Delivery Right to the Door

Let's rewind time just a tiny bit...

About a kilometer from the small cruise ship where Jing Yang was, which had run aground against the shore, the battle between two men in Black Suits had entered its final stages.

Both had fought themselves to exhaustion, and the surrounding ground bore signs of destruction. One of them was half-kneeling on the ground, with multiple broken bones, his Aura utterly depleted. He kept coughing up blood as he said in disbelief, "How can this be... You should have run out of stamina too! Why do you still have extra 'Aura' to use...?"

The man opposite him raised his pistol, expressionless. "Why would I explain my ability to a dead man?"

Bang!...

Flames burst from the muzzle. A cloud of blood exploded from the exhausted man in the Black Suit's forehead, and he fell dead with unwillingness in his eyes.

The gunshot echoed through the night.

Muser waited for a while. Seeing that the Hunter's corpse showed no abnormal changes after death, nor did any stronger resentment emerge, he finally relaxed.

He put away his gun and walked over. "Why did I have extra Aura as a backup? Idiot, think about it a little. After my own Aura reserves ran dry, I merely recalled a certain 'Nen beast' I had released outside my body from the start."

He was a Manipulator, and a qualified Manipulator naturally had the habit of placing manipulations on himself in advance...

Muser transformed the scant Nen aura remaining in his body into a bird-shaped Nen beast that floated at his side.

At the same time, Muser's left eye was forced wide open, while his right eye remained normal.

—Manipulator Nen Ability, Rear Window Bird!

Muser could use three bird-form Nen beasts for intelligence gathering. As long as he had touched a target, he could attach a Rear Window Bird—visible only to himself—to that person for surveillance. What the Rear Window Bird saw would be transmitted back to Muser telepathically.

Muser usually kept one of the three Nen beasts attached to himself at all times, to prevent himself from being manipulated.

It was precisely this extra Nen beast that had led his opponent to make a fatal misjudgment. By reclaiming the Nen beast's Aura, he had gained the power to turn the tables in a desperate situation.

"Enhancers really are all brainless idiots..."

Muser searched the corpse. "Still, Enhancers recover quickly. They're genuinely troublesome. You actually forced me into this state. I'll give you that!"

Soon, Muser found a special card the size of a business card in the corpse's pocket.

The card bore the Hunter Association's exclusive emblem. With this Hunter License, one could travel freely through 90% of nations normally barred to ordinary people, as well as 75% of special restricted zones. The card even granted free access to 95% of public facilities worldwide and financing privileges equal to those of top-tier corporations...

Muser sneered at the "rights" granted by the card.

Official Professional Hunters were all Nen Users. And for a qualified Nen User, entering 90% of countries and 75% of restricted zones was never difficult in the first place. Before the extraordinary power of Nen Users, societies made up of ordinary people were merely lambs awaiting slaughter. Ninety-five percent? It was plainly 100%—they could take whatever they wanted!

The Hunter Association was backed by the world's largest massive organization, the V5 formed by the Five Great Nations. The licenses they issued were, in essence, a way to materialize the privileges of Nen Users and, through the Hunter Association's various benefits and preferential policies, register as many Nen Users across the world as possible.

"You were just a Hunter she hired, a bodyguard. You weren't even a soldier, yet you threw away your life for this..."

Muser put away the Hunter License and closed the unknown Hunter's eyes. "Truly admirable."

"But I'm sorry. I have my own mission too!"

Muser turned and left. He had to go back and make sure that woman and her child were eliminated completely.

Although Muser's remaining Aura had been turned into a Rear Window Bird Nen beast, he was still highly trained. Even with his exhausted body, he sped across the wilderness toward the site of the initial melee.

When he arrived, Muser's pupils contracted. He immediately stopped and stared at the conspicuously towering clump of wild grass in the middle of the flat ground.

When had this pile of grass appeared? Uneasy, he slowed his steps and circled around it.

He was the last surviving member of his squad. He had to be careful, more careful than ever!

After cautiously battling his wits against empty air for a while, Muser found no abnormalities for the moment apart from the two Wild Wolf corpses on the ground.

Using the muzzle of his gun to push the grass aside, Muser immediately saw the many corpses piled within.

Before long, he found the woman among them.

She was dead. Good.

But the swaddling cloth in her arms was empty!

Where was the infant boy who was supposed to die too?

Muser repeatedly searched through the pile of corpses, but found nothing. It was as though the infant boy had vanished into thin air.

He stepped out of the grass taller than a person and stood in the night, looking toward the center of the island to the south and beyond. Could someone else have passed by and taken the baby away?

Before searching for that bastard, he needed to find a place to treat his wounds, eat something, and rest. While recovering his strength, he also had to report the current situation to the prince...

He had no extra strength to dispose of the corpses. After getting his bearings, Muser took out a brand-new unregistered phone and headed toward the place where the woman's cruise ship had originally docked.

The calm, commanding voice on the other end of the call said at last, "...You must find that bastard. The mother and child who defiled the Royal Family must be exterminated completely! If necessary, you are permitted to reveal your identity. If you need to be extradited back home afterward, I will personally negotiate with the Ochima Federation authorities."

"Yes, understood."

After the call ended, Muser put the phone in his pocket. He looked up at the ship, then leaped nimbly several times, stepping on the shoreline rocks before landing on the deck.

He entered through the cabin door, and something beneath his foot went crack.

Muser abruptly stopped.

He moved his foot away. His left eye, widened by the Rear Window Bird attached to him, carefully examined what he had stepped on—a short branch covered in leaves.

There shouldn't have been anyone left in this cabin. How could there be such a fresh branch here...?

When Muser's left eye was manipulated by Rear Window Bird, it maintained the effect of Gyo at all times. In that state, his vision was greatly enhanced, and his perception was unmatched.

Could the missing baby have been brought aboard this ship by someone unknown?

Muser's vigilance surged. He drew the pistol from his clothes and checked it. There were two bullets left in the magazine.

Enough.

With Muser's battle-hardened physique, like that of a king of soldiers, plus two pistol rounds, dealing with a baby and some passerby would be more than enough.

Thus, he did not dismiss the Rear Window Bird Nen beast attached to him and reclaim that portion of his Nen aura.

Precisely because he was a Manipulator himself, he was deeply wary of this type of ability. He could not afford to let his guard down for even a moment.

Tap, tap... Muser lowered his footsteps until they made only the faintest sounds. Fully alert, he surveyed his surroundings.

With Gyo enhancing his left eye and the faint moonlight illuminating the place, every detail of the empty cabin was plainly visible—he soon spotted a pile of leftover snack bags on the floor, biscuit crumbs, empty small cake boxes, several bloodstains, and an empty cup.

A cup?

And that branch from earlier...

Muser's wariness rose again—someone had used Water Divination here!

That meant there was very likely at least one Nen User hiding in the cabin right now!

As he turned a corner in the cabin corridor, Muser halted. His widened left eye turned sharp. There was a box in front of the door on the left at the far end of the corridor, and someone seemed to be behind it!

"Who's there? Come out."

Muser held up his pistol as he barked the question, slowly approaching at the same time.

Just as his nerves tightened and he was about to circle behind the box to see who was hiding there, a fierce gust of wind suddenly struck from behind his head!

Muser instinctively performed a tactical roll on the spot. When he looked back, he saw a glowing striped tiger!

"Fanged Moon Tiger?"

Without hesitation, Muser fired.

Bang!

Fire flared from the muzzle. One of the Fanged Moon Tiger's eyes was hit, and the bullet blasted a cloud of blood from the side of its skull.

The trajectory had gone off! Muser had not expected that his momentary desire to conserve ammunition, his failure to fire both bullets at once, would result in such a mistake.

But there was no time for regret. The Fanged Moon Tiger, weighing seven or eight hundred pounds of solid muscle, was already pouncing at him with a low growl and slammed him heavily onto the floor.

Muser, already exhausted in body and mind after a life-or-death battle, could not immediately overturn the beast with its astonishing brute strength.

It seemed he had to reclaim the Nen aura of Rear Window Bird...

Just as that thought arose in Muser's mind, the person who had been sitting behind the box by the room door and pretending to be dead suddenly "came back to life" and rushed toward him, pinned beneath the Fanged Moon Tiger.

A sneak attack!

Jing Yang slammed down his palm, and the Pentagram pattern he had drawn in blood on his palm beforehand was imprinted clearly on Muser's left temple.

Muser also saw clearly that the one hiding behind the box to draw his attention was actually a brat who looked only five years old!

"Huh?" Jing Yang looked surprised. His ability had failed to activate.

This guy... was a Manipulator too?!

Jing Yang and Muser realized it at the same time.

"Roar!" The Fanged Moon Tiger increased its force, pinning Muser immovably against the floor. It opened its bloody maw, and its two sharp, long fangs slowly reached toward Muser's head, slick with cold sweat...

Muser's widened left eye darted continuously as his mind raced. What should he do? Should he dismiss Rear Window Bird?

If he did not dismiss Rear Window Bird and reclaim its Nen aura, he would not have enough power to break free of the Fanged Moon Tiger's suppression;

but if he dismissed Rear Window Bird, he would likely be immediately controlled by this brat's Manipulator ability!

Muser knew he had no time to hesitate. He immediately dismissed Rear Window Bird and reclaimed the Nen beast's Aura!

The Nen aura was not much, but it still greatly enhanced his body. Muser's strength suddenly surged.

"Roar!!" The Fanged Moon Tiger bit down.

Pinned hard against the floor, Muser raised one elbow to block the tiger. With a flick of his other wrist, he adopted an awkward posture but one that allowed him to fire as fast as possible. He aimed at the brat and decisively pulled the trigger!

Bang!

The bullet hit Jing Yang in the neck and passed straight through!

Blood sprayed out!

Everything happened in a flash, and he had succeeded! Having survived the disaster, Muser could not help but be overjoyed.

The force of the shot sent Jing Yang flying backward. He did not stop until he crashed into the doorway. Clutching his neck as blood poured from it, his vision repeatedly darkened, and the strength in his body seemed to be rapidly draining away...

"In the end, he's just a brat..."

Seeing this, Muser finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But as he celebrated, he failed to notice...

In another room along this cabin corridor, behind a door quietly cracked open, a pair of ghostly green wolf eyes lit up and watched him from the shadows.

Fool. I've got a double!

Jing Wolf stared through the crack in the door at Muser, who was about to push the Fanged Moon Tiger away—at Muser's left temple, the Bloody Pentagram Jing Yang had left behind instantly transformed into a Rose Gold Star Mark.

Manipulation, successful!