(Sorry to trouble you, dear readers, but please leave some comments. I have no idea how my writing is-is it good or terrible? There's no positive feedback at all, just emptiness. At least give me some idea... thank you.)
Several sharp whistles sliced through the air. The four Voldek thugs guarding the unfinished building's entrance fell.
Stones lodged precisely between their brows or in their throats, leaving them no time even to scream.
Their bodies hit the ground with dull thuds, jarringly loud in the quiet night.
The tattoo on the back of Leo's hand kept radiating a faint warmth. He ignored it.
Mizai Istom watched Leo casually pick up a stone, throw it, then pick up another. His movements flowed as naturally as breathing.
The two-star Crime Hunter asked calmly, "You're an Enhancement Type, aren't you?"
"Yeah." Leo shook the dust off his hands.
"You're quite strong."
Mizai Istom followed him, and the two entered the building.
"Interested in joining the Hunter Association and becoming a Hunter? The Hunter Exam will be held next January. Being a Hunter comes with plenty of privileges-and corresponding obligations, of course."
Mizai Istom had investigated Leo's background and found nothing.
A powerful Nen user with unknown origins posed a potential threat to society if left completely unchecked. Bringing him into the Hunter Association would at least place him under its oversight.
"A Hunter, huh?"
Leo stepped into the dark building, his footsteps echoing through the empty concrete space.
"I'll go." He said nothing more, but his tone was certain.
Mizai Istom nodded and asked no further questions.
Construction debris and garbage filled the first floor, but the footprints on the ground were clear-a jumble of tracks leading deep into the stairwell.
Following the tracks, they soon discovered a concealed basement entrance.
A heavy iron door stood ajar. Beyond it, concrete stairs descended into the depths, where the faint hum of machinery could be heard.
They exchanged a glance. Leo stepped inside first, with Mizai Istom close behind.
The stairway was long, descending at least three stories.
The air grew increasingly damp, carrying the mingled odors of disinfectant and an indescribable sweet, bloody stench.
At the bottom was a narrow corridor bordered by rough concrete walls, with dim yellow emergency lights hanging overhead every few meters.
A heavy airtight door with an observation window stood at the end of the corridor.
It was ajar, brighter white light spilling through the gap.
Leo's brows knitted the moment he pushed it open. Beyond lay a sizable equipment room.
Various surveillance monitors hung on the walls. Most had gone black, with only a few still displaying empty corridors.
Several machines resembling centrifuges stood in the center, running empty with a low hum.
Metal crates were piled in a corner, their lids open and their interiors empty.
"Something's wrong." Leo stopped, keeping his voice low.
"They know we're here."
Mizai Istom nodded. "The surveillance system was shut down remotely. The Doctor really is cunning."
The moment he finished speaking, a chorus of squeaks rose from behind another door ahead.
The sound was faint at first, but rapidly swelled, surging toward them like a tide.
The next second, the door burst open-a black mass of rats flooded into the equipment room like water through a broken dam!
Their eyes were blood-red, their fur filthy, and their teeth unnaturally sharp.
There were so many that they instantly covered half the floor, charging madly at the two men.
Nen Aura rose around Mizai Istom as he prepared to act, but Leo held out a hand to stop him.
"Relax." Leo grinned, excitement flashing in his eyes.
"Leave this to me." He stepped forward and drove his right foot into the ground, cracking the concrete.
Nen Aura erupted from his entire body. Pale white aura rose and swirled like flames before rushing into his right fist.
The aura compressed and condensed around his fist, emitting a dazzling white light as though he held a tiny sun.
Waves of pressure radiated from Leo, scattering papers through the equipment room and making the machinery shake.
Leo drew a deep breath, his grin turning savage and wild. "Super-Destruction-Punch!"
Yes, it was Uvogin's signature move.
At its core, the technique was simply a straight punch infused with enormous amounts of Nen Aura. In theory, any Enhancement Type Nen user could perform it-provided they had enough aura and physical strength to support it.
Leo lacked neither.
His right fist shot forward. No flashy tricks, no complex trajectory. Just a straight punch in its purest, most brutal form.
BOOOOM!!!!!
A blinding burst of light erupted forward in a fan.
The air compressed and exploded with a deafening roar.
The rats at the front were instantly crushed into pulp. Those behind were hurled into walls and equipment, their bones snapping in a rapid crackle.
Several seconds later, the dust settled. The front half of the equipment room was a wreck.
Blood and flesh splattered the walls, while a thick layer of mangled rat corpses covered the floor. Only a scattered few survived, fleeing behind the door in terror.
Mizai Istom fell silent for two seconds before speaking slowly.
"...Enhancement Types really are suited to frontal assaults. It would have taken me some effort to clear out that swarm."
Leo shook his right hand, using his Nen Aura to dislodge the blood coating his fist.
"Let's go. Time to meet whoever's behind this."
They stepped over the heaps of rat corpses and pushed open the door. Beyond it was a laboratory. A real laboratory.
The first thing that hit their noses was the overpowering smell of blood, formalin, and the sickly sweetness of rotting flesh.
The stark white lighting made everything look cold and harsh. The laboratory was huge, roughly the size of two basketball courts.
Several operating tables occupied the central area, each with a person lying on it. Men and women of various ages, all skeletal and deathly pale, their bodies covered in IV tubes and electrodes.
Most were unconscious. A few had their eyes open, but their pupils were unfocused and showed no reaction to the light.
A row of transparent culture chambers stood against the right wall, containing submerged organs-hearts, livers, brains... some still twitching faintly.
Dozens of glass jars sat neatly arranged on shelves beside the chambers, holding more specimens of human tissue preserved in formalin.
But the most horrifying sight lay in the laboratory's left corner. A "mountain of corpses" stood there. At least twenty or thirty human bodies had been stacked together like garbage.
Some were badly decomposed, exposing white bones. Others were still relatively "fresh," but covered in surgical incisions and sutures.
Blood had spread from beneath the pile, congealing into a thick, dark-red crust on the floor.
Leo's breath abruptly stopped. He had seen death before.
He had hunted beasts in the hidden realm, killed gunmen at the manor, and slaughtered plenty of rats just moments ago-but none of that compared to the scene before him.
This was systematic, industrialized cruelty that reduced human beings to objects. A true hell on earth.
Mizai Istom's expression was equally grim.
The seasoned Crime Hunter's fingers whitened from the force of his grip, cold fury burning in his eyes behind his glasses.
"I didn't expect Theodore and the others to fall to you."
A woman's voice came from above, laced with mockery and contempt.
"You do have some ability. But... this is where it ends."
Leo looked up. A suspended metal platform occupied the laboratory's second level, connected to the floor by a staircase.
Two people stood on it. On the left was a short-haired woman with a silver nose ring, a dozen or so larger black rats crouching at her feet. On the right stood a muscular man covered in dark blue-green striped tattoos, his muscles bulging and his gaze vicious.
"So you're Rat King and Iron Wall." Leo's voice was terrifyingly calm.
Mizai Istom asked grimly, "Only the two of you? Looks like the Doctor has already fled."
"Fled?" The woman with the nose ring scoffed.
"The Doctor never 'flees.' She merely goes elsewhere to pursue her great research. And you... will die here and become new experimental material."
Leo did not answer. He reached into his clothes and took out the two dice-[Fate's Madman].
"I can't wait to crush every bone in your bodies."
He spoke softly, then tossed the dice onto the floor at his feet.
They rolled and came to a stop.
Number die: 2. Risk die: great fortune.
Instantly, Leo felt something being drawn out of him-one day of his lifespan.
Then savage power erupted like a volcano!
His Nen Aura doubled, his muscle density soared, and his senses sharpened until he could hear the heartbeats of distant rats.
His strength increased twofold.
"What?!" Both people on the platform paled.
Leo gave them no time to react. His legs drove against the floor, shattering the concrete beneath him as he shot toward the platform like a cannonball!
"Stop him!" the woman shrieked, waving both hands as the black rats at her feet swarmed down.
At the same time, more rats poured from a ventilation duct in the laboratory's corner. These were grayish-white and slightly smaller, but their numbers were staggering.
While still airborne, Leo gathered Nen Aura in his right fist again.
"Super Destruction Punch-" An explosion rang out, and the rats fell like wheat beneath a scythe.
Amid the flying blood and flesh, Leo landed on the edge of the platform. Rat King stumbled backward in terror, still trying to control the swarm, but Leo was too fast.
With his body enhanced twofold, his explosive speed exceeded the limits of her motion perception.
A hand settled on top of her head. It was perfectly steady, its five fingers curling slightly inward.
Rat King's expression froze.
She saw Leo's face right before hers. There was no anger on it, only pure, icy murderous intent.
"N-" She barely managed half a syllable.
Splat.
Her head burst like an overripe watermelon.
Something warm splashed across Leo's face and body, but he did not even blink.
Warmth radiated from the tattoo on the back of his hand.
[Level: 27 (61%)]
"Still too easy a death for you." Leo released his grip, and the headless corpse slumped to the floor.
He turned toward the other side. Mizai Istom had already subdued Iron Wall.
The pale yellow barrier of Closed-Room Judgment enveloped the burly man.
"Where did the Doctor go?"
Mizai Istom's voice was as cold and hard as iron.
Far from showing fear, the restrained Iron Wall broke into a fanatical grin.
"You're too late! The Doctor is long gone! You'll never catch her! Her research... her great work... you don't understand any of it!"
Leo walked to the edge of the platform and looked down at the subjects in the laboratory, still alive but suffering a fate worse than death. Then he glanced at the pile of corpses in the corner.
"A brainwashed lunatic," he concluded.
"You won't get anything out of him."
Mizai Istom pressed his lips together in frustration, but eventually nodded.
"I've already notified the local Hunter Association branch's support team. They can arrive tonight. These survivors need emergency medical care, and those bodies... need to be handled properly."
Leo bent down, picked up the dice, and tucked them back into his clothes.
The twofold enhancement began to fade, bringing a wave of weakness, though it was still bearable.
"I'll leave this to you." He turned toward the stairs.
"I'm going outside for some air."
"Leo," Mizai Istom called, stopping him.
"Thank you... for this."
Leo waved without looking back. He descended from the platform alone, crossed the blood-soaked laboratory, and retraced his steps outside.
Mizai Istom watched Leo leave, stunned by the power he had just unleashed.
But he did not rashly press for answers. He knew very well that the fewer people who knew about one's abilities, the better.
When Leo emerged from the unfinished building and breathed the cool night air again, he murmured to himself.
"I still can't turn a blind eye. Maybe becoming a Crime Hunter wouldn't be so bad."
"Doctor, I'll remember you..."
In the distance, the lights of Toth City's airport formed a bright ribbon through the night.
Inside a VIP lounge, a middle-aged woman in a white lab coat and gold-rimmed glasses set down her phone.
A cup of coffee sat before her, already cold.
The phone screen displayed the call that had just ended. The contact name was "Rat King."
The woman adjusted her glasses and dialed another number.
"The Hunter Association came after us again."
Her voice was calm, betraying no emotion.
"I destroyed all the materials and records. The experimental data has been backed up to the cloud."
After several seconds of silence, an electronic voice processed through a voice changer came from the other end.
"Good. You handled this well. What were the losses?"
"Theodore, Terrence, and Gabri are confirmed dead. Rat King and Iron Wall... most likely won't be coming back either."
Her tone remained utterly level, as though she were reporting the depletion of laboratory supplies.
"But the core data and samples have been transferred. The Toth City facility was scheduled to be abandoned next month anyway. This merely moved it up a few weeks."
"I'll send someone to escort you to the new facility."
The electronic voice continued.
"The next phase of the project can begin. This time... I'll provide you with higher-quality 'samples.'"
"Understood." The woman ended the call, snapped the phone in half, and tossed it into the trash.
She picked up her suitcase and headed toward the boarding gate.
Outside the window, an airship shot skyward and vanished into the night.
Before you continue