[Two People Traveling Together]

Matos pulled out a silver-cased lighter and lit a cigarette: "I have been too harsh on you. No matter what you did, I would find a reason to lecture you, which is why you have become this cowardly and indecisive person you are today."

"I am already very old, Moke. I cannot carry you for another decade, so today, I will make amends for the mistakes I have made in the past!"

"Look, your target has arrived. Go and take his head."

"Also,"

Matos whispered a reminder as he walked toward the rear carriage:

"That Vessel is likely not Professor Beshe. His Secret Art is completely different from the Professor's, but his combat style doesn't feel like Aleppo to me either. You must be careful."

Legend has it that in the Southern Archipelago, there is a tribe called [Marse].

Children of this tribe follow their fathers to learn hunting until they turn fourteen; on their fourteenth birthday, they must hunt a lion alone. Only then are they recognized as having the ability to survive independently after leaving their fathers.

"I have spent my whole life teaching students, but this is the only uncut jade I have ever found."

"I do not believe I have misjudged him. Even if I must use such a cruel method, even if it costs me my life, if it allows this child to survive on his own after I am gone, then it is all worth it, Moke..."

Having secretly made up his mind, a mass of black mud emerged from Matos's palm.

Like a balloon attached to an air pump, the mud expanded, solidified, and took shape within seconds, becoming a person of entirely ordinary build and appearance.

With a flicker of movement, he merged into the noisy, numb crowd nearby.

"Counting the ones I've already created, this is the limit..."

Matos thought wearily, then stood up and quietly vanished into the throng.

Two as One, a Secret Art belonging to Matos, can create up to 7 Balloon Puppets within 24 hours. The appearance of the Balloon Puppets is entirely customized by the caster, and the caster can control all of them simultaneously.

However, the Balloon Puppets cannot move more than 50 meters away from the caster, and the further away they are, the lower the precision of control.

Although they possess strength equivalent to an ordinary person, they are not suited for melee combat because they lose the ability to act quickly if punctured; however, this can be solved by equipping them with firearms.

With enough weapons, Matos alone is a one-man fireteam.

Additionally, as long as the outer skin is not punctured or leaking, the puppets can freely control the volume of air inside them, even allowing them to deflate and squeeze through extremely narrow gaps to enter rooms for theft or assassination.

This is also the reason Matos was able to join the personal guard.

Leaving Sally upstairs, Lude arrived on the first floor of the restaurant, his sharp gaze sweeping over every guest.

Siana had previously told Lude that no matter the type of technique, it is easiest to cast on oneself, while casting on the environment is more difficult.

Techniques that directly and forcibly act upon another sentient lifeform have the most difficult and stringent requirements.

Therefore, most curse-type techniques require the target's blood or hair.

Without knowing the activation conditions of the Secret Art, and given that the opponent already possessed Lude's blood, the best choice for Lude was to take the opponent's head before they could activate the technique or before it could take effect.

But to take the enemy's head, he first had to figure out where the enemy was.

Lude looked around, trying to identify the suspect.

Yet, whether it was the stubble-faced man, the freckled woman, the decrepit bald old man, or the child with a runny nose, everyone looked like a Balloon Puppet, and yet none of them did.

What should I do? Lude thought to himself. I can't just kill them all, can I?

Just then, Lude's ears twitched slightly, catching a faint sound.

It was the sound of a hammer being pulled back, and the source was...

The next instant, two nearly overlapping gunshots rang out across the entire street.

This abrupt gunfire acted like the starting pistol of a sprint race.

The men, women, and children in the restaurant fell into chaos in an instant, with screams, curses, and the sounds of fleeing feet filling the air.

Amidst this turmoil, Lude fired his second shot without hesitation.

The bullet tore through the cold morning air, shattering the ear of a man trying to snatch the gun from Lude's hand, severing the long hair of a woman fleeing in panic, and finally striking a nondescript, gaunt man in the corner with precision.

The man's head exploded into fragments instantly; clearly, this was also a puppet.

However, the moment Lude fired, a burly figure erupted from behind him, throwing a punch aimed at Lude's lower back; even to Lude, the speed was not slow—it exceeded the limits of human reaction.

Unfortunately, this speed is still a bit slow for me, Lude thought, raising his hand to catch the incoming fist.

Hiss—that hurts!

The seemingly fierce fist of the person before him was merely a feint; his true attack was a nail wedged between his knuckles!

Moreover, the man possessed astonishing strength, actually driving the nail into the palm of Lude's hand.

Before Lude could react, the nail instantly transformed into countless gray threads, burrowing into Lude's body through the wound and sending an inexplicable chill through him.

At that very moment, a cold, sinister whisper abruptly sounded in Lude's ear.

"Three."

Simultaneously, Moke, having landed the hit, had already slipped into the panicked crowd without hesitation.

"Heh." The corners of Lude's mouth curled up, and he silently praised in his heart:

A truly excellent strategy. Start with gunfire to incite a riot, launch a sneak attack amidst the chaos, and retreat immediately after landing a hit—one can tell at a glance that this is the work of a seasoned professional!

Three... does it mean three nails must be driven in consecutively for its true effect to trigger?

It requires the enemy's blood to craft, requires close proximity to drive it into the enemy's body, and requires three successful consecutive strikes to take effect; during this process, it causes no hindrance to the enemy's movements and even alerts them that they have been attacked...

Siana once said that this world follows a fundamental logic: the principle of equivalent exchange.

The commonality of all sorcery is that the more complex the ritual, the more precious the materials, and the more painful the sacrifice, the greater the effect it yields.

Given that so many restrictions have been revealed in just a single exchange, the effect of this curse must be extraordinary.

The clone collects blood samples and harasses, while the curse is responsible for the one-hit kill; it is a perfectly coordinated two-person team.

Troublesome, Lude thought to himself. The current situation was not in his favor, as the opponent's coordination was seamless.

The one playing with balloons was equivalent to an entire squad of gunmen; although the small-caliber bullets could not kill him, they could effectively hinder his movements, and once interfered with, he would inevitably take a nail.

As for the one playing with nails, although his melee ability was weaker than Lude's, he certainly had the qualifications to engage in hand-to-hand combat with him.

By comparison, the one playing with nails posed the greatest threat.

After all, Lude could endure several handguns and force a charge, but three nails could indeed take him down.

As long as he took out the guy playing with nails, the other guy wholesaling inflatable girlfriends would pose no threat.

Since just a moment ago, Lude had been distracted, keeping an eye on the surrounding doors and windows.

Aside from the two women, no one else had left the restaurant through these exits yet.

However, to isolate the nail-user from the crowd, he first had to find a way to make these people quiet down.

Thinking of this, Lude pulled the uniform of the Obsidian Hall from the Glazed Pouch and draped it over his shoulders.

Then, he drew his handgun and fired three shots into the air: "Everyone, be quiet--!!!"

The crowd fell into a deathly silence. They huddled around the unlucky fellow lying on the ground covered in blood, daring neither to advance nor retreat—at the end of the day, they simply wanted to escape this restaurant.

Lude scanned the room, his voice booming: "Very well. It seems you prefer the language of violence over human speech, so I don't mind using that method to negotiate with you!"

"Open your dog eyes and look closely! I am the King's Special Envoy of the Obsidian Hall, Frank Radvasch. Citizens of the Kingdom, I have bad news for you: there are spies from the Khalid Sultanate mixed in among you!"

"From this moment on, anyone who creates chaos will be treated as a foreign spy and executed on the spot!"

"Now, all of you, squat down right where you are! Drop your belongings and put your hands on your heads! No one is allowed to make a sound! And absolutely no one is allowed to stand up! Do not test my patience, or I won't mind letting you unruly rabble have your heads blown open!"

In an instant, the restaurant fell completely silent.