A few days later, inside a hotel
All nine members of the Shadow Beasts gathered at a private venue.
This time they had shown up as examiners, charged with selecting—from a large pool of underground Nen users—someone who could take Leech's place and join the Ten Dons' elite guard.
The hall was packed, everyone uniformly dressed in black suits.
Mafia stewards on site were coordinating the event and handling logistics.
The true purpose of this grand "selection exam" was unknown to the outside world; the proceedings were closed, and even the surrounding Mafia did not know who the examiners really were—only that they belonged to the upper echelon of the underworld.
All that had been announced publicly was that anyone who passed the test might earn the Ten Dons' favor—nothing more.
On the surface, none of it seemed related to the Shadow Beasts.
Instead of appearing before the crowd, the nine stood in a dim corridor on the second‑floor balcony, looking down at the scene below.
Their eyes swept over the lines of Nen users, observing every move and gauging each person's strength.
Xiang Nan puffed on a cigarette, a faint smile on his face.
He immediately spotted a "familiar face" in the crowd: Phinks of the Phantom Troupe.
Although he had tangled with the Spiders before, there were still Troupe members he had never met—Phinks was one of them.
"So Chrollo really did send someone after all…"
With close‑cropped blond hair slicked straight back, Phinks stood out even among a group of underground Nen users.
His cold, arrogant gaze carried a hint of defiance. Because his eyebrows were so light they were nearly invisible, his face looked especially fierce; even the Mafia handlers on site felt an instinctive dread and dared not raise their voices at him.
"That guy caught your eye too?"
Sensing Xiang Nan's stare, Owl wandered over and joked. He, too, was watching Phinks—his presence was simply too striking among hundreds of underground Nen users. The aura he projected seemed powerful, though his true combat ability remained to be seen.
"He isn't restricting the flow of his aura at all; clearly he's still hiding his real power. What we're seeing is just the ordinary circulation of Nen. Even so, judging by the quantity and control of his aura, he already ranks in the top three here," Xiang Nan remarked.
"Not bad at all," Owl agreed. "These Nen users were all recommended by Mafia families worldwide—background checks clear. But the environments they come from differ: some large clans, some small, so their strength isn't uniform and the floor is pretty low. Dıscover more novels at 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩
Still, I'm surprised we managed to attract this many—there are even a few who look quite formidable."
Changing the subject, Xiang Nan asked, "I heard the Ten Dons have contacted the Zoldycks?"
"Do they have no faith in us Shadow Beasts?" Xiang Nan asked between drags.
"I doubt that. Our role is special, and the Spiders aren't easy prey. They're nothing like ordinary rebels in the underworld. If we fought them head‑on, I'd say a few of us would die. The Ten Dons don't want that. If the Zoldyck family can eliminate the Troupe, we stay intact—better for everyone."
Xiang Nan shot him a look.
"Don't give me that," Owl muttered. "Those Spiders have run rampant for years, leaving a trail of blood even the Ten Dons can't stop. I've never underestimated them. From the start I knew killing them wouldn't be easy…"
His words were a veiled jab at Rabid Dog and the others for their arrogance; Owl, clearly, was one of the level‑headed Shadow Beasts.
"A pity, though… Of the hundred‑plus Nen users vying for a single Shadow Beast slot, only one will survive," Xiang Nan sighed, glancing down at the hall.
The Ten Dons had mobilized the entire underworld on short notice to round up Nen users. These people came for a chance at escape: if favored by the Dons, they—and the Mafia families behind them—would rise.
Everyone had signed liability waivers; the trial was brutally simple, very much in the underworld style.
Each family had recommended only its single strongest Nen user. Even if all contestants died, the Dons lost nothing—and the Mafia order as a whole would scarcely notice.
"If they die, they die," Owl said calmly. "They came knowing their mission. Succeed, and they soar—dragging their families upward too. Fail, and it's nobody's fault but their own."
Mafia staff distributed lots; the Nen users were paired off for one‑on‑one duels—the first elimination round, two fighters per match, one after another.
The sealed hall served as their killing floor.
From the balcony, Xiang Nan and the others watched. Most contestants were still green; their bouts looked like children playing war to the Shadow Beasts. A few showed promise—decent enough—but Phinks' performance was dazzling.
The whistle sounded. Before his opponent even reacted, Phinks had twisted the man's neck: an instant kill.
Such power intrigued the Shadow Beasts and sent a chill through the remaining fighters.
The "game" decreed by the Ten Dons was simple: big fish eat little fish. Once you joined, there was no exit; the weak became corpses beneath the strong. The dead were dragged away by Mafia staff…
As time passed, numbers dwindled fast. After several rounds only a bit more than twenty remained from the original hundred‑plus.
Owl summoned the floor manager.
"Time's about up. Have them fight a free‑for‑all—let's see who's left standing."
The manager went down and announced the new rules.
Moments later, the first‑floor hall turned into a brutal slaughterhouse.