In the darkness.
Qi Peixin quietly waited for the fish to return.
"21...22..."
A total of twenty-seven [Grotesque Fish] had [returned], slightly fewer than Qi Peixin had expected.
Had a Nen user intervened, or had someone escaped the first feeding?
There wasn't much time left...
Qi Peixin felt the constant burning across his body. [Gastric Acid] had probably burned away most of his skin by now.
It hurt so much...
But that was fine. As long as I had enough [Nen] left, I could heal.
Was that prince of Kakin dead?
Qi Peixin's intuition told him he wasn't...
He had always trusted his intuition. According to Carl, he was an [Enhancement] user who had developed a [Nen Beast].
She was saying I'd made a mistake, wasn't she? Old Carl never wanted to say things outright. What an awkward woman...
Stop, stop. I'm reminiscing again. What I need to think about now is how to kill that prince of Kakin before I die.
There shouldn't be any ordinary people left alive now. Once all the [returning] [Grotesque Fish] have been digested, those Nen users in hiding won't be a threat anymore.
Kantigara's [Seven Days and Seven Nights Beneath the Chocola Tree] could seal the building for twenty-four hours.
Any longer and even his mind wouldn't hold out. After all, forget twenty-four hours-a normal person wouldn't last even one hour through that hellish experience...
But it won't take twenty-four hours anyway. If I keep eating like this, my consciousness will probably fade before long, and I'll turn into some kind of feeding monster.
Whatever. After that, nobody in this building will survive either. I'm just sorry to Kantigara...
Thud!-
A sudden, violent tremor snapped Qi Peixin out of his thoughts, making him instantly realize he was under attack.
But where was the enemy?
Two nerve cords extending from the back of Qi Peixin's head connected to the [Grotesque Fish]'s brain. As they quivered, he seemed to enter a transparent world.
Every vibration outside became visible here.
Yet Qi Peixin could only sense the vibrations of the surrounding fish and Nen Bullets that seemed to appear out of thin air.
"Is this the enemy's ability? Then let's switch [perspectives]..."
Standing perfectly still, Lakshya calmly kept throwing Nen Bullets, each one striking the [Leader Catfish] precisely in the belly.
Based on his earlier experience, this Nen Beast could only be killed for good by destroying its head, but its unusually shaped skull enclosed almost the entire brain.
Once killed, these Nen Beasts vanished immediately, leaving Lakshya no time to examine their skulls and find a weak spot.
The abdomen was different, though. It was extremely soft, without such sturdy bones protecting it. He had already established that through his earlier probing.
And besides...
Lakshya remembered the first appearance of the man who called himself Qi Peixin-
He had crawled out of the fish's mouth. In other words, he was hiding in its belly!
There was another possibility: he was hiding in a separate space inside the fish's belly. But Lakshya thought that was unlikely.
Giving an automatic type Nen Beast that kind of ability to enter and exit would demand an enormous amount of [talent].
Suddenly, Lakshya thought he saw the [Leader Catfish] glance his way.
His heart jolted. To prevent the vibrations of his footsteps from giving him away, he hadn't dared move a single step.
This was completely different from following the fish down the corridor earlier. Those fish had been automatically controlled Nen Beasts, so attracting their attention with Nen Bullets had allowed him to mask his footsteps.
But this fish was clearly being controlled by someone. His footsteps wouldn't be overlooked.
He quickly forced himself to calm down, though. It might just have been a coincidence. He couldn't afford to lose his nerve.
Right. Just a coincidence.
But the next instant, he overturned that conclusion. The [Leader Catfish] spun sharply and hurtled toward him at high speed.
It found me!
But why?
Lakshya had no time to think about the sudden change. Facing the onrushing Nen Beast, he instinctively switched from [Ren] to [Ken].
At the same time, Lakshya decisively bent his knees, gathered his strength, and leaped backward to put some distance between them.
As though it had suddenly gained sight, the [Leader Catfish] snapped at the airborne Lakshya without hesitation!
It's fine. At this distance and speed, it should just barely miss me!
Lakshya's extensive combat experience let him accurately judge the reach of the enemy's attack. Given the distance and speed of his retreat, he should have been able to evade its bite by a hair.
Yet events on a battlefield rarely unfolded as one hoped.
The [Leader Catfish]'s huge maw seemed incapable of closing that tiny gap. But the next instant, a bloody humanoid with all its skin stripped away suddenly lunged out of that maw!
Lakshya's pupils contracted. Aura gathered around the humanoid's hand, and it swung a fist at his head faster than he could dodge!
It's [Ko]!
Can I block it? Can I dodge it?
No, it's too fast! That's unmistakably [Enhancement] speed!!
Lakshya realized in despair that he couldn't possibly evade this punch.
His opponent had clearly developed an automatic type Nen Beast, which should have made him an [Emission] user leaning toward Manipulation. Yet the [Ko] before him possessed speed and power fully on par with [Enhancement].
His [Ryu] simply wasn't fast enough to shift the [Ken] covering his entire body into [Ko] around his head before that fist landed.
He didn't even have time to tug the Thread End Marol had given him!
In other words, I'm done for...
Suspended in midair, Lakshya watched in despair as the blood-red humanoid drew closer and closer. He almost felt he could smell death.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots abruptly rang out.
Three bullets suddenly shot forth. Three holes immediately opened in the thick mist as silver streaks tore through the air toward the bloody humanoid.
"What?!"
Caught completely off guard, Qi Peixin hurriedly twisted aside, but one shot still hit him.
The right arm he had swung out was blasted into two pieces, spraying blossoms of blood through the air.
Lakshya snapped out of his daze, flipped in midair, and landed on his feet. Steadying himself, he jerked his head up and decisively threw a Nen Bullet!
But the Nen Bullet was a step too late. Seriously injured, Qi Peixin had already recoiled into the [Leader Catfish]'s body.
The huge fish swung around, its massive tail swatting the incoming Nen Bullet apart. Rather than pay attention to the mysterious bullet, it continued focusing its attacks on Lakshya, who was right before it.
Clearly, the unexpected attack hadn't rattled Qi Peixin inside the fish. He understood the principle of concentrating his firepower and focused entirely on the enemy in front of him.
This was a calm, experienced enemy.
Within the thick mist, Dio watched silently and coldly.
As early as when Lakshya started throwing Nen Bullets, he had secretly hidden in the mist, using Ripple Radar and his Stand to cautiously observe the battle.
He had fired those bullets to keep Lakshya alive a little longer, letting him help wear down the enemy.
Besides, that moment had truly been one of the few good opportunities. Letting it slip away would have been too much of a waste.
Before you continue