Chapter 112: Headhunters

Auren, aided by Konrad—who’s not only a genius at business but generally a smart person—strikes a deal with Zenji, who represents the Ten Dons. Konrad skillfully secures Zenji’s support while offering absolutely nothing of his own. Zenji promises complete honesty, the sharing of all related information, and even offers manpower in the safe zone.Konrad, meanwhile, offers nothing but just hints that they will deal with every single target, regardless of their location, vaguely hinting that they’ll take down anyone in their way, which causes Zenji to show a disgusting smile, hinting at his true aim, the weakening of any organisation that’s competing with them.

Every last visitor and outsider, except the barkeeper, has left the bar by now, which is therefore completely empty.

A little worried about the others, Auren texts Goreinu, telling him what happened and instructing him to watch the others closely, and proposes to spend their time within reach of the Royal Glam Hotel. He urges Goreinu to stop the others from wandering into the more dangerous, uncontrolled parts of town and to make them stay at the giant, luxurious hotel.

After what we are planning, we can’t be careful enough.

Zenji rubs his hands together and, looking a little nervous, asks Auren with a hopeful expression, “Excuse me... my men and I are ready. The question is... when would you be ready to start your hunt?”

“Right now. The night is still young,” Auren says. “Our cooperation will probably spread fast. It’s better to strike while the iron is hot. If possible, let’s start right away.”

“Great!” Zenji replies, smiling in a way that makes Auren uneasy.

This disgusting frog... whatever. It’s for my benefit. Also, it’s a smart idea to ally with the Mafia. They’re reliable and present across the whole world.

“I’ve prepared my strongest men for this mission; we’re willing to help you,” Zenji says, making a quick call.

A few minutes later, the promised men arrive and wait downstairs.

Auren, followed by Neffi and his three students, goes downstairs behind Zenji, who nods at his men. They all stand in formation, clearly showing their respect.

“How do you want to operate, Master Auren?” Zenji asks. “My men are ready to get rid of these filthy targets at any time. The four team leaders know the likely locations of our targets.”

“Four team leaders? Sorry, we’ll only split into teams of two,” Auren answers. “I know that isn’t ideal, but I won’t compromise on this. Also, make sure we avoid the witch we talked about earlier. I need more information first, and I don’t want to rush things.”

Vanessa steps forward, ready to complain, but Auren turns and glares at her. His Aura flares briefly.

Looking stunned, Vanessa retreats and nods in resignation.

“No problem. We don’t have her exact location anyway,” Zenji says. “I’ll instruct my men to find out more. In any case, you are faster on foot. If you’re ready... let’s start now. Men, please guide Master Auren and his comrades. Their orders take precedence, I don’t want to hear any complaints later.”

So that guy won’t join us... what a surprise.

“Neffi, you take Eren and Konrad,” Auren says. “Vanessa, you’re with me.”

“Zenji... this team,” Auren says, pointing to Neffi, Konrad, and Eren, “will focus on the easier targets that are not protected heavily. Leave the more dangerous and guarded targets to me,” Auren adds.

Now the whole group looks visibly confused. “Auren... why? Just you and... you want to take Vanessa with you?” Konrad asks, his face shocked.

“Shut up!” Vanessa snaps, smirking. “He made his decision. Listen to your master. It’s a suitable assignment for someone like you who’s easily scared, Konrad.”

“This is not a good idea!” Konrad protests, but Neffi puts a hand on his shoulder. “Trust him. I understand his reasoning,” she says, nodding at Auren, who smiles back.

If I can fully focus on Vanessa, she’ll be much safer. With Azure Restoration, it won’t be a problem even if she gets hurt. I also want to supervise her—I’m not willing to keep giving a raging psychopath more combat strength by teaching her. I need to see what she’s really about. I want to see control and at least some restraint.

“Let’s go then,” Zenji says. “I’ll coordinate things from our nearby base. Please follow my men. They might not be Nen users, but they’re all former military, and they’re armed. They are as capable as expensive mercenaries.”

“They won’t need to fight,” Auren announces. “Just bring us to our desired targets; that will be more than sufficient.”

Konrad immediately adds, “That way you can also argue you had nothing to do with it... That’s what you are after, right?”

Zenji smiles, looking away from him, before nodding softly.

“So predictable...” Konrad mumbles.

Everyone, including the newly called Mafia members, moves outside, leaving the messy bar behind.

Before they split up, Auren looks at Neffi, his eyes filled with concern. “Be careful... if things get dangerous, bail. Our survival is the most important thing. Remember, this is training! No need to risk your lives for a stupid bounty!”

“I’ll be careful, you can trust me! With my new clothing, I’m more than confident in taking down anyone... including you!” Neffi says, staring at Auren.

Well... she can dream. At least she’s confident, I give her that. Her ability to control and manipulate her clothes, especially her custom-made clothes, made out of nanofibres, should be enough to protect her from bullets. She is invincible against non-Nen users. She can manipulate her clothes freely. Despite being a Manipulator, she is strong enough in Enhancement—at least when she uses it on her clothes—to make herself quite durable. The combination of her nanofibre clothes and her decent use of Enhancement is easily enough to protect her, even from larger bullets. With Ken, I believe she could even withstand bullets fired from high-caliber sniper rifles, at least if no Aura is involved.

She can also use Emission to control her clothes remotely. With her abilities, she can turn her scarf into a flying guillotine, beheading people in a flash. Her jacket becomes a shield while her clothes shield her body. More importantly, she can use her Hatsu to protect not only herself but also the others. Neffi is a great Nen user.

Meanwhile, Vanessa, still holding the bloody curtain, approaches Zenji. “Please hold that for me....”

Zenji, accepting the bloody curtain, looking a little disturbed, still decides to obey, but quickly hands the head-filled curtain to one of his men.

Auren, followed by Vanessa, approaches one group of Mafia members and briefly flares up his Aura, via Ren.

Everyone in front of him, some whose faces initially showed a hint of skepticism, turns serious.

“Go ahead... just tell me where to go,” Auren adds.

“This will be a bloody night...” the leader says with a smirk. “Please follow me, Hunter...!”

Auren and Vanessa rush after the leader and his men, who take a few back alleys and run towards the Lawless Zone, their steps careful and precise, obviously aware of the geography inside the zone.

It only takes five minutes until they reach a small house.

“Two criminals, the Hinoi brothers, are living here... they are wanted for murder. They have lured a total of seven middle-aged women to their deaths and scammed another twenty-eight,” the leader explains. “They have a talent for convincing them to... ‘serve them’. That doesn’t warrant an international bounty, but one of their victims was the wife of a somewhat famous politician, which is the reason for their bounties, which are abnormally high. The politician has personally put up ten million for each one, meaning he is paying more than governments themselves. That’s the reason why the brothers are hiding in Glam Gas Land, far away from more... civilized areas.”

“I see...” Auren responds, “makes sense, I guess.”

“These guys are unlucky, huh?” Vanessa asks, amused by their fate. “They sure deserve it!”

Auren then takes out his documents and identifies his targets—the elder brother being worth sixteen million, the younger one seventeen million.

Indeed... looks like they are showing us the profitable targets first... I wonder why they have been tolerating them for so long. Looks like the Mafia is tired of the status quo and is getting bolder. They are going against the code. It looks like there was some sort of equilibrium, every larger organisation deciding not to target each other, even those loosely connected to one of them. These brothers must have paid for their security. Now that we hunters are here, the Don is willing to break the current standstill. Interesting.

“You’ll go first,” Auren says. “Prove to me that you can make logical and intelligent decisions. This is a test....”

“I... okay!” Vanessa responds, slightly confused, but not backing down.

While Vanessa gathers her Aura under her feet and jumps onto the small balcony, Auren uses En, easily covering the entire building with his Aura.

“Four people inside that house, all on the support floor in one room,” Auren says, pointing towards the room in question.

Vanessa reacts by jumping onto the small outer windowsill and then decisively jumps through the window.

Still sensing his surroundings with his En, Auren notices how she takes out a gun and shoots two people without hesitation.

The two remaining ones stand up in panic before rushing at her, their arms clumsily stretched out.

Vanessa dodges, puts away her guns, and swiftly knocks them out, leaving them behind, before making a stop in another room.

Clean... decisive... brilliant. What is she doing in that other room? Is that the bedroom?

Vanessa then heads back to the other room, pulls out a knife, and collects her victims’ heads, cleanly severing each one in a single, fluid motion. She wraps them up and jumps back down, out of the house, before turning to the Mafia members. In her hands are two blood-soaked bedsheets, a small stream of blood leaking through and dripping onto the floor. “I’ll leave the cleanup to you. Let’s move on!” Vanessa says, her voice full of energy.

She... has grown. She is talented! I thought she was crazy, but that isn’t the case. She is just ruthless. I don’t see a hint of hesitation. She is a born killer....