Blood fountained upward. Ten heads flew into the air and fell.
Some rolled onto the conference table, bumping into each other and bouncing away. Some landed on the severed necks beside them. One hit the table corner directly—its owner's head screaming in pain through a hoarse airflow, bouncing and rolling to Purple Ape's feet. Within moments, the entire conference room became a slaughterhouse. Ten headless corpses twitched and convulsed in their chairs, either sliding down or toppling sideways.
When did she arrange the threads?
Purple Ape's eyes and ears focused intensely. Machi had beheaded ten people with just a flick of her hand. No doubt she'd already arranged her Nen threads when he'd first noticed her. She'd only needed to tighten them to sever their heads.
As ordinary people, the old Dons were as fragile as paper before threads formed from Nen. And even if those Shadow Beasts weren't constantly alert and unprepared, it wouldn't be surprising if their heads were cut off in Machi's sneak attack...
"Good thing I'm not here in person. Otherwise who could handle the sudden influx of ten death energies?" Purple Ape thought to himself.
Looking at the petite pink-haired woman, calm and composed in this bloody atmosphere, the remaining four Dons and seven Shadow Beasts all turned pale.
Just came here to have fun?
The person who came "for fun" could sneak into this conference room without anyone noticing?
No wonder the bald man had looked strange earlier. He must have been held hostage by this woman from the beginning! This female killer had disguised herself as a Shadow Beast and infiltrated the meeting...
The word that had come out of Machi's mouth just now stirred the sensitive nerves of everyone present.
Killing six Ten Dons and three Shadow Beasts while talking and laughing. This amazing strength, if associated with the word "boss," really made people think of that phantom-like band of thieves...
No, she was just... one of the Phantom Troupe?!
One of the four surviving Dons immediately reached out and slapped under the conference table, as if there was some kind of alarm button. After pressing for a long time with no response, he shouted toward the door, "Where is everyone? Where did they go!"
Machi turned a blind eye, as if she hadn't heard, and just laughed.
Claudius, who'd been so arrogant before, was now staring wide-eyed, clenching his teeth, his body tense. His cigar accidentally slipped from stiff fingers. He didn't notice, staring at the pink-haired woman opposite him who smiled back at him.
"Ah, did I let it slip? Seems like you've guessed my identity." Machi casually overturned the headless body on the seat next to her, stepped on the blood pooling on the ground, and walked around the conference table toward Claudius. "Let me think—is this not a good thing?"
Claudius's hair was disheveled, trembling with rage. "How dare you? These people, we, we... do you know who you killed?!"
"Isn't the killing finished yet?" Machi complained.
"You, you, you..." Claudius completely lost his composure and shouted, "Prison Elephant! Protect me and get me out!"
Suddenly there was a gunshot. The bullet swept through the air in the dim conference room, sending a thin wave of heat, flying accurately toward Machi's forehead as she paced.
A dark shadow flashed before Machi. Without stopping, she caught the bullet with her hand. Wisps of heat rose from her palm.
"Using a gun when you have Nen. How embarrassing."
She raised her eyes to look at the Shadow Beast called Prison Elephant by the projector and threw the bullet back faster than it had been fired.
Prison Elephant tried desperately to dodge but was still injured in the thigh, revealing a bloody hole. This woman had added aura to the bullet!
Liam was a bit surprised. Since when did Machi talk trash during battle? Was she this kind of person? He remembered her being quite cold and silent.
"Are you still thinking about that ability?" Kurapika came over. "Our current consensus is that since forced development is difficult to achieve, it's better to start with other ideas. During your previous challenge match, your opponent—he could swap places with his own Nen, right? I think it might be more convenient after it becomes a Nen beast."
"Right..." Liam nodded.
Kurapika raised a question mark, feeling like Liam was distracted and not listening at all.
Shizuku tilted her head and glanced to the side, suddenly understanding. Liam must be paying attention elsewhere—probably the Shadow Beast that Kurapika was mentioning.
That's right. Wasn't this Purple Ape capable of "Flying Thunder God"?
Purple Ape thought: if he used Purple Ape's body to experience Flying Thunder God, it would definitely help develop his own version. This was the so-called Flying Thunder God Mutual Aid Technique!
But the question was—how to use Purple Ape's own Nen ability?
He'd never used it before. No experience!
As long as you experience the feeling of Flying Thunder God, you can use it... As long as you use Purple Ape's Nen ability once, you can experience Flying Thunder God's feeling... As long as... Why does this seem to be looping?!
"Arrogant bastard!"
Machi was walking forward when four Shadow Beasts surrounded her from front, back, left, and right.
She glanced quickly.
The fist ahead had a large amount of aura condensed on it—obviously Enhancement-type. Of the two on the left, one held a dagger with aura extending from the blade into a sharp knife shape—should be Transmutation-type. The other showed nothing special, but that made it more dangerous—better not let it get close easily. The one behind had much thicker aura on the legs than normal—probably some kind of Enhancement system...
Machi threw out several Nen threads and wrapped them around the dagger stabbing from the left. When the Nen blade at the dagger's tip was about to extend again, she used the threads to weave a net and wrap it, then pulled it aside to make him stab at the other Shadow Beast Machi had grouped with him—the one with no apparent ability. While doing this, Machi jumped over the Enhancement fist coming from the front. The movement of her jump involved the Nen thread in her hand, forcing the dagger Shadow Beast on the left to stab the other Shadow Beast. At the same time, she knocked her heels back, making the Enhancement fist stumble behind him and kick the other Enhancement-type toward him...
It was a long story, but it happened in an instant. Machi did a somersault, dancing with threads in her hands, and the four Shadow Beasts collided with each other two by two.
Was this the Phantom Troupe? Their Nen was truly strong!
And so fast!
Purple Ape maintained his Gyo with all his strength, allowing him to clearly see Machi's movements as she dealt with the four Shadow Beasts in a flash.
Whether it was the use of Nen or the timing of using her Transmutation Nen threads, it could be said to be perfect...
But what did it have to do with him if everyone here died?
On the contrary, True Martial King's treasure map at the projector was more relevant. After all, he was considered half an ancestor. Those who see this treasure have a share in it. What was the problem?
Just as Purple Ape was about to make his argument, the leader of his "own" gang sitting weakly in the seat ahead—seemed to be named Bratt—gritted his teeth and muttered to himself, "Purple Ape, leave them alone and teleport me away! Quick!"
Six of the Ten Dons had died instantly. At the same time, four of the six now-masterless Shadow Beasts attacked Machi but were instantly suppressed.
After Machi flipped and landed, she turned and punched the spine of the Enhancement fist. Using his tall body as cover, she threw out Nen threads with both hands and tied up the Enhancement leg Shadow Beast opposite. Snap!
The dagger Shadow Beast on the side pulled a blood-soaked dagger from another Shadow Beast's chest. In excitement, the Nen dagger extended again, almost turning into a meter-long sharp blade of aura. He slashed at Machi with all his strength. Machi pulled the thread, and the long Nen sword slashed at the shoulders of the two tied Shadow Beasts. Machi smiled and helped push the bound pair toward the blade.
The two tied Shadow Beasts were cut diagonally in a painful slash. While the dagger Shadow Beast was dazed, Machi had already wrapped her threads around the dagger he held.
"No, no..." The dagger Shadow Beast suddenly realized something and tried to withdraw his Nen. But the dagger in his hand turned under the strong force of the Nen threads and chopped off the top of his own head before the Nen blade could shorten and disappear.
This was his Transmutation ability. After grabbing any knife, he could use Nen to extend it and make it sharper, able to cut almost anything. But the price was that once extended, contraction or cancellation became very slow. And although the blade was composed of his own Nen, it could also cut himself... This was an ability that once the sword was drawn, couldn't be stopped.
His vision flooded with blood and turned red. He fell softly to the ground.
From the moment Machi impatiently revealed herself, cut off heads, and walked around the table—in just a few blinks, the situation had turned into this. None of the remaining four Dons had any illusions.
The woman before them, suspected to be a Phantom Troupe member, was as strong as a monster walking into a herd of sheep!
They had to run. Now. Without hesitation.
One Don pushed back his seat and fled in a panic.
Machi raised her hand, pulled the dagger with a thread, made a half-circle in the air, and threw it toward the fleeing Don like lightning.
The Don's Shadow Beast bodyguard tried desperately to catch the flying knife but failed.
The flying knife hit the old man's back and pinned him directly to the wall by the door.
The Don vomited blood, reached for the door handle with trembling hands, and finally dropped it weakly.
Purple Ape wanted to throw a Nen bomb and smash open a conference room wall, but the aura ball dissipated halfway.
...Purple Ape seemed to be Transmutation-type. Using Emission skills was extremely awkward!
While Liam was speechless, another Shadow Beast got inspiration from him and directly hugged the Don he was protecting, crashed through the wall, and fled.
"Go a..." Machi looked at the hole in the wall and waved wordlessly. "Forget it."
She glanced at the Shadow Beast who'd failed to catch the flying knife earlier, and Purple Ape-Liam. The former's eyes were full of anger, but he didn't act rashly. His footsteps were still slowly approaching the hole in the wall behind him. The latter was the calmest throughout, and Machi didn't know if this guy was scared witless or born with no brains.
Seeing his comrades escaping, Bratt couldn't help but look at "Purple Ape."
Purple Ape said, "What are you looking at? Don't panic and follow my instructions. Worst case, we'll die together, boss."
What the hell... Bratt just wanted to strangle him. What kind of bodyguard was this?!
He wanted to get up, use Purple Ape as a human shield, and retreat through the hole in the wall. But while his mind was thinking this, his body seemed to have other ideas. His butt and feet were like tree roots growing into the chair, motionless.
Inside his trousers, on the skin of his calf, there was a small rose-gold pentagram mark.
Machi looked around the bloody conference room and asked politely in a confirming tone, "Is it over?"
The Shadow Beast who'd failed to catch the flying knife before fled through the hole in the wall and disappeared. The flying knife on the wall by the door was still nailed to his former boss.
"Seems it's over." Machi nodded and continued walking toward Claudius, invisible Nen threads wrapped around her fingertips. She smiled. "Let's get back to our business. You seem to have a lot of treasures?"
Claudius looked pale, sitting in his chair, his body soaked in sweat.
On the ground beside him, the Shadow Beast Prison Elephant, whose thigh had been shot through by a bullet, was half-kneeling with an expression of unwillingness. I'm a Shadow Beast, and the other party is just a thief. How can there be such a big difference?!
Even a highly skilled Shadow Beast couldn't fight back against this villain from the Phantom Troupe. What chance did an ordinary person like him have?
As an ordinary person, facing Machi's—and Liam's—overwhelming aura and undisguised cold malice, he could still sit upright without slumping. That showed strong willpower.
"I can give you whatever you want."
Claudius swallowed his dry saliva and saw a figure attacking Machi from the corner of his eye. "True Martial King's treasure map? Or the Kurta Clan's Scarlet Eyes? I can give it to you!"
"Ah!!!" Prison Elephant screamed wildly, jumped up on one leg, concentrated his Nen on his fists, and attacked Machi.
The roaring Prison Elephant and his fists were reflected in Machi's eyes. While kicking Prison Elephant away with her feet, she turned and raised her arms.
Purple Ape attacking from behind, punched Machi's raised arms.
BOOM! Prison Elephant was kicked into the wall and hung there, slowly sliding down.
Tsk—Machi was punched so hard she stepped on the ground and slid backward, but she was actually unscathed. She just happened to slide over to the projector and casually leaned over to look. "You really only cut off a corner of the treasure map to show. How stingy!"
Purple Ape picked up the pistol that had fallen on the ground. Although he didn't know how to use it properly, it would be fine if someone could.
"Go quickly." He looked at Machi. "I'll hold her off."
Prison Elephant didn't waste words with him. He coughed up blood foam, picked up the sweating boss Claudius, and ran toward the hole in the wall. The latter's body was too stiff, the former injured. The two stumbled together.
"Careful." A hand reached out from ahead.
Claudius reached out to grab it. When he looked up, it was Bratt. Right, who else could it be? Except for Bratt, everyone else had either lost their head or their body.
"Liam-Bratt" picked up Claudius and Prison Elephant one by one and said with a smile, "Very good. Let's go."
"Did I say you could leave?" Machi looked at the three escaping through the hole in the wall and wanted to chase after them unhappily.
Purple Ape dodged to intercept, but Machi in front swayed, appeared behind him, and continued chasing toward the hole.
The Star Mark on the inner wall of Purple Ape's mouth activated subconsciously, forcing his body instincts to take control. He turned and grabbed the corner of Machi's clothes, then yanked her back.
"You still here? You really want to die, don't you?"
Machi angrily clawed toward Purple Ape's face. With the blessing of Nen, this strike was enough to tear through a wall.
To her surprise, the Shadow Beast dodged her attack.
Machi frowned and struck continuously. The opponent's eyes clearly couldn't keep up with her movements, but his body always reacted at the last moment, desperately avoiding her attacks.
"Is this your Nen ability? Ultimate evasion?" Machi sneered, then was hit hard by a gun butt in the abdomen.
"You talk to much!" Purple Ape pressed down with the gun, but Machi wasn't pushed back.
What was even stranger—Machi's originally flat stomach suddenly became muscular. Her abs were like bread rising in a commercial, suddenly bulging up. Her originally petite body became tall and straight like an inflating balloon. Like a furry humanoid gorilla...
Purple Ape slowly raised his head and looked at the humanoid gorilla.
What the fuck is this?
In another city, Liam, who was practicing with Kurapika and Shizuku, almost screamed in surprise.