Colton Manor, Farewell to Goreinu

The airship landed smoothly at Toth City Airport.

Leo stepped out of the terminal and immediately spotted his contact among the welcoming crowd—a man in a black suit and sunglasses.

A dark sedan was parked beside the man, its windows covered with privacy film.

"Mr. Leo?" The man stepped forward to confirm his identity. After receiving an affirmative reply, he respectfully opened the rear door.

"Please get in!"

The car drove out of the airport. Rather than heading into Toth City's bustling downtown, it traveled away from the city.

The scenery along the way gradually shifted from towering buildings to suburban villas.

The man in black in the passenger seat turned around and handed over a neatly bound stack of documents.

"Mr. Leo, this contains the information we've gathered on the other side, as well as materials concerning our own situation. We hope it will be of help to you."

Leo accepted it and began reading.

The materials had been compiled professionally, with written descriptions, photographs, and even some blurry secretly taken footage.

He skimmed through them quickly, gradually piecing together the outline of the entire incident.

The Colton Family, to which Vivian belonged, had originally been a mid-sized gang in Toth City.

Two months ago, Vivian's father—Old Colton—had happened to acquire something one of the Ten Dons needed and used it to establish a connection.

If things had gone smoothly, the Colton Family might very well have risen to prominence because of it.

But the news leaked.

The rival Waldeck Family had always been slightly stronger than the Coltons and had suppressed their growth for years.

Upon learning that the Coltons might rise, the Waldecks acted decisively, launching a bloody ambush on the road while members of the Colton Family were out.

Old Colton and part of the upper ranks were wiped out. Only Vivian, who had been delayed for some reason, escaped disaster—while shopping in a store, she encountered Goreinu, who happened to be passing by.

What followed was as Goreinu had described: he saved Vivian and was hired as a temporary bodyguard.

The latter half of the materials concerned the two Nen users.

After paying no small price, the Colton Family's intelligence network uncovered a name: "Cleaners."

It was a mysterious organization that had reached some sort of agreement with the Waldeck Family—the Waldecks secretly captured large numbers of homeless people and handed them over to the Cleaners.

In return, the Cleaners sent two members to assist the Waldecks in eliminating the Coltons' remaining forces.

There was very little information on the Cleaners themselves: their number of members was unknown, their level of strength was unknown, and their purpose was unknown.

The only certainty was that the organization operated in secrecy.

Leo closed the documents and shut his eyes in thought.

The Cleaners... They never appeared in the original story. That meant he had lost his advantage as a "prophet" and could not predict their background or methods.

Still, judging by their cooperation with a local gang like the Waldeck Family, they probably were not a top-tier organization—truly powerful Nen user organizations would not think much of this level of partnership.

Besides, Goreinu had managed to injure one of them, which meant the two Nen users were at least within a manageable range.

Once I see Goreinu, I need to ask in detail about the characteristics of their abilities.

Leo made his plans internally. Only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you formulate a countermeasure.

The car continued for another half hour before finally stopping at the entrance to a massive estate.

The estate walls stood three meters high, topped with electric fencing and surveillance cameras.

The iron gates slowly opened, and the car drove in.

The grounds inside were more spacious than they appeared from outside.

The main building was a three-story European-style villa, surrounded by auxiliary structures such as garages, servants' quarters, and warehouses.

Carefully trimmed lawns, fountains, and flower beds displayed the wealth and taste the owners had once possessed.

But at this moment, the estate was filled with tension.

As Leo got out of the car, his gaze quickly swept over the surroundings.

An armed guard stood every twenty meters or so, with a well-trained hunting dog crouched beside him.

The guards' positions had been carefully arranged, allowing them to provide overlapping fields of fire. The surveillance cameras left almost no blind spots.

The defenses aren't bad, Leo assessed inwardly. They're afraid someone might just come straight to their door and kill them.

But he knew that this level of defense was meaningless against a true Nen master—especially one skilled in Enhancement.

Against someone at Uvogin's level from the Phantom Troupe, forcing his way in and slaughtering everyone in the entire estate would probably amount to nothing more than a few superficial wounds.

A man in black approached and bowed respectfully.

"Mr. Leo, the leader and Mr. Goreinu are already waiting for you in the second-floor conference hall. Please follow me there."

Leo nodded and followed the man toward the main villa.

Upon entering the hall, he found the interior luxurious without being overly ostentatious.

The marble floor was polished to a mirror shine, while crystal chandeliers cast warm light.

The staircase was covered with deep red carpeting, and several oil paintings hung on the walls on either side—likely collections from the Colton Family's heyday.

As he went upstairs, Leo could feel eyes watching from the shadows.

At least four or five hidden guards were monitoring every movement within the building.

At the end of the second-floor corridor stood a heavy solid wooden door.

The man leading the way stopped before it and knocked three times.

"Come in," a voice called from within.

The man opened the door and stepped aside. "Mr. Leo, please."

Leo walked in. The conference room was spacious and brightly lit, with a long dark solid-wood table occupying the center.

Seated at the head of the table was a blonde woman—Vivian Colton.

She wore a sharply tailored black suit, her long golden hair falling over her shoulders. Her features were delicate, but her eyes carried obvious exhaustion and wariness.

Her hands were folded atop the table, and she sat upright, displaying a calmness beyond her years.

Two bodyguards in black stood on each side of the conference table. They were powerfully built, their hands constantly resting at their waists where they could quickly draw their guns.

Goreinu stood at Vivian's right, his upper body wrapped in white bandages with faint bloodstains seeping through.

When he saw Leo enter, his stern expression softened into a smile.

"Thank you for coming, Brother Leo." Goreinu stepped forward and shook Leo's hand.

Leo returned the smile. "Since Brother Goreinu thinks so highly of me, how could I not come? Didn't I say it before? The more friends you have, the more paths you have."

Goreinu smiled awkwardly, clearly recalling the conversation they had had when they first met.

He released Leo's hand and turned sideways. "You've read the materials, right? Is there anything unclear?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah, I understand the general situation. But..." His gaze swept over the four bodyguards at the sides.

Goreinu immediately understood and looked toward Vivian.

Vivian's gaze lingered on Leo for a moment before she made a gesture.

"You four, leave. Do not come in without my orders."

"Understood." The four bodyguards answered in unison, swiftly leaving the conference room and closing the door behind them.

Only the three of them remained in the room.

Leo sat beside the conference table and went straight to the point.

"Brother Goreinu, tell me in detail about those two."

Goreinu's expression turned serious.

"The first one should be either an Emitter or a Conjurer—he used a handgun, but what he fired weren't ordinary bullets. They were Nen bullets."

"Their power was far greater than conventional firearms, and they had an auto-tracking function. It took me some effort to figure out their pattern."

He pointed at the bandages on his left shoulder.

"I caught him off guard with my ability and injured him."

Goreinu briefly explained his ability to Leo.

"But just then..." Goreinu turned around, revealing a long bandage running diagonally across his back from his right shoulder to his left waist.

"The second person made his move. He should be an Enhancer, wielding a Bian Clan Saber, and he was incredibly fast."

"He blocked every bullet from ordinary firearms with his blade. Even when he was hit occasionally, it did not cause much damage."

"He had been hiding nearby the whole time, waiting until I attacked the gunman to ambush me from behind. That strike... If I hadn't moved aside in time..."

Leo frowned.

"It seems they did not intend to kill you immediately. Since he could wound you with his blade, if he had coated it in poison, you would already be dead."

Goreinu nodded gravely. "That's what I thought too. They held back. They might have wanted to capture me alive."

Leo swiftly connected the clues in his mind—the Waldecks supplied the Cleaners with large numbers of homeless people, so they were very likely conducting human experiments.

A Nen user like Goreinu, with actual combat experience, was indeed excellent "material."

But that also gave them an opening.

Goreinu continued.

"Because the situation was urgent, Vivian did not publicly put out a request for bodyguards. She was afraid assassins or people from the Waldeck Family might sneak in."

"And I've always been on my own, with no other companions, so you're the only backup for this job. I hope you understand!"

"Yeah, I understand. I have a rough plan now. Brother Goreinu, you have a Hunter License, right?"

Goreinu nodded.

Then Leo turned to Vivian.

"Miss Vivian, I can resolve this trouble, but I need you to agree to one condition."

Vivian leaned forward slightly. "Go on."

"At some point in the future, when I need it, the Colton Family must do one thing for me within its capabilities."

Leo's tone was calm.

"Of course, it will not put you in too difficult a position, nor will it exceed what you are capable of—if it truly does, you have the right to refuse."

Vivian fell silent for a moment, her eyes beneath her golden hair sharply studying Leo.

"A future request... That is a very vague promise. If I agree, how can you guarantee that this request will not drag the Colton Family into utter ruin?"

"I can't guarantee it one hundred percent."

Leo answered honestly.

"But you can trust my judgment—I won't make a request that destroys your family, because that would not benefit me either. And you have the right to refuse."

He added,

"In exchange, I will not only deal with the two Nen users before us, but I will also help you completely eliminate the Waldeck Family threat. I'll make sure the Colton Family can establish itself firmly in Toth City."

Vivian lightly tapped her fingertips against the table, a habitual gesture she made while thinking.

The room was so quiet that they could hear the faint chirping of birds outside the window.

After a long while, she raised her head.

"I can agree. But there are two conditions. First, this 'future request' is limited to one time only."

"Second, if you fail this time and do not resolve those two Nen users, then you must stay here as my bodyguard for two years."

"During those two years, you cannot leave. You must devote yourself fully to protecting me and the Colton Family."

It was a shrewd hedge—if he succeeded, she would pay a future promise; if he failed, she would gain a powerful bodyguard.

Leo barely hesitated. "No problem. It's a deal."

He extended his hand.

Vivian stood and shook it. Her hand was cold, but her grip was steady.

Sunlight filtered through the blinds outside, casting mottled patches of light and shadow across the conference room carpet.