Chapter 185: Then Go Die
"When did you discover me?"
Longhi raised his head, staring fixedly at Mord with eyes veined with black lines, his expression terrifyingly grim.
The cooperative hunter Belerainte and the First Prince's private soldier Shikaku, standing nearby, watched Longhi radiating intense Nen aura with shock in their eyes.
Belerainte was one thing, but the detail-obsessed Shikaku had always believed no Nen user could escape his notice—now he was being thoroughly proven wrong.
He looked at Mord and said gravely, "How did you detect him?"
"As soon as you activate your ability, there are fluctuations in your aura. Is it really that hard to notice?" Mord spoke as if stating the most ordinary fact.
No matter how skilled Longhi was at concealment, under the coverage of Mord's En, nothing could remain hidden.
What was more terrifying was that they hadn't even realized they were constantly within the range of Mord's En all along.
The gap in their abilities was as vast as if they were from different dimensions.
"We can cooperate." Longhi glanced at Momoze behind Mord before continuing. "The Prince behind me can form an alliance with the Twelfth Prince."
"What are you saying!" Maor roared angrily from the side.
He was furious that he, as captain of the guard, had been deceived by his subordinate, and enraged that Longhi would endanger the Fifth Prince to save his own life.
What he didn't know was that Longhi had never actually been loyal to the Fifth Prince at all.
Longhi cast a cold glance at Maor, raised his right hand, and four Cursed Lip White Snakes flew from his sleeve, instantly pouncing on Maor and pinning him to the ground.
Before Maor could even scream, his body visibly withered at an alarming rate. In less than a minute, all his blood had been drained, leaving behind a desiccated corpse.
"The Prince behind you?" A playful smile appeared on Mord's face. "The Seventh Prince? The Second Prince? Or the Ninth Prince?"
"Or perhaps the Second Queen herself?"
Longhi stared coldly at Mord. "I only provide information to allies."
"Is that so."
Mord smiled faintly. "Then die."
As the words fell, his Zanpakutō left its sheath.
Longhi focused completely, watching Mord's every move intently. In his view, Mord's sword was indeed fast, but not so fast that it couldn't be dodged.
But he soon realized he was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
The reason he had been able to dodge Mord's previous strike was only because Mord had allowed him to.
The cold blade light seemed to tear through the air itself.
Longhi's expression changed dramatically. In his eyes, the entire world now consisted of only this single sword stroke.
The moment the blade light flashed, he felt chilled to the bone. Enveloped by this penetrating, icy killing intent, even the flow of Nen within his body seemed to freeze.
He tried to move, but found his body completely unresponsive.
His eyes began to fill with terror as he could only watch helplessly as the blade descended.
What is happening?!
What Longhi didn't realize was that it wasn't that he couldn't move—it was that this sword strike was simply too fast.
Just like the two spectators Shikaku and Belerainte, who hadn't even seen Mord draw his sword. They only saw Longhi suddenly freeze in place, standing there motionless.
Longhi's mouth opened slightly as if he wanted to say something. The next moment, a blood line appeared from his forehead, extending all the way down to his lower body.
Thump!
Longhi's body fell forward stiffly, and after a moment, dark red blood began to seep from beneath him, pooling into a crimson puddle.
Shikaku turned to look at Mord, feeling fear for the first time.
The man before him was terrifying.
This man's strength truly was, as he had claimed, capable of influencing the entire succession war. If the First Prince couldn't subdue such a person, he must be eliminated immediately!
He had to bring this intelligence back to the First Prince!
Without the slightest hesitation, Shikaku turned to leave.
"No need to rush off when you've just arrived. Come, show me your Nen Ability."
Hearing the voice beside his ear and seeing the figure that had suddenly appeared before him, Shikaku couldn't even muster the will to resist.
...
Fifth floor, Black Whale.
Feitan, Franklin, and Shalnark had just taught some reckless thugs a lesson and were extracting information from them.
"To divide the spheres of influence in the New World, all three major Kakin underworld factions have gathered on this ship. The bosses and officials with connections to the princes are enjoying VIP treatment on the first floor, while their underlings in the lower levels are scheming to weaken rival families before landing," explained a bruised and battered thug kneeling before Feitan and the others, his face tear-streaked.
Franklin looked at the thug and asked, "Which faction do you belong to?"
"We're just small-time opportunists. We don't get involved in fights, but they take ninety percent of our earnings," the thug replied truthfully.
Having witnessed the methods of these three deadly figures, he didn't dare lie.
Specifically, the three major Kakin underworld factions were:
The Xi-Yu Family backed by the Third Prince, the Heil-Ly Family backed by the Fourth Prince, and the Cha-R Family backed by the Seventh Prince.
The moment you join any of these families, you instantly become an enemy of the other two. So those who dare join are either exceptionally brave or mentally unstable desperadoes.
The small-time thugs before Franklin clearly lacked such courage.
"Even if we question them, it's probably pointless," Shalnark thought to himself, but still asked, "How can we get to the floors above Level 2?"
"That's truly impossible. The ship's announcements should have made it clear—travel between the upper and lower levels is basically prohibited," the thug replied.
Feitan, standing nearby, added, "Although the bosses of the three major families might not be in the lower levels, the officers commanding the underlings should be down here. After all, these hot-blooded, poorly disciplined, and not-too-bright young guys can't operate without someone in charge."
Franklin nodded. "Let's find this officer and ask him to send us to the upper levels."
"Or we could just pick a fight with the three families directly," Shalnark added, turning to the kneeling thug. "Which family is the strongest?"
"In terms of financial power, it's definitely the Xi-Yu Family... Big brothers, what exactly are you planning to do?" The thug was beginning to sense that something was wrong.
"Doesn't someone collect commissions from you? Bring that person here directly," Franklin said matter-of-factly.
Upon hearing this, the thugs turned pale with fear, repeatedly kowtowing to the three brigade members.
"Please spare our lives, esteemed ones! We don't want to offend any of these three great families—this would mean certain death for us!"