Two streets away.
Uvogin tore into a large piece of roasted Vicious Beast meat in his hand, grease dripping down the corners of his mouth, which he wiped away carelessly with his fur cuff.
Beside him, Franklin walked in silence, his face, divided by stitches, expressionless.
"Franklin."
Uvogin swallowed the meat in his mouth and said indistinctly.
"The leader wants us to find new recruits, do you have any thoughts?"
Hearing Uvogin's words, he paused for a few seconds before speaking.
"Let Shanark worry about it. I'd rather find that guy from last time."
He was talking about Leo.
The moment his voice fell, Franklin subconsciously touched his waist—although it had long since healed, whenever he thought of the battle at the Xililike Auction House, a faint phantom pain would emerge.
That was a humiliation.
Multiple members of the Phantom Troupe were suppressed by one person, Shalnark died in battle, and he himself was severely wounded.
For over half a year, this hatred had been gnawing at his sanity like a viper.
Uvogin grinned, raised his hand, and slapped Franklin heavily on the back, the force so great that surrounding passersby looked on in surprise.
"Don't worry!"
He roared nonchalantly.
"Next time we run into that kid, I'll smash him into meat paste with one punch! I'll let him know what a real Enhancer is!"
Franklin didn't respond.
He knew Uvogin was strong, but that man named Leo... Recalling the battle that night, that pure strength and speed, and that final move.
"Don't underestimate him."
Franklin said in a deep voice.
"Ha! Since when did you become such a coward?"
Uvogin laughed loudly and threw the gnawed-clean bone into a trash can by the roadside.
"Let's go, let's go grab some booze!"
Franklin glanced at him without arguing. The two continued to walk aimlessly along the street.
Downstairs from the apartment building. Leo stood across the street, looking up at the building Shizuku had entered.
He had no intention of leaving—since he had decided to recruit Shizuku, he had to show sincerity.
After she finished handling her personal affairs, proposing an invitation would have a much higher success rate.
About a few minutes passed.
A loud noise suddenly came from the fourth floor!
Boom—!!!
The wall burst, and bricks and concrete blocks fell like rain!
Two figures leaped out from the breach, landing steadily on the ground, confronting each other from ten meters apart.
Leo narrowed his eyes.
On one side was Shizuku, her short hair slightly lifted by the airflow, her gaze behind her black-rimmed glasses as calm as usual.
On the other side was a strange woman, about thirty years old, wearing a bright red dress, with a beautiful face but a cold, sinister gaze.
Joanna—Leo had caught this name from Shizuku's earlier words.
"I didn't expect you to be able to find this place."
Joanna's voice carried a deliberate languor, but her tense body betrayed her vigilance.
"It seems I was too soft back then."
Shizuku adjusted her glasses, her tone flat.
"Don't think about escaping."
"Heh."
Joanna laughed, her smile full of mockery.
"Do you really think you can kill me? Since you escaped last time, this time I'll let you reunite with Ophelia!"
Before her voice even faded, she moved!
Nen exploded! Her hands were instantly covered with a pair of dark red metal gloves, with sharp blades extending from the knuckles.
Her speed was so fast it left afterimages as she rushed straight at Shizuku!
Shizuku's reaction was equally swift.
She gripped her right hand in the air, and manifested Nen surged and condensed like water—in the blink of an eye, the uniquely shaped vacuum cleaner appeared in her hand.
No retreating, no dodging.
Shizuku gripped the long handle of the vacuum cleaner with both hands and swung it at Joanna as if wielding a war hammer!
Clang—!!!
The harsh ringing of metal colliding!
Joanna's glove blades slashed against the shell of the vacuum cleaner, sending sparks flying!
Both stepped back half a step, then immediately lunged at each other again!
Leo leaned against the wall, quietly watching the battle.
The two women's fighting styles were completely different.
Joanna took a nimble and treacherous path, her glove blades attacking from all sorts of tricky angles, focusing on vital points like the throat, eyes, and joints.
Her movements were elusive, like a ghost, clearly indicating rich combat experience.
Shizuku was the complete opposite.
Her movements were plain and unadorned, even a bit clumsy, just simple swings, smashes, and sweeps.
But every strike was powerful and heavy; the vacuum cleaner was as heavy as a thousand jun in her hands, and every collision with the gloves left Joanna's arms numb.
What caught Leo's attention even more was Shizuku's combat intuition—she seemed able to predict the trajectory of Joanna's attacks, always managing to block fatal blows with the vacuum cleaner at critical moments.
That near-instinctive reaction wasn't something that could be trained; it was a natural combat talent.
"Bang!"
Shizuku swept horizontally, Joanna jumped up to dodge, and the vacuum cleaner smashed into a street lamp pole, instantly bending the metal pole!
Joanna lunged the moment she landed, her right hand stabbing toward Shizuku's ribs like a viper!
Shizuku barely turned to the side, the blade tearing through her clothes and leaving a bloody scratch on her skin.
Beads of blood oozed out; Shizuku looked down at the wound, her expression unchanged, as if she had just been bitten by a mosquito.
She raised the vacuum cleaner and continued the attack.
The battle lasted for ten minutes.
Both of them had sustained quite a few injuries.
Joanna's left shoulder had been struck, the bone likely cracked; Shizuku had knife wounds on her abdomen and thigh, blood staining her clothes.
But Shizuku's breathing remained steady, while fine sweat beads appeared on Joanna's forehead.
"Damn it..."
Joanna gritted her teeth.
She hadn't expected Shizuku to be so troublesome; that unreasonable brute force and eerie intuition gave her the illusion of facing a humanoid Vicious Beast.
The opportunity appeared in the twelfth minute.
Shizuku used too much force in one swing, and her body experienced a momentary imbalance—less than half a second.
But Joanna seized it!
Like a viper that had been waiting for a long time, she instantly lunged in front of Shizuku, parried the vacuum cleaner that couldn't be retracted in time with her left hand, and condensed all her Nen into her right fist, smashing it fiercely toward Shizuku's chest!
If this strike hit, ribs would break, and internal organs would rupture.
Shizuku's pupils constricted; it was too late to defend.
Just as the fist was about to touch her body—Swish!
A sound of breaking through the air sharply tore through the air!
Joanna's right arm suddenly bent at an eerie angle, the forearm bone piercing through the skin and sticking out!
The excruciating pain made her let out a shrill scream, and her offensive instantly collapsed!
Shizuku didn't miss this opportunity.
She gripped the long handle of the vacuum cleaner with both hands, raised it high, and then—smashed it down with all her might!
Bang!!!
A dull, teeth-grinding sound of impact.
The vacuum cleaner smashed solidly onto Joanna's head.
The crisp sound of the skull cracking was clearly audible, and blood and brain matter sprayed from her seven orifices.
Joanna widened her eyes, filled with disbelief, and her body collapsed limply.
But Shizuku didn't stop.
She raised the vacuum cleaner again and smashed it down.
Raised it, smashed it down. Raised it, smashed it down.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
As if mashing a pile of rotten meat.
The dull sounds of impact echoed in the silent street, sending chills down one's spine.
Leo watched quietly.
He didn't feel it was cruel—the rules of the hunter world were just like that; life-and-death struggle, the winner survives.
Shizuku's calm, almost cold-blooded follow-up attacks actually showed that she was suited for this cruel world.
Finally, Shizuku stopped.
She looked down at the pile of unrecognizable meat paste on the ground and was silent for a few seconds.
Then she raised the vacuum cleaner and pressed the switch on its side.
"vacuum cleaner, suck this place clean."
"Hayo! Hayo!"
The nozzle at the front of the vacuum cleaner opened, making a cheerful sound.
Immediately after, a powerful suction force erupted!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!
Meat paste, bloodstains, shattered bones, even the brain matter splattered on the wall—all remnants belonging to Joanna were sucked clean within seconds.
The ground returned to cleanliness, leaving only a patch of pitted and scarred concrete.
Shizuku put away the vacuum cleaner and stood in place, dazed for a while, as if recalling what had just happened.