Chapter 118
Greed's words made Ron recall a scene from the original storyline.
It was after Uvogin's death.
Gon and Killua had received a bounty and pursued Chrollo and the others.
However, they were captured instead.
But Gon's personality was recognized by Nobunaga.
Thus, Nobunaga wanted to recruit Gon into the Phantom Troupe.
Nen users tend to act impulsively; more precisely, those who are strong can afford to be very reckless. They have little to worry about, not needing to be cautious or restrained.
If one can act on their own personality, why hold back?
Why should one suppress themselves?
"Thank you, Greed-senpai."
Greed shook his head.
"No need to thank me. I'm doing this simply because I want to, not to help you."
"Now, let me briefly introduce the situation here."
"This city is called Aorion, and it is one of the core cities of the Underworld Mafia."
"The group I belong to is called the Seven Deadly Sins."
"The leader of the Underworld Mafia is known as the Ten Dons."
"Under the Ten Dons, there is an elite team directly controlled by them, called the Shadow Beasts."
"The Shadow Beasts are incredibly strong."
"And the Seven Deadly Sins is one of the top Nen user teams, second only to the Shadow Beasts."
"In the Underworld Mafia, our team have another name."
"They are known as the Shadow Beasts' reserve members."
"Whenever the Shadow Beasts suffer casualties, members are drawn from teams like ours to fill the ranks."
"My dream is to become one of the Shadow Beasts."
"Once I become a member, status and wealth will no longer be an issue."
"It's even rarer than being a Floor Master at Heaven's Arena."
Greed likely said this to paint a picture for Ron, to inspire his desire.
However, Ron's understanding of the Shadow Beasts was mainly based on their performance in the original storyline.
Four of the members attacked Uvogin but were killed by him.
The remaining six, when facing ordinary members of the Phantom Troupe, failed to achieve much.
Even their leader never made any meaningful counterattacks.
"Greed-senpai, what should I do?"
"Focus on training for now. After some time, I'll recommend you to the reserve team."
Ron nodded.
"Thank you, Greed-senpai."
After a pause, he asked another question.
"Greed-senpai, do you know what position Kyler-senpai holds in the Underworld Mafia?"
"Kyler?"
Greed frowned.
"Kyler is just a small-time player. I don't know much about him. If you want to find out, you'll need to go to Kyler's teacher."
"That person is quite strange and very suspicious. Normally, you should avoid them."
"Unless you have a very good reason."
"For that little girl, I don't recommend you to take that risk."
"Even if you do want to, wait until you pass the reserve team's assessment."
Ron stayed at Greed's mansion.
-----
Three days later.
Ron visited another base.
The base looked like a wreckage, and it was, in fact, for the most part, a ruin.
Dozens of people were sent there.
"Your task is to survive here."
"For one month."
"After one month, I will open the gate."
"Those who survive will have passed the assessment."
With that, the gate slammed shut.
The surroundings grew dark.
Ron felt the presence of someone observing the situation from the shadows. It was clear that the people outside weren't completely ignoring the assessment.
Ron wasn't worried about his survival.
His strength far surpassed the other participants in the assessment.
Even if he were to hide his strength, he wouldn't be in any danger.
"I wonder how much progress the observers will make over the next month."
Outside.
Chii and Hanma Baki had already entered Aorion city.
They remained hidden in the shadows, avoiding drawing attention.
This truly was one of the core cities of the Underworld Mafia.
However, this city had a large population.
And most of the members of the Underworld Mafia were not Nen users.
Nen users were a very small minority.
It could be said that as long as Chii and Baki didn't act conspicuously, they wouldn't be noticed.
At this moment, Chii was gathering information about Aorion City.
Primarily, the role this city played in the Underworld Mafia.
What major forces were active here?
Which Nen users were particularly strong.
This is the advantage of an automatic-type Nen Beast; Ron only needed to give them broad instructions, and they would automatically carry out the task in that direction.
There was no need for Ron to issue commands at every moment.
However, this was something Ron could do as well if he wished so.
The degree of automation and range of control that Ron's Nen Beast possessed was extremely rare.
As far as Ron knew, he was the only one capable of this.
As for whether others could do the same, Ron couldn't be sure.
Ron understood this world, but not in its entirety. The original storyline wasn't a completed product, and the information mentioned in it was inevitably incomplete—just like the details of Meteor City.
The matter of the disaster.
And the Seven Deadly Sins within the Underworld Mafia.
Even the Phantom Beasts were barely fleshed out in the original storyline and were treated as minor characters.
Let alone the Seven Deadly Sins, who were even less significant than the Phantom Beasts.
---
A conference room.
There were three people in total.
Pride, Lust, and Greed.
On the screen in front of them was one of the Ten Dons.
The three of them were all very respectful.
Lust gritted her teeth.
"Lord, are we really not going to investigate this any further? We've lost four members—Gluttony, Sloth, Envy, and Rage—are all dead."
This wasn't because Lust was particularly fond of her companions.
It was just that Rage and Envy had some connection with Lust.
The Don looked at Lust.
"This matter happened because the Ding William family overstepped their bounds."
"Gluttony and Sloth didn't investigate properly during their mission."
"The Heaven's Arena higher-ups have intervened. It's not worth going against them over the lives of a few people."
And there was something the Don didn't say.
Could the Underworld Mafia really go toe-to-toe with the higher-ups of Heaven's Arena?
Heaven's Arena gathered elites from around the world.
In terms of Nen users, Heaven's Arena was far stronger than the Underworld Mafia.
Additionally, Heaven's Arena had brought with it so many dojos.
This was a massive force.
If the Underworld Mafia and Heaven's Arena clashed head-on, the Underworld Mafia might have an advantage when it came to ordinary people, but in terms of Nen users, Heaven's Arena would dominate.
Was it worth it for the lives of a few dogs? (T/n dogs?... really)
Of course not.
The Underworld Mafia, when all is said and done, was still made up of businesspeople.
"Let's not discuss this any further."
"Quickly replace the casualties in the Seven Deadly Sins."
"By the way."
"There's something I need to tell you about the Shadow Beasts."
The three of them immediately focused on him.
The Don said, "The Shadow Beasts used to have ten members. Now, they've decided to expand to twelve, so there will be two vacancies. You can all compete for them."
As soon as the Don finished speaking, Pride, Lust, and Greed's eyes all lit up.
As members of the Seven Deadly Sins, there was no one who didn't want to join the Shadow Beasts.
In the Underworld Mafia, the Shadow Beasts were the highest echelon of Nen users.
---
"Ten days have passed."
Ron looked at the crystal ball in front of him. The progress displayed on it had already reached ten per cent.
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