After Marco ran away, he looked back and saw no one following. He breathed a sigh of relief. When he had looked into Victor's eyes, he truly thought he was going to die the boy's aura was so cold it felt like staring at death itself.
Once he calmed down, Marco found a public phone booth. The phone rang for fifteen seconds before a voice answered.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Boss, it's me, Marco," he said hurriedly.
The tone of the voice on the other side changed instantly. "Oh, Marco. Have you finished the task?"
"Boss, I made contact with the target and explained the details," Marco replied cautiously.
"And? What did he say?" the voice asked eagerly.
"Boss... he declined the offer."
There was silence for a moment. "Did you mention Don Veretti's name?"
"Yes, but he still said no."
The line went silent for thirty seconds. Finally, the voice said, "Okay, I understand," and the call cut off. Marco hung up the phone, shaking.
He knew that when the Boss sounded calm, he was actually at his angriest.
On the other side...
After Nacho put the phone down, a small smile flickered on his face before disappearing. He walked to the Don Veretti's office, knocked, and waited.
Two minutes later, he heard, "Come in."
Nacho walked inside and saw Don Veretti was sitting on his chair and was smoking a cigar.
Seeing Nacho standing Don Veretti said "Oh, Nacho, come sit," and pointed towards to a chair.
Nacho saw on the chair and looked at Don Veretti and said "Boss, the brat declined our offer,"
Hearing this Don Veretti crushed his cigar into the ashtray and slammed his hand on the table. "That brat! That little brat dares to say no to me?" he shouted angrily.
After venting his anger, he looked at Nacho coldly. "Send those two 150th-floor fighters we just hired. Tell them to give that brat a painful death and send me a photo of his body when they're done."
"Understood, Boss," Nacho said, standing up to leave.
Once back in his own room, Nacho locked the door and closed the curtains. A dark smile spread across his face. "Finally... the day for my revenge is here."
He looked at the phone and muttered, "Don Veretti, you fool. If you knew that kid's true power, you wouldn't dream of sending fighters from floor 150th after all he fought with a Zoldyck."
After saying that, Nacho picked up the phone and dialed a secret number. "I have a job for you. I'm sending the details now."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victor, unaware of the specific plan against him, walked through the streets. He knew that when you reject a gang, they usually strike back.
Since gang members aren't usually very smart, he expected them to send some thugs eventually. After twenty minutes, he reached home, locked the door, and went to sleep.
Two hours later, two men stood outside Victor's house. They were twins; one had long hair and the other had short hair.
"Kane, is this the right address?" the long-haired one asked.
"According to Don Veretti's men, this is the place, Abel," Kane replied.
Abel nodded. "Let's start. He's a good fighter, so let's finish this before he notices we're here."
They walked to the door. Kane used a pin to pick the lock, and after a minute, they heard a small click. Inside, Victor's sharp senses heard the sound instantly.
He opened his eyes, glanced at the door, and then went back to pretending he was asleep.
Kane and Abel slowly pushed the door open and saw Victor lying in bed. Kane stayed by the door to watch while Abel moved forward. When Abel reached the bed, Victor moved quickly.
Victor grabbed Abel's arm and pulled him off balance. Before Abel could react, Victor used a quick move to knock him unconscious.
Anatomical Insight (Blue) acquired.
Victor ignored system prompt for now and then turned his attention to Kane.
Kane tried to run, but Victor was faster. He reached the door and stopped Kane before he could escape, quickly knocking him out as well.
With the two intruders defeated, Victor opened his status panel to check his new talent.
Name: Victor Kross
Age: 12
Talents:
Purple: Aura Intuition, Ghost Rhythm
Blue: Tactical Master, Anatomical Insight, Steel Vitreous Physique.
Green: Nen Aptitude: Natural Talent, Polyglot Intuition.
Victor focused on the new talents which he obtained recently.
[Anatomical Insight] (Blue)
Description : Congratulations! You've finally realized that the human body is just a collection of poorly placed tubes and hinges. Instead of just stabbing randomly like a hungry scavenger, you now aim for the 'off-switches.' You're essentially a surgeon who lost his medical license and replaced his scalpel with a combat knife. It's a very clean way to do very dirty work.
[Polyglot Intuition] (Green)
Description : You finally stopped talking like a gutter rat. You've realized that people aren't just making random mouth-noises; they're actually using 'languages.' Your brain has developed a weird cheat code for grammar and vocabulary. You can now insult people in five different dialects with perfect grammar. Truly, the most lethal weapon in your arsenal.
Although Victor was used to the system's sarcasm, his mouth still twitched as he read the descriptions.
After closing the system panel, Victor looked at the two men. He pulled out two chairs and placed them side by side.
He moved both men onto the chairs and tied them up with rope, making sure they couldn't escape immediately if they woke up.
While searching the floor, Victor found the knife Abel had dropped when he was punched.
Victor picked it up and instantly felt a strange heaviness. It wasn't because of its physical weight.
Victor sensed aura coming from the blade. He tested the edge and realized it was incredibly sharp, so sharp it could easily pierce even Victor's dense skin.
Recognizing he had found a treasure, Victor examined the knife for more details.
The blade was beautiful, with intricate patterns etched into the metal. Near the base of the blade, he noticed the number 4 engraved clearly.
Victor couldn't figure out what the number meant, so he decided he would have to find an expert to identify it.
Victor then stuffed cloth into both of their mouths and sealed them with tape.
After that, he decided to test the new knife.
He cut the Achilles tendons on both of their legs. Since they were fighters, he made sure to cut both legs so they couldn't stand or run.
Kane and Abel instantly snapped awake from the intense pain, their eyes bulging, but they couldn't make a sound through the tape.
Victor pulled up a stool, sat down in front of them, and stared at them with a cold look.
To Kane and Abel, it felt like they were being watched by a beast.
Victor focused on Abel, the one who had tried to stab him.
He reached out, grabbed Abel's hand, and pulled his pinky finger forward. Abel's face was filled with pure horror.
Before he could even try to muffled scream, Victor spoke in a flat voice.
"This is for trying to kill me."
With a quick slash Victor severed Abel's pinky finger. He then took the bloody finger and placed it into Abel's other hand.
Abel's expression was a mix of agony, terror, and a lingering hint of hatred.
On the other chair, Kane watched everything, his face pale with absolute fear.
After cutting Abel finger Victor sat on the stool with bloody knife in his hand.
Victor took a clean cloth and started cleaning the blade. As he wiped the blood away, he looked at Abel and Kane with an icy stare.
"Now, we will play a game," he said.
"The rules are simple: I will ask a question, and you will answer me within five seconds. If you don't answer, I will sever one finger. If you still don't answer, I will move on to your limbs and other parts of your body."
Hearing this, both Abel and Kane were truly terrified. Kane, in particular, broke down and started crying on the spot.
Victor was not affected. In Meteor City, he had learned one very important thing: never show mercy. If you become soft, it will eventually come back to bite you.
If you show mercy to the world, it doesn't mean the world will show mercy to you.
After cleaning the blade, Victor held it just two centimeters away from Kane's pinky finger. He looked at him and asked calmly, "Who sent you to kill me?"
As Victor asked, he ripped the tape off Kane's mouth.
Kane immediately cried out, "Don Veretti!"
Victor resealed Kane's mouth and turned to Abel. He placed the knife over Abel's second finger and asked, "Who are you?"
After asking, Victor opened the tape on Abel's mouth.
Abel replied quickly, "We... we are fighters from Heavens Arena. We just recently joined Don Veretti!"
Victor closed Abel's mouth again. He sat back down on his stool, looked at both of them, and said, "Since you answered my questions, I will give you a painless death."
Before either of them could react, Victor's blade pierced their hearts. In an instant, the light faded from their eyes, and both men lost their lives.