Phinks's face darkened, tension filling his expression.
He'd approached Gon with two goals in mind: first, to find a decent opponent; second, to test whether Gon might qualify to join the Phantom Troupe.
In that brief exchange, Phinks had already formed his judgment—he acknowledged Gon's potential. And precisely because of that, he didn't want to seriously injure him.
The Troupe was desperate for manpower right now.
Then Uvogin, Kortopi, and Shalnark died.
In such a short time, four slots had opened.
Gon, meanwhile, sensed the danger instantly, his pupils narrowing.
That realization flashed through his mind—yet in the very next instant, Gon didn't dodge.
Instead, he braced himself to clash head-on.
Phinks swore internally.
"You idiot… you're really not going to dodge?!"
"You're charging into death itself!"
But that was just who Gon was.
Back in the original story, when facing Neferpitou—a foe he had absolutely no chance against—Gon still tried to fight. Even after Kite told them both to run, and after Killua had already begun retreating, Gon stopped himself. He gathered his aura and prepared to battle.
Gon had shown that same reckless stubbornness back during the Hunter Exam.
When he got truly fixated, he didn't even care about his own life.
Worse: sometimes he didn't care about the lives of those around him either.
If not for Gon's reckless choices back then, Kite might not have lost an arm so early on.
But perhaps that recklessness was exactly what allowed him to walk so far down the path of a Nen user.
Phinks's fist was about to crash into Gon's body—
Suddenly, a figure flashed between them.
In a blink, that figure arrived between Phinks and Gon.
A fist shot forward, meeting Phinks's punch head-on.
A tremendous impact resounded, gusts of aura sweeping out in all directions.
"Who the hell?!" Phinks snapped, immediately falling back, eyes wary as he sized up the newcomer.
Gon stared, stunned, at the figure before him.
Misty didn't turn back to Gon but instead looked calmly to the side.
Not far away, Shizuku approached Franklin, Blinky in hand. At the same time, Nina stepped out from cover.
Both radiated potent aura.
Franklin was forced to stop firing on Killua.
Nina spoke evenly. "Our mission is to ensure these people's safety. We don't intend to fight you… but if you back off now, we'll act as if none of this ever happened."
Franklin frowned. "You people… are you from the Underworld Mafia?"
"Our captain's worked with you before," Nina replied smoothly.
"So… you're from the Zoldyck family?"
"Then… these two?" Franklin gestured at Killua and Gon.
"Killua's our captain's cousin. Gon is Killua's friend."
Franklin's pupils contracted sharply.
This was something he'd never even considered.
If Killua was Ron's cousin… it was obvious: Killua was a Zoldyck too.
The Troupe had their eyes on Ron before—knowing now that Killua was also from that family?
How could they possibly try to recruit them now?
"I understand," Franklin muttered.
He turned to Phinks. "Phinks, let's go."
Phinks glanced at Gon once more but quickly pulled his gaze away and moved to regroup with Franklin.
The two retreated, heading deeper into the auction hall. Googlᴇ search novel·fiɾe·net
Killua couldn't hide his curiosity as he turned to Nina and the others.
"You guys… you're Cousin Ron's people?"
His gaze lingered on Nina especially.
"Have we met before?"
Nina nodded slightly. "Sky Arena. I watched your matches—and you probably watched mine too."
Killua thought for a second, then realization dawned.
"Right… I remember now. I saw you when I first went to Sky Arena."
"Were you already working for Cousin Ron back then?"
Nina nodded again. "That's right."
Killua's expression shifted. "You know… I think there was a time I was in danger… but it suddenly disappeared. That was you protecting me in secret, wasn't it?"
Nina smiled faintly. "In part."
"In part? What do you mean?"
"You spent two years at Sky Arena, and you were under protection almost that whole time. But most of that wasn't us. We only covered about ten days total."
"Then who was watching the rest of the time? Cousin Ron himself?"
"That… I don't know. We usually don't ask too much about what our captain is doing."
"But we should get out of here. This place isn't safe. Who knows what else might happen—and we're nowhere near as strong as our captain."
She turned and led the way toward the exits.
Leorio quickly followed.
Killua and Gon exchanged glances—then trailed after them.
A small bee landed on Nina's shoulder.
Nina gave it a brief nod, and the bee flew away.
It wasn't an ordinary bee—it belonged to Ponzu.
Before the operation began, Ponzu had deployed her bees to monitor the entire auction site.
The message it carried was simple: none of the Phantom Troupe were pursuing them.
Even so, Nina remained cautious.
"It's unlikely they'll chase us… but you can never be too careful."
Killua kept glancing between Nina, Shizuku, and Misty.
"Didn't expect Cousin Ron's people to be this strong…" he murmured.
He still seemed caught up in the battle just moments ago.
Killua called to him several times before he finally snapped out of it.
"What are you thinking about?"
Gon hesitated, then said quietly, "I was thinking… if that guy's punch had landed on me, how would I have dealt with it? How could I have beaten someone like that?"