Watching Shizuku standing there, motionless and dazed, Leo finally walked over.
"Are you done?"
He asked with a smile.
Shizuku turned to look at him and nodded.
"Yeah. After waiting so long, I finally killed her."
Her tone was very flat, as if she were saying "finally took out the trash."
Leo didn't ask for details.
Everyone has their own past; when Shizuku is willing to talk, she will naturally tell him.
"So, what are your plans for now?"
He changed the subject.
Shizuku raised a finger to her chin, tilted her head in thought, and a rare look of confusion appeared on her face.
"Hmm... I don't have any. I don't know what I can do either."
Her eyes were pure; there was no sadness, no excitement, only the aimlessness after completing a task.
This answer made Leo happy inside.
He composed his expression and said in the most sincere tone possible.
"Since that's the case, if you don't have anywhere to go, would you like to join my team?"
Shizuku looked at Leo, those pure black eyes staring straight at him through her glasses.
She was judging, thinking—though given her memory, she might forget the process of thinking the moment she turned away.
A few seconds later, she nodded.
"Alright then."
She agreed readily because Leo had stepped in to help her at a critical moment, and also because... she really had nowhere else to go.
Leo smiled, a smile from the bottom of his heart.
"Shizuku, welcome to the team."
"Yeah." Shizuku responded, then asked.
"What should we do next?"
"First, come with me to Heavens Arena; I'll introduce you to another team member."
"Okay."
Shizuku nodded.
To her, it didn't matter where they went; she was hopeless with directions anyway.
The two walked out of the alley side by side, merging into the flow of people on the street.
Leo planned to take Shizuku to the airport and return to Heavens Arena.
It should be interesting when Sophia meets this new companion.
The afternoon sun was just right, and there weren't many pedestrians on the street. They had walked about two hundred meters when two figures appeared at the end of the street—Uvogin and Franklin.
Leo's footsteps faltered; the four of them saw each other almost simultaneously.
Their eyes met, and the air instantly froze.
Franklin's eyes locked onto Leo, his Frankenstein-like face twisted in extreme rage.
Over half a year of hatred, humiliation, and unwillingness erupted like a volcano at this moment!
"It's you—!!!"
The roar tore through the noise of the street!
The next second, Franklin raised his hands, and the tips of all ten fingers opened simultaneously—that was the precursor to the activation of his ability!
"Die!!!"
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da—!!!!!!
Countless Nen Bullets poured out like a rainstorm!
Each one compressed violent Nen, tearing through the air and shooting toward the area where Leo and Shizuku were!
Franklin didn't care who was beside Leo; in his eyes, anyone standing with Leo deserved to die!
Almost at the same time, Uvogin moved too!
This Enhancer monster let out a deafening wild laugh, his surrounding Nen rising to the sky like a volcanic eruption! The terrifying wave of Qi kicked up dust from the ground, and surrounding pedestrians fled in terror!
He stomped his feet, the concrete ground cracked and shattered, and he shot toward Leo like a cannonball!
"Hahahaha! Finally found you!!!"
Leo's reaction was extremely fast.
The moment Franklin raised his hands, his entire body's Nen had already erupted!
The state of "Ken" instantly covered him, his muscles tensed like steel!
He didn't dodge—because Shizuku was in the path of evasion behind him.
So he chose the most direct way: taking it head-on!
Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang—!!!
The dense Nen Bullets slammed into Leo, exploding into bursts of air!
The Nen Bullets could only leave shallow white marks; they didn't even tear his clothes!
And at this moment, Uvogin's fist had arrived!
It was a straightforward punch without any frills, but where the fist passed, the air was compressed into visible ripples!
The power of this punch was enough to collapse a wall!
Leo also threw a punch!
The muscles in his right arm twisted like steel cables, and the Nen at his fist was compressed to the extreme—he didn't use "Super Destruction Fist," just a basic straight punch augmented by "Ko"!
The fists collided! Boom—!!!!!!
Like two high-speed trains colliding head-on!
A terrifying shockwave exploded with the two of them as the center!
The glass of surrounding shops shattered simultaneously, and streetlight poles bent and fell!
Uvogin's expression changed.
He felt an unimaginable force coming from the fist!
That wasn't technique, not some flashy application of Nen Ability, but the purest, most savage power!
His arm bones groaned under the unbearable strain, and he was forced to slide backward, his feet plowing two deep trenches into the ground!
And Leo only retreated half a step.
"What...?!"
Uvogin widened his eyes in disbelief.
He was Uvogin! The strongest Enhancer of the Phantom Troupe!
In a pure clash of strength, he had never lost!
"Is that it?"
Leo shook his slightly numb right hand, a mocking curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"The Phantom Troupe's Enhancer, is this all you've got?"
"What did you say—!!!"
Uvogin was furious and charged forward again!
On the other side, Shizuku had already engaged Franklin.
Facing the rainstorm of Nen Bullets, Shizuku's reaction was exceptionally calm.
She didn't take them head-on like Leo, but wove through the barrage with strange footwork—it looked clumsy, but she managed to avoid fatal attacks by mere millimeters every time.
A few seconds later, she found an opening.
The vacuum cleaner appeared in her hand again.
Shizuku gripped the long handle with both hands and, as if swinging a baseball bat, swatted a Nen Bullet that was shooting at her right back!
The Nen Bullet flew back at an even faster speed, aiming straight at Franklin!
Franklin's pupils contracted, and he quickly dodged to the side; the Nen Bullet grazed his shoulder and exploded, creating a large hole in the building behind him.
"vacuum cleaner, suck."
Shizuku said softly.
The nozzle at the front of the vacuum cleaner opened, aiming at Franklin—not to suck him in, but to suck up the Nen Bullets he shot!
Swish, swish, swish—!
A strange suction force erupted!
Franklin was shocked to discover that all the Nen Bullets he shot, upon getting within three meters of Shizuku, deviated from their trajectory and were swallowed by the vacuum cleaner!
"What kind of damn ability is that?!"
"This girl..." Franklin grew more and more alarmed as they fought. This girl who looked so dazed was actually not to be underestimated!
Franklin gritted his teeth, stopped the meaningless shooting, clasped his hands together, and prepared for hand-to-hand combat with Shizuku.
But Shizuku didn't give him the chance. She suddenly rushed forward!
Her speed was twice as fast as before!
The vacuum cleaner felt light as a feather in her hands, its long handle carving an arc as it smashed straight at Franklin's face!
Franklin hurriedly raised his hands to block—Clang!!!
A loud sound of metal colliding!
Franklin felt a terrifying force coming from his arms, and he was knocked backward.
On the other side, the battle between Uvogin and Leo had entered a white-hot stage.