Chapter 62: Insane

Everything happened too suddenly.

That declaration of victory echoing from the sky directly interrupted Hisoka’s intensely soaring emotions.

“……”

Caught entirely off guard, Hisoka inevitably missed the optimal window for a reaction.

Before he had time to retract Bungee Gum, which he had sent forward via a playing card, the distance caused it to snap abruptly.

The velocity of that Nen bullet was simply too fast.

Clearly, when the Nen bullet was in its return trajectory, both its volume and speed had at least doubled.

Hisoka had grasped the inner workings of Moro’s ability.

From the very beginning, the opponent had already prepared his escape.

Yet, unable to resist the "temptation," he had foolishly walked right into the other's trap.

Love ♡

Is always so blinding...

But how could he let go just like that!

In an instant, the aura surrounding Hisoka violently burst forth. The intensely excited expression vanished, replaced by a morbid, frenzied madness.

His desires had expanded to an uncontrollable degree and needed to be released and vented right here, right now!

"Bungee Gum."

With a crazed expression, Hisoka looked up at Moro, who was already flying far away, and whipped his pink adhesive thread onto a roadside tree at maximum speed, turning it into a giant slingshot.

As for Hisoka himself, he became the projectile, enveloped in pink Nen.

Creak, creak—

The pink Nen, possessing the properties of both rubber and chewing gum, abruptly contracted to store power.

Boom!

The next moment, Hisoka launched into the air like a cannonball, moving with such velocity that he tore visible shockwaves through the air before him.

Above the flying star.

Moro had already withdrawn his gaze, narrowing his eyes slightly to withstand the strong airflow during flight.

Having had the prior experience of jumping from the airship, he was completely unfazed, regardless of where the flying star might take him.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, a chill ran down Moro's spine. Subconsciously looking back, he saw Hisoka’s wildly deranged face far in the distance.

The man was actually flying straight through the air toward him.

With just that single glance, Moro understood what Hisoka had done.

"This freak... has he lost his mind?"

Moro felt a sense of disbelief.

At such a distance, relying solely on the rubber-like rebound of Bungee Gum, how could he possibly catch up to his flying star?

Yet, Hisoka had actually done it.

Soon, Hisoka's momentum began to wane, his flight speed suddenly slowing down as his entire body began to drop toward the ground.

Watching Hisoka lose momentum and begin falling, Moro's expression turned slightly complicated.

He always felt as though he had subjected Hisoka to a stimulus heavier than life itself could bear.

So much so that it drove Hisoka to such madness...

Under these circumstances, Moro truly wondered whether Hisoka would honor their bet afterward...

But things had reached this point; dwelling on it was useless.

At this thought, Moro could only wave goodbye to Hisoka.

Hisoka saw Moro waving, and his frenzied expression slowly froze.

It wasn't because he was provoked by Moro's farewell gesture, but because he realized that his desire, which had swelled to the verge of bursting, now had nowhere to be released.

"Ah..."

As if drained of all strength, Hisoka let his body plummet toward the ground with a look of utter despair.

The retreating figure in his sight grew smaller and smaller, farther and farther away...

Driven mad, and completely deflated.

-----------------

Somewhere in the city.

Zoldyck Silva flicked his slightly throbbing wrist and strode into the darkness beyond the reach of the streetlights.

"The Phantom Troupe..."

His self-muttered words echoed in the dark alley.

The bounty for assassinating that Troupe member was extremely lucrative, but Silva felt this deal was hardly worthwhile.

Not only was it physically exhausting, but he had also been chased all the way by the enemy under the banner of revenge.

Initially, Silva had no desire to work for free, so he continuously avoided battle, focusing entirely on making a clean getaway.

However, the opposition kept pushing their luck.

While Silva possessed exceptional professional ethics, even a clay Buddha had a temper.

Faced with the Phantom Troupe's relentless pursuit, a killing intent finally stirred within him, thinking to kill one or two more members to deter the rest.

Yet when he put that thought into action, he discovered that prying even a single person away from their group was no longer an easy task.

The crucial reason for this outcome was precisely the young man leading them, along with the various abilities contained within that black-and-red book.

If it were a one-on-one fight, it would be fine...

The problem was that the young man, relying on his outstanding awareness, decision-making, and execution, had welded his team into an unbreakable rope, repeatedly defusing crises at critical moments.

After multiple attempts, Silva realized that snapping "this rope" would inevitably demand a certain price.

Clearly, that was even less cost-effective.

Helplessly, Silva decisively chose to stop entangling himself and focused on escaping.

It wasn't until just now that he finally shook off the pursuit of the Phantom Troupe.

Walking through the dark alley, Silva silently committed this group called the Phantom Troupe to memory.

More accurately, he remembered the young man who led them.

If there were ever future commissions involving the Phantom Troupe, he wouldn't necessarily decline, but the price would have to be multiplied by at least several times...

Beep-beep, woo—

The sound of police sirens echoed from outside the dark alley, drawing closer by the moment.

The massive commotions starting from the fountain plaza had undoubtedly alerted the entire city's police force.

Police car after police car sped toward the center of the chaos, naturally driving straight into the crosshairs of the Phantom Troupe.

One of their members had been killed right in front of them, and afterward, despite outnumbering the enemy, the targets had still managed to escape.

At this very moment, the moods of the Troupe members could only be described as thoroughly wretched.

And the arrival of numerous police cars directly provided an outlet for their vented rage.

Without even needing to exert much effort, over a dozen surrounding police cars were reduced to scrap metal and engulfed in flames.

A pungent smell of gasoline permeated the surrounding air, with fires blazing fiercely and thick, billowing smoke rising into the sky like black dragons.

Reflected in the firelight, numerous corpses lay scattered all around.

"I wonder how Omokage is doing over there."

Shalnark put one hand on his hip while operating his phone with the other, tilting his head in a certain direction.

Chrollo's expression remained expressionless.

Meanwhile, Machi, Kortopi, and Pakunoda kept their attention on the surrounding situation.

They watched as figures began to emerge one after another from the burning police cars—every single one of them wielding weapons.

Observing this group of hostile newcomers suddenly appearing, Machi casually pulled out a thread of Nen and said indifferently, "Bounty hunters."

"Should we go look for Omokage?"

Kortopi ignored the bounty hunters and asked.

Hearing Kortopi's words, Machi and the others involuntarily looked toward Chrollo.

Chrollo likewise paid no attention to the surrounding bounty hunters. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly raised his head to look up at the sky.

A dark figure pierced through the towering smoke, plunging toward the ground like a shooting star.

Bang!

The ground violently cracked and exploded.

For a moment, every gaze in the vicinity snapped toward the spot.

Amidst the swirling dust and debris, before they even caught sight of the person, an inexplicable chill gripped them.

The one who had plummeted to the ground was none other than Hisoka.

"Disappointed, disappointed... disappointed, disappointed."

Hisoka stumbled to his feet, swaying unsteadily as if he were a zombie.

The aura radiating from him appeared exceptionally glaring in the eyes of Chrollo and the others.

Struggling to straighten his posture, Hisoka's eyes suddenly locked directly onto the surrounding bounty hunters.

In that very instant—

The bounty hunters felt as though invisible hands were choking their throats from afar, making them forget how to breathe entirely.