Sniff… sniff…
Sniff… sniff…
Watchdog Man kept sniffing the lingering scent on the ground.
Aokiji and Bang followed right behind him.
What should have been a routine tracking scene looked bizarre because of Watchdog Man's practiced, natural four-limbed crawl.
'Mama, what kind of animal is that?' a child by the roadside asked curiously.
'That's… hiss—children shouldn't watch this!' The young mother covered her child's eyes and hurried away.
Not just this pair; other pedestrians also cast odd glances.
Even though some recognized Aokiji.
The sight of Watchdog Man crawling ahead made no one dare approach.
They could only blame the fact Watchdog Man wasn't yet famous—still not the city's mascot and guardian.
Thus Watchdog Man circled the entire city.
The two men said nothing, silently tailing behind.
Never let an amateur command a professional.
Soon they entered a tunnel with sparse traffic.
Watchdog Man stopped facing the tunnel wall, his voice still flat and mechanical: 'The scent goes inside.'
There was probably a hidden door.
Aokiji raised a fist; rubble burst and flew.
The anti-intrusion bomb trap embedded inside had no time to detonate before thick ice sealed it.
A long corridor appeared before their eyes.
'These people take poison faster than medicine. If you spot someone who looks important, move fast—don't let them die.'
This place was probably just a branch.
To find the real mastermind, the trail couldn't break here.
The two men and the dog raced through the corridor.
Remember us: 101 Novel Network.
As expected, many hidden traps lay ahead—either frozen over or ignored as they charged through.
At the corridor's end.
Inside a shelter-style underground facility, alarms were blaring.
'Gather everyone—kill the intruders the moment they show themselves!'
A sullen man with a long facial scar ordered his trusted aide.
After sending the aide out,
the man produced a small communicator and linked to the top-secret channel.
'My branch has been invaded by the Hero Association!'
Other voices soon replied.
'Already? Nothing's happened here.'
'Heh-heh, sure it's the Hero Association, not payback from an old assassination target?'
'The Hero Association was founded days ago—I doubt they have this kind of combat power.'
'If they invade, kill them. Our Assassination Alliance never fears reprisal!'
'How many intruders?'
Aokiji hesitated. 'Count us as three… or maybe two and a half?'
Watchdog Man counted as that half.
The channel fell instantly silent.
Aokiji stepped on the ice sculpture of the sullen man; the man could only roll his eyes, disbelief filling his pupils.
'Why's everyone gone quiet?' Aokiji murmured, communicator to his lips. 'Never mind. I heard you—Assassination Alliance, was it…'
An organization mentioned only in dialogue,
wiped out back when the Monster Association incident occurred.
'Let's save time: tell me where you all are and why you're attacking heroes.'
Aokiji didn't expect them to answer.
He was merely fishing for extra intel.
The channel stayed silent.
After a long while a hoarse voice finally spoke.
'Our Alliance did underestimate the Hero Association. We never thought your newly-formed group could wipe out two of our branches at once…'
'Don't bother probing. Not revealing mission details is rule one in our line of work.'
No—you already leaked intel.
Wiping out two branches simultaneously?
Besides them, someone else was striking the Assassination Alliance.
Aokiji thought briefly and quickly identified the most likely candidate.
—Flashy Flash.
In the original course of events, Flashy Flash had dealt with the Assassination Alliance and other dark forces.
After the hoarse declaration the channel went completely quiet.
Aokiji tossed the communicator and looked down at the sullen man.
'Seems your Alliance friends don't plan to help you.'
'How about it: cooperate and tell us what you know?'
'Blink if you agree.'
The man stared at Aokiji, unmoving.
No intention of cooperating.
Just then Bang entered, carrying the man's aide.
He shook his head. 'Only this one would talk, and he doesn't know much—just that someone hired them, identity and goal unknown.'
After hearing Bang's report,
Aokiji stepped on the man's frozen arm and sighed.
'Honestly, I hate using my imagination to make people talk.'
'But you refuse to cooperate.'
'Ever heard of Stink-Cover Prison? It holds a prisoner who isn't really evil.'
'He can't stop himself from wanting to do □□ things to men, so he keeps resisting—until one day he figures it out!'
Aokiji's dramatic tone piqued everyone's curiosity.
The man's pupils trembled slightly.
'The prison's full of guilty men. If he lives there he can indulge his urges and punish the guilty, so he checks himself in.'
'But I figure the inmates might resist.'
White mist rose.
The man's frozen right arm became ultra-cold frozen meat.
With a light crunch the entire arm shattered like ice chips.
'So I want to give that prisoner a toy that can't fight back.'
Aokiji stepped on the other arm.
Intense cold seeped in.
The man's pupils quaked!
I'll talk!
I'll tell you everything!!
If they found me, finding the other branches is only a matter of time… I can die, but not suffer this ultimate humiliation—!!
Seeing him yield, Aokiji stopped.
He melted the ice covering the man.
Letting him warm up a little,
the man clutched his severed arm, first glaring at his turncoat aide.
After catching his breath he finally spoke.
'Actually… I don't know…'
Zzz—
Vapor froze with a teeth-grating shriek.
'Wait, I'm not done! I know who knows—and where he is!!'
Aokiji crouched, apologetically brushing off the fresh ice on the man's limbs.
'You should've said so earlier. Next time lead with the key info, got it?'
The man nodded meekly.
He'd almost become □□.
...
(Throw some stones)