Chapter 53: Lunatic
Stanley slowly walked to the bedside and picked up a photo frame from the nightstand.
The photo inside the frame featured three people.
Aside from the couple lying in a pool of blood behind him, there was also a little girl. He glanced at a black-clad man not far away.
"Mr. Stanley, what are your orders?"
Stanley extended his slender finger, pointed at the little girl in the photo, and said, "There's a survivor. Find her."
"Yes, Mr. Stanley!"
After receiving the order, the black-clad man began assigning tasks to the other accomplices in the house, then walked to the door.
"Damn it, a little girl got away. We have to find her!"
While grumbling under his breath, he began searching through the bushes near the house.
The several black-clad guards at the main gate exchanged glances upon hearing their companion's words, all recalling the little girl who had returned from school earlier.
After a brief discussion, one of the black-clad men drew his pistol and slowly approached Mord's house.
Click-clack.
The sound of a bullet being chambered.
The black-clad man leaned against Mord's front door, ready to break in at any moment.
Unbeknownst to him, Mord stood waiting behind the door, equally prepared to strike.
At the first sign of movement from the other side, he could end the intruder's life in an instant.
"We found it!"
At this critical moment, an excited shout suddenly came from the neighboring house.
Hearing the noise, the black-clad man glanced up at the house before him, thinking how lucky the person inside was to have narrowly escaped death.
He holstered his weapon and turned away.
...
Inside the house.
Mord turned to see the little girl sitting on a chair, staring straight at him with a visibly tense expression.
"It's alright now," Mord said with a reassuring smile, trying to ease the tension.
But seeing his smile only made the girl's tears, which had just stopped, begin flowing again as she started crying.
This left Mord somewhat flustered and unsure how to respond.
Based on the available clues, Mord could roughly piece together what had happened at Chiyo's house.
Chiyo's father had been a gang member himself. Having chosen this path of no return, he should have been prepared for such an outcome.
Ordinarily, Mord would have preferred to stay out of such troublesome affairs.
But he couldn't just stand by and watch the little girl die before his eyes—she was still so young and completely innocent.
Meanwhile, in the neighboring house.
After their extensive search, they had finally found what they were looking for.
The item had been discovered hidden between the floorboards.
Inside a well-preserved box lay an electronic storage ROM card and a ring.
The ROM card was smaller than standard sizes, apparently requiring specialized equipment to read. The purpose of the ring remained unclear.
Stanley carefully stored the box away before turning to one of the black-clad men. "Have you found that little girl yet?"
"N-no, not yet..."
"Remember—when you cut weeds, you must pull out the roots. Understand?"
The black-clad man bowed his head, forehead beaded with cold sweat, terrified that this ruthless killer might decide to eliminate him in a fit of displeasure.
Where would he go to seek justice then?
"We've searched the entire house, including the surrounding yard, but haven't found the girl from the photo yet," the man explained nervously.
Stanley waved his fingers absently, humming an unfamiliar tune without responding.
The black-clad man, familiar with Stanley's behavioral patterns, grew even more frightened. This was clearly a precursor to one of his episodes—who knew if he might suddenly snap and kill him?
Suddenly remembering something, the man quickly added: "The guys at the gate mentioned that a little girl came home from school earlier. She wasn't from Jack's place though—she went into the neighbor's house."
"It was a bit far, and the brothers didn't get a clear look at the little girl's face, so we're not sure if she's the one in the photo."
Stanley brought his hands together in a motion reminiscent of a conductor concluding a musical performance.
He patted his subordinate's cheek with great satisfaction and strode out of the building.
At the doorway, without any warning or detectable bloodlust—as casually as tossing out trash—he produced two grenades from his person and hurled them toward Mord's house.
Boom!
A blinding flash erupted, followed by a deafening explosion that reduced the entire structure to rubble.
The destruction wasn't confined to Mord's residence alone; several adjacent buildings were caught in the blast. The intense heat wave nearly flipped vehicles parked along the street.
Admiring his casually wrought masterpiece, Stanley whistled a cheerful tune before turning to enter his car and speeding away.
The black-clad men witnessing the scene wiped cold sweat from their brows and quickly followed suit.
With such a massive disturbance, there would inevitably be tedious negotiations with the Metropolitan Police Department.
The boss would have another headache coming. If not for Stanley's undeniable capabilities, his psychotic temperament would have long earned him a one-way ticket to the dog pits.
...
Some time later.
The rubble shifted unexpectedly as a hand emerged from the debris.
It forcefully pushed aside broken pillars and shattered concrete.
Then a figure rose from the ruins—it was Mord.
His current state was wretched: clothing in tatters, body coated in dust mingled with crimson blood, and a barely breathing little girl cradled in his arms.
Because Stanley's grenade throw had been an entirely impulsive act, devoid of any killing intent, Mord had failed to detect the threat initially. By the time he realized the danger, complete evasion was impossible. He could only distance himself from the blast epicenter while using Nen to protect both himself and Chiyo as much as possible.
"Woo-woo-woo-woo—"
The sounds of police cars and ambulances echoed in the distance.
An explosion of this magnitude in the city center could easily be classified as a terrorist attack.
Though Stanley's target had been Mord's building, the damage had extended to an entire row of residential structures.
...
Central City Hospital.
Rows of police cars and ambulances crowded the hospital entrance as medics continuously unloaded patients with minor and critical injuries. The overwhelming number of casualties quickly depleted the hospital's supply of medical stretchers.
Many victims with superficial wounds who remained mobile were simply assisted into the building by supporting arms.
Intensive Care Unit.
A hospital bed emerged from the unit, bearing the freshly operated Chiyo.
Transfusion bags hung beside the girl as she remained unconscious.
Mord hurried forward to inquire about her condition.
A female doctor spoke first: "We've done everything possible. Whether she pulls through depends on tonight. If she survives until morning, she'll be out of danger."
Noticing Mord's blood-soaked appearance, the doctor added: "Are you alright yourself?"
----------
For advance chapters join my Patreon.
[email protected]/Aarvan