As the manor descended into chaos, two figures, simply disguised, directly boarded the car driven by the two Shadow Beasts. The car started and sped away along the road they had come from. The gang members responsible for reconnaissance in the distance quickly reported this news.
"Did they succeed? Haha, then let's just wait for the good news here." Saro lit a cigar and threw himself back onto the sofa. His body couldn't help but relax.
At this moment, in the returning car, the driver was Kurapika, who had undergone a simple disguise. To be honest, the disguise was quite crude. Fortunately, it was night. The enemies responsible for scouting wouldn't get too close. Seeing two people driving back, they would likely assume their own people had succeeded.
At this time, Kurapika was looking at the map beside him, which marked the route of action and their distance from the target. This route was deduced based on feedback from personnel stationed throughout the city and surveillance camera footage from certain areas during the time they were engaged in combat.
After all, the two Shadow Beasts had never expected to fail. They drove into the manor ostentatiously and even parked the car directly at the entrance. In their eyes, the Nostra Family was just a small family with fluctuating luck, not worth paying attention to at all.
"Why are you wearing a small cloth wrap?" Pairo, sitting in the back seat, looked at Kurapika's strange attire and couldn't help asking. He hadn't seen the Shadow Beast use his Nen ability, so he didn't notice the issue.
"This is the opponent's Nen ability I deduced. When the other guy rushed in, he immediately prepared a huge wrap using his Nen ability, trying to capture Neon. When faced with my sudden attack, he threw the wrapping cloth toward me, so I guessed his ability should be able to wrap up people and objects." More so because, at that time, they were in a different dimension and personally witnessed this guy throwing out the wrap, attempting to enclose the flames generated by the explosion and the debris of furniture caught in it—and he actually succeeded.
Unfortunately, they didn't place just one bomb in the room. And they didn't have the same thought as Pairo, wanting to fight the opponent. So, that guy ended up dying inexplicably.
Neon's Nen ability was truly terrifying. Kurapika never believed that the success of this operation was mainly due to themselves; it was more thanks to Neon's prophecy that they were fully prepared in advance. As the saying goes, 'the prepared defeat the unprepared.' With the opponent completely unguarded, they firmly controlled the situation. If Pairo hadn't decided to first hold back one enemy and attempt a one-on-one fight to ensure everything was foolproof, the operation would have gone even smoother. More than that, it was because Pairo wanted to understand Nen ability battles—he was preparing for the future.
"Once we reach the target location, we'll proceed according to the plan we made earlier," Pairo said.
Kurapika nodded. Before this operation began, Pairo had made more thorough preparations based on the results of his own prophecy poem. The three individuals deeply involved in the operation, through prophecies of different future outcomes, had calculated the enemy's actions flawlessly.
Soon, they returned along the original route to the vicinity of the enemy's stronghold. This villa was surrounded by vigilant gang members, but not a single person dared to step forward to check or obstruct this car. Relying on their simple disguises, the two drove into the stronghold without any hindrance.
After arriving at the building, Pairo didn't speak but just nodded. The butterfly on his shoulder immediately flew inside. The butterfly landed directly on the window above, taking in the situation inside. This was Pairo's "Funeral Butterfly"; it possessed the function of observing in place of eyes, naturally allowing Pairo to check more places. However, this was not the butterfly's main ability after all, so the distance it could fly was extremely limited. It could only serve as a very temporary auxiliary means, but it's better than nothing, isn't it?
After the butterfly had clearly scouted the situation in the room and confirmed the situation inside, the two pushed open the car doors and quickly rushed in.
The two gang members standing at the door didn't even have time to react. The neck of one of them was twisted by Pairo, while the one in front of Kurapika was merely knocked unconscious on the ground. Pairo merely glanced at this and said nothing more.
The two rushed into the room.
"Hey! Who are you people!"
"Intruders, there are—"
"Ah!"
There weren't many people in the room, as dedicated personnel had already been stationed outside. Moreover, the two acted quickly and were Nen users. For these ordinary people who hadn't yet reacted, they possessed great suppressive power. Furthermore, the distribution of personnel within the room had long been clearly scouted by the butterfly.
The two effortlessly subdued all the gang members and disarmed them of their weapons.
"Who, who are you?" The cigar in Saro's mouth trembled incessantly. He leaned on the sofa, his face covered in cold sweat, his eyes flashing with terror. He couldn't remember who these two people were at all. Could they be old enemies? That shouldn't be the case.
Shouldn't those two Shadow Beasts be back by now? Right, those two guys are coming back. Stall for time. His mind was like mush now.
"May I ask, what is the matter?" Saro took the cigar from his hand, forced a fawning smile onto his face, and asked.
Click! Kurapika cocked the pistol and pressed it against Saro's head.
"Wait, let's talk properly. I am a descendant of the Tedolka Family. Let's discuss this properly!"
Pairo stared intently at the other party, the pistol in his hand pressing firmly against Saro's head. "If your little finger moves again, your life will be gone."
Saro quickly stopped his small attempt to call for help.
"You guys killed the Shadow Beasts?" Saro seemed to have thought of something, and more cold sweat appeared on his face. He finally thought calmly for a moment.
"It seems you're not too stupid," Pairo said with a slight smile.
Just then, there was a commotion outside. It seemed a large number of vehicles had surrounded the place. The gang members remaining on the periphery immediately drew their guns, but it was clear they were already surrounded. Both sides fell into a strange standoff.
A gang member ran in in a panic. Seeing his companions lying scattered on the ground and Kurapika's dark pistol pointing directly at him, he couldn't help swallowing and slowly raised his hands.
Saro glanced at the newcomer, understanding the situation outside. "Are you people hired by Light? How much did he pay you? I can give you double! No, ten times!" Saro said in a panic.
"Tell your men to surrender, otherwise—" Kurapika pressed the gun harder against Saro's forehead again.
"No problem, no problem!" After Saro finished speaking, he looked at the gang enforcer at the door with his hands up. "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go!"
Soon, there was a noisy commotion outside. Accompanied by footsteps, several gang leaders entered the room with a group of subordinates. They quickly took control of the situation, then nodded at Pairo and Kurapika.
Bang! Pairo pulled the trigger.
"Now, I have to go handle the aftermath," Pairo said, handing the gun in his hand to Kurapika.
Kurapika frowned, seemingly wanting to say something. Pairo seemed to have anticipated this and explained, "According to Neon's prophecy, there definitely won't be a problem if I go alone, as long as I don't do anything out of line. This shows that the assassin we hired is definitely reliable, and the money spent was worth it." Even though their current financial situation was good, this amount of money still made them feel a bit pained. However, to completely eliminate future troubles, everything was worth it.
"If I brought you along, it might complicate things unnecessarily. You can understand that, right?"
Hearing Pairo's words, Kurapika sighed helplessly and nodded.
The last prophecy's target was precisely Pairo. The assassin they hired was able to successfully complete the task. At the end of the prophecy, it was mentioned that Pairo, to ensure everything was foolproof, would personally confirm the results at the scene after the assassin succeeded. Then there would be an unexpected gain that someone needed to check on. The protagonist of the prophecy poem was Pairo; such a result was already very ideal and didn't require any extra changes. So Pairo going alone was enough.
Speaking of which, Pairo smiled. "If it really doesn't work, isn't there Auntie?"
Hearing this, Kurapika nodded. Though it needed to be used through the Scarlet Eyes, "Forced Return" was undoubtedly an absolute life-saving technique. On the premise of being able to guarantee their companions' safety, losing a few hours or even a day or two was acceptable. In the future, all three of them would definitely use [Absolute Time] in the Scarlet Eyes state. For this, they were already mentally prepared. It's just as Uncle Kevin said—don't rely on it.
In the dark night, a private airship was slowly moving toward a certain direction. By the airship's floor-to-ceiling window, a tall figure stood quietly, a pair of listless large eyes gazing at the night view outside the window.
"Biu! Dudududu! Shiu! Ahhh!" A strange sound came from behind him.
Hearing the sound, Illumi silently turned his head to look. A white-haired child was holding a toy airplane, simulating various sounds with his mouth. This was his younger brother, Killua.
Next to the table, a muscular, burly white-haired man was sitting there with his eyes closed, resting.
He looked like a sculpture.
Killua seemed to have gotten tired of the toy airplane in his hand, casually placed it on the table, and then sat opposite his father. "Father, how much longer until we arrive?"
Hearing his son's question, Silva opened his eyes, looking at Killua with a serious gaze, yet a slight smile appeared on his face. Of course, to outsiders, this hint of a smile wouldn't be perceived as smiling. "Killua, as an assassin, patience and calmness are essential qualities."
Hearing his father's reply, Killua sighed helplessly and nodded. Then he simply sat in place and closed his eyes.
Illumi watched this scene silently. He rarely had the opportunity to carry out missions with his father. This mission had some special reasons.
Not long ago, his adorable younger brother Killua successfully completed the Heavens Arena trial arranged by his father. Just as he was free, his work phone rang—meaning there was a new order. So he answered the call without hesitation.
The call was from an unknown number, and an unfamiliar voice came from the other end. But this didn't matter to Illumi; he didn't care about any of that. As long as it was an order, it was work. It was just that this time's work was a bit tricky.
The client's request was to kill the family head of the Tedolka Family, one of the current Ten Old Men families. Furthermore, the client required the target to be killed in his residence, along with everyone else inside the residence. This was a custom order, so the price naturally had to be increased.
Facing the price he quoted, the client agreed without hesitation and even proposed an additional request: after the work was completed, he needed to go to the scene to take a look. To be honest, this wasn't the first time he had encountered such a request. Sometimes he would agree, but most of the time he would refuse. After all, his time was very busy. After succeeding, he should take a photo and leave. Work is work, and off-work is off-work. Waiting for the client's confirmation—wasn't that a waste of time?
But since the client added money, there was nothing he could do. If they added money, anything was negotiable. For such big clients, he always gave a lot of leeway. This was work, and he was very satisfied with his attitude toward his work.
But the problem was that the target was one of the Ten Old Men, so the surrounding bodyguards and defensive forces were definitely not weak. A Nen ability battle was inevitable. Moreover, there would definitely be Nen users serving as bodyguards. As one of the Ten Old Men, the bodyguards he chose would definitely be people with suitable Nen abilities.
To be honest, though he was very confident in his own strength, he didn't have much confidence in taking on such a large order alone. If he were injured during the assassination, that would be a failure for an assassin. As an assassin with a strict work attitude, such a mistake could not be made. He had to ensure foolproof success—this was the family's philosophy.
So he decided to seek help. It was common for family members to cooperate to complete missions. Even assassins understood the disadvantages of working alone. With a trustworthy family member present, one could handle multiple enemies with ease. Of course, the main reason was that the client paid enough, and splitting it with a helper was also a considerable income.
The helper he initially chose was his grandfather. But his grandfather's price was too high. After giving a share to his grandfather, this order would be a bit unprofitable for him. So he turned to his father.
His father's price was relatively lower, but he requested to bring Killua along. After all, Killua had completed his trial, and it was time for him to start getting involved in the family business and try taking orders.
Illumi naturally supported this with both hands. He even specifically allocated a portion of the reward to Killua. He thought Killua's job would be to deal with those troublesome mafia underlings. With Killua's abilities, it would definitely be no problem.
Thus, they temporarily formed such a work team. Thinking about acting with his younger brother, Illumi's expressionless face still showed no change, but his heart felt a bit of joy. He decided to complete this mission perfectly, killing everyone cleanly, which could also be considered thanks to this client.
Killua, who was meditating, opened his eyes, unconsciously touched his neck, and muttered that his older brother's gaze was really annoying. However, thinking that he could finally start working like an adult, he couldn't help feeling a little anticipation.
In a research base in a certain forest, Gu Gu looked annoyed because the important target had escaped. This was a serious dereliction of duty for her, and she might be mocked by Tiger and Monkey later. Thinking that Rat might be standing by and ridiculing her, her anger couldn't help but flare up. She already had such a simulated scene in her mind.
"Where did that guy run off to?" asked a Nen user nearby.
Hearing the other person's words, Gu Gu frowned and said irritably, "The target possesses a Nen ability that allows him to teleport, and he set up an escape route in the base. As for the location—it's to our north. Judging by the remaining teleportation traces here, he most likely escaped to the Kukangchew Kingdom."
Hearing this, the Nen user next to her finally breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, it's not too far. I'll arrange an airship right away, and we can depart soon. With your ability, you should already be able to track him."
Gu Gu nodded. After thinking for a moment, she took out some stationery and wrote several letters. While doing so, she tied the letters to the legs of the pigeons she had summoned. She checked all the information about this operation. She learned that in the Kukangchew Kingdom, the area where similar problems might occur was the Biscayne National Park area. She remembered that a Hunter was in charge of handling related issues there. Regardless, she had to pass the information to the Hunters who might encounter the target.
After the letters were tied, pigeons flew one by one into the sky.
Meanwhile, in the forest, five people were moving quickly through the jungle. Kevin was leading the way at the front. Locke was in the middle of the group, Sant and White Tree were on the left and right, and Begetto was bringing up the rear.
Begetto saw a small dark shape flying rapidly at the edge of the sky within his sight.
"We should be glad this guy isn't flying too fast," Locke couldn't help complaining. Running at full speed in such a forest was extremely exhausting. Fortunately, he was also a Nen user, so his stamina could barely keep up. If the target flew any faster, he might not be able to keep up.
"These guys hid their base really deep. Few people would venture into such a remote part of the forest," White Tree remarked.
They had been running at full speed like this for most of the day. At this rate, it would be dark soon. By then, they would have to shorten the distance between each other, or they would likely be shaken off.
"The further away from civilization, the more dangerous it is," Locke murmured.