, Joey didn't even try to hide—
He simply barged into the warehouse.
The measly 4-5 meter En was ignored as he walked through.
The Nen user at the door looked like he was facing the end of the world.
When Joey didn't stop and just entered, he actually looked relieved—but his face turned grim.
Then, before he could react further—
Nobunaga arrived, slicing his way through the soldiers and rushing into the warehouse.
"How many exits here?"
His voice oozed killing intent. His eyes locked on the aura user.
The man flinched.
His brain couldn't keep up, but his mouth and body moved:
"Two."
"Hmph."
Nobunaga scoffed, ignored him, and rushed deeper into the warehouse.
With backup coming—Phinks and the rest—he only needed to guard the second exit.
Then Joey would be trapped.
Joey sensed Nobunaga's entrance through his En.
He picked up speed—but also retracted his aura.
By the time he stopped moving, his En was gone.
He looked like any ordinary man.
The Troupe had been lured right into the Royal Guard's defense perimeter.
Nobunaga's massacre would surely infuriate the military.
At this point, Joey was just a bystander in their eyes.
He hadn't killed anyone.
He hadn't even shown himself.
From their view, Nobunaga and Phinks had fought in the corridor and dragged the violence here.
In this warehouse zone, there was still one area no cockroach could sneak into—
His last point of investigation.
If there was nothing unusual there, then this wasn't the "coffin zone" he was searching for.
But it was too suspicious.
Even cockroaches couldn't enter.
Yet no aura users showed up on his En.
Sketchy.
If that was the coffin zone, he might encounter Prince Nasubi Hui Guo Rou.
Based on Joey's probing, Nasubi's ability could be dangerous even to him.
Hence, dragging the Troupe in as sacrificial pawns.
So far, the plan was working.
Now all he had to do was lure them into that final zone.
Not hard to do—Phinks had already noticed his bugs.
Those would make the perfect bait.
He just had to "accidentally" let Nobunaga catch a whiff of one.
There was no way Nobunaga wouldn't bite.
And if he was wrong—if this wasn't the coffin zone?
So what?
At worst, it was still a Royal Guard base.
Even if they wanted revenge, the higher-ups would blame the Troupe, not him.
All Joey had to do was head back to the upper decks and finalize his deal with the Third Prince.
The chaos the Troupe caused here? Mizai Storm and the Royal Guard could worry about that.
In fact, Mizai might want the Kakin mafia to unite against the Troupe.
Better that than a full-blown mafia war.
Fighting the Troupe meant targeting a few dangerous individuals.
But a full-scale mafia war?
That would sweep up everyone—guards, workers, civilians, businesses, families…
The collateral would be massive.
Mizai knew that.
If things escalated beyond control, the Black Whale might never reach the Dark Continent.
Disguised as a normal soldier, Joey ambushed a Royal Guard soldier rushing toward the warehouse door.
He knocked the man out and donned his uniform, blending in seamlessly.
Two to three hundred meters deeper in—near the unknown zone—Joey pressed forward.
But then—
"Stop. That's a restricted area. Who's your commanding officer?"
A voice snapped out.
A bullet followed, whistling straight for his position.
Whoever it was had already judged he wasn't one of them.
Couldn't identify him, so they chose the most efficient answer: shoot first.
Joey hadn't sensed any En—but the shot had clearly been aimed with precision.
The enemy had some special detection method.
The bullet was imbued with aura, but still couldn't punch through Joey's dense atmospheric barriers.
By the time it reached him, all its kinetic force had drained.
It hovered, slowed, three meters from his face—
Nen still clinging to it, refusing to fall.
Joey flicked a coin.
In midair, it became a bird—and swallowed the bullet whole.
His expression tightened.
He'd been cautious—and still ran into resistance earlier than expected.
"Restricted area?" Joey muttered.
To him, the whole warehouse was restricted.
But now this—an even more sealed zone?
His eyes locked on the figures ahead.
Three men were rising from the ground.
Only now did Joey feel their auras.
They must've been cloaked by some ability until now.
One didn't look fully human.
More like a humanoid lizard.
A demi-human.
Joey narrowed his eyes.
A lizardman… and part of the Royal Guard?
"You leave now, we won't attack."
The middle-aged man in front spoke.
Leader of the three.
He looked calm, square-faced, almost gentle.
"I want to know what's ahead," Joey said bluntly.
His En couldn't penetrate the locked chamber up ahead—
He had no clue what was inside.
"That's something you're not meant to know," the man replied.
Joey smiled.
"And if I say I want to see it anyway?"
"You're welcome to try," came the curt reply.
Tough.
Powerful.
But still not enough to intimidate the Royal Guard.
Joey liked that answer.
"Then I'll try."
But instead of advancing—he stepped back.
Because Joey knew—he wouldn't be the one testing them.
Nobunaga would be here soon.
The three figures saw Joey retreat, and their expressions darkened.
Especially the lizard-like one, who looked at the middle-aged man like he wanted to say something—but held it in.
(End of Chapter)