Ron Defeated

Night had fallen deep.

"Whoosh!"

A huge black shadow swept past a towering mountain of garbage, its dark fur billowing in the wind.

In the moonlight, a black-furred wolf nearly two meters tall darted through the wind between the mounds of garbage.

It raised its head from time to time and twitched its nose.

Seemingly catching a scent in the air, it fixed its green eyes coldly in one direction.

Two figures followed close behind Black Wolf.

One was powerfully built, like a giant bear, with black hair that stood on end like a hedgehog's spines.

The other was lean and gaunt, dressed in vintage aristocratic clothing, with blond hair that stood out even in the darkness.

They were Ron and Baines, who were pursuing Ian.

"Phew..."

During a brief pause, Ron took a deep drag on the cigar in his mouth and spoke in a rough voice.

"Ask Black Wolf roughly how far away they are..."

Baines's expression twitched at the words, and he gave an awkward laugh.

"Black Wolf may be my Nen Beast, but he can't talk. I'm afraid he can't answer that."

Ron's expression darkened, and he snapped, "A Nen Beast is still just an extension of yourself. Can't he even do that?"

With no other choice, Baines called out to the giant wolf sitting ahead of them.

"Black Wolf, roughly how far away are the children whose scents I had you smell?"

Black Wolf: "Awooo... awooo..."

Baines frowned deeply. Ron noticed his expression and couldn't help asking, "What is it? Have we lost those brats already?"

At that, Baines's brow relaxed, and he smiled a little apologetically.

"Sorry, Ron. I nearly forgot that I can't understand what Black Wolf says either..."

Veins bulged on Ron's forehead, and his face darkened. Looking at the blond man's smiling face, he struggled to suppress the urge to beat him to death and shouted, "You bastard! I told you ages ago to communicate with your Nen Beast more and get familiar with your own Nen Ability. You didn't listen to a word, did you?"

Baines picked at his ear helplessly and said, sounding rather exasperated, "I know, I know. As long as Black Wolf's fighting power is strong enough, isn't that all that matters...?"

"As for communication and all that, it's too much trouble, too much trouble..."

Clearly, the two had completely different personalities.

Just then, both men's gazes sharpened, and they stared solemnly at a spot ahead.

"Grr..."

Black Wolf, who had been sitting on the ground in boredom, now bared his teeth slightly and growled low as he looked ahead.

"Click-clack... click-clack..."

From a dark corner came the sound of an old winding mechanism.

A small doll in a green suit and black top hat slowly waddled out of the darkness.

Its steps were slow, but unusually determined.

It was the Trip Expert, making its way toward its target.

A smile curled across Baines's face, and his eyes gleamed in the night as he chuckled.

"It seems our little friends have already spotted us..."

"Is this their way of saying hello?"

Baines glanced at Ron as he finished speaking. An excited smile appeared on Ron's face as well. He grinned and said in his rough voice, "Looks like they're not willing to surrender without a fight..."

"But that's fine... It'll give us a chance to see what they can do. If they're too weak, I'll be disappointed..."

As he spoke, he flexed his fists and walked forward, an oppressive aura gradually radiating from him.

The Trip Expert paid no attention to any of it.

Once hired, it had only one outcome in mind: make its target fall and complete its assignment.

"Come to think of it, is this a Nen Beast too?"

Nen began to boil around Ron as he slowly approached the Trip Expert. He watched it with considerable interest and called the question to Baines.

Baines and Black Wolf watched from the side. Hearing the question, Baines frowned and replied, "I was wondering the same thing."

"Normally, a Nen Beast shouldn't be able to get too far from its owner. Unless the owner is somewhere nearby, there's no way around that rule. But Black Wolf hasn't detected anyone else in the area."

"Oh, if it's not a Nen Beast, then it's some other Nen Ability. Maybe it's some interesting Conjuration item..."

Ron spoke calmly.

But he couldn't help recalling the scene he had seen earlier on the prison's surveillance footage.

The scene of the boy slowly emerging from an invisibility item and crushing a special lock with his bare hand.

In the eyes of Ron and the others, although Conjuration Nen users could create strange Nen Ability items,

Their combat strength generally ranked at the bottom of the six categories. At least, that was how Enhancement Nen users saw it.

And that boy was no such mediocre talent.

Is this your Nen Ability, boy? If it is, let me test your talent first...

With that thought in mind, Ron's mouth curled into a fierce, excited smile. His eyes remained fixed on the Trip Expert as a vast quantity of Nen poured from his body.

Baines noticed and couldn't help feeling puzzled.

"Hey, hey, why did you suddenly get so excited...?"

"Black Wolf, let's move farther away. Ron can be quite a headache when he gets excited."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ron's burly body vanished from where he stood.

Ahead of him, the Trip Expert raised its head slightly, and its sunglasses suddenly flashed.

The next moment, it jerked up its short right arm, aiming a dark barrel straight ahead!

"Hmph! No matter what kind of item it is, I can destroy it with a single punch!"

Seeing the doll's move, Ron was wary of a special Nen Ability appearing, but even more confident in his own strength.

"Boom!"

The man threw a punch, and the doll fired a cannon, unleashing tremendous power.

"Bang!" "Bang!"

Two deafening crashes followed.

In the clearing surrounded by garbage mountains, huge holes had been smashed into the ground. Cracks spread in every direction, and dust and debris flew, obscuring the scene.

The Trip Expert lay embedded in one deep pit, smoke still rising from its body. After that heavy blow, its green suit was in tatters, and one arm of its sunglasses had broken off, leaving them hanging crookedly.

"Click-clack..."

But it paused only briefly before slowly getting back up.

It never forgot that its task was still unfinished. It had been told to make its target fall three times, and it couldn't fall short by even one!

"Click!"

It removed the shattered Air Cannon and tossed it aside, then strangely pulled a brand-new Air Cannon from its little pocket and fitted it onto its hand.

In another sunken crater, Ron Shiryuk lay gazing up at the stars. He had been fighting just moments ago, but now he was bewildered.

Only when he realized the position he was in did it begin to dawn on him.

I... was knocked down?

Since I began training in Nen, I've been through countless life-and-death battles. How long has it been since I was knocked down like this...?

Protected by a thick layer of Nen, his injuries didn't hurt much.

But he had actually been knocked down just like that, like an overturned turtle, limbs in the air as he stared up at the sky. What a fate for a weakling.

Shame and anger flooded his mind in an instant.

Off to the side, Baines stared in astonishment, clutching Black Wolf tightly as he spoke in disbelief.

"Hey, Black Wolf, did I see that right? The invincible Ron got knocked down!?"