Killers Begin Their Operation

Hadebein Island, mine

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

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

The clang of pickaxes striking ore, the rumble of mine carts rolling along their tracks, and the hearty shouts of the men intertwined into a powerful symphony of labor.

There was not the slightest sign of weariness or resentment on the miners' faces despite working deep into the night. Instead, they brimmed with an almost devout enthusiasm. Sweat ran down their coal-dusted backs, glimmering beneath the lights.

Such a sight was an anomaly among the mines of the West Blue, or even the entire world. In the past, night shifts meant exploitation, danger, and meager wages. The miners would be sallow and gaunt, laboring numbly beneath the overseers' whips. Simply surviving to see the next day's sun was considered fortunate.

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, along with hearty meals enough to fill any burly man to bursting—thick cuts of roast meat, rich meat stew, fresh bread, and even fruit.

For laborers who had once slept only two or three hours a day while still going hungry and cold, their current lives were like paradise. They wished every day could be a night shift, trading their sweat for tangible Beli, full bellies, and peace of mind.

At the edge of that blazing brightness, behind a mountain-like barricade of ore piled along the upper rim of the mine pit, several sinister pairs of eyes peered down through the gaps.

The lamplight cast twisted shadows behind them, much like their darkened moods.

They were three killers from the Underworld, drawn here by the bounty on Dawn's head.

They had been infiltrating the area for quite some time, yet they had never managed to pinpoint their target's exact location. The leader had therefore decided to cause a disturbance, lure the snake from its hole, and ambush him.

Yet the very first step of the plan had left them bewildered.

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

A tall, thin killer with an immature look still lingering on his face lowered his voice, unease filling his tone.

"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 without reason. In his understanding, in a world where slavery was still rampant, what lowly laborer was not sallow-faced and numb-eyed?

But those people below were all energetic and robust. Their shouts were full of vigor, and even their movements carried a trained sense of coordination. How could they possibly be miners?

They were clearly a private force with soaring morale! There were at least several hundred of them at a glance. If they truly swarmed forward, the three of them would never 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 flickered in his eyes was not worry, but greed.

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

He paused, his voice slightly hoarse with excitement.

"Once we kill that brat named Dawn, we'll immediately notify a Slave Ship to come over. The bounty on the brat, plus all the Beli from selling this high-quality stock, will be enough for us brothers to live freely for the rest of our lives in some country unaffiliated with the World Government!"

He was an experienced killer and understood very well how to maximize profits. Fear was common, but such an enormous temptation of wealth was rare.

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

"Big Brother is right. We're professional killers. What we excel at is assassination and traps, not frontal assaults. If we prepare in advance and use the environment and our weapons to our advantage, it's not impossible to break them one by one and subdue them. Don't forget what we do."

The tall, thin killer's hesitation lessened somewhat upon hearing that. His greed for wealth gradually overcame his fear of being outnumbered.

He gritted his teeth, a trace of ruthlessness flashing through his eyes.

"Fine! I'll listen to you! Let's set up the traps now, and once we lure that brat out..."

Having reached a consensus, the three no longer hesitated. Like venomous snakes in the night, they silently slipped out from behind the barricade and began setting all manner of vicious traps in a dark corner not far away—tripwires, bear traps, pre-positioned explosives...

They were completely focused, utterly unaware that beside them, a twisted shadow nearly merged with the thick darkness had been quietly "standing" there all along, taking in every word and action with its "eyes."

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

Dawn leaned against the headboard of a soft velvet bed, one large hand idly 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 fast asleep.

Through a shadow clone placed beforehand within the mine's shadows, Dawn clearly "heard" every detail of the three killers' plan.

In this era where electricity saw little use, his shadow clone's concealment at night was virtually unbeatable. Unless it encountered someone with awakened Observation Haki or an ability user with sensory powers, it was extremely difficult to detect.

"Heh, the five great families... they're certainly willing to spend."

Dawn sneered inwardly. Having spent some time in the Underworld, he naturally knew that it possessed 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 obvious. Across the entire Underworld, only the five families whose fundamental interests he had harmed had both the motive, the resources, and such an urgent desire for his death.

Smack!

A crisp slap echoed through the quiet bedroom.

Without the slightest restraint, Dawn gave Stella's pert buttock a slap. It was neither too hard nor too light, but enough to wake her from sleep.

"Mmm..."

Stella let out a dissatisfied murmur. Her long eyelashes trembled a few times before she slowly opened her sleepy eyes. Confusion first filled those charming eyes, then quickly cleared, carrying a hint of grievance at having her pleasant dream interrupted as she was about to complain.

"A few little mice slipped into the mine pit."

Dawn spoke first.

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

He needed information. The killers who had accepted the bounty task could not possibly be the only group. Interrogating a survivor was the most direct way to learn the number and movements of potential enemies.

The words on Stella's lips were forcibly swallowed. The grievance in her eyes was instantly replaced by sharpness. Without any delay, she immediately rose. Her exquisitely curved body traced a breathtaking silhouette through the dim light as she swiftly and silently dressed, then hurried from the room.

After Stella left, Dawn did not lie back down. He frowned slightly as a possibility came to mind.

The killers might not be limited to the group at the mine. Perhaps other enemies had used the cover of night to infiltrate the island from different directions, only they had yet to be discovered.

Taking that into consideration, he decided to wake the others immediately and conduct an island-wide search.

TO BE CONTINUED