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Chapter 103: Shizuku Joins
"I will honor my promise," Shizuku said. Blood from Spence's skull adorned her cheek, somehow adding a strange, dark beauty to her current demeanor.
Ronin's gaze bypassed Spence's corpse, locking onto the floor below. That faint presence in the basement hadn't completely faded yet.
"Let's check downstairs first."
Without giving Shizuku a chance to reply, Ronin turned and headed for the basement. Shizuku opened her mouth to speak, glanced down at the mangled corpse at her feet, and silently dismissed [Blinky] before following him.
As expected, someone was in the basement.
The moment Shizuku saw the man, a ripple of emotion passed through her eyes, and she quickly stepped forward. But it was clear the man was already on the verge of death.
There was little grief in Shizuku's expression; in fact, Ronin saw a profound sense of confusion in her eyes. Yet, on the face of the dying man who forced his eyes open on the floor, Ronin saw a glimmer of deep relief.
Ronin attempted to use the Mystical Palm Technique to heal the man, but it was futile. His injuries were far too severe. By the time they arrived, his life force had already reached its absolute limit. Opening his eyes just now was nothing more than a final, fleeting surge of clarity before death.
The man's gaze remained locked on Shizuku's face until, after a long moment, his eyes slowly closed forever. Ronin noticed that, at some point, silent tears had begun streaming down Shizuku's cheeks.
Shizuku carefully placed the man's corpse into her vacuum. As she walked out of the basement, she knocked a fist against her own head several times.
"I suffered a very severe injury once. I forgot a lot of things. Even my memory has some issues," Shizuku's voice floated over from behind, her tone maintaining that same rational detachment.
"I see," Ronin nodded. The fact that she could be told a name one second and completely forget it the next proved her mind was indeed impaired.
Hearing her bring it up on her own, Ronin recalled the photographs he had obtained from Damian.
In those pictures, Shizuku's head had been covered in blood. Ronin had suspected the blood might have been her own. Now it seemed clear that Damian, despite capturing numerous photos, hadn't pieced the whole story together.
Perhaps something else had happened just before Damian found her. And that unknown event was the crucial missing link.
"Do you want to keep investigating? There might be more to this story," Ronin asked.
Shizuku shook her head. "There might be another Elder pulling the strings behind the scenes, but it doesn't matter anymore. I know for a fact that Spence's men caused my injury. My mother was killed by Spence's men, and my father... So, with Spence dead, this whole matter can come to an end. Investigating further will only drag more people in Meteor City into the crossfire, and I have a feeling there's no end to the people working behind the scenes."
"I have no objections." Ronin wasn't particularly interested in continuing this endless cycle of slaughter either.
Since Shizuku herself wasn't pursuing it, there was nothing more to say. Leaving this place was the priority.
But before the two could step out of the manor, Ronin's phone rang. The caller was Kurapika.
"Hello?"
"I caught some people you might be interested in. Come to the forest west of the manor," Kurapika said rapidly.
Ronin and Shizuku exchanged a glance before immediately accelerating toward the coordinates.
Minutes later, they arrived in the woods. Kurapika and Neon were waiting there, standing over two young men dressed like street thugs who were kneeling on the ground.
"They are subordinates of Ryan, another Elder who holds significant power in Meteor City," Kurapika explained, revealing the captives' identities. "According to them, they've been stationed here running surveillance for a long time."
Ronin noticed both men were ordinary humans.
"So Ryan is the other target, huh?" Ronin's mind quickly connected the dots, arriving at a logical conclusion.
If this required actual detective work, he admittedly wasn't great at it. But knowing the mastermind's identity and having two of his lackeys in custody meant following the breadcrumbs to the source would be incredibly simple.
"Do you want to pay Ryan a visit?" Ronin asked, turning to Shizuku.
"You decide. I have no objections," Shizuku replied. "Since we already agreed that if you killed Spence for me, I'd listen to you and join your team, I naturally have no reason to go back on my word."
Ronin thought for a moment. "Then let's go take a look! Hopefully, he's the guy I'm looking for."
If there was anything else in Meteor City worth poaching besides Shizuku, there was only one Elder of Meteor City that came to mind.
That Elder possessed a highly unique Nen ability, one that Chrollo had stated grew even stronger after death and was currently stored within his [Skill Hunter].
Was Ryan that Elder?
Ronin formed hand signs and placed a single palm onto the head of one of the captives. As his chakra invaded the man's mind, the [Ninja Art: Mind Reading Technique] activated, rapidly playing the captive's memories before Ronin's eyes.
He quickly found the information he was looking for. Moreover, he also witnessed something else in the man's memories—something regarding Shizuku.
Over a dozen days ago, Shizuku had fled from Spence's manor in the dead of night, clutching her bleeding head. This thug had tracked her all the way to her family's clinic, arriving just as a conflict broke out, and witnessed her fleeing once again from the perimeter. That scene perfectly matched the background in Damian's photographs.
Ronin withdrew his hand, sweat seeping from his temples.
Reading minds was no simple feat; the primary drain wasn't on chakra, but on mental stamina.
"Let's go." He didn't divulge everything he had seen. Gesturing for the group to move, Ronin casually disposed of the two lackeys.
Ryan's villa wasn't located in the forest. He seemed to enjoy the feeling of being worshiped by the masses, so he had overtly constructed his opulent mansion right in the middle of Meteor City's most impoverished district.
He wanted all the lower-class residents to know that he, Ryan, was the absolute king of this land—an existence those filthy beggars could never hope to reach in a lifetime.
Ronin couldn't quite comprehend the logic behind Ryan's behavior as seen in the lackey's memories. He had a feeling things weren't as simple as the lackey believed.
Damian had left long ago, but there was a pristine vehicle parked inside Spence's manor. Ronin took the wheel, acting as the chauffeur for his team of four.
Kurapika and Neon had already removed their masks and properly introduced themselves. The two of them didn't show any aversion toward Shizuku, which was likely aided by her appearance.
Despite her perpetual poker face, she looked like an ordinary girl next door, the kind of person who easily evoked a sense of familiarity.
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