Nasubi's Personal Butler explains to Tserriednich that the Succession War would begin once the voyage began, but if any of the participants (the King's legal children) died before, the war would be cancelled. Tserriednich then participates to a Kakin Empire rite, receiving, unbeknownst to him, an "egg" from which his Guardian Spirit Beast will hatch.
In the meanwhile, Kurapika and Mizaistom watch a recording in which the Ox interrogates Beyond on the identity of the spy in the Zodiacs, stating he will let him participate to the sailing ceremony that will take place on the eve of departure, in 34 days. Beyond declares he does not know anything, and does not care about the ceremony; rather, the V5 will most likely pressure the Zodiacs into letting him go. Using his ability, Kurapika confirms he is not lying. They conclude the safest course of action would be to restrain Saiyu shortly before arrival.
Shortly afterwards, they discover some of the princes are hiring bodyguards, which would allow some of the spies to board the Black Whale. Kurapika recruits Biscuit, Basho, Izunavi, Hanzo, and Melody to be hired as bodyguards by each of the 6 Princes of the Kakin Empire and get information regarding Prince Tserriednich. Izunavi points out that something significant must have happened for all 6 Princes to put up job postings simultaneously. Hanzo states that Tserriednich is likely not among them as he is a veteran at this, and he likely has a private army. Basho expands on that, saying that the naive princes are the ones using money as a reward. Melody argues that if that is indeed the case, then it will make things easier. Biscuit counters, saying that the "elimination of threats" sounds suspicious. Kurapika sums up that all he wants is information, no matter the means. The information would have to allow Kurapika to come into physical contact with Tserriednich, since that way he could use more abilities effectively. If they could do that, then they could abort the rest of the mission. Biscuit asks to confirm that Kurapika would still give them the money even if they aborted, since the contract would be in effect once they've applied. Kurapika states that that was obvious, angering Biscuit. He recalls Killua's advice on dealing with Biscuit, and proceeds to reluctantly flatter her in order to ensure her loyalty. Kurapika looks at the 6 profiles, which look virtually identical, and looks at the fine details of each prince (first to post, highest pay, the competitive one, the ones willing to interview, etc.). Kurapika focuses on two profiles: the one that had the highest reward by increasing theirs over the others', and the one who never changed at all. The former is competitive and like to display power; the other has strong self-esteem. The one who matches these profiles is Prince Halkenburg. Kurapika thinks about his past: an honors student who had a poor relationship with his family, save Tserriednich. Kurapika decides that Halkenburg is the best option for getting close to Tserriednich, and chooses the one that he believes to be Halkenburg. He gets a response, which invites him to a hotel owned by the Hui Guo Rou family.
Kurapika meets his employer, who turns out to be Queen Oito, mother of Prince Woble. Kurapika is surprised and disappointed, something that she senses. However, she states that his disappointment is all the more reason that he is the worthy candidate for the job. She reveals that they're looking for someone who came under the pretense that they would be hired by Prince Halkenburg, even with the fewest of indicators. The information put on the site was purposely vague to prevent anyone who might want to hurt the Princes from pinpointing their target. As that applied to Prince Halkenburg, he did not put up a post. She explains Halkenburg's reputation and the various viewpoints surrounding him. As such, many applicants would be assassins or fake followers, which would be convenient for Oito since they have similar aims. Anyone could reach their goal by protecting Oito. Kurapika asks why regular applicants could not be used, and Oito divulges the true nature of the expedition: Succession War. Oito cannot get out because King Nasubi strictly believes that his children should aim to be king, and deserters would be killed. If Halkenburg becomes the king, then he can be blackmailed for participating in this barbaric event. So the job is to get Woble and herself off the voyage ship for 10 times the payment, or keep the conversation confidential and leave for the original fee. Kurapika agrees to do the former, if Oito agrees to certain conditions. Oito agrees to them. Oito reminisces on her life, and how she thought that wealth was everything when marrying the king, only to discover her true value laid in her daughter Woble. She allows Kurapika to hold Woble. Izunavi is hired by Prince Tyson; Biscuit with Prince Marayam, Basho with Prince Luzurus, Melody with Prince Kacho, and Hanzo with Prince Momoze.
At Heaven's Arena, Hisoka challenges Chrollo, who has become a Floor Master to a duel. Chrollo decides to have a fight to the death, to which Hisoka consents. The battle begins with Chrollo using Black Voice, which he apparently stole from Shalnark, to manipulate the judge. Hisoka realizes that Chrollo was using the time he spent fleeing from him to steal more abilities. After having the judge manipulated, Chrollo uses him to pin down Hisoka so he can stab him with his second antennae. Hisoka deflects, but Chrollo uses this opportunity to launch a series of stomps. Amazed by Chrollo's resolve, Hisoka figures out the purpose of controlling the judge is to tire him out and strike while he's still weak. Hisoka attempts to slash the judge, but instead, the judge detonates. Chrollo reveals his ability: The Sun and Moon, which allow him to imprint seals with either plus or minus on a target, and when the opposite seals meet, an explosion takes place. Chrollo also demonstrates his other ability: Double Face, which allows him to use a bookmark on a page to maintain this page's ability. With this, he no longer has to hold the book open to use that ability, though he can use two abilities by having the book open to another page. However, this brought out new limitations to Skill Hunter. Chrollo says that he will show Hisoka three more abilities, thus setting a new record for the most abilities it has taken him to kill someone.
After a small talk, Chrollo explains the rest of his abilities; Order Stamp, which allows him to control any inanimate object provided that its head is still connected to the torso. But since the former owner didn't consider a real corpse to be an inanimate object, Chrollo makes use of Kortopi's ability, Gallery Fake, and make a copy of the judge's corpse. After that he uses Order Stamp to command the copy to kill Hisoka, albeit unsuccessfully. He then reveals his final ability; Convert Hands, which allows him to switch appearances with a person he touches. He reveals that one of his abilities belonged to a now-deceased person. Hisoka realizes that it remained after death because of that person's Nen becoming stronger postmortem. The ability is The Sun and Moon, which belonged to a Meteor City elder that once turned his brethren into bombs in order to purge an outside threat. The seals from the Hatsu cannot be removed. Chrollo declares that he will win, but Hisoka is insistent on continuing the fight. Chrollo jumps into the audience and uses Black Voice to control a large spectator. Chrollo hides behind him and manipulates another. By the time Hisoka deals with the two, Chrollo is gone from his sight. He realizes that Chrollo originally bookmarked Black Voice to control the spectators, activated and changed his appearance with Convert Hands, and then shifted the bookmark to that page so he could retain it and hide.
A panicked audience begins to flee the arena despite being told not to rush the exists all at once by the commentator. Several audience members notice that they have been duplicated, which alerts Hisoka to the fact that Chrollo is using Gallery Fake. Shortly, many of them begin rushing towards Hisoka who realizes that Chrollo is currently using Order Stamp to command the copies to kill him. He uses Bungee Gum to propel himself towards the ceiling, away from the puppets. However, this is proven futile as his pursuers are capable of reaching him. Hisoka blocks their attacks, but leaves himself open from behind; an opening Chrollo exploits to land a hit on him. Despite being pummeled, Hisoka is enjoying the fight by continuing to decapitate the puppets, while Chrollo uses openings to land guaranteed hits. Chrollo tries to attack from above, but Hisoka anticipates this and attaches Bungee Gum to a decapitated head, flinging it at Chrollo who dodges it easily, having expected it, and proceeds to stomp his opponent. Hisoka, however, knew this and has swung his foot with a head attached to it, hitting Chrollo while he is laying injured on the ground.
Chrollo manages to recover from Hisoka's sneak attack. Hisoka uses the severed heads to smash the still attached heads of the remaining puppets, thus incapacitating them. He launches an attack on Chrollo who retreats again into the audience. Hisoka restrains one puppet to see through Chrollo's next actions:
1) Keep the bookmark on Gallery Fake. Open Order Stamp. Command the waiting puppets to kill Hisoka.
2) Keep the bookmark on Gallery Fake. Use both hands to create more copies. After that he would either:
A) Open Order Stamp. Command the puppets to kill Hisoka.
B) Open Convert Hands. Change his appearance with his left hand.
The stamp vanishes from the puppet Hisoka is restraining, which leads Hisoka to believe Chrollo chose the second option. Hisoka realizes the audience should panic on the sight of Chrollo if he plans to copy them, so he's wary that Chrollo would opt for Option B to avoid the risk. Hisoka understand that Chrollo might go where his copies are already on standby in order to both create more copies and stamp the previous ones. Using this logic, he spots Chrollo, pursues him into the stands, and goes on an all-out offensive to pressure him. He begins to consider a third possibility:
C) Open Black Voice. Conceal the cell phone and antennae in his left hand.
Hisoka makes sure to keep his distance, then flings several audience members, to whom he attached Bungee Gum, towards Chrollo who dodges them. However, Hisoka managed to attach Bungee Gum to Chrollo's leg. He drags him, and launches several strikes, apparently killing him. He finds out that it was simply a right-handed copy of Chrollo, meaning the bookmark is on Convert Hands. Hisoka is confused why the severed head he was carrying from the start is still existing after Chrollo had removed the bookmark from Gallery Fake. He quickly realizes that it was a fake out, and that the puppets that have been afflicted by The Sun and Moon won't vanish.
Hisoka comes to the conclusion that Gallery Fake, a double handed ability, can still be used in conjunction with another ability. Chrollo may imprint the plus mark with his left while he's opening the book on The Sun and Moon, and keeping Gallery Fake bookmarked. He comes to the final conclusion that instead of following Option 2B exactly, Chrollo added another step:
D) Open The Sun and Moon. Imprint the plus mark with his left hand. Deactivate either or both. Open Order Stamp. Command the puppets to kill Hisoka.
Hisoka decides to go on the defensive to prevent a puppets from detonating near him. Chrollo steals the microphone from the commentator to issue a "break Hisoka" command. From there, hundreds of audience members begin rushing towards Hisoka, which excites him. He uses Bungee Gum to swing the copies and smash the rest. However, the bodies cannot handle constant collision, and the controlled puppets continue to pour in. All of a sudden, Chrollo has the head Hisoka is using detonate when he is holding it in his hand.
Comments