Knock. Knock.
Joey and Kurapika halted mid-discussion.
"First Prince's security detail," Joey muttered.
Not unexpected.
After the near-eradication of 14th Prince Woble's guard unit,
First Prince Benjamin had publicly declared he'd dispatch his private soldiers to assist other princes.
Kurapika had already spoken to the assigned guard over the phone.
Though technically personal troops can't be royal guards,
Benjamin's unit—bearing the title of Military Supreme Advisor—was the exception.
"I can hide the six we captured with Mirage Mirage, but we really should just eliminate them," Joey said coldly. "At least the ones that can use Nen. Safer that way."
They'd discussed the plan.
Those six captured spies could not be revealed.
If word got out—especially about Joey's Nen abilities,
It'd attract dangerous attention.
They'd witnessed too much.
Especially Joey's more exotic talents.
Even if the non-Nen users couldn't understand it fully,
Nen users might connect the dots.
Joey wasn't afraid—but he despised unnecessary hassle.
Kurapika, however, had reservations about wiping them out.
Or maybe—Joey suspected—Kurapika just didn't want to deal with the corpse disposal.
He'd offered help with that too. Still got shot down.
"If it were Killua, we'd be done already," Joey thought with a wry grin.
The problem?
Keeping them alive would burn through his stamina.
To hide their bodies, speech, and presence via Mirage Mirage and sound dampening,
Joey would need to constantly maintain a 20-meter-radius En.
And that was assuming no enemy En-users tried probing the room.
If they did?
They might detect the disguised presence instantly.
Plus, Joey had to avoid detection himself—if his En touched the incoming guard,
the First Prince's side would know they were being watched. That would be trouble.
And since First Prince's men carried communication recorders,
their interactions would be logged and admissible for violent retaliation.
Joey's solution?
Get the enemy to attack first.
That would justify their response and preserve diplomatic standing.
Kurapika's plan involved disguising himself as the 12th Prince—to act as bait.
Joey nixed that immediately.
It required him to guide the soldier into striking.
And worse, it left only one person inside the Prince's chambers.
They'd considered switching roles—having Princess Momoze disguise herself as Kurapika—
but her makeup and posture wouldn't hold up under close scrutiny.
Joey made a better suggestion.
"We swap out the prince. A fake body on the bed."
Kurapika's eyes narrowed. "How?"
His gaze drifted to the six restrained spies.
They weren't too different from the prince physically.
"Change the face. Shrink the frame. Cut fat, graft lean. Whatever's extra, I'll fix.
We make a dummy prince. If they assassinate it? We gain. If not? No loss."
He clutched his Wallet—ready to summon Golden Experience.
"Can you really do that?" Kurapika asked, cautious.
"Of course," Joey smirked. "It'll cost some aura though."
They selected one: a short, overweight man.
Didn't know Nen. Had already confessed under threat—
Nagmam, a spy for the Sixth Queen, embedded to assassinate Momoze.
Joey had no qualms.
He peeled the man's body like clay, shaping it with practiced ease.
Ten minutes later, the abomination lay on the bed.
Face identical to Princess Momoze.
Hair matched. Body reshaped.
Only a few minor differences—like a certain extra appendage—
But the thing was mute, paralyzed, and perfect for bait.
Joey dressed it in Momoze's spare clothes.
Then went to wake the real princess.
He explained the decoy plan—carefully and calmly.
Momoze accepted without argument.
She trusted them now.
But as Joey laid the pieces into place, he had another thought—
"What if the guard doesn't need to attack?"
"What if Momoze's Guardian Beast takes care of it?"
He remembered its power.
If the enemy even thought of harming her, the beast might act.
All they needed was for the soldier to say one word:
"Available."
Then the strings would wrap him.
And Joey, Kurapika? They'd strike with impunity.
The only question was—how long could a First Prince guard resist?
And would using the Beast reveal its power to Benjamin?
Risky.
Even if they killed this guard, others would follow.
The ideal?
Turn them into puppets. Controlled spies.
But neither Joey nor Kurapika specialized in manipulation-type Nen.
So they'd circle back to the original idea—
Communicate directly with Benjamin.
And to do that…
Killing the first soldier would send a clear message.
The room phone rang.
Kurapika answered via video screen.
A military-uniformed man with cropped hair and a thick beard appeared onscreen.
"I'm Pikot, assigned by First Prince Benjamin. We spoke earlier."
Kurapika nodded. "Come in."
The man entered the room.
Joey stood silently outside the bedroom, arms crossed.
Kurapika gestured toward him.
"I'm Kurapika, bodyguard of the Twelfth Prince. That's Dio—he's assisting."
Pikot blinked, surprised.
"Just two guards?"
Kurapika nodded solemnly.
"Queen Seiko reassigned several to her son's side.
We had enough—until six more disappeared without a trace."
He stuck to the cover story they'd agreed on.
Pikot's brow furrowed.
"And the prince?"
"Resting," Kurapika said.
Just then, a cheerful, plush-looking Guardian Beast hopped through the wall.
Grinning, it bounded straight toward Pikot.
It tilted its head and whispered into his ear:
"Are you free?"
Pikot didn't flinch.
His training was elite.
He kept calm, even as the voice pressed again.
"Are you free now? Will you let me know when you are?"
It repeated.
Again. And again.
It was mentally exhausting.
Pikot ground his teeth.
The Guardian Beast's presence was real—but what was its effect?
He muttered aloud:
"The Beast's activating. It's asking if I'm available."
Then, louder:
"I'm not. Get lost."
He flared his aura. Defensive posture.
Readied for a fight.
"It's still here," he reported calmly. "Split off a second one. Keeps asking me. Waiting."
No attack from Kurapika.
No motion from Joey.
Only that Beast—
"Are you free? Are you free? Are you—"
Pikot clenched his fists.
"…I'm free. What now?"
Then, without warning—
He turned and walked out of the room.
Kurapika followed, heart racing.
Destination?
Prince Woble's suite.
Controlled or not, Pikot was heading to the weakest target.
Outside Room 14, Joey rejoined Kurapika.
"Should we act?"
Kurapika shook his head.
"Not yet."
Then—
Pikot suddenly kicked the door in.
One boot—and the reinforced chamber opened like paper.
Inside: chaos.
Another First Prince soldier had a servant in a chokehold,
a small poison vial in his other hand.
Opposite him—Hanzo and another Hunter Joey couldn't name.
Behind them, Queen Oito clutched Woble, shaking.
"Pikot?" the attacker blinked.
Pikot said nothing.
He drew a dagger.
"It asked me to," he muttered. Then lunged.
The man released the servant—who was already bleeding out.
He dodged Pikot's strike.
Drew his gun.
But aimed—not at Pikot.
At Kurapika.
He didn't get the shot off.
Shuriken!
Knocked the gun aside.
His body—suddenly swept by Joey's En and manipulated wind.
He staggered, turning.
Only to feel a kick to his exposed back—
Kurapika's boot.
At the same moment—
Pikot's dagger plunged into his chest.
One beat.
A bullet—trigger pulled remotely by Weather Report—
slammed through Pikot's skull.
Bang.
A spider-like Guardian Beast scurried from Pikot's ear and vanished into the wall.
Kurapika spoke calmly.
"Inform the Royal Army:
First Prince's soldiers attacked each other.
Both dead."
Minutes later, Benjamin's men arrived.
Collected the bodies.
No resistance.
Kurapika remained to coordinate with Hanzo.
Joey?
He returned to Room 12.
There, the phone rang again.
Joey answered.
"Hello?"
"I'm Prince Zhang Lei," came the smooth voice.
"Bartering secrets? Not a bad approach.
But the phone isn't secure."
"I hereby permit you to enter my suite.
A fair exchange—information for honor.
Do you accept?"
Joey smiled.
"Sounds good. I have one condition."
"The Twelfth Prince comes with us."
"Naturally," Zhang Lei chuckled.
"We are brothers, after all.
It's in our interest not to kill each other."
"Let's reconvene in fifteen minutes."