Killers Begin Their Operation

Hardbane Island, mine

The night sky was black as ink, with only a bright moon hanging high above, casting its cold radiance over the land.

The enormous mine pit was like a wound gnawed into the earth by a giant god, plunging deep into the ground. The pit was brightly lit, with powerful gas lamps driving back the darkness and illuminating countless busy figures.

The clang of pickaxes against ore, the rumble of mine carts rolling along their tracks, and the booming shouts of the men intertwined into a labor symphony brimming with strength.

There was not the slightest trace of exhaustion or resentment from working deep into the night on the miners' faces. Instead, they radiated an almost devout enthusiasm. Sweat ran down their coal-smudged backs, glinting faintly beneath the lights.

Such a sight was an anomaly among mines in the West Blue, or even the entire world. In the past, night shifts meant exploitation, danger, and meager wages. Miners were sallow and emaciated, laboring numbly beneath overseers' whips. Simply living to see the next day's sun was considered lucky.

But everything had completely changed after that man arrived.

Dawn's new policies stipulated that night-shift pay was one and a half times that of the day shift, with hearty meals sufficient to fill the belly of any strong man—thick cuts of roasted meat, rich meat stew, fresh bread, and even fruit.

To these laborers, who had once slept only two or three hours a day and still gone hungry and cold, their current lives were like heaven. They wished every day could be a night shift, trading sweat for solid Beli and full bellies, with no worries left behind.

At the edge of this blazing brightness, behind a mountain-like pile of ore serving as cover above the mine pit, several sinister pairs of eyes peered down through the gaps.

The lights cast twisted shadows behind them, mirroring their dark moods.

They were three killers from the Underworld, here to claim Dawn's head for the bounty.

They had infiltrated the area long ago, yet had never managed to pinpoint their target's exact location. So their leader decided to cause some trouble, lure the snake from its hole, then ambush and kill him.

Yet the very first step of their plan left them confused.

"So... are we still doing this?"

A lanky killer with a boyish look still lingering on his face lowered his voice, his tone full of unease.

"Those people down there... are they really miners? No matter how I look at them, they seem more like guards in disguise!"

His fear was not unfounded. In his understanding, in a world where slavery still flourished, what lowborn laborer engaged in physical work was not sallow-faced and emaciated, with deadened eyes?

But those men below were all spirited and powerfully built. Their shouts were booming, and even their movements carried a trained coordination. How were they miners?

They were clearly a private force with soaring morale! There were at least several hundred of them down there at a glance. If they truly swarmed them, the three of them would not be able to handle it even if they had three heads and six arms.

"What are you afraid of?"

The one who answered was a burly man with a face full of flesh and vicious eyes. He licked his somewhat chapped lips, and what gleamed in his eyes was not concern, but greed.

"We have guns! Even if they've had some training, they're only holding hoes and pickaxes. Can they be faster than bullets? Besides, trained, strong adult men fetch far more from black-market slave traders than ordinary laborers!"

He paused, his voice turning slightly hoarse with excitement.

"Once we kill that brat called Dawn, we'll immediately call in a slave-catching ship. The brat's bounty, plus the huge pile of Beli from selling this premium stock, will be enough for us brothers to live easy for the rest of our lives in some country that isn't affiliated with the World Government!"

He was a veteran killer and understood well how to maximize profit. Fear was common enough, but an opportunity for such immense wealth was rare.

The last of the three was a curvaceous woman. Her eyes flashed as she immediately echoed the burly man, soothing their new companion.

"Big Brother is right. We're professional killers. We specialize in assassinations and traps, not frontal assaults. If we prepare in advance and use the terrain and our weapons to our advantage, picking them off one by one, subduing these people isn't impossible. Don't forget what we do."

The lanky killer's hesitation lessened slightly at her words. His greed for wealth gradually overwhelmed his fear of being outnumbered.

He gritted his teeth, a fierce glint flashing through his eyes.

"Fine! We'll do it your way! Let's set the traps now and wait until we lure that brat out..."

The three reached an agreement and hesitated no longer. Like venomous snakes in the night, they silently slipped out from behind the cover and began setting all kinds of vicious traps in dark corners nearby—tripwires, bear traps, pre-positioned explosives...

They were utterly focused, completely unaware that right beside them stood a warped shadow almost entirely blended into the thick darkness, silently "watching" every word and action of theirs.

At the same time, inside the manor's master bedroom.

On the soft velvet bed, Dawn leaned against the headboard, one large hand absently stroking the smooth, jade-like back of the beauty in his arms.

Stella curled up beside him like a lazy cat, her breathing even, as though she were already sound asleep.

Through a Shadow Clone he had placed in the mine's shadows beforehand, Dawn clearly "heard" every detail of the three killers' plan.

In this era, where electricity saw very little use, his Shadow Clone's concealment at night was practically unbeatable. Unless it encountered someone with awakened Observation Haki or an ability user capable of sensing it, it would be extremely difficult to discover.

"Heh, the Five Great Families... they really are willing to spend."

Dawn sneered inwardly. Having spent some time in the Underworld, he naturally knew that it had a Dark Web Bounty system independent of the World Government's bounty system.

He was not currently wanted by the World Government, so the source of the "bounty" mentioned by those killers was self-evident. Across the entire Underworld, the only ones with the motive, wealth, and such urgency to take his life were the five families whose fundamental interests he had offended.

Smack!

A crisp slap rang out in the quiet bedroom.

Without the slightest restraint, Dawn gave Stella's firm, upturned rear a smack. The force was neither too light nor too heavy, but enough to wake her from sleep.

"Mmm..."

Stella let out a dissatisfied murmur. Her long lashes trembled a few times before she slowly opened her sleepy eyes. Confusion first filled those alluring eyes, then swiftly gave way to clarity, along with a trace of grievance at having her pleasant dream disturbed as she was about to complain.

"A few little rats slipped into the mine."

Dawn spoke before she could.

"Go deal with them. Remember, leave at least one alive and breathing."

He needed intelligence. The killers who had accepted the bounty would not be limited to this one group. Interrogating a survivor was the most direct way to learn the numbers and movements of potential enemies.

Stella forcibly swallowed the words that had reached her lips. The grievance in her eyes was instantly replaced by sharpness. Without wasting a moment, she rose at once. Her exquisitely curved body traced a breathtaking silhouette in the dim light as she swiftly and silently dressed, then hurried out of the room.

After Stella left, Dawn did not lie back down. He frowned slightly, considering a possibility.

The killers might not be limited to the group at the mine. Other enemies might have used the night as cover to infiltrate the island from different directions and simply had not been discovered yet.

With that in mind, he decided to wake the others immediately and conduct a search across the entire island.

TO BE CONTINUED