Without any attempt to conceal their intentions, they charged straight into the courtyard.
The sudden burst of gunfire instantly alerted everyone in the hall.
Time to work.
A cold glint flashed in Luke's eyes.
In the over ten years since the Menu's establishment, this was the first time intruders had managed to break through all the way into the mansion in one go.
But he had trained in Nen for a decade precisely for moments like this.
No matter what, he wouldn't allow the intruders to lay a single finger on his adoptive father.
Adam had received Caleb's investment and was already prepared to select his competitors later.
Meanwhile, Caleb had barely managed to rouse himself, his yawns noticeably fewer now.
Honestly, why did they have to pick this exact moment to cause trouble…
He stretched lazily and drawled, "Not sure if I should call these intruders unlucky or say we're just too lucky."
An unprecedented breach, coinciding with the rare gathering of the Fingers.
Though Amanda, the Index Finger, hadn't arrived yet, the combined strength of the three of them, along with the multiple Nen users stationed here, was more than enough to give the intruders a hard time.
Tap, tap…
The sound of leather shoes echoed from the staircase.
"Don't get careless."
Nolan's warning followed the footsteps.
Descending the stairs step by step, Nolan appeared.
Luke, Caleb, and Adam all looked up at him.
Meeting their gazes, Nolan's expression remained tense, unable to conceal his grim mood. His voice was icy as he said, "The intruders are assassins from the Zoldyck Family. There are two of them."
"Zoldyck?"
At Nolan's words, the Fingers in the hall all stiffened, then frowned in confusion.
Caleb was the first to speak up. "Boss, didn't you just send a request to the Zoldycks not long ago?"
"That doesn't matter now."
Nolan's face darkened. He had no patience to explain the details, his murderous intent palpable. "What matters is that I want you to kill those two Zoldyck assassins."
Caleb and Adam exchanged a glance, sensing the volcanic fury simmering beneath Nolan's words. Wisely, they didn't press further.
Only Luke responded solemnly, "Understood, Boss."
"Put on your earpieces and move out."
Nolan gripped the stair railing, looking down at the Fingers he took such pride in.
The Menu he had built from scratch, the Fingers he had painstakingly nurtured...
These were the fruits of over a decade of effort.
But it still wasn't enough.
Even with all this, it was still difficult to surpass the power and prestige of the Ten Dons.
Now, they faced another challenge.
If they overcame it, they would grow stronger.
If they failed, they knew the consequences all too well.
Under Nolan's watchful gaze, Luke, Adam, and Caleb each put on their earpieces and pushed open the doors to head outside.
Once the three of them had left, Nolan's face twisted into a snarl.
Before coming downstairs, he had seen Kalluto in the surveillance footage, and suddenly understood why they had been found so easily.
Fine. Just fine.
Nolan laughed, consumed by rage.
But what reason did he have to resent the assassins of the Zoldyck Family?
The assassination request he had sent had ultimately gone unfulfilled, but the Zoldycks had returned the deposit, including the penalty fee. As for the request to track down the culprit, the Zoldyck assassins had surprisingly efficient results, helping him locate the other perpetrator who destroyed the virus research lab.
However, the two Shadow Beasts members he deeply trusted failed to meet his expectations and instead died at the hands of the perpetrator.
Now, barely a week after the incident, two Zoldyck Family assassins suddenly showed up at his doorstep.
Nolan couldn't help but suspect that these two Zoldyck assassins had been hired by the perpetrator.
But at this point, the truth no longer mattered.
Since they had come looking for trouble, all he had to do was eliminate them.
Crack.
Nolan tightened his grip, crushing the solid wooden railing, then turned and headed upstairs.
—--
Within the vast courtyard, the last traces of twilight vanished as night descended.
Well-armed personnel unleashed maximum firepower against the intruders.
The rapid flashes of gunfire frequently illuminated the courtyard, the relentless gunfire echoing overhead.
Among the armed guards responsible for defense were seven Nen users.
They were a permanent defensive force stationed here, acting as Nolan's personal bodyguards whenever he traveled.
When Nolan returned to his residence, they became the strongest defensive unit within the armed squad.
"There are two enemies."
A buzz-cut man in the Nen user squad observed the two figures amidst the hail of bullets.
Another suggested, "While the armed squad's firepower is still strong, let's flank them from both sides and go straight for the kill."
"Agreed."
The buzz-cut man nodded, then glanced at the other members for confirmation; no objections.
They quickly moved into action.
At that moment, Morrow and Kalluto were receiving a warm welcome from the armed squad.
Bullets poured toward them as if they were free.
In response, the two could only dodge and weave, using the courtyard's trees as cover.
While evading gunfire, Kalluto manipulated his paper blades to launch long-range attacks against the armed squad.
Though the paper blades weren't particularly powerful, they were more than enough to deal with ordinary people.
As the battle wore on, with one armed squad member after another falling, the gunfire echoing through the courtyard gradually weakened.
But this long-range skirmish soon encountered its first twist.
Kalluto, with graceful and fluid movements, wielded his paper fan, controlling the lethal sheets while his peripheral vision caught a slight disturbance on the other side of the courtyard wall.
Just as Morrow predicted.
Muttering to himself, Kalluto quickly glanced at the figure standing parallel to him.
A faint sound suddenly arose.
Killing intent, carried by a gust of wind, surged from beyond the wall.
Three Nen users vaulted over the wall, targeting the seemingly weaker Morrow, while the other four struck at Kalluto, who was thinning the armed squad's numbers.
The ambush by these seven Nen users was executed almost simultaneously.
Kalluto, already alert, fluttered backward like a butterfly, his kimono sleeves swaying as he dodged the combined assault of the four Nen users.
On the other side, the three Nen users, some with fists, others with blades, poured their attacks onto Morrow at nearly the same time.
"He's done for."
One of the Nen users drove his blade into Morrow's vital spot. However, in the next moment, the protective helmet from the forest ranger on the target's face and the tracksuit he was wearing suddenly burst apart under a flood of paper fragments.
"What the...!"
The three Nen users were startled before being instantly engulfed by the swarm of paper.
At the same time.
On the other side, the four Nen users who had launched a sneak attack on Kalluto were about to pursue him after he dodged and retreated.
But suddenly, a flash of light sliced through the darkness before the wall with a sharp, chilling force.
It was a compressed, diamond-shaped Nen bullet.
It tore through the night and struck the backs of the four Nen users.
Thud, thud...
The overwhelming piercing force instantly blasted bloody holes through their bodies.
"There's a third person?"
Someone gasped in disbelief; the intel from the Forest Ranger Division had only mentioned two intruders.
Then, they saw the other intruder burst apart in a flurry of scattered paper and immediately understood.
They'd fallen into a trap...
Their hearts pounded as they staggered, on the verge of collapsing. Before losing all strength, they turned to look back.
Standing atop the wall was a pale-skinned man in a forest ranger uniform, wearing sunglasses, with long, flowing hair.
As they barely managed to make out his features, for some reason, they faintly sensed a trace of disappointment in the gaze of the long-haired man.
With lingering confusion, the Nen users unwillingly drew their last breaths.