Finding myself in the lobby of the Southernpiece Auction House, I jostled through the outraged crowd of mobsters. Or, at least what I presumed were mobsters, them all wearing suits, and the numerous scowls, scars, and tattoos that riddled their bodies led me to that conclusion. Listening in, they were all demanding they receive their guns back from auction staff after the attack from what could only be the phantom troupe.
'So that means Kurapika has already captured Uvogin last night right? And those crime family elite nen user guys are all dead…' quickly pulling up my phone, I checked up on the online statement to try to compare my recounting to what happened last night. Of course, as I looked at the website it was all in company speak, never admitting things were as bad as they were. Though I can piece together what happened and I can always speak to my newer connections in the underworld to figure out what happened in detail.
"Ah hello miss, While I am here I would like to pick up a copy of the auction catalog" moving over to my last reason for showing up here this morning, I quickly bought a medium-sized leather-bound book. To be honest, the thing was much too eye-catching for what was essentially a collection of pictures and price tags but that was what the people they were marketing to wanted.
"Man the price gauging…" lightly holding the expensive book, I quickly put it away inside of my inner coat pocket as I then move back to the street. I decided to call a cab back to the hotel room I rented a few days back to get my laptop. From there I wanted to thoroughly screen through any information I could find before moving on to the next step of my goals.
"Sir, that will be 250 Jenny. " quickly paying the cab driver his fee and a tip, I made my way back up to my hotel room. Unlocking my room I made my way to my luggage where I re-equipped myself with a practiced speed, attaching my holster and Gun to my belt and lining the numerous pockets of my coat with various tools and instruments that would otherwise be confiscated for the duration of the week should I have brought them to the auction house.
*tap* *tap* smacking the trackpad a couple of times to turn on my laptop I quickly made my way to the Hunter Forms and scroll through new updates on the Auction. Eventually finding a reputable seller recommended to me by Claire, I wired the funds over to gain access. What I saw really shocked me, Dash cam footage from a few of the Underworlds transport cars and photos of the damage. Though everything available was blurry and unrecognizable for the most part.
'Probably by design, Information brokers try to stay neutral so posting in detail pictures of either the Troupe or the powerhouses of the Underworld getting stomped is not conducive to staying in business.' Clicking through more pictures and reading up a bit more I stop when I reach a picture of the aftermath. The entire area is completely destroyed, far more than what I could recall from the manga. Quickly flicking back to the videos, I take in the speed these battles happened. Everything was on a scale I never thought possible.
'Fuck.' putting two and two together, I realized that the scale of things was much bigger. I may not have realized this in the small and controlled environment of the Hunter Exam, but things are different. While the period between the Exam and Yorknew wasn't specified I felt it was less than three months. Even Gon and Killua's stay at heavens arena was longer here, When they got up to the higher floors it wasn't a walk in the park for them. And now, The Phantom Troupe seemed to be filled with powerhouses.
*click* *click* tabbing out and opening another search query, I began to look into the phantom troupe. Anything from past heists and attacks to files of information on the group.
*sigh* "it's only aftermath images and surface-level knowledge about the group… Damn it!" shutting my laptop I began to pace around the room while panicking. Thinking of all sorts of possibilities based on the premise that everything was scaling up in this world.
'Ah wait! Maybe Kurapika is Stronger, I mean he does capture Uvogin so he should be pretty strong. I just need to think on my feet and use what I know to get through this. After this will be Greed Island which will be downtime to get stronger so I can meet the power scaling in the Chimera Ant Arc…' forcefully calming myself down, I sat at the edge of my bed. Pulling my phone up, I called Gon, recalling that they originally wanted to hunt the Troupe down for cash today.
*ring* *ring* *ring* *beep* "sorry, but the number you called is not available right now. Please call back at a later time, thank you." *beep* *beep* *beep* shoving my phone In my pocket, I immediately redialed to call Leorio who thankfully answered my call.
"Oi Leorio, Where are you? And what are you three doing right now? I need to know." Quickly cutting him off before he could speak, I began to interrogate him over the phone. Hopefully, I wasn't too late when calling, because if those two were after the troupe right now they would be screwed.
"Uh, well the arm wrestling fell through, instead we are looking out for the bounties on the Phantom Troupe! We already got a lead on two members and with Killua's experience he and Gon will be fine so no need to worry!" Clenching my fists at the blatantly carefree announcement of Leorio's I mentally cursed myself for jinxing things. Trying to calm myself down after freaking out for the Nth time today, I bolt out of the hotel in a hurry.
"Ok Leorio, I need you to tell me the last known location they were at and if they had a destination in mind." Running down the stairs as the elevator was taking too long, I began to verbally thrash Leorio for the whereabouts of Gon and Killua.
"Huh? Why are you asking?" still weirded out by the line of questioning, Leorio was wasting my time by trying to figure out what I wanted.
"Just tell me." something I really did not care for at the moment.
"Jeez, they were at a small recreational square on 6th street… what don't tell me you're trying to take the boun-" Hanging up the call with him I immediately grab another taxi with 6th street as my destination.