"Forgive me, spare me!"
Being stepped on, the Black man Cornell Stokes—nicknamed "Cottonmouth"—begged for mercy.
"Are you kidding me?" The man holding the gun looked displeased, raised his right-hand pistol, and pointed it at Cottonmouth's forehead. "You chose destruction, and now you choose to surrender? I can't accept this level of disrespect!"
"Please, let me go!"
"Go to hell!"
The man's pistol ignited with flames, especially at the muzzle. Orange light swelled from the inside outward, as if it would explode any second.
At that moment...
"Xanxus, stop!"
With that steady voice, hundreds of people suddenly appeared on the other side of the street.
Leading them was the orange-haired, orange-eyed Sawada Tsunayoshi wearing a cloak, followed by the rest of the Vongola Family.
Of course they couldn't teleport.
Mukuro Rokudo had simply used illusions to distort everyone's senses, making them disappear from others' perception.
The reason for this was simple—he didn't want enemies bypassing Xanxus to trouble other members.
After all, a group brawl couldn't compare to a one-man show of dominance.
Whether to demonstrate strength for dominating America's underground society next, or to arouse shock and amazement from observers, having one person face everything head-on and then forcefully crush it was the best choice.
Xanxus glanced at Tsuna and clicked his tongue in annoyance, holstered his pistol, and silently returned to the Vongola Family's formation.
He was the adopted son of the Ninth Boss, leader of Vongola's assassination unit Varia, and also a candidate for Tenth Boss. He pursued rule through absolute strength and ruthless means—an ambitious man who'd once tried to seize the position of boss.
But no matter how dissatisfied he was with Tsunayoshi, no matter how different their philosophies, these were internal family conflicts. When facing external enemies, their positions aligned.
After all, setting aside other factors, he fully acknowledged Tsunayoshi's capabilities as a leader.
…
Tsuna nodded slightly, then looked at Cornell...
This man who'd shown exceptional combat skills in previous battles, possessed superhuman bite force capable of deforming metal, and was the only person who'd caused Xanxus even slight trouble—Tsuna gave him the choice again.
"Surrender or destruction?"
Previously, the Savage Gang's leader had followed Tsuna's orders and delivered the announcement to the two remaining local gang leaders.
And they'd chosen destruction without hesitation.
Of course, they meant to destroy this Vongola that appeared from nowhere.
But now...
"We surrender!"
Everyone, without any hesitation, made their choice instantly.
The bystanders who'd witnessed this scene firsthand felt their minds buzzing.
They all knew things were about to change.
"Since you've chosen surrender, you must strictly follow Vongola's rules. What you can and cannot do—someone will explain everything next!" After Tsuna finished speaking, he raised his head and looked into the distance.
Police cars approached rapidly with flashing sirens.
"The objective is achieved. We're withdrawing!"
Tsuna gave the order, and the family members behind him automatically cleared a path and followed him calmly.
The police cars made emergency stops at the other end of where gang members were "playing dead," and officers wearing bulletproof vests and armed with rifles rushed out.
Thanks to Harlem's chaotic reputation, local police were equipped with more firepower than other districts—even heavy weapons like machine guns.
"Nobody move!"
A Black policewoman held her pistol aimed at the departing Vongola Family.
However, nobody paid her any attention.
Everyone continued walking at a leisurely pace.
The policewoman's face darkened with embarrassment, and she immediately ordered, "Prepare to fire, everyone..."
The police officers flipped off their safeties, aimed carefully, just waiting for the order to fire and turn the enemy into swiss cheese.
But the order never came.
They looked up in surprise. Seeing the policewoman staring forward in astonishment, they couldn't help following her line of sight... At the back of the Vongola Family formation, a handsome man with a trident faced them.
"Quiet!"
The man placed his right index finger over his lips, an evil smile on his face, and purple flames burned in his crimson eyes marked with the number "six."
Everyone's breathing caught, as if something was gripping their hearts, but they immediately snapped back to reality.
"Fire, flames?"
"Flames burning in that person's eyes?"
"Am I seeing things?"
"No, you're not. I saw it too."
The numbers in his eyes might be explained by colored contacts, but burning flames couldn't be explained away so easily.
Suddenly, the number in the man's eyes jumped from six to one.
Immediately, thick fog that obscured all vision rose from the sun-drenched street, shrouding everyone within it.
"Let's get along well in the future!"
Mukuro Rokudo's lips curved slightly, then he turned and followed the others.
"Be careful!"
The policewoman reacted and gave orders.
She really wanted to lead her officers forward, but the fog was so thick she couldn't see anything, rendering firearms useless. And the strange abilities displayed by the enemy made her wary—she didn't dare approach carelessly.
Whoosh~
A gust of wind blew through and swept away the mist.
The street was completely empty.
The police officers looked at each other in disbelief. It felt like a dream.
But looking at the messy aftermath of the shootout scattered across the street, they all knew everything had been real.
"This is serious!"
The policewoman stared in the direction the Vongola Family members had departed, her expression grave.
…
"Tsk tsk, as expected of Mukuro—knows how to make an impression!"
Quinn sat on the subway heading to Midtown, but his consciousness was always monitoring the situation in Harlem. He'd watched the entire process unfold.
Tsunayoshi had demonstrated overwhelming strength to the world while maintaining an air of ease. Letting the outside world know the Vongola Family was powerful, while simultaneously keeping them uncertain about their true capabilities. They could only rely on their imaginations to fill in the blanks, wildly overestimating—directly gaining Quinn 1,600 prayer points.
Yes, only 1,600.
Even though the Vongola Family had put on such a spectacular show, they'd only generated 1,600 prayer points.
Because the prayer value generation mechanism depended on two factors: the stronger the individual and the greater their emotional response, the higher the prayer value harvest.
But everyone present had been ordinary people. No matter how emotional they got, they could only contribute decimal amounts. If Luke and Cottonmouth hadn't been there, he might not have even reached a thousand.
But this was just the beginning.
With the Vongola Family ruling Harlem, they were destined to deal with other underworld forces and street heroes—Kingpin, the Hand, the Defenders... They'd all meet in the days to come.
And the strength Vongola showed today would also attract attention from official institutions.
S.H.I.E.L.D., the military, Hydra...
With these major forces' participation, powerful individuals would appear one by one, and his gains would increase exponentially.
"There's a good show coming next."
The corner of Quinn's mouth curved into a smile.