"What do you mean?"
"It's simple. Four beasts, five people. Isn't that obvious?"
The young man laughed.
"Hahaha..."
"Didn't expect that, did you?"
"Our fifth member has already reported the situation here."
"The Six Fiends are on their way."
"Prepare to die!"
Kaizen frowned, thinking back.
From what he'd observed earlier, there were only four people present.
And based on the intel from Nessley's group only included four.
"There really wasn't a fifth person at the time."
"Ponzu didn't spot anyone else."
"Altan didn't notice either."
"No matter how good someone is at hiding, it shouldn't be this flawless."
"Besides, they had no idea what Ponzu or Altan could do."
"The queen bee's detection ability is real."
"That only leaves one explanation."
"That person either doesn't have strong nen…"
"Or they're just a regular civilian."
Kaizen went over everything once again in his mind.
At the same time, he gave Altan a command.
"Altan, run a statistical analysis on any suspicious individuals."
Staying calm, Kaizen pulled out the phone of the man trapped in Sumas's dimension.
Altan quickly hacked into it.
The list of contacts appeared—just a few dozen numbers.
"Dial all of these at once."
Altan initiated the virtual dial through Altan.
Simultaneously, Altan continued monitoring every available surveillance feed.
...
A young man caught Altan's attention.
He had taken out his phone right after the mass dial started—but hesitated.
Instead of answering, he declined the call.
He was already on Altan's list of suspicious individuals.
That likely made him the "fifth member" among the Four Beasts.
Kaizen opened a photo on his own phone, held it up to the kneeling captive in front of him.
"This guy. Is it him?"
The youth's pupils contracted sharply.
That reaction was all Kaizen needed to confirm it.
Without hesitation, he raised his hand and aimed directly at the boy's forehead.
Pfft!
The bullet punched cleanly through.
The young man's eyes widened—one part disbelief, one part regret.
He died not understanding how Kaizen had identified the fifth member so quickly.
Boom!
He collapsed to the ground.
Kaizen grabbed the corpse and swiftly exited the room.
Around a corner, he shoved the body into Sumas's dimension—specifically, into the Trial Zone. The corpse would now feed the Trial's systems.
"No wonder we couldn't find him."
"He was too weak."
"So weak he was practically invisible."
"Only C-grade aura."
"About the level of a low-tier Shadow Beast."
"At a glance, anyone would've assumed he was just an ordinary person."
"But how does someone like that end up as one of the Four Beasts?"
Kaizen narrowed his eyes, puzzled.
"Special ability?"
...
He tracked the guy's last known location.
A small coffee shop.
Seated by the window.
Kaizen stood on the rooftop of the building across the street, peering down at him.
The guy hadn't noticed a thing.
"Natsu, start a little chaos inside that coffee shop."
Natsu flashed away and appeared near the building.
Boom!
Flames erupted from the back warehouse, which was just a few meters behind the storefront.
The fire spread quickly.
"Fire!"
"Get out of there!"
"Call someone!"
People ran in a panic. The young man grabbed his coffee and moved to leave.
Just then, a hand landed on his shoulder.
He froze.
"Don't move."
A chanting needle pressed lightly against his throat.
"This is poisoned. One jab and you're dead."
"And you know who I am, right?"
"Understand? Nod."
The young man nodded, trembling.
Kaizen led him into a quiet alley.
Before he could speak—
Crack! Crack!
Two clean strikes dislocated all the joints in his limbs.
Natsu appeared behind him, clamping a hand around the back of his neck.
One false move, and the kid was finished.
...
"What's your name?"
"P-Parker."
"You're the fifth among the Four Beasts?"
"I... I guess."
"What's your ability?"
"I... I don't have one. I just started learning Nen. I haven't even developed a technique yet."
Kaizen's brows knit together.
Just started... and already at C-grade aura?
That didn't seem right.
Even Gon and Killua hadn't pulled that off.
Hell, even Ging Freecss probably couldn't do it that fast.
"If you're lying, you know the consequences."
"I swear I'm not! I really mean it!"
...
Just then, Ponzu's voice came through Kaizen's earpiece.
"Captain, something's off about this guy."
"The queen bee told me... he might not even be human."
"He's more like her kind."
Kaizen's pupils narrowed.
Silence fell between them for a beat.
Then Kaizen turned his full attention to Parker.
"Tell me everything."
"Everything. Your identity. Where you're from. What happened to you. Leave nothing out."
The young man looked terrified, on the verge of tears.
"I'll talk! I'll talk! Just don't kill me!"
"I'm... the illegitimate son of Minister Oster."
"I lived with my mom growing up. Didn't know anything about my real identity. Thought I was just some regular kid from a single-parent family."
"Then one day, my mom died."
"After that, Oster took me in."
"That's when he told me the truth."
"Then he sent me to a lab."
"They experimented on me there."
"I was six when I entered... stayed in that lab for ten years."
"I only got out recently."
"Oster had me join the Four Beasts."
"Made me the fifth member."
"They taught me Nen."
"I only just learned it, just the basics—Ten, Zetsu, Ren, Hatsu."
"Then they gave me this mission..."
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