Chapter 176 : Fear!!

Sheila couldn't help but gasp quietly.

"You call this 'not knowing much'? If you knew a lot, what would that look like? You know all about the elders of Meteor City, the garbage sorting process, the monthly number of people transported for weapons, and more? You really understand all that?"

Germain looked at her, signaling that he had shared everything he knew, and now it was her turn to continue.

Sheila paused for a moment and then said, "Yes... that's right."

At that moment, she remembered fragments of her past, her eyes dimming. She spent several minutes recounting the events before and after Sarasa's murder.

These details had been mentioned before, so she wouldn't repeat them.

However, everyone knew the key point was in Sheila's next words.

"Sarasa, Pakunoda, and I were best friends when we were kids. We shouldn't have let Sarasa go back alone that day. We've always regretted it."

"We've known for as long as we can remember that many women and children have been kidnapped near Meteor City, but we still let our guard down that day."

"Even though I know that even if I had been there, I couldn't have changed what happened, at least if I had died with Sarasa, it would have made her less afraid and desperate in her final moments..."

As Sheila spoke, she began to tremble.

Shizuku hugged Sheila's shoulders in comfort. She wasn't very good at this and ended up just awkwardly stroking Sheila's hair.

Sheila smiled faintly and whispered, "Thank you."

"How can I put this... Over the years, I have never stopped investigating Sarasa's death. I really hope those villains will face the harshest punishment."

"But my investigation has gone nowhere. At the same time, I know the Phantom Troupe hasn't given up on this either; they're focused on outsiders who came in and out of Meteor City that year."

"As I mentioned before, Meteor City has established cooperation with the mafia and regularly sends people to them."

"However, the Mafia and some groups still secretly enter Meteor City to carry out 'selection.' It's very likely that Sarasa died during this 'selection.'"

"I think the Phantom Troupe believed that if they could find a list of people or groups likely to act independently, they could identify the real culprit."

"At the same time, they created a dark website to upload and share videos of bloody massacres, twisted torture, and other inhumane acts to lure in the real murderer."

"But in this situation, they needed the Mafia' help, and they had to make the website well-known. So, about three or four years ago…"

As Sheila said this, she glanced at Kurapika, her unfinished sentence hanging in the air.

Kurapika sat on the rock in silence. 

His clenched fists revealed his anger, but thanks to Germain's guidance, he learned to control himself better.

Sheila bit her lip but decided to keep talking, even though Kurapika might explode.

"The Phantom Troupe gave the Kurta Clan's Scarlet Eyes as gifts to Mafia and other groups in exchange for information, hoping to boost the website's popularity."

"As a result, they likely didn't receive any clues directly pointing to the real culprit, only some indirect information."

"Because once they find the murderers, they will definitely inform me, even if we have different opinions. I will share the same information with them."

"Back then, I didn't ask them what they were investigating, but I learned about their main focus not long ago…"

"Shizuku, have you ever wondered why I suddenly left Meteor City a few months ago?"

Shizuku blinked her big eyes. "Didn't you say you were afraid the Phantom Troupe would find out about our connection?"

"Well…" Sheila nodded awkwardly. "I really am afraid. I occasionally hear details about the cases they've worked on."

"I feel like I understand them less and less. I'm not even sure if they would do something similar to me. They fell into the same loop as the people who killed Sarasa years ago."

"But the most important thing is that the Phantom Troupe came back to Meteor City, and I ran into Pakunoda unexpectedly."

"I've mentioned before that Sarasa, Pakunoda, and I were very close when we were younger. So when she saw me, she started talking to me and shared some details about their investigation."

"After our conversation, I went back to my place alone and realized I was sweating a lot."

"I know Pakunoda's 'Nen ability.' At that moment, if she touched me and said Germain and Shizuku's names, I would have revealed everything without meaning to."

"When I understood this, I couldn't stay in Meteor City anymore. I didn't know when Pakunoda and the others might come to find me, so I ran away immediately."

Sheila remembered this with a tremor in her voice.

In truth, she knew that even if the connection was discovered, the Phantom Troupe probably wouldn't hurt her.

However, she didn't dare to take a risk. After witnessing the Kurta massacre, she had continuously vomited that day and fled into the woods in panic like a headless chicken.

The scene was not much different from what had happened to Sarasa.

A voice in Sheila's heart asked, *What if? What if they could really be so cruel as to ignore their childhood friendship?* 

Remembering this, she took a long time to calm her rapid breathing, but her face was still somewhat pale.

"Anyway, I learned from Pakunoda who they gave the 'Scarlet Eyes' to. Kurapika... do you... do you want to hear it?"

Kurapika glanced at her and nodded calmly, "Go ahead, tell me."

Sheila was a bit surprised by Kurapika's calmness but still told the truth.

Kurapika listened to the names and identities, comparing them with the list given by Saiyu, and noted the people he didn't know yet.

"Artists, politicians, religious leaders, capitalists, business employees, swindlers, doctors…"

Kurapika murmured to himself, adding many more names to the list in his mind.

This group of people were either secretly middle or high-ranking members of Mafia or high-level members of a specific organization. In short, they all held a certain social status.

Of course, the "Scarlet Eyes" had been in their possession for several years, and it was possible they had circulated, perhaps through the Yorbian Continent's underground auction.

However, it was hard to imagine that people with such a twisted hobby of collecting "human eyeballs" would willingly trade them unless they faced extremely special and difficult circumstances.

Therefore, the "Scarlet Eyes" was most likely still in the hands of most of this group, with only a small portion having gone to others.

Pakunoda was an expert in "reading memories" and would never make mistakes unless she deliberately deceived Sheila.

As long as they found them, they could recover the eyes of Kurta people.

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