Regarding network information security, several heavyweight laws have been enacted and incorporated into international law.
Even though Ickshonpe could wreak havoc in the Digital World, as a Professional Hacker Hunter, he still didn't have the qualifications to act without restraint.
Historically, there had been around thirty individuals who attempted to test these laws, and without exception, all were arrested on charges of attempted murder, with no chance of parole.
Typically, they were imprisoned with no hope of release, though some might be specially recruited by the state if deemed valuable.
Ickshonpe had no intention of asking Law about his motives for asking for the high-ranking officials' information. Instead, he simply explained the difficulty and consequences involved, dissuading Law from the idea of using him to obtain such data.
"I can only help you compile information, which will speed up the filtering process and ensure the authenticity of the intelligence." Ickshonpe replied in the chat window.
Their conversation directly touched on several sensitive keywords, even linking terms like 'cabinet' and 'Moreen'.
However, with a heavyweight like Ickshonpe present, there was no need to worry about security issues at all.
"Then help me streamline it… the sooner, the better. I need it urgently," Law replied.
"Play games with me." Ickshonpe proposed as his condition.
"No problem." Law agreed without hesitation.
The concept of 'exchange' seemed deeply ingrained in the hunters' code of conduct. They rarely did anything for free, and when it came to personal interests, their choices varied widely.
After concluding his conversation with Ickshonpe, Law closed the Lawlin Museum's webpage and logged into the dedicated site for the bounty black market.
Unlike conventional flat webpages, the bounty black market's site had a strong RPG-style perspective.
The main layout was a Western-style street covered in yellow sand, with rows of buildings on either side.
The walls of the buildings were plastered with numerous wanted posters. Among the row of structures were several taverns that could be entered by simply pushing the door open.
Law manipulated the perspective and clicked on one of the taverns. The door slowly swung open, and the perspective shifted as if he were walking inside.
The tavern's interior was sparsely decorated, with only a few patrons inside.
Behind the counter stood a bartender wiping a glass.
Glancing around, several high-bounty wanted posters were prominently displayed.
Law immediately spotted the bounty posters for the Phantom Troupe members. Each member had an exorbitant bounty, thanks to Clover injecting 10 billion in bounty money and the guests of the appraisal conference jointly adding another 10 billion.
The total of 20 billion directly pushed each Troupe member's bounty past 2 billion, and the hype around them continued to rise without fading, making many bounty hunters drool with greed.
Those confident in their abilities had already taken on the mission and were hunting the Phantom Troupe. Those less confident could only target lower-difficulty bounties, while some bounty hunters formed teams.
Though the profits had to be split, the risks were also reduced, aligning with the style of certain hunters.
Law clicked on the patrons in the tavern. Each time, the dialog box that popped up contained different content, mostly recent news about the times… such as which bounty hunters had completed a high-difficulty mission, which criminal had committed another serious crime, or how much their bounty had increased.
Every three or four clicks, the NPC-like patrons would share a piece of information about the Phantom Troupe, listing the major crimes they had committed and their recently updated bounty amounts.
"If funds get tight in the future, I could consider tearing off a few bounty posters. A single Phantom Troupe member's head is worth 2 billion. The highest is the bounty on the Kudo Bandit Group… each member is worth 5 billion."
While Kudo Bandit Group was called a 'group', it only had five members. Yet, each member's bounty was the highest in the black market, indicating how troublesome they were. They weren't targets just any bounty hunters could handle.
In fact, unless someone was blindly confident in their abilities, no one would risk going after the Kudo Bandit Group, as such actions were basically suicidal.
Thus, despite the high bounties, the Kudo Bandit Group remained untouched. Meanwhile, the bounty hunters active in the black market had recently turned their attention to the Phantom Troupe, believing they might become the next Kudo Bandit Group.
After browsing the bounty black market for a while, Law logged out.
The reason he visited the site wasn't to play the role of a Blacklist Hunter but simply to check the status of the Phantom Troupe's bounties.
He was somewhat worried about Machi and the others' situation, but then he remembered how in the original work, the Phantom Troupe committed so many atrocities yet still managed to stay alive and kicking, so his worries seemed unnecessary.
For the next week, Law stayed in Berg City, sorting through the intelligence Ickshonpe had gathered from the vast Digital World while lurking in the shadows, observing the level of security around Moreen and her daily routines.
After all, she was a high-ranking cabinet official. Even though Law's individual strength was formidable, he wouldn't recklessly make a move on Moreen without ensuring no traces or loose ends were left behind.
In other words, for this operation, nothing that could be linked back to Law… whether it was his abilities, his voice, or even the smallest habit, nothing could be exposed.
After a week of surveillance, while Law marveled at the solid defense surrounding Moreen, he also began to form a rough plan. The only issue was that opportunities to strike were few and far between.
Meanwhile, in the Vitera City, which is adjacent to Yorknew City, the members of the Phantom Troupe had gathered.
As usual, they chose an unfinished building complex on the outskirts as their temporary base. Judging by the overgrown weeds over a meter tall surrounding the area, the abandoned construction site had been left untouched for a long time.
Inside one of the six-story buildings, candles were placed in various corners of the first-floor hall. From the outside, flickering flames could be seen.
The night was as dark as ink, the sky choked with dense clouds that obscured the moon intermittently. Despite it being a summer night, the evening wind carried a hint of chill as it swept in from the distance, rustling the weeds with a whooshing sound.
A group of about fifty people moved in a single-file formation through the overgrown grass toward the building emitting faint candlelight.
Soon, the team reached the perimeter of the building, positioning themselves at every possible entrance.
With a single gesture from their leader, everyone suddenly stormed inside… only to find no targets, just scattered trash, beer cans, and snack wrappers everywhere.
"Where are they?"
The leader frantically scanned the surroundings.
At that moment, all the candles suddenly went out, plunging the building into darkness.
Before the group could react, shadowy figures seemed to flit through the blackness. Then, a shrill scream tore through the dark, followed by more and more, growing increasingly frantic.
A short while later, someone relit the candles, and the soft glow once again filled the first-floor hall. Now, alongside the litter, fifty fresh corpses littered the ground.
The members of the Phantom Troupe stood or sat scattered around the room.
"I propose we move to the next building over." Shalnark said, raising his hand as he surveyed the corpses.
Naturally, no one objected to the suggestion.
"Bounty hunters again? It's been nonstop lately." Phinks grumbled, kicking a corpse aside.
"It's because our bounties went up." Machi explained.
"Right. Each of our heads is worth two billion now, so if anyone happens to die, remember to collect the head." Shalnark said with a laugh.
Since this was just a temporary hideout, they had no issue relocating after the mess.
Just as they were about to move, several members abruptly turned their attention to the second-floor balcony.
"Who's there?"
The moment the question was voiced, slow, deliberate clapping echoed through the space.
"Impressive."
A playing card peeked out from the edge of the wall before a tall, lanky figure stepped into view.