Phinks's pupils contracted sharply—the young man's display had caught him off guard. This kind of formidable concealment, which even he had failed to notice, was enough to show what level he had reached. And it wasn't just Phinks. Several other members of the Phantom Troupe also showed an involuntary trace of wariness in their eyes the moment they saw the youth.
"Next, I'll need some of you to disguise yourselves as staff members of the auction and infiltrate the venue," Chrollo continoued calmly.
"One group will be responsible for launching an attack inside, creating chaos throughout the site. Meanwhile, another group will use that opportunity to move to where the auction items are stored and take everything."
Feitan raised his hand. "Let me handle the disguise part. That sounds fun."
"Count me in too," added Franklin, glancing at Feitan.
Shalnark nodded. "That works."
"Additionally," he continued, "we'll need a few people to pose as regular auction guests and cover the exits, clearing out the fleeing crowd."
He looked toward Machi, Uvogin, and Nobunaga. "This task is yours—can you handle it?"
"No problem," Machi nodded in response.
"Next is the transfer of the auction items." Shalnark's gaze shifted to the youth, the new Number 8 of the Troupe. "Hooker, I'm leaving that to you—is that alright?"
"No problem," Hooker replied.
Shalnark looked around the room. "That's the core of our plan. Those not assigned a role will act freely according to the situation." The unassigned members included Hisoka, Kalluto, and Bonolenov. If a switch was needed, Kalluto would act. If not, Hooker alone was enough. Hooker's ability also belonged to the spatial category.
Chrollo rose to his feet. "This is our first full-member operation in years. I expect nothing to go wrong." He looked around. "Everyone clear?"
Uvogin grinned. "Of course. Now this is what I call an operation—I'm fired up already."
Feitan's eyes gleamed with eagerness. "I hope time passes faster. I can't wait."
Hisoka stared at Chrollo, his eyes narrowing slightly. From up close, one could even see Hisoka's body trembling slightly—not from fear, but from excitement. But it wasn't excitement about the Yorknew auction, nor about this mission. It was about Chrollo himself.
"I'm getting excited."
"As I thought, Chrollo still has that pull for me. After my match with Ron, my interest in him faded a little."
"But now, seeing this man in person again, the thrill is overwhelming."
Chrollo nodded. "Then let's adjourn for now. There's still time before the auction starts. You're free to move around until then."
With that, the group began to disperse—only to gather again in another location not long afterward. Everyone returned, except for two: Hisoka, and Hooker. The reason was simple: neither of them came from Meteor City.
Hisoka was from the outside. No one in the Troupe knew exactly where he came from—they only knew that he was strong. No—more accurately, very strong. Among the Troupe, his strength ranked near the top.
As for Hooker, he too came from the outside world. The Troupe actually knew where he came from. He was a survivor who had escaped from the biological research laboratories run by the Underworld Mafia. The unique features on his body were the result of human experimentation. Though these modifications left him less than human in appearance, they had given him considerable innate talent.
Aurean Experimental Base No. 2—the very place where Ron had once been. After assimilating Aurean traits, Ron had killed Dandins at the base and released all the experimental subjects. Most of them died, but a few survived. Some fled Aurean and entered the outside world. Some remained hidden underground in Aurean. Others took on new identities. A few, like Elita, were recruited by the Underworld Mafia and became high-ranking officers. Hooker was one of the first kind.
These survivors were further categorized into various types. Some were failures, severely flawed, and wouldn't live long. Others were considered successes. And among the successes, there were even more distinctions. Some had exceptional talent and could progress far along the path of Nen. Elita had become a B-rank Nen user. Hooker was also B-rank.
Some survivors even had the potential to reach A-rank.
But this kind of talent came from two sources: one was the success of the experiment, and the other was the experimental subject's original human potential. Between the two, the latter might matter even more. When one sees a former test subject become an A-rank Nen user, it may not be the experiment that deserves credit—but rather the fact that had this person encountered Nen on their own, they might have reached that level regardless.
Experimental Base No. 2 had gathered many individuals with strong innate gifts to serve as test subjects. Those with poor potential weren't even considered worth using by Dandins.
The clearest example was a character from the Chimera Ant arc: Gyro, the underground king of NGL. After reincarnating as a Chimera Ant, he instantly recovered his human memories and broke free from the Queen's genetic control, leaving the colony on his own. The Queen had only given Gyro the body of a regular soldier ant—not even a division commander.
What did that imply? It meant that even without being reborn as a Chimera Ant, had Gyro encountered Nen as a human, he would have become an extremely powerful Nen user. His willpower and mental strength surpassed that of many established Nen users—stronger than Pokkle, for example. Even Kite's post-reincarnation presence didn't quite match Gyro's in that respect.