Being impressed by her competent and skilled actions, Auren merely nods at Vanessa, deciding to keep his praise to himself.
She is incredible... anyway, for now I'll keep it to myself or else she'll get conceited. I should also show her what she is still lacking. She is just a strong person, enhanced by Aura. She is not a true Nen user yet. Maybe showing off a little will motivate her. I'm sure I'll get the chance if things continue like that.
"Who were the other two you knocked out? You spared them?" Auren asks.
"Two of their victims, obviously dumb enough not to have realized the truth," Vanessa says, shrugging, as she hands the bedsheets to one Mafia member, who takes them while trying his best to maintain his calm. "No reason to harm them, they are victims enough."
Exactly... good!
"Okay, we can move on," Auren says towards the leader of the team.
"Understood," the leader replies and begins to pick up speed, sprinting through the neighborhood.
Auren and Vanessa follow the Mafia team as they move through the run-down part of the Lawless zone.
Their next stop is a small church—the mafia members show no hint of hesitation, while Auren and Vanessa look a little sceptical.
Didn't think I would be invading a church... what is this religion anyway? I really should educate myself a little more. It's almost embarrassing.
"The basement is a drug laboratory," the leader explains. "The church is just a cover—the original priest and a few nuns were killed years ago. Three people have a bounty for drug-related crimes. One of them made a fatal error—producing a batch of defective, poisoned drugs that killed hundreds of people," the leader explains. "Be careful... their operation has armed guards. They act like fake priests. I'll vouch for this information, don't be deceived."
I loathe drugs... and these drugs were deadly, huh? Even more vile. Make people addicted and then release poisoned stuff.... no wonder they have bounties.
"I'll take the lead this time," Auren says, kicking the door open.
As soon as he does, five men cloaked in dark robes react instantly, pulling out guns and preparing to open fire.
A smile appears on Auren's lips as he activates Limitless Waters. A sphere of watery aura envelops him, resembling En, but far smaller and denser, with a radius of only five meters. Without any delay, he controls the sphere, making the aura spin around clockwise, transforming it into a protective, rotating whirlpool.
The men fire, the bullets getting easily caught and swept aside, only penetrating a tiny distance into the sphere.
Heh, I overdid it. I could even block high-caliber bullets with my Water barrier.
Despite their combined firepower, the men are utterly powerless against Auren and desperately empty their guns.
After hearing their pistols clicking, Auren reacts swiftly and separates five small water bullets from his shield, reusing the Aura, controlling them with a motion of his hand. He then uses Emission to fire them straight at his assailants, each bullet tearing through their bodies and causing a deadly wound. All five armed assailants collapse instantly, every single one taken out by a single hit.
"Awesome...!" Vanessa says, staring at Auren with wide eyes.
The Mafia members who had followed behind stare at him in shock.
"The bullets... did you see?! They just hit an invisible barrier!"
"These guys died... they just collapsed. Something hit them! Invisible bullets?"
"This is a floor master... his ability is insane!"
The team leader, momentarily stunned himself, quickly recovers and strikes the subordinates who spoke up without permission. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He yells in anger. "You didn't see a thing. Leak one word and you're dead, understood?"
The Mafia members, realizing their mistake, nod quickly, their faces pale with fear.
"Yes..."
"Of course..."
"Please forgive them, Master Auren," the leader says, fear on his face.
Auren ignores them and pushes deeper into the church, soon finding stairs leading down into the basement.
After a quick use of En, Auren, with Vanessa close behind, arrives in front of five people wearing long coats. The entire room is filled with chemicals, a sharp, acrid stench hanging in the air.
"You... who are you? How did you enter this place—" one of them stammers, before realizing what is about to happen.
"I do not like drug dealers... and people like you, who are creating the drugs... you can just die!" Auren says. He uses Limitless Waters again, this time spitting five small water bullets straight from his mouth. Each projectile pierces a scientist's neck, dropping them instantly.
"How?!" Vanessa yells as she stares at the dead chemists.
Analyzing the slain drug producers, Auren quickly spots the three wanted targets.
Two bounties of 3 million each, one of them a whopping 25 million. This is quite profitable.
Carrying three additional heads in their hands, Auren and Vanessa leave the room, walk up back upstairs, and make their way out of the now-empty church.
"Let's continue," Auren says with a smile. "This is rather efficient!"
The Mafia leader gulps, almost unable to believe how speedily Auren has fulfilled the mission. "Gladly...."
"Emission... and En..." Vanessa murmurs. "He kills in the blink of an eye... and nobody can get away from him."
Continuing on, Auren and Vanessa visit even more locations under the supervision of the Mafia members. Their targets are hiding in a diverse array of places, all of them illegal in Glam Gas Land, which is strictly regulated by the Glam Clan.
They visit:
a small shop with stolen merchandise and illegal weapons, two bodyguards standing guard inside,
a strip club filled with sleazy dancers, protected by many armed thugs,
and finally, a large brothel employing dozens of prostitutes, with skilled bouncers at every corner.
Auren and Vanessa encounter at least a couple of armed men at every location. At the strip club in particular, a dozen thugs try to stop them, but the group disposes of them quickly.
Auren is pleased with their success and is particularly surprised by Vanessa's careful and decisive fighting style. She does not hesitate—she stays focused on their target, not going wild, and does a fantastic job, despite her inexperience.
As the sun slowly rises, the now tired-out leader says, "This is all the information we have... this should be more than enough for now?"
Auren shrugs and replies politely, "Thank you for the hard work."
Auren, Vanessa, and the Mafia members, after visiting location after location, return with exactly twelve heads in their possession—a gruesome sight, even for the Mafia members themselves. They make their way back to the bar, which still hasn't reopened, where Zenji and more Mafia men are waiting inside.
With the guy Vanessa took out in this bar we got, thirteen targets... incredible! I'm honestly surprised we were that successful. We hit so many different businesses. Two brothers tricking women into handing over their possessions, killing them or throwing them away as a reward, a medium-sized drug operation, an illegal arms-dealing store, a strip club harboring murderous dancers who robbed their clients, and lastly a brothel, sheltering women even worse than them.
I hope things went as well with the others...
Before Auren can continue worrying, Neffi, Konrad, and Eren arrive along with more Mafia members. Auren glances at what they carry and counts seven more heads, bringing the total to twenty.
Twenty wanted criminals, all vile scum. We really did a great job. This was quite the miraculous day. It really pays off to be on friendly terms with the Mafia. Sure, they used us to knock down their competitors, but this is exactly what we wanted to do anyway. Most of these places were hidden or ordinary-looking enough that we'd never have found these criminals without their help.
"I appreciate it, Zenji," Auren says, nodding at the man, who is now smiling brightly at him.
"No, Auren! I appreciate it!" Zenji insists. "You really helped us out... If you stay here for a while longer, we'll try to dig up more information for you. We'll also investigate the Witch. Please, take my card." He then hands Auren a gold-colored card.
Bad taste...
Auren accepts it and, after a moment's thought, reluctantly hands Zenji one of his own cards. "You better not share my number with anyone. You may text me if you have news," Auren warns him.
"Of course, of course," Zenji says, slipping the card carefully into his wallet as if it were made of porcelain.
Realizing a problem, Auren asks him, "Can you guys drive us to the Glam Clan? We need a ride, suitable for our 'luggage.'"
"No problem," Zenji says. "I'll have you escorted to the Clan-run government building, where you can submit your hunted targets. After confirmation, I expect you'll be paid shortly, if not instantly."
"Great," Auren replies.
As they head out, Auren nods at Neffi. "Good job. I'm glad things worked out. We're hitching a ride to the Clan and then finally call it a day."
"Sure," Neffi says, eyeing the heads Auren's group is carrying. "Looks like you have us beat... at least in terms of quantity."
"Hehe, but what about the more important quality?" Konrad asks with a grin. "We only got seven targets, but they have a combined bounty of over one hundred million Jenny!"
"This is almost illogical," Eren mumbles. "So much money... but also so much violence. This is rough."
Auren shrugs, but can't suppress a small smile. "It doesn't matter how we each did. The only thing I care about is that nobody got hurt. In any case, it's not like this was a competition. We simply collected the bounties that were right in front of our noses."
Together with twenty severed heads in their vehicle, the group, assisted by two members of the Mafia community, drives towards the Glam Clan.
Gotta grab the car later... that has time.
They do not aim for the mansion but instead head for an official government building near the center of the city, close to their hotel.
On the way, the van slowly fills with the smell of blood, making Auren feel a faint trace of discomfort.
The car stops right in front of the building, and the group climbs out. The heads are now packed into four huge, thick trash bags, each one holding exactly five.
This will be an awkward visit.
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