Chapter 99: Spence's Estate
"Who knows if they'll ever be satisfied," Damian said, pulling the car to a stop. "I can't drive any further without getting us lit up. You'll have to go the rest of the way on foot."
As he spoke, several figures appeared on the path ahead.
Unlike the Cleaning Squad, these men were on motorcycles, weaving through the trees toward them. Every rider was armed with a submachine gun.
"Fine. This is far enough," Ronin said, pushing the car door open. He paused, looking back at Damian. "These guys... they're all Spence's personal militia, right?"
"Every single one," Damian confirmed.
Ronin looked at the handful of stones in his lap. Finally, a use for these.
"I know the way to the estate from here," Shizuku said, stepping out of the car.
"I'm staying out of this," Damian said, though he didn't put the car in park yet. "If you make it out and need a lift, call me. I'll try to arrange a boat. Just a heads up—departure tickets are pricey. I suggest that when you kill Spence, you don't forget to raid his personal vault first."
"Thanks for the tip. We'll keep it in mind," Kurapika replied with professional courtesy.
Damian grinned, flicking his cigarette butt into the dirt. "Good luck. Give those high-and-mighty bastards a taste of their own medicine."
He slammed the car into reverse, spinning the wheel to retreat before the motorcycles could close the gap.
Ronin took a step forward.
His mind flashed back to Gotoh, the Zoldyck butler. Gotoh's ability involved injecting aura into coins, turning them into lethal, high-velocity projectiles.
It was a technique that sat right on the border of Enhancement and Emission.
By using Shu to reinforce the object and Ko to provide the explosive launch force, you could turn a pebble into a sniper round. It wasn't a difficult logic to replicate.
Ronin rested his hands at his waist. He slid two stones onto the pads of his index fingers, bracing them with his thumbs.
He funneled his Nen into the stones, reinforcing their structural integrity so they wouldn't shatter under the pressure of his own strength. Then, he gathered a massive spike of aura at his thumb-tips.
The moment the lead biker raised his gun, Ronin flicked.
Zip—THUD!
The two men on the first motorcycle collapsed instantly. Neat, circular holes appeared in their foreheads before they could even pull their triggers.
Ronin didn't stop. His hands became a blur, drawing stones from his pouch and snapping them forward with rhythmic precision.
The motorcycles arrived fast, but they went down faster.
In less than twenty seconds, the forest path was silent. Not a single gunman was left standing.
Shizuku summoned Blinky.
Acting like a macabre janitor, she systematically inhaled the bodies, the motorcycles, and even the blood-soaked dirt from the path.
In under two minutes, the perimeter was spotless. Aside from a lingering metallic scent in the air, there was no evidence a battle had taken place.
Led by Shizuku, the group moved toward the heart of the forest.
Deep inside the woods sat a massive, opulent estate.
The perimeter was swarming with private guards in tactical gear. Inside, the staff moved with frantic urgency.
In a lavishly decorated study, a man with bandages wrapped around his arm glared down at a bloodied figure on the floor. This was Spence, an Elder of the Council.
The man on the floor was Hiroki Murasaki, Shizuku's father.
"Useless trash! I told you to 'fake' my assassination. It was a simple job! How did you let your own daughter catch you? Worthless, worthless, worthless!" Spence barked, kicking Hiroki in the ribs.
Hiroki had been Spence's mole from the start.
Spence had recently offended the Phantom Troupe. Knowing Chrollo Lucilfer's reputation, he knew the Spider would come for his head.
He had planned to use Hiroki to stage a fake death so he could slip away from Meteor City and disappear before the Troupe arrived.
But the plan had collapsed.
First, Hiroki had tried to actually kill him during the "fake" attempt. The rat had grown a spine at the wrong time.
Spence survived the betrayal, and he could have salvaged the plan, but then Hiroki's daughter found out and leaked the details to Spence's rival, Ryan.
My most trusted dog was working for Ryan behind my back...
"Don't worry," Spence sneered, standing up. "I'll have my men bring that brainless daughter of yours here. You can all be together in hell."
Spence feared the Phantom Troupe—monsters recognized even by the Council. But that didn't mean he would run from every two-bit hunter who showed up at his door with a girl who looked like she'd been hit in the head too many times.
So what if they beat a Cleaning Squad captain and totaled a tank?
Spence's own ability wasn't suited for that kind of brawling, but he had other ways to win.
Against an Enhancer, you don't fight fair. You play with their head. As a Conjurer, his victory lay in the rules, not the muscle.
"Wait for me in the afterlife, you bastards!" Spence laughed manically as he stepped out of the room, leaving Hiroki twitching in a pool of his own blood.
"Don't... don't die... Shizuku..." Hiroki whispered.
He was filled with regret. In Meteor City, the lower class had no choices. When his identity was exposed to Ryan, his family became his greatest weakness. He had tried to play both sides to keep them alive.
He had failed.
Darkness began to swallow Hiroki's vision. Before his eyes closed for the last time, he saw a vision of his wife waving to him. Beside her stood his daughter, her expression flat and unreadable, watching them both fade away.
Ronin kicked the front gates of the estate off their hinges.
A private militia, fully mobilized and ready for war, stared back at him.
Only Shizuku stood behind him. Kurapika and Neon had already vanished into the shadows to flank the building.
Kurapika's chains were useful in a crowd, but Neon had zero combat utility. Moreover, firearms were still a threat. Not every Nen user was a tank; most could still be dropped by a well-placed bullet if caught off guard.
Ronin, however, was not most Nen users.
Between Lightning Style Chakra Mode, Weighted Boulder conditioning, and his natural Enhancement affinity, his durability was skyrocketing. In another month, he would likely surpass Uvogin's peak physical stats.
After that, his next benchmark would be Chairman Netero.
And after the Chairman... only the Ant King would remain.
But that was in the future. For the men standing in front of him right now, Ronin was already an insurmountable wall.
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