"What a bunch of idiots. Thinking they can rob our Boss's auction? We'll catch them all in one net. Pity, though. All this treasure, and none of it is mine. Damn old geezers!"
Owl complained as he worked, his hands moving with practiced efficiency.
The Shadow Beasts were the Ten Dons' elite enforcers. Each member was a monster in their own right. Owl might not have been a frontline brawler, but his utility was unmatched.
[Nen Ability: Fun Fun Cloth]
[Type: Conjuration]
He summoned a special cloth that acted like a bag of holding. Anything covered by it—objects, people, cars—shrank instantly to fit inside. It was the perfect smuggling tool.
Within fifteen minutes, the massive vault was stripped bare. Gold, jewels, artifacts—everything was gone, leaving not even a speck of dust.
Owl wiped sweat from his brow.
"Exhausting. But the Boss promised a 200 million bonus for this. After this job, I'm going to find a few high-class women and make them scream my name!"
He grinned, turning to leave.
"Thanks for your hard work. If you're done packing, you can leave the bag here. You, however, can die."
The voice was unfamiliar. Smooth. Mocking.
Owl froze. His instincts screamed danger.
He spun around, unleashing a vicious whip-kick that cracked the air.
Whoosh.
His leg hit nothing but empty space. The intruder had moved—no, teleported—backwards, effortlessly dodging the blow.
"Nice ability," the intruder remarked, shrugging. "But your martial arts are mediocre. And your situational awareness? abysmal. I wonder what the Ten Dons were thinking, hiring a weakling like you."
The man smiled. He wore a jester's outfit, complete with face paint. And on his exposed back, a tattoo was clearly visible.
A Spider.
Number 4.
Owl's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
The Phantom Troupe!
"You look down on me?" Owl's face twisted into a snarl. "I am a Shadow Beast! Do you think we are pushovers?!"
He summoned his Fun Fun Cloth, casting it like a net. "Die!"
"Heh."
The intruder—Hisoka (Ryker)—chuckled.
Zap.
Arcs of lightning flickered. Ryker vanished.
Before Owl could blink, Ryker was behind him.
Owl's vision suddenly spun. The world tilted sideways. He saw the ceiling, then the wall, then the floor. And then... he saw a headless body standing in front of him.
Wait. That's my suit.
Thud.
His head hit the floor. The last thing he saw was a playing card landing beside his nose.
I'm... dead?
Darkness.
[DING! You killed Shadow Beast member: Owl.]
[DING! Plundering Traits...]
[DING! Acquired: {Conjuration Talent} (Purple), {Fun Fun Cloth} (Gold), {Agility} (Double Blue).]
[System: {Conjuration Talent} (Purple) fusing... Upgrade Complete: {Conjuration Talent} (Double Purple).]
The notifications rang like a slot machine jackpot.
[Trait: Fun Fun Cloth (Gold)]
[Effect: Shrink and store any object or living being. Capture strength depends on user's aura.]
A Bag of Holding.
Ryker grinned. "Perfect. Essential for home travel and highway robbery."
He stepped over the corpse and picked up the small bundle of cloth containing the entire contents of the vault.
"Oh, right. The audience."
Ryker reached into Owl's pocket and pulled out a tiny pinhole camera. Owl, the fool, hadn't even realized his bosses were spying on him.
Ryker held the camera up to his face, letting the "Hisoka" persona shine through.
"Heh. Hiding behind a screen? Don't worry. The Spider will find you soon. We're going to kill all of you... you old fossils."
Crunch.
He crushed the camera between his fingers.
Ten Dons' Headquarters.
The feed cut to static.
Ten of the most powerful mob bosses in the world sat in silence. Then, the room exploded.
"FUCK! Did you see that?!"
"Phantom Troupe! They're declaring war!"
"Kill them! Send the rest of the Shadow Beasts! Wipe them out!"
Ryker's little performance had worked. The Ten Dons were furious. They would now mobilize everything they had against the Spiders. The heat on the Troupe would be immense.
The Vault.
Ryker looked at the cloth in his hand.
"One hundred billion Jenny, easy," he mused. He didn't know the exact value, but it didn't matter. It was all his now.
He pocketed the loot.
"Now, cleanup."
He looked at Owl's corpse.
"Open the door!" Ryker shouted, mimicking Owl's voice perfectly.
The heavy steel doors groaned open. The guards outside stood at attention.
"Sir! Is everything—"
They stopped.
Standing in the doorway was not Owl. It was a tall man with a tear drop painted on his cheek.
"Who are you?! Where is Lord Owl?!"
One guard peered past Ryker and saw the headless body.
"HE KILLED OWL! ATTACK! DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE!"
"My, my. So noisy," Ryker sighed. "Where are your manners?"
Fwip-fwip-fwip!
Playing cards flew from his hands, razor-sharp and coated in Nen.
Heads rolled. Necks sprayed crimson fountains.
[DING! You killed Mobster A...]
[DING! You killed Mobster B...]
Ryker ignored the spam notifications. He raised a hand.
[Lightning Style: Corpse Clone]
Electricity surged from his fingers, grabbing the dead bodies. They twitched, then stood up.
Ryker repaired the damage with simple transmutation, reattaching heads and sealing wounds. He injected a simple AI command into their brains.
Wait for the Spiders. Then... Boom.
"Art is an explosion, after all," Ryker chuckled.
He walked out of the empty vault, leaving behind a room full of ticking time bombs.
The Auction Hall.
The venue was packed. Billionaires, celebrities, and criminals mingled in the opulent hall.
Dalzollene was sweating, scanning the crowd. Squala's dogs were restless.
On the main stage, the curtain rose.
Two men stood there. One was massive, with earlobes stretching to his shoulders. The other was short, wearing a dark feitan cloak.
Franklin and Feitan.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen," Feitan said, his voice amplified by the microphone.
The crowd went silent.
"We will skip the formalities," Feitan grinned, his eyes narrowing.
"Please... die."
Franklin stepped forward. He raised his hands. The tips of his fingers detached, falling away to reveal black, hollow barrels.
Machine guns.
The crowd gasped.
"DIE!"
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
A storm of Nen bullets erupted from Franklin's fingers.
The massacre had begun.
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