Chapter 4: This Counts as Home Delivery
Let's rewind time just a tiny bit…
About a kilometer away from the small cruise ship where Orson was, which had run aground, the battle between two men in black suits was nearing its end.
They were both exhausted from the fight, and the nearby ground bore marks of destruction. One of them was half-kneeling, with multiple fractures on his body, his Aura depleted, constantly coughing up blood. He said in disbelief, "How can this be… You should be out of stamina too! Why do you still have surplus 'Aura' to use…"
The man opposite him raised his pistol, his face expressionless. "Why should I explain my ability to a dead man?"
Bang!…
Flames erupted from the muzzle. A bloody mist burst from the forehead of the exhausted man in the black suit, and he collapsed and died, filled with unwillingness.
The gunshot echoed in the night.
Muse waited for a while. Seeing no strange transformations in the corpse of the Hunter after death, nor any manifestation of stronger Nen fueled by resentment, he finally relaxed.
He put away his gun and walked towards the body. "Why do I have extra Aura as a backup? Fool, if you thought about it slightly, you should know that I merely retrieved a certain 'Nen Beast' that I had released outside my body from the beginning, after my own Aura reserves hit bottom."
He was a Manipulation-type Nen user, and a qualified Manipulation-type Nen user would often apply manipulation to themselves beforehand…
Muse transformed the little Nen aura remaining in his body into a bird-shaped Nen Beast, which floated beside him.
At the same time, Muse's left eye bulged uncontrollably, while his right eye remained normal.
—Manipulation-type Nen ability, "Rear Window Bird"!
Muse could use three types of bird-form Nen Beasts for intelligence gathering. As long as Muse had touched a target, he could attach a Rear Window Bird, visible only to him, to the target for surveillance. The Rear Window Bird would transmit what it saw to Muse himself via telepathy.
And Muse usually kept one of these three Nen Beasts attached to himself at all times to prevent himself from being manipulated.
It was this extra Nen Beast that caused his opponent to make a fatal misjudgment. By retrieving the Aura from the Nen Beast, he gained the power for a desperate counter-kill.
"Enhancement types are truly single-minded idiots…"
Muse fumbled through the corpse's pockets. "However, Enhancement types have strong recovery abilities and are indeed troublesome. For you to push me to this extent, you were formidable!"
Soon, Muse found a special card, the size of a business card, in the corpse's pocket.
The card was printed with the exclusive logo of the Hunter Association. With this Hunter License, one could travel unhindered in 90% of countries where ordinary people were forbidden entry, and 75% of special restricted areas. With this license, one could even use 95% of public facilities worldwide for free and enjoy financing quotas equivalent to those of first-class corporations…
Muse scoffed at the "privileges" of this card.
Official professional Hunters were all Nen users. And for a qualified Nen user, entering 90% of countries and 75% of restricted areas wasn't difficult in the first place. Ordinary human society, in the face of the extraordinary power of Nen users, was like a flock of lambs waiting to be slaughtered. 95%? It was basically 100% take-whatever-you-want!
The Hunter Association was backed by the world's largest conglomerate organization, the V5, composed of the five great nations. The license they issued essentially materialized the special privileges of Nen users and, through the various welfare policies of the Hunter Association, aimed to register Nen users worldwide as much as possible.
"You were just a Hunter she hired, a bodyguard, not a soldier. Yet you staked your life for this…"
Muse put away the Hunter License and closed the unknown Hunter's eyes. "Truly respectable."
"But I'm sorry, I have my mission too!"
Muse turned and left. He had to go back and confirm that the woman, and her child, must be utterly eradicated.
…
Although the little Aura Muse had left had been converted into the Rear Window Bird Nen Beast, he himself was, after all, well-trained. Even though his body was exhausted, he still quickly traversed the wilderness, rushing towards the location of the initial chaotic battle.
Upon arriving, Muse's pupils contracted. He stopped immediately, gazing at the tall, messy pile of grass that stood out abruptly on the flat ground.
When did this pile of grass appear? He was suspicious and uncertain, slowing his pace and circling it.
I'm the last one in my squad, I must be extremely careful!
After battling wits with the air for a moment, apart from two wild wolf corpses on the ground, Muse found no other abnormalities for the time being.
Using the muzzle of his gun to part the grass, Muse immediately saw many corpses piled within.
Soon, among these corpses, Muse found the woman.
She was dead. Good.
But what wasn't good was that the swaddling clothes in her arms were empty!
Where was the equally damnable male infant?
Muse repeatedly checked the piles of corpses but found nothing, as if the male infant had evaporated into thin air.
He walked out of the grass, which was taller than a person, and looked towards the center of the southern island and the mainland in the darkness of the night. Could someone else have passed by and taken the baby?
Before searching for that bastard child, he first needed to find a place to treat his injuries, eat something, rest, recover his stamina, and at the same time, report the current situation to the Prince…
There was no extra energy to dispose of the bodies. Muse distinguished the direction, took out a brand-new untraceable phone, and walked towards the spot where the woman's cruise ship had initially docked.
…
The steady, dignified voice on the other end of the phone finally said, "…You must find that bastard child. The mother and son who defiled the royal family must be completely exterminated! If necessary, you are allowed to reveal your identity. If you need to be extradited back to the country later, I will personally negotiate with the officials of the Ochiima Federation."
"Yes, I understand."
After the call disconnected, Muse put the phone in his pocket, looked up at the ship, and with a few agile leaps, nimbly traversed the messy rocks by the shore and jumped onto the deck.
Entering through the cabin door, there was a "crunch" underfoot; he had stepped on something.
Muse stopped abruptly.
He moved the foot that had stepped on the object. His left eye, wide due to the attached Rear Window Bird Nen Beast, carefully examined what he had stepped on—it was a small branch covered in leaves.
This ship's cabin should be completely empty. How could there be such a fresh branch…
Muse's left eye, when manipulated by the Rear Window Bird, possessed a constant "Gyo" effect. In this state, his vision was greatly enhanced, and his perception was unparalleled.
Could it be that the missing infant was brought onto this ship by someone unknown?
Muse's vigilance increased greatly. He took out the pistol from his coat, checked it—there were still two bullets in the magazine.
Enough.
With Muse's elite soldier-like, battle-hardened physique, plus two pistol bullets, dealing with an infant and a passerby was more than enough.
Therefore, he did not deactivate the Rear Window Bird Nen Beast on his body to retrieve that portion of his Nen aura.
Precisely because he himself was a Manipulation-type Nen user, he was all the more wary of such abilities and could not afford to be careless for a moment.
Tap, tap… Muse lightened his steps, making only the faintest sounds. He was on full alert, his left eye scanning everywhere. Under the enhancement of "Gyo," and with the aid of the faint moonlight, the scene within the empty cabin was revealed in minute detail—he soon discovered a pile of leftover snack bags, biscuit crumbs, and empty small cake boxes on the floor. There were also some bloodstains and an empty cup.
A cup?
And the branch from earlier…
Muse's vigilance rose again—someone had used "Water Divination" here!
This meant that right now, there was very likely at least one Nen user hiding in the cabin!
Turning a corner in the cabin corridor, Muse paused, his wide left eye sharpening. In front of the door to the room on the left at the end of the corridor, there was a box. Someone seemed to be behind the box!
"Who is it? Come out."
Muse, while holding his pistol, questioned sternly and approached slowly.
Just as his nerves tensed, and he was about to go around the box to see who was hiding, a strong gust of wind suddenly attacked him from behind his head!
Muse instinctively performed a tactical roll on the spot. Turning back, he saw it was actually a tiger with glowing stripes!
"Pale Moon Tiger?"
Muse didn't hesitate and fired decisively.
Bang!
Fire erupted from the muzzle. One of the Pale Moon Tiger's eyes was hit, and the bullet exploded a cloud of blood from the side of its skull.
The trajectory was off! Muse hadn't expected that his momentary conservation of ammunition, not firing both shots, would lead to such a mistake. But he had no time for regret. The Pale Moon Tiger, all muscle and weighing seven or eight hundred jin, was already roaring and pouncing towards him, heavily pinning him to the floor. Muse, already exhausted physically and mentally from a deadly battle, found it difficult to push off this beast of astonishing brute force.
It seems I must retrieve the Aura from the Rear Window Bird…
Just as this thought arose in Muse's mind, the person who had been feigning death behind the box at the room's entrance suddenly "came back to life" and rushed towards him, who was pinned by the Pale Moon Tiger.
A sneak attack!
Orson slammed his palm down hard. The pentagram pattern, drawn beforehand on his palm with blood, was clearly imprinted on Muse's left temple.
And Muse also saw clearly that the one hiding behind the box to attract his attention was actually a little brat who looked only five years old!
"Huh?" Orson showed surprise; his ability had actually failed to activate.
This guy… is also a Manipulation type?!
Orson and Muse realized this simultaneously in shock.
"Roar!" The Pale Moon Tiger increased its force, pinning Muse immovably to the floor. It opened its blood-red maw, its two long, sharp canines slowly extending towards Muse's cold-sweat-covered head…
Muse's wide left eye darted around, his thoughts racing. What to do? Should I deactivate the Rear Window Bird?
If he didn't deactivate the Rear Window Bird and retrieve its Nen aura, he wouldn't have enough strength to overcome the Pale Moon Tiger's suppression.
But if he deactivated the Rear Window Bird, he would probably be immediately controlled by this brat's Manipulation ability!
Muse knew there was no time to hesitate. He immediately deactivated the Rear Window Bird, retrieving the Nen Beast's Aura!
Although the Nen aura wasn't much, it significantly enhanced his body. Muse's strength surged.
"ROAR!!" The Pale Moon Tiger bit down.
Muse, pinned to the floor, raised an elbow to block the tiger. With a flick of his other wrist, though the posture was awkward, it was the fastest shooting strategy. He aimed at the brat and fired decisively!
Bang!
The shot hit Orson's neck, directly piercing through!
Blood spurted out!
Success! Muse, having survived the ordeal, was ecstatic.
Orson was sent flying by the impact of the shot, only stopping when he hit the room's doorway. He clutched his gushing neck, his vision blackening in waves, the strength in his body seemingly draining away rapidly…
"Just a brat, after all…"
Seeing this, Muse finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, he didn't notice…
In another room down the hall, behind a silently opened door crack, a pair of eerie green wolf eyes lit up.
You're dumbfounded, huh? Your daddy here still has a second body!
"Orson-wolf," through the door crack, stared from afar at Muse, who was about to push the Pale Moon Tiger away. On Muse's left temple, the blood pentagram left by Orson instantly transformed into a rose-gold "Star Mark."
Manipulation, successful!