The pitch-black Black Mecha called the "Scavenger" raised its eerie blue scythe blade high, its crimson eye locking onto Bai Zhu as though it would cleave him and the ground beneath his feet apart in the next second.
Yet the anticipated thunderous strike never fell.
"Stop."
A calm voice rang out as the Overseer raised his hand.
The Scavenger stopped abruptly. Its enormous Scythe hung in midair, arcs of blue energy crackling along its edge, while its body remained utterly still, like a statue put on pause.
The Overseer adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, and that polite smile returned to his face.
"Disposing of them outright would be too wasteful. Before we retrieve the Recovery Core sample, there's one final set of combat data to collect."
As he spoke, he placed his hand on the silver Main Box beside his leg. A row of concealed touchscreens lit up along its side.
The Overseer tapped one of them lightly.
"Final test. Deploying opposition sample."
Click.
A far more terrifying, far purer malice than before erupted from inside the case.
The mass of red paper forcibly sucked back inside appeared before them again.
This time, however, it was no longer a small, curled-up lump. It unfurled in the air like an ancient talisman soaked in blood. Rings of invisible ripples appeared across its surface, binding it tightly like an unseen collar.
"I certainly didn't expect anyone among you testers to be capable of taking on the Scavenger head-on. You even had a 'ghost' hidden among you whom our systems can't identify." The Overseer's gaze swept between Hisoka and Bai Zhu before settling on Bai Zhu, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Perfect. We'll use you to test D-04's efficiency in hunting high-threat targets while under full suppression."
He had