Familiar Faces

Ideas were easy enough to come up with, but putting them into practice was difficult. He had not even fully grasped the principles involved, so what qualifications did he have to talk about fusion?

All Duan Mu could do for now was strengthen his existing abilities and build up a sufficient foundation of knowledge. The rest was up to fate. Maybe one day, he would successfully figure it out.

And he had been doing exactly that. For example, the newly opened "House Call Medical Service" was meant to study the composition of the Resident Spirit Bodies in Rukongai, then compare it with the knowledge of Kido in his mind. As a result, his Kido abilities had improved by leaps and bounds over the past month.

Of course...

Research came second. Treating his customers was the top priority. He could not possibly dissect a few customers just to study their spirit bodies.

"Hmm?"

Duan Mu, immersed in the system, suddenly raised his head and looked at the road ahead.

A mountain path lay directly in front of the convoy. It was surrounded on both sides by two low, densely wooded hills, looking like a beautiful painting. However... beneath that beautiful scene lurked a murderous intent.

"Looks like we're pretty lucky today. Once we pass through this ravine, we'll reach District 42."

President Shinno let out a soft breath. As his voice fell, the convoy's taut nerves relaxed somewhat.

"There's an ambush."

However, with those words, the nerves that had just relaxed tensed up again.

Everyone instinctively turned toward the speaker. When they saw that it was Duan Mu rather than one of the guards on either side of the convoy, irritation immediately appeared on their faces.

"Kid Duan Mu, that's not a joke you can make."

"You scared me to death."

"You're way too nervous. If you're that timid, don't take on this kind of dangerous work."

"..."

It was not that they did not trust Duan Mu. More importantly, for the sake of his safety, President Shinno had arranged for him to stay at his side, right in the very center of the group.

The people around him completely blocked his view. Duan Mu could not see the surrounding area at all, so there was no way his words could convince them.

"I'm not joking."

Since he had accepted this commission, Duan Mu naturally would not throw a tantrum and say, Believe it or not, only to wait until the convoy suffered casualties before stepping forward to save the day.

In the Yorozuya business, the shop's reputation and customer satisfaction were always the most important things.

Seeing Duan Mu's certainty, the people who had not believed him began to hesitate.

"Stop!"

President Shinno, standing beside Duan Mu, immediately raised a hand and halted the convoy. The guards on both sides gripped their blades and carefully observed their surroundings, and the atmosphere instantly grew heavy.

"Where's the ambush?"

President Shinno asked Duan Mu in a low voice. In truth, he had already become vigilant the moment Duan Mu mentioned the ambush. Given Duan Mu's serious attitude toward his work, he was unlikely to make such a childish joke.

"Get them! Don't let them escape!!"

Before Duan Mu could answer, an irritated shout came from the distance. As the voice rang out, dozens of people swarmed down the wooded slopes on both sides.

President Shinno's expression darkened. If the convoy had not stopped, it might already have been surrounded from both sides.

Had so many people really gathered?

Usually, when these local thugs came out to rob people, they traveled in groups of a few, with the largest groups numbering no more than a dozen. This was the first time he had encountered a group of dozens.

He glanced at the surrounding guards. Although they had gathered at the front of the convoy as soon as they discovered the enemy, each of them wore more or less a panicked expression. Clearly, the enemy's numbers had frightened them as well.

This is bad!

President Shinno's heart sank when he saw this. Then, as though he had thought of something, he looked hopefully at Duan Mu beside him.

Duan Mu had spotted the ambush before the guards. Perhaps he might also be able to... help them through the crisis before them?

But the result...

Disappointed him somewhat. Duan Mu was currently staring at the bandits with a dark expression, as if he had been frightened senseless.

We're done for.

President Shinno sighed inwardly. The battle had not even begun, yet the guards had already lost their will to fight. They clearly could not protect the convoy from being robbed. At this point, he could only hope that the bandits wanted money and not lives.

After charging down, the bandits did not attack the convoy immediately. Instead, they stopped some distance away.

Then, a man walked out from among them. He was a thin, short man who looked to be around thirty years old. Judging by his build and appearance alone, it was impossible to associate him with vicious bandits. Yet the bandits around him looked at him with awe.

The short man glanced at the convoy's guards, a trace of contempt flashing through his eyes. "Leave the cargo behind and go."

The guards blocking the front of the convoy immediately breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, then turned to look at President Shinno in the center.

"Fine."

President Shinno was equally straightforward. Encountering so many bandits, they could only blame their bad luck.

"Leave the cargo to them. We'll withdraw."

The convoy's guards immediately spread out to both sides, preparing to cover the convoy's retreat.

"Hmm?"

As the guards moved aside, the short man suddenly froze. He looked toward someone in the center of the convoy and instinctively said, "Duan..."

Whoosh~~

A fierce wind howled. Everyone felt their vision blur, and a figure appeared behind the short man out of thin air.

Before anyone could understand what had happened, they heard a loud bang. The figure pressed one hand against the short man's head and slammed it into the ground. No matter how the short man struggled, that hand remained as immovable as an iron vise.

"..."

The scene instantly fell deathly silent. Whether bandits or convoy members, everyone stared blankly at the figure in the middle.

Meeting President Shinno's gaze, Duan Mu forced a somewhat stiff smile onto his face.

"Since I accepted the escort job, I absolutely won't stand by and watch the cargo get robbed. I'll stake the Yorozuya's reputation on this—I will protect you and the cargo."

President Shinno was clearly confused by Duan Mu's impassioned declaration, but his expression soon changed.

Although he had no idea how Duan Mu had suddenly appeared behind the bandit leader, doing this would undoubtedly anger all the bandits. If they swarmed him, Duan Mu would be in danger.

With that thought, President Shinno instinctively looked toward the bandits, only to find that the vicious men were all staring blankly at...

The bandit leader, pinned beneath Duan Mu's hand, had stopped struggling at some point. Yet not one of them dared to step forward.

What was going on?

The scene before him was simply too bizarre. Dozens of fierce-looking men surrounded a young man, yet not one dared to move.

Were these bandits really that timid?

What President Shinno did not know was that the bandits before him had all been gathered by the short man beneath Duan Mu's hand through overwhelming strength. In their eyes, the short man was a monster as terrifying as the god of death.

Yet the monster in their eyes had now been defeated in an instant.

"If you don't want to die, stay put."

Duan Mu spoke to the man on the ground in a voice no one else could hear.

After hearing the sensitive phrase "one month ago," Duan Mu had vaguely anticipated this possibility. But now that he had actually encountered it, his expression still darkened.

He did not merely know the man beneath his hand. He knew him very well.

His surname was Takahashi. Duan Mu had never paid attention to his given name. He only knew him as the Takahashi everyone liked. He was also a regular at the Uzuki Bar, and Duan Mu saw him almost every day.

Compared with the others, Takahashi was good at handling affairs. He liked drinking just as much as Duan Mu did, so he often sent the "protection money" collected from merchants traveling through South Rukongai to the Yorozuya. It was always good liquor that Duan Mu found particularly enjoyable.

What a mess...

The corner of Duan Mu's mouth twitched. If people found out that a regular at his bar had gathered a group of local thugs to rob merchant convoys, then used the robbery money to drink at his bar, he would not be able to keep the Yorozuya open.

If not for the sake of that good liquor, Duan Mu would have loved to crush the bastard's head right then and there.

Turning around with his back to the convoy, Duan Mu cast a cold gaze at the surrounding bandits.

The next moment, his spiritual pressure erupted silently. The bandits felt the air around them grow incomparably viscous, making it incredibly difficult even to move a finger. Duan Mu's icy gaze continued to grow within their minds, and the entire world seemed to fall beneath those eyes.

It felt as though, in the next second, they would be devoured by that gaze.

Fear instantly climbed to its peak!

Fortunately...

The feeling came quickly and went just as quickly.

"Get lost!"

As that single word fell, the indescribable terror abruptly receded. The entire thing had lasted less than a second, but it had still soaked every bandit's back in cold sweat.

The bandits immediately scattered, scrambling back up the low hills at a speed even faster than when they had descended. Soon, the lush forest swallowed them.

"President Shinno..."

Duan Mu stood up, then kicked Takahashi in the abdomen. Takahashi traced a high arc through the air before landing in the forest on the low hill.

"Let's keep moving."