I Got Killer Queen in Hunter x Hunter ?!

Kent chose to back down.

Not out of fear of the Phantom Troupe, but because he was currently lacking key personnel.

Even if his group looked large and well-armed, he knew numbers and firepower meant little against elite Nen users like the Troupe—what truly mattered was ability.

Besides, establishing communication and gathering intel from the Troupe would benefit him.

His only concern was whether his subordinates would feel dissatisfied or think less of him.

After all, the Troupe's arrogance was obvious to anyone.

Kent even worried that his retreat would make the Troupe seem even more powerful and dominant among the mafia.

But the current situation left him no room to initiate open conflict.

The Troupe had been largely ignorant of what was happening in the upper decks of the Black Whale.

Only after speaking with Kent did they learn that Hisoka had hidden himself on Tier 1, and Joey—under the alias Dio—was also on Tier 1.

"You're saying they've got a space ability that lets them move freely between decks?" Phinks asked, troubled.

Kent's cooperation temporarily cooled his anger.

If Joey and Hisoka could move freely across the ship, their chances of tracking them down were slim to none.

Phinks suddenly recalled Luini from the Heil-Ly family—the mafia member who had appeared before.

His space ability suddenly became crucial.

To find Hisoka, they'd have to track down that little worm first.

Out of courtesy for Kent's honest answers, Phinks didn't hide the info—

He told him about the break-in at the Xi-yah family warehouse, which was Luini's doing.

Although Luini's status had risen, Phinks was confident they'd find him first.

Still… Luini might also be connected to Joey.

And if Joey was linked to the Heil-Ly family, and had also helped the Shu-U family move members up to higher decks, then...

Was the Xi-yah family really the only group not in contact with Joey?

That seemed unlikely.

Every mafia family on the Black Whale had backing from a top-ranking prince.

The Shu-U family used Joey to smuggle people upward—why wouldn't the Xi-yah family want in?

How truthful was Kent being?

Did he really come here just to investigate the deaths of his men?

Phinks exchanged a glance with Feitan.

The three of them decided to leave.

If they stayed longer, there was a real risk the Royal Military would show up and seal the exit.

Kent didn't stop them.

He just silently watched them walk out of the warehouse like they owned the place.

Sure enough, not even fifteen minutes after the Troupe left, reinforcements from the Royal Military and the Hunter Association arrived at the hidden warehouse on Tier 5.

The one sent by the Association was Mizaistom.

But he didn't even get inside.

The entrance was blocked—by both mafia members exiting from within and Royal Military forces arriving from behind.

Clearly, the military intended to handle this incident themselves.

Still, from where he stood, Mizaistom could hear occasional explosions from deep within the warehouse.

"This area falls under Royal Military jurisdiction," said the commanding officer.

"There's been an incident, but we can resolve it ourselves."

He showed no intention of compromise, brushing past Mizaistom's guards and Association agents, sealing off the entrance entirely.

He didn't even flinch at the sounds of explosions—

Just swept his eyes across Kent and the others with mild suspicion.

Mizaistom was irritated, but had no real grounds to object.

They were militia—allowed to police minor disputes or murders on the civilian levels.

But once Royal Military affairs were involved, stepping out of line would only invite blowback.

And Kakin's army was no joke.

Soon to become a member of V6, its national army wielded powers far beyond those of smaller nations.

More importantly, Mizaistom could feel it—

Many of the military agents here were Nen users.

If a clash broke out, who knew what would happen?

So he backed off.

"I won't enter," Mizaistom said, "but I need a report on what occurred here. I received word that members of the Phantom Troupe were involved—and that there were heavy casualties."

At the time, he hadn't known the "casualties" referred to Royal Military forces.

If he had, he might not have come at all.

When the military got involved, they had plenty of ways to deflect or obscure the truth.

And just as he expected, the commanding officer was stone-faced:

"Sorry. Everything here is classified. If you want answers, submit a request through proper channels. You'll receive a formal report."

"No room for negotiation?"

The officer didn't even reply—just stared silently.

Mizaistom had no choice but to leave.

He didn't care that much about the Troupe anyway.

If the military wanted to fight them alone—let them go dog-eat-dog.

But before he'd gotten far, Kent called out from behind.

"Excuse me, I'm Kent."

"Hello. What can I do for you?"

Mizaistom knew who Kent was.

And he wasn't fond of the mafia.

According to intel, the Xi-yah family had been clashing with the Phantom Troupe—

But that clearly wasn't happening now.

So that information was outdated.

The Kakin mafia weren't as capable as he'd thought…

Though their patience and restraint might make them true masters.

Mizaistom had never seen a mafia group act so meekly.

The Phantom Troupe had massacred Xi-yah members in Tier 5's central cafeteria.

And now? Peaceful coexistence?

Even a ninja would bow before Kent's restraint.

"I'd like to ask—does the Association have a Hunter named Joey?" Kent asked with polite interest.

It was a test.

From the Troupe, Kent had learned Joey had participated in the Chimera Ant war in Mitene Federation.

He'd also met several Association members and had ties to the late Chairman Netero.

That made Kent suspect Joey's true standing.

This question was to test if the Association supported Joey—or if they even knew he was on the ship.

Mizaistom didn't flinch.

"Sorry. We can't share information about Association members. And I don't know many of them personally."

"My apologies," Kent smiled.

That ended their conversation.

Both men walked off in different directions—wearing very different expressions.

Mizaistom pulled out his phone and typed a message to Joey.

A warning, and a few things he didn't understand.

Kent's question had revealed one thing:

Joey had definitely been to this warehouse.

Kent, on the other hand, glanced toward the man behind him.

"He's lying," the man said confidently.

Kent nodded, calculating.

He trusted that subordinate completely—his Nen ability allowed him to detect lies.

And if Mizaistom was lying, then there was a high chance he knew Joey personally.

Possibly even collaborating with him on the ship.

Which meant Joey might have Association backing.

And Mizaistom, as one of the Zodiacs, held real authority.

In that case—siding with Joey might be the smarter move.

Of course, it was still possible that Mizaistom just didn't want to answer.

But Kent gave that maybe a 20% chance.

The other 80%?

Enough to justify a change of strategy.

Use wolves to drive off tigers.

Light reflected off Kent's glasses—gleaming with calculation.

Nobunaga's death was clearly a joint effort by Joey and Hisoka.

Which meant while the Troupe hunted Hisoka, Hisoka was hunting them in return.

To Kent, none of them were "good guys."

Best to eliminate them all as soon as possible.

And since they were enemies to each other anyway, he'd just help them meet.

Then let the fireworks fly.

"Send someone to the Shu-U family. I want Dio—no, Joey's—exact location on Tier 3."

He had decided.

The Xi-yah family wouldn't take this lying down.

The Phantom Troupe. Joey.

They would both pay.

What Kent didn't realize was—his own subordinates were beginning to show signs of resentment and envy.

Resentment at their leaders' passivity.

Envy for the Troupe's brazen freedom.

Joey hadn't forgotten about retrieving his severed arm or the battle vehicle he'd left behind.

But after helping Hisoka, there hadn't been time to clean up the battlefield.

His departure point had been far from where the fight began.

Looping back would've taken too long—especially with Royal reinforcements likely inbound.

So he let it go.

There were plenty of corpses in that warehouse—including Royal soldiers.

When they were cleaned up, someone would take care of his arm.

Besides, it was just a heat-seeking battle vehicle—still detonating from residual energy.

More concerning was the other battle vehicle Joey had deployed—still trapped in an unknown location.

But his left arm still felt fine.

Which meant only one thing:

The enemy had found a way to neutralize the battle vehicle's feedback.

Joey had two options:

Sever his arm to monitor the situation.

Destroy the arm entirely—cut off all feedback.

Leaving it as-is was too risky.

And severing a limb? He'd done it before.

Kacho and Fugetsu had already been returned safely.

Since Joey still needed to go to Tier 1, he left their protection to Piyon and Kuruk.

They didn't object—seemed they had accepted his decisions.

When Mizaistom's message arrived, Joey was preparing to resume exploration on Tier 3.

He still had over 20 hours left.

He wasn't going to waste it.

If he found what he needed down here, he might not even need the Third Prince's deal anymore.

He didn't respond with much—just told Mizaistom to contact Piyon.

All the intel had already been shared with him.

And he handed Piyon the captured middle-aged man—who knew more than Joey did.

Unlike the chaos below, Tier 1 was relatively peaceful these past two days—

Aside from District 9, which still rumbled with the occasional explosion.

The second royal banquet no longer featured princes or their private troops performing.

Now it was handled by professional entertainment troupes, so all sectors remained calm.

Kurapika's training sessions were nearing their end.

But with more Nen users in the room, everyone's alertness visibly dropped.

Joey's clone noticed this.

He redirected more effort into protecting the Twelfth Prince.

But the curse on her had started to bare its fangs.

She grew increasingly exhausted—confused even without doing anything.

Joey had already discussed it with Piyon.

But removing the curse wasn't simple.

The key issue—how to get an exorcist into District 12.

If that failed, Joey planned to disguise his clone as the Twelfth Prince, smuggle her to a lower tier, purge the curse, then switch back.

Their deadline was tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, another issue:

Berrilent hadn't acted out as planned.

So to expose what was happening in District 10, they now had to rely on the Sixth Queen.

At 3 p.m., the Sixth Queen returned to District 11 with Melody and her team.

Joey reached out to Melody, asking her to guide the queen toward District 10—

Where she'd discover the corpses of the Second Prince's private soldiers.

That would finally bring the Second Prince's crimes into the spotlight.

But before any of that could happen…

The Second Prince's private soldiers arrived at District 11 first.

(End of Chapter)