Serving X Iron Body Hardening X Fine Thread Lead Powder

The wet streak was still there on the gravel. The murky liquor had seeped into the soil, leaving only a dark mark behind.

Tie Liao and Shu Mu stood side by side on the other side of the liquor line, looking across the nearly dry streak at the small, skinny figure opposite them.

Wind swept in from the scrap zone, carrying the smell of gunpowder and rust and stirring the loose strands of hair over Jiang Ye's forehead.

Shu Mu spoke first.

His voice was lower than usual, and a smile returned to his narrow eyes, though it was not a friendly one.

"Who are you?"

He asked casually, but his gaze was appraising.

In Meteor City, anyone who dared stand in their way could not be taken lightly, even a child.

Jiang Ye looked at the two men in front of him, his tone flat.

"You invaded my territory... and you don't know who I am?"

Tie Liao and Shu Mu both froze for a moment.

The next second, they exchanged a glance, each seeing surprise and disbelief at the absurdity in the other's eyes.

And barely concealed incredulity!

They had never imagined Jiang Ye would deliver himself to their doorstep. How was that any different from courting death?

The corner of Tie Liao's mouth twitched first, pulling a grin across his taut, scarred face.

Shu Mu laughed right after him. It wasn't loud, but as it squeezed out of his round chest, it had a slimy quality that made one's back itch.

"You're that kid from the Rust Bone Gang?"

Tie Liao took half a step forward, his boot crunching over the gravel.

He looked down at Jiang Ye, his half-missing teeth conspicuous in the dim daylight.

"I thought you'd hide behind a crowd and give orders. Didn't expect you to come out yourself."

He spat the last bits of cigarette butt from his mouth onto the ground and ground them underfoot.

"I'll give you a chance."

"Be good and hand over the Rust Bone Gang's territory."

He leaned forward slightly, bringing his scarred face half a foot closer, his voice low.

"Otherwise, I'll show you what real pain is."

"Let me tell you, I've been around Meteor City for so many years that I know more ways to torture people than the number of meals your Rust Bone Gang's members have eaten."

Beside him, Shu Mu licked his lips, the light in his narrow eyes growing somewhat murky.

His voice drifted over from behind Tie Liao, carrying an unpleasant note.

"And... you'll have to come serve me too."

He tilted his head, his gaze moving from Jiang Ye's face to his neck, then back again.

"Kids like you interest me the most."

Jiang Ye stood there without taking so much as half a step back from beginning to end.

He looked at Tie Liao's savage grin and Shu Mu's greasy face without any expression on his own.

There was no fear in those twelve-year-old eyes, no anger, not even disgust.

Only an almost indifferent appraisal, as though he were looking at two men who were already dead.

In Jiang Ye's mind, both men had long since found their paths to death.

It was only a question of whether they died sooner or later.

"Finished with your last words?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear over the wind.

At those words, Tie Liao's smile stiffened for an instant.

"If you're done..."

The shadow beneath Jiang Ye's feet suddenly moved.

The gray-black shadow began to churn and swell like the surface of water ruffled by the wind.

The next second, an invisible Aura rose from his body, stirring his clothes and loose hair while making both Tie Liao's and Shu Mu's pupils contract sharply.

"Then you can die."

The instant the final word fell, two figures emerged from the churning shadow at once.

The giant black-and-white dog crouched low, its claws sinking into the gravel, saliva dripping from the corners of its mouth around its bared fangs. A low rumble rolled deep in its throat.

Rabbit Escape's main body perched on Jiang Ye's shoulder, its crimson eyes narrowed slightly as it stared at the two men opposite them.

At the sight, Tie Liao and Shu Mu both went rigid.

Tie Liao's smile vanished completely, replaced by an exceptionally grim expression.

Shu Mu's lips parted slightly, and for the first time, his narrow eyes opened fully, revealing pupils that were rapidly contracting.

They had spent most of their lives fighting their way through Meteor City and had seen countless situations, but never anything like this.

"Nen Beasts...?"

Tie Liao's voice was somewhat hoarse.

He and Shu Mu exchanged a glance, and each saw the same thing in the other's eyes.

Unparalleled shock!

They had considered that the Rust Bone Gang's new leader might have some kind of trick, but they had never imagined that this twelve-year-old drifter was a Nen user.

And he had more than one Nen Beast!

Divine Dog: Totality and Rabbit Escape had appeared at the same time.

Two of them.

A twelve-year-old child who had not only awakened a Nen Ability, but also had two Nen Beasts.

Such a thing made no sense at all according to the logic of life at the bottom of Meteor City.

Almost without hesitation, Tie Liao clenched his fist, and a heavy Aura burst from his body.

Shu Mu spread all ten fingers at the same time, his fingertips tensing slightly, as though ready to shoot something out at any moment.

Both men entered a combat stance.

But before they could attack, Divine Dog: Totality moved, vanishing from sight.

Its speed was far beyond what Tie Liao and Shu Mu had anticipated.

Its enormous body glided silently over the gravel, fast as a black-and-white afterimage.

Before Tie Liao's eyes could follow its path, a searing pain ripped through his shoulder.

Squelch!

Divine Dog: Totality's fangs pierced Tie Liao's shoulder, its bite tearing through the sheet-metal shoulder guard and the flesh beneath it.

Tie Liao grunted, the force of the impact sending him staggering two steps backward.

Blood dripped to the ground through the gaps between the dog's teeth, splattering into tiny dark spots.

"What is that... I can't see it..."

Tie Liao gritted his teeth and poured the Aura within him through his entire body.

They had never received formal instruction in Nen Abilities and didn't know how to use Gyo to see the Nen Beasts.

All they could do was take the beating.

Feeling the pain, Tie Liao rapidly covered the surface of his skin with a hard layer of Nen, his muscles tensing into ironlike contours.

Nen Ability: Iron Body Hardening!

The layer of Nen caught Divine Dog: Totality's fangs for an instant, giving him a chance to break free.

He twisted sharply to shake off the giant dog's bite. Blood poured from the wound in his shoulder, but at least his entire arm hadn't been torn off.

Shu Mu launched a counterattack as Tie Liao was being attacked.

Nen Ability: Fine Thread Lead Powder!

All ten of his fingers flicked at once, dozens of nearly invisible threads streaming from their tips. The threads traced fine silver glimmers through the air as they tried to wrap around Divine Dog: Totality's body.

But before he could lock onto his target, black shadows filled the sky and covered his vision.

Thousands upon thousands of black rabbits spread out from the main body on Jiang Ye's shoulder like a churning tide of ink, instantly filling every gap between Shu Mu and Tie Liao.

The rabbits leaped and tumbled, trampling one another and making a dense rustling sound on the gravel.

They blocked their vision, interfered with their hearing, and even disrupted the flow of Aura in the air.

Shu Mu's threads plunged deep into the mass of rabbits, piercing more than a dozen Rabbit Escape clones, but as those clones dissolved into black mist, the same number of rabbits immediately took their place.

He couldn't find Divine Dog: Totality at all.

Nor could he find Jiang Ye!

Tie Liao and Shu Mu stood back to back, surrounded by the rabbits.

Divine Dog: Totality prowled under the rabbits' cover, charging and biting, striking from an unexpected angle every time it appeared.

Tie Liao's Iron Body Hardening could withstand slashes from blades and blows from clubs, but Divine Dog: Totality's claws kept tearing at the same spot.

It cleverly chose to rip apart the tissue around the wound, steadily deepening the injury to Tie Liao's shoulder and preventing the hard layer of Nen from completely covering the torn area.

Shu Mu's threads lashed wildly through the air, but he couldn't see his target, and every attack either missed or struck only Rabbit Escape clones.

After a few exchanges, Tie Liao's right shoulder was drenched in blood.

Shu Mu's breathing began to grow heavy.

Tie Liao finally couldn't take it anymore.

He suddenly let out a hoarse roar from within the mass of rabbits.

"I'll fight you to the death!"