"Who are you? Why do you want information about the Phantom Troupe?"
The big man spoke in a low voice, both hands already poised. In the next instant, he could unleash a barrage like a machine gun.
"My, my, no need to get so worked up. I only want to know how I can join the Troupe."
The young man in the black trench coat seemed not to notice the big man's and the bandaged man's vigilance or the defensive stances they had taken. He still spoke with an easy smile.
"If you want to join the Troupe, then one of our members would have to die for some reason first. Only then would the Boss go looking for a replacement. But unfortunately for you, the Troupe already has enough members at the moment."
The bandaged oddball answered in a sinister tone.
"Is that so?"
The man in the trench coat rubbed his hands together, then lifted his head, his deep-set eyes sweeping over the three of them.
"But I also heard that if you want to join the Troupe, there's another way. Kill one of the current members first, and then you can take that person's place as a new member."
The moment they heard that, both the big man and the bandaged man visibly tensed up. Their faces turned grim, and the atmosphere instantly grew cold.
"Judging from your reaction, that information must be true. So it really is true…"
The trench-coated man rose to his feet, his gaze moving back and forth between the big man and the bandaged man.
"So, which one of you is willing to become my stepping stone?"
As soon as those words fell, the big man's ten fingers detached directly from his hands. They remained connected by iron chains, and the severed fingers turned into gun barrels.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One powerful Nen bullet after another fired out from those finger-barrels, streaking toward the trench-coated man at incredible speed.
"You bastard, don't get too full of yourself! The Phantom Troupe isn't something a nobody like you can just challenge!"
While the big man was peeling off his fingers, the bandaged weirdo moved as well.
The strips of cloth wrapped all around his body began to fall away one by one, exposing the body beneath. It was riddled with holes of all different sizes.
Boom! Boom!
The Nen bullets struck the place where the trench-coated man stood, producing violent explosions and kicking up massive clouds of dust.
The now-unwrapped Bonolenov Ndongo also began to dance. As he moved, strange sounds emerged from the many holes in his body.
The barrage of Nen bullets stopped, but none of them relaxed in the slightest. They all waited for the dust to settle and reveal the result.
The smoke gradually began to clear. Before the figure inside had even come into view, they heard a voice that made all of them stiffen.
"Honestly, all this dust is going to dirty my clothes. And were you two trying to scratch an itch for me?"
"Battle Cantabile: Jupiter!"
Bonolenov Ndongo roared in anger, and above his head appeared a gigantic sphere resembling Jupiter.
"Go!"
The Jupiter sphere shot straight toward the source of the voice at a speed completely at odds with its massive size.
"Jupiter? Tch. What kind of planet is that supposed to be? If that counts as a planet, then everyone in the world would have planet-destroying power."
A scornful voice rang out from the still-unsettled dust, accompanied by a strange chant.
"Ka… me… ha…"
Far away, on the other side of the Yorbian Continent, Roy, who was in the middle of training, suddenly sensed something. His expression shifted.
"A technique with that kind of aura… Kamehameha? So besides the healing technique, that guy actually knows this one too."
"…me… HA!!!"
A gigantic blue sphere of light burst out from the smoke at astonishing speed, blowing away all the dust!
Boom!
Like a meteor, the blue sphere slammed into the Jupiter Bonolenov Ndongo had created.
Crack!
Bonolenov Ndongo's Jupiter was utterly unable to withstand it. The moment it came into contact with the blue sphere, it rapidly split apart and collapsed.
"Impossible!!!"
It was too easy!
Battle Cantabile: Jupiter had been destroyed that easily?!
That was supposed to be one of his strongest and most powerful techniques!
"Bonolenov Ndongo's Jupiter actually…"
The big man beside him stared in horror. This was the first time he had ever seen someone meet Bonolenov Ndongo's Jupiter head-on and shatter it outright.
Even Feitan would only dodge it with his incredible speed.
The Boss, at most, would use one of his stolen, bizarre abilities to dissolve it.
"Hah! So this is your so-called Jupiter? It's nowhere near the power of a real planet. Are you people playing some kind of model game? And with dancing that ugly, too."
"You bastard!"
The veins on Bonolenov Ndongo's forehead bulged.
He could not tolerate anyone insulting the Gyudondond tribe's faith in the planets and in the dance of battle like this.
"Battle Cantabile: Mars…"
In the next instant, Bonolenov Ndongo began dancing again. But before the holes in his body could produce any sound, three murky noises came from behind him.
"Stop dancing. It's hideous. And that sound is hideous too."
The big man and Bonolenov Ndongo both shuddered violently. Then the big man roared:
"Run! Bono—"
But before he could finish shouting, a head rolled down from the rocks with a thud, coming to a stop right by his feet.
Thump!
A body hit the ground, accompanied by a few strange noises, just like the sounds Bonolenov Ndongo had produced while dancing earlier.
The Frankenstein-like big man lowered his head in disbelief and met the dead gaze of Bonolenov Ndongo's severed head.
He could clearly see that in Bonolenov Ndongo's lifeless eyes, there was still a trace of fear.
"You…"
The big man wanted to say something, but his throat refused to produce the words.
He had only come to relay one of the Boss's orders and to let Shizuku Murasaki get acquainted with the other Troupe members. How had things suddenly turned into this…
It all felt too unreal.
But the Frankenstein-like big man had crawled his way through blood and carnage to get here, so he quickly forced himself back to his senses. His expression complicated, he looked at the trench-coated man standing nearby.
This guy had taken my Nen bullets without a scratch, casually destroyed Bonolenov Ndongo's Jupiter, possessed speed no less than Feitan's, and before Bonolenov Ndongo could even react, he had already cut off his head.
With strength like that… just who is he?
(End of Chapter)
[200 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]