The Ohara Museum had suffered severe damage in roughly three areas: the main entrance, the banquet hall, and the vicinity of the Ancient Tree Museum.
Fortunately, the two equally extravagant palace-style buildings remained untouched, serving as the last line of defense tonight.
After Clover and the guests evacuated from the banquet, they took refuge in the palace and managed to survive the ordeal unscathed.
After the Phantom Troupe's retreat, Law hurriedly collected the three treasures and rushed to the museum. In his haste, he neglected to put his facial disguise back on, and later simply chose not to, revealing his true appearance instead.
Afterward, the Ohara Museum began dealing with the aftermath, while Law and Salin, like the other guests, were temporarily assigned rooms in the building.
Law stood by the window, putting away his phone.
He had tried calling Machi, but the call was disconnected before it even connected.
"Did she get angry?"
Law murmured to himself, gazing through the window at the flashing police lights in the distance. He didn't think he had done anything wrong.
Knock knock.
A knock sounded at the door. Knowing who it was, Law said, "Come in."
The door opened, and Salin entered carrying a tray, "Clover had some late-night snacks prepared."
"Just leave it there." Law replied absentmindedly, as he had no appetite now.
Upon hearing this, Salin set the tray on the table, then looked at Law and asked, "What's your relationship with the Phantom Troupe?"
"Three members of the Phantom Troupe are very close to me." Law said, raising a hand to draw the curtains closed.
Salin fell silent for a moment before changing the subject, "The number of casualties has been counted."
Law turned to look at her, and asked, "How much?"
"Including the guests, a total of 1,364 people." Salin said in a deep tone.
Law fell silent upon hearing this. The number was jarring, especially considering it was the result of just half an hour.
"Clover is furious. After learning it was the Phantom Troupe, he added another 10 billion to the bounty in the black market." Salin continued, pausing briefly before adding, "I think it'd be best for you to cut ties with the Phantom Troupe. You and they... aren't the same kind of people."
"It's not that simple."
Law looked at Salin, whose attitude and tone were extremely serious, and smiled helplessly.
"It seems like your relationship with those three members is truly deep." Salin sighed and said, "Otherwise, given your personality, not a single member of the Phantom Troupe would've escaped tonight."
Law didn't respond. He glanced at the phone in his palm and silently slipped it back into his pocket. Suddenly, he raised his hand and conjured the God Hand's book, flipping to the back and pointing at a number for Salin to see.
The number was: 2463.
"Did you see that?" Law blinked, as if hinting at something, as if he was joking.
Salin rolled her eyes. She knew what the number on the back of the book represented, just as she knew what the 6258 on the front meant.
She ignored Law's self-deprecating remark and said, "You can manage your relationship with the Phantom Troupe however you want. I'm just giving you a heads-up. If the Phantom Troupe continues to draw more attention, you might get dragged into it."
"Yeah."
Law put the book away without arguing. What Salin said was true.
But Law didn't take it seriously. Given his strength, he had no fear of Blacklist Hunters targeting the Phantom Troupe. After all, even six years later, the Phantom Troupe remained largely unharmed.
This suggested that the Blacklist Hunters after them weren't particularly formidable… or perhaps the Phantom Troupe was simply strong enough. Either way, this potential issue wasn't even a minor concern in his eyes.
"How did you meet the Phantom Troupe's members?" Salin asked curiously.
Law hesitated for a moment before replying, "The Phantom Troupe's members are from Meteor City. So am I."
Citizens' birth records and identity information worldwide were stored in an internationally connected database. Institutional personnel could easily access them… except for people from Meteor City.
Law had inexplicably arrived in the Hunter x Hunter World with no identity records. Even if his initial arrival point hadn't been Meteor City, after roughly understanding this world, whenever he needed to explain his origins, he would always use Meteor City as his cover.
Hearing that Law was from Meteor City, Salin was momentarily stunned. After leaving the Kandhia Desert, she had voraciously absorbed information and had a partial understanding of Meteor City… she knew what kind of place it was.
Neither spoke, and silence filled the room.
"Get some rest early."
After a while, Salindidn't press the topic further. After a few words of reminder, she left the room.
Law lay down on the bed, not touching the late-night snacks Clover had prepared at all.
At that moment, Kuro suddenly popped out, pouncing onto the table and lifting the lid off the tray: "What's wrong? Missing your young wife?"
Fwoosh!
A marble-sized Nen Bullet shot through the air, hitting Kuro square on the forehead… but it had no effect whatsoever.
Kuro twisted its body mockingly and taunted, "Missed me, missed me!"
Seeing this, Law flicked his finger, sending another Nen Bullet… this time not aimed at Kuro, but at the food on the tray.
The Nen Bullet struck the food, shattering it into tiny fragments that scattered onto the floor.
"You-!" Kuro stared at the mess of food on the ground, furious, "Has no one ever told you that wasting food is shameful?"
"Oh?"
Law suddenly sat up from the bed, walked over, and used his ability to gather the food fragments back together, kneading them into a ball like a rice ball. Then, he forcefully shoved it into Kuro's mouth.
"Thanks for reminding me."
With that, he casually tossed Kuro aside.
Kuro lay on the ground, speechless with grief and anger.
Law hadn't been careful when reforming the food… he'd even kneaded sand into it.
Kuro glared at Law, who had returned to bed, and said, "Honestly, you should've just joined the Troupe back then. No moral restraints, doing whatever you want… killing when you feel like it, taking whatever catches your eye. Wouldn't that be freeing?"
"Shut up and get back inside." Law said coldly.
"Am I wrong? The value of power lies in wielding it however you please." Kuro sneered.
"I won't say it again."
Law turned his gaze to Kuro, his Aura slowly pressing down.
"Tch. Fine, I'm going."
Kuro dissolved into black smoke and retreated back onto the back of Law's hand.
With Kuro gone, the room finally fell silent.
Law rested his hands behind his head, staring wordlessly at the ceiling.
Ring…
His phone rang.
Law pulled it out and saw it was a call from Machi.
After pressing the answer button, Machi's voice came from the phone, "I've got the full picture of what happened."
"And what do you think?" Law replied.
On the other end, there was a long silence, broken only by the sound of wind howling.
"Shalnark looked into your connection with the Ohara Museum." Machi said meaningfully, her voice low, "So I don't understand."
When they looked into the connection, of course the result would show they were mere strangers… that's why she didn't understand.
"Machi, do you know what the number 1,364 represents?"
Law's eyelids lowered slightly.