September 1st, 8:32 PM.
As the balloon lands on the building, Shalnark, with a little help from Franklin, expertly controls the balloon. The Troupe, along with Alex and Jewel, step out onto the building roof.
Alex has already put away his items, as he wouldn't be able to enter with his combat gear. His giant sword, infernal shield, and armor are simply too eye-catching to get away with it. However, he remains ready to re-equip everything at a moment's notice, something he's spent practicing and, thanks to the system, can be done within a few seconds.
"This is a bad night..." Shizuku mutters quietly.
"Still frustrated about losing to that boy during arm wrestling?" Franklin asks. "Focus on the mission now. You might be able to steal a far better diamond."
"...Fine," Shizuku replies without any energy.
I didn't see that... damn, so that still happened? She armwrestled Gon? I didn't spend all day with her yesterday; we split up at some point.
Princess Jewel thinks the system is always making sure certain key events happen. If Soulmate and Princess Jewel don't go out of their way to make changes, it will slowly but surely revert to the original way.
You might be onto something there, Jewel.
"You sure you can handle this, Hunter?" Uvogin jokes. "Why are you staring at the sky? This is not some cozy little mission of yours."
"He's probably talking with little Jewel," Shalnark points out.
"How boring. You shouldn't waste your time talking to your twisted, scary pet. At this point, you might as well be called a pet yourself," Uvogin jokes, laughing loudly, his voice echoing through the surrounding buildings as it carries through the gaps.
"Shut the fuck up!" Alex retorts. "How about you guard the balloon and let us handle things? You're probably the worst thief I've ever seen. You might as well scream and announce our attack. I swear, one day you'll drag me down with you with your stupidity."
"He has a point," Shalnark says. "You're a strong fighter, but you are not very..."
"What?!" Uvogin interrupts him, glaring at him.
"Subtle," Alex continues Shalnark's sentence.
"Look, big guy, let us deal with this, and when this inevitably leads to a big confrontation, which I assume will happen after fucking with the Mafia committee that unites the damn Mafia all around the world, you can go wild. You'll get first bite, okay?"
"Really?" Uvogin wonders, stroking his chin before breaking into a grin. "Not a bad deal! I guess I'm fine with that. I'll hold you to that!"
"Just let me get the last hit if some strong ones show up," Alex mutters.
I want the chests!
Stupid Peasant Brute.
"Last hit? Huh?! What do you mean?" Uvogin asks, not understanding as Alex, Feitan, Shalnark, Shizuku, and Franklin get off the building.
Strangely, Machi and Nobunaga follow them as well.
"Machi, Nobunaga, what is going on?" Shalnark asks.
"I... my instinct tells me that we should all go," she points out. "I don't know what... but I smell danger. I can't really say details, but I have a feeling we're walking into a trap."
"He...hehehehe!" Uvogin yells. "That means... I can go as well! No need to wait."
"..."
"What did we even make plans for?" Alex asks.
"...the boss told me to trust your instinct, Machi, but you follow us later. You can act once we begin the action. That way, we'll attack from both the inside and outside. If we're being attacked, you can strike back from the rear." Shalnark reasons.
"Fine," Machi replies.
"Hehe... hehehe," Uvogin laughs crazily, cracking his knuckles.
Princess Jewel is disgusted by this Peasant's behavior.
"Me as well," Feitan replies, not even paying much attention. "Oh. This feels strangely natural. I guess I wouldn't mind having a pet of my own around that's this smart. A poisonous spider could be useful for torturing enemies."
"I'll beat you all up when this is over..." Uvogin mutters, glaring at Feitan and Jewel.
Cackling, the group, excluding Machi, Nobunaga, and Uvogin, who plan to enter at a later time, follow Feitan.
At exactly 20:53, with just seven minutes before the auction begins, most people are already inside the premises, and they enter the building through a side entrance.
"Who are you? Aren't you a little late? The auction is about to start. Which Family do you work for?" a few guards in black suits ask, seemingly not alarmed.
These Peasants... they smell like blood.
They are Mafia members, Jewel... the worst of the worst. Murderers, criminals, every single one of them is practically irredeemable. That is the only reason I'm going along with this shit.
Without any warning, Jewel pounces from Alex's head, activating Ren as she's airborne and pierces her spear-like legs straight through them. Like an unstoppable, lightning-fast spear thrust, her strikes leave them no chance to dodge or block, and the four guards are riddled with deep holes within seconds, as she stabs again and again, her legs blurry because she thrusts so fast.
Jewel has dealt...
Alex ignores the messages but can't help but be impressed.
So strong... damn, this spider is scary!
Jewel jumps back onto Alex's head after barely three seconds, just as the guards collapse onto the ground.
Feitan can't help but whistle in approval.
"Scary, but you did a good job, Jewel," Shalnark comments. "Let's hurry."
Making their way through the underground auction, the group moves under Zetsu, drawing no attention to themselves.
Wearing the right clothes, despite their somewhat unorthodox appearance, and thanks to Franklin's intimidating presence, nobody questions them. Despite his monstrous appearance, this kind of thing isn't unusual among Mafia members, as their members are often unique, wounded, or even scary on purpose for intimidation purposes.
They make their way behind the stage, encountering only bored personnel, who do not question them.
"Nobody is taking this seriously," Alex says. "The Mafia community hasn't been attacked... ever, I think. Nobody can even imagine something like this happening. But I expected something different...."
"Too easy," Feitan says, snapping the necks of a whole room full of members, granting them access to the stage from the back.
"Why are we going to the stage? We want the items, right? Couldn't we just go to the safe, right away?" Alex asks.
"Let's first clean up," Franklin replies coldly.
"Fine..." Alex says, shrugging lightly.
Not entering the stage, like Feitan and Franklin, only glancing toward it, Alex sees around a thousand participants, the underground auction surprisingly well attended.
He notices many of them are older and carry a sinister air, likely the leaders of various smaller gangs and organisations.
Finally, at exactly 9 PM, Feitan and Franklin move forward to the auctioner's desk located at the center of the stage.
Alex, despite feeling the urge to watch this gruesome but iconic scene, keeps his attention on the surroundings instead, deliberately not focusing too much on the stage itself.
He walks back toward the side corridor next to the auction room, aiming for the front entrance to the chamber where he sees Shizuku outside, casually patrolling the area. She already holds her conjured vacuum cleaner in her hand, quietly cleaning a few spots.
No guards... guess they've already been taken care of.
Princess Jewel is slightly intrigued by this vacuum cleaner.
"You can say hello to Blinky later," Shizuku says, waving at Jewel.
Hearing the sound from inside the auction room, Alex recognizes Feitan's voice.
"Welcome, everyone."
Despite that, Alex moves on, staying alert, keeping watch for anything out of the ordinary.
"So, I'm skipping the formalities..." Feitan says in an icy, almost amused voice.
"Die!" Franklin suddenly yells.
What follows are countless gunshots, the sound resembling hundreds of guns being fired at once, echoing through the building. Even Alex, who's used to carnage, is surprised by this scene that could be part of a movie depicting warfare.
A little disgusted by the scene unfolding behind the doors, Alex lets out a quiet sigh.
Just Peasant Mafia members. Soulmate should not be concerned. Also, it's not his interference that's causing this. Expecting Soulmate to go out of his way to prevent this is simply unreasonable, especially for vile peasants like that.
"Yeah, yeah," Alex says, "I know, Jewel. Might as well play the full part then and stop being a hypocrite."
Alex draws his [Executioner's Blade R2], equips his other items, and waits right next to the door, which suddenly bursts open.
Two people, one tall man and a woman, rush out, only for Jewel to immediately spray them with her Namtaru web, stopping them in place and preventing any forward movement.
In a single, fluid motion, Alex activates Ren and executes a clean, forceful horizontal slash, cutting their bodies apart without any visible wounds at first. Their weak bodies and even weaker Auras are unable to put up even the slightest resistance against Alex's overpowering blade.
You have dealt 221 damage to Ivlenkov
You have killed Ivlenkov
You have dealt 207 damage to Baise
You have killed Baise
It takes three seconds of gravitational force for their bodies to fully separate, their upper halves sliding off before hitting the ground.
Staring at the bodies, Alex sighs, slightly annoyed as he isn't even rewarded for his efforts, as no chests appear.
"That was... clean..." Shizuku mutters, her eyes drawn to Alex's blade. "The sword you had earlier was conjured? You were just wearing the suit like us, so I thought you were unarmed and had left your weapons behind... so they were conjured after all. You can conjure so many things... I can just conjure Blinky."
Making somewhat cute, yet unsettling sounds, the demonic vacuum cleaner immediately cleans up their bodies.
Noticing that the gunshots have stopped, Shizuku turns toward Alex.
"Let's go inside. We are done."
Back inside, Shizuku immediately begins cleaning up, her vacuum cleaner effortlessly sucking up both blood and bodies. Alex stands slightly aside as they deal with one more survivor who threatens them, before Shizuku finishes him off and cleans him up just as easily.
"How utterly boring!" a loud voice echoes from behind as Uvogin, Nobunaga, and Machi appear.
"I've located the safe!" Shalnark yells, appearing from behind the stage.
"Let's grab our loot and disappear," he continues with a smile, not a trace of guilt visible in his voice.
"What's that sword you're holding, Hunter? I thought you went in empty-handed; can't deal with these weaklings unarmed?" Uvogin asks, glancing at Alex.
"Don't start again," Machi says, rolling her eyes.
"Silly conjurers and their toys," Uvogin mutters, before pausing as Shizuku silently glares at him. "Sorry... this wasn't directed at you, of course."
"Stop the bullshit and let's move on!" Alex says, growing slightly uncomfortable.
This feels wrong...!
"En!" Alex calls out. "... ... nobody nearby. This can't be it? Didn't Chrollo say something would happen?"
He then turns to Machi. "So did you, right?! Tell me something."
"Maybe I was wrong?" Machi replies, looking almost apologetic. "It was just an instinct... I don't know why you people are trusting my damn instinct this much, and the boss tends to be overcautious sometimes."
"Let's not dwell on it and get the items," Shalnark says, leading the group toward the safe in the back.
Somehow... I have a bad feeling about this... am I just imagining things? That special Invitation from Bushidora... seven unaccounted Players...! No, I have the Troupe with me; what can even realistically happen?
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