In close combat, there was no chance of winning, but the unique properties of their Nen Abilities might still bring a turn of events.
However, their determined assault did not yield the imagined results.
In the not-too-long exchange, Eya took another palm strike, suffering severe internal injuries. She immediately lost all combat ability and fell, not far from death.
Because the bones in his wrists were shattered, Deerbie failed to capitalize on the timing when Eya was struck down.
And after Eya fell in vain, Deerbie began to think of retreating.
With Eya there, their cooperation might have found an opportunity. Without Eya, staying alone meant certain death.
At the same time, he clearly understood this old woman wouldn't venture far from the hospital room, so his chance of successful retreat was one hundred percent.
But before he could even feel relief, the arrival of Morel and his group shattered Deerbie's wishful thinking.
Linne also saw Morel and the others, neatly split into two teams, blocking the paths on the left and right.
At this moment, although Linne was uninjured, her breathing was ragged, seemingly having expended a considerable amount of stamina.
'Can't deny the effects of age,' Linne thought silently. Then, in front of everyone, she directly opened the door and walked back inside.
The remaining one was already crippled by her. With Morel and the others' strength, he could be easily dealt with, so naturally, she didn't need to take action anymore.
Her action of opening the door and entering was like sounding a horn.
Both Deerbie and Morel's group moved.
The difference was, Deerbie wanted to run, while Morel and the others wanted to keep him there.
Setting aside how well Morel and Knov coordinated, Deerbie, fighting alone, was already at an absolute disadvantage.
Moreover, the shattered bones in his wrists were a fatal factor.
The pursuit didn't last long before Deerbie fell in despair.
As he breathed his last, a faint, muffled sound emanated from somewhere on his body.
Immediately after, the corpse began to melt like wax, quickly turning into a liquid state, flowing across the floor, leaving only his clothes behind.
Upon hearing that strange sound, Morel and the others immediately retreated, putting distance between themselves and the body, watching helplessly as Deerbie's corpse turned into melted slag.
"Taking him alive might have yielded some information," Knov said, looking at the remaining clothes on the ground.
"He was strong, the risk of capturing him alive was too great," Morel said, taking a few steps forward. He frowned slightly as he looked at the melted slag emitting a foul odor.
This method of self-destructing the body after death was quite common in the assassin world.
Because a corpse could reveal information.
For example, through the structure of the bones, one could deduce details about developmental cycles, and by carefully analyzing them, perhaps even uncover training methods.
Most crucially, with modern medical technology, investigating identity through a corpse wasn't difficult.
Morel instructed Knuckle and Shoot to go find medical gloves.
This was a hospital, so the two quickly returned with gloves.
Morel put on the gloves and, enduring the pungent smell, rummaged through the clothes. He only found a small, charred, unidentified object.
"Is this the source? It looks like a communicator," Knov leaned over, looking at the charred object.
Morel nodded slightly in response.
The source of the body-dissolving substance seemed to have been delivered from this communicator-like remnant.
For a moment, several people connected it to the faint muffled sound they heard earlier.
"Master, there's still a woman," Shoot suddenly remembered something and hurriedly reminded.
The people present exchanged glances and immediately rushed to the corridor outside the hospital room.
When they arrived at the scene, they only saw a pool of melted slag and clothes.
The same result.
It seemed the woman was already on the verge of death when they first arrived.
Inside the room, Linne sat in her original position, breathing slightly heavily, not yet fully recovered.
"Thank you for your hard work," Netero said.
Linne raised her eyes to look at Netero and said, "You don't seem to care at all."
"About which point?" Netero's gaze was calm.
"Your life."
"Do I?"
"..."
The door was suddenly opened.
Morel and the others quickly walked in.
At the same time, Monma did not enter the hospital room area but chose to retreat directly.
Eya and Deerbie were dead...
He didn't know the process of how they were killed, nor whether it was related to his exposure.
In any case, Eya and Deerbie had failed, indicating that the defensive strength on the other side was not something he alone could break through.
So he decisively gave up, withdrawing first to wait for the follow-up roster the family would send.
'To think there was someone guarding the rooftop.'
Monma left the hospital, his bellyful of resentment with nowhere to vent.
When Shachmono came to aid, it basically confirmed Tonpa's identity as one of those responsible for protecting Netero.
Monma didn't know Tonpa was stationed there by Law. If not for Tonpa, their operation might have succeeded in one go.
But there were no 'ifs'.
Far away on the Azian Continent, in a certain mountain range, a room built of stone bricks was filled with various pieces of equipment.
The floor was painted with something resembling a magic array, composed of various black square patterns and black rectangular patterns combined together.
At first glance, it looked messy, but after looking for a while, it felt oddly comfortable.
A device with a monitor was placed in a corner, where a middle-aged man sat.
On the screen were rows of numbers, each with a red light underneath.
Among them, the red lights under the numbers '16' and '19' in the second row had gone out.
These two numbers represented the identities of Eya and Deerbie. When an assassin of the Blackstone Family unfortunately died, the body-self-destruction program would be activated immediately via their communicator, and the number light representing their identity would go out.
One light out meant one person dead.
Seeing two lights extinguished, the middle-aged man expressionlessly pulled up the mission currently being executed by the 'Numbers'. He merely glanced at it before closing it, then immediately transmitted this information out.
The family attached great importance to this commission, so the roster dispatched was the most luxurious in the family's assassination history. Monma and the other two were merely the vanguard.
The Blackstone Family's style had always been embodied in the word [Confidence], though sometimes it seemed more like arrogance.
In less than three minutes, Monma, still in the city where the Association was located, received a communication request from the [Squad].
"Detailed account of the process. No nonsense."
A deep male voice came from the other end of the communicator.
Hearing this voice, Monma's expression couldn't help but change.
He recognized the owner of this voice: the man ranked NO.1 in the family.
'He didn't expect that to kill a cripple, even NO.1 had been dispatched.'
Monma hurriedly gave a detailed account of the process he had just experienced, obediently following the man's request without a single word of nonsense.
After the report was finished, the call ended.
Monma lowered his head to look at the communicator, his eyes flickering.
At this moment, he received the complete roster list.
A full ten people. Seven of the family's top ten had come.
"I'm almost ready to retire..."
Monma muttered to himself in a low voice.
...
Zoldyck Family, Kukuroo Mountain.
Law answered the call from Tonpa.