Under the moonlit sky, a bat-like figure followed closely behind Luo Ning and the others. The figure made no effort to hide its presence, seemingly confident that it could easily handle its prey.
As the car crossed an intersection, a figure suddenly dropped from above, casting a massive cloth over the vehicle. A young man wearing round sunglasses, beach-style vacation attire, and flip-flops landed in front of the car. The vehicle, which should have been driving normally, had vanished from the spot. In its place, a piece of "candy" twisted like a liqueur chocolate fell onto the street.
The newcomer was Owl, a member of the Shadow Beasts. His ability was [MIRACULOUS CONVENIENT GREAT WRAPPING CLOTH]. The specific effect of this ability was the manifestation of a large bundle cloth; anything covered by it, no matter how large, could be instantly shrunk and packed away! Most crucially, his ability could even pack living creatures.
Owl turned toward the packed cloth, but before he could get close, a chain shot out from the shadows toward him. Suddenly, a youth with white hair and dark skin appeared at Owl's side, stomping his foot down on the chain. He was also a member of the Shadow Beasts.
As he stepped on the chain, mucus quietly appeared on his body, coating the links and threatening to spread toward the wielder. However, the chain vanished instantly. At the corner of the street, Kurapika stood as his chains reappeared. His gaze toward the enemy grew cold and hostile.
At the same time, another slender figure appeared behind Owl. From beneath a short skirt, a long, shapely leg swept toward Owl's head with the sound of breaking air. It was Neon, who had also avoided being swept up by the cloth along with the car.
Bang!
This time, Owl reacted, raising his arm to block Neon's whip kick. The sheer force of the blow sent Owl sliding backward. As he skidded, he saw the third person from the car, Luo Ning, standing not far behind him. This meant his surprise attack had failed to pose any threat to the three of them!
'Did they realize the bat was a lure and I was the primary attacker?' he wondered.
As he retreated, a massive cloth manifested in his hands. He was ready to throw it over Luo Ning at the slightest movement. However, Luo Ning didn't even look at him; his eyes were fixed on the ground.
In the next moment, Luo Ning raised his fist. The power of the Super Destruction Punch erupted from his hand. Using the pure, violent force of the Enhancement type, he briefly vanished from Owl's sight before reappearing and slamming his fist into the ground.
The solid asphalt road collapsed into a deep crater under the force of the powerful blow. But the person Luo Ning was trying to catch was not in the pit. Instead, sonic waves swept down from the sky. It was Bat, the Shadow Beast member with bat wings who had been circling above. The windows along the street shattered under the ear-piercing sound.
Faced with the onslaught, Luo Ning gathered Nen in his throat and let out a roar. The sound waves from his mouth surged upward, countering the aerial attack.
Four of them!
Through the vision of his Sharingan, Luo Ning clearly identified four Shadow Beast members pursuing them. This meant that, at most, six members were attacking the Phantom Troupe.
What kind of distribution was this? Did they think the Phantom Troupe was an easy target? Or did they believe he was a soft target they could catch while the Troupe was too tough, leading them to split their forces? The contradictory approach made it hard to discern the Shadow Beasts' true strategy. Furthermore, Luo Ning didn't recall offending them to the point where they would dispatch four members to hunt him down.
Regardless, if they dared to come, they would stay here forever.
Luo Ning's gaze swept over the one flying in the sky and the one lurking underground. As for Owl and the white-haired, dark-skinned youth, he would leave them to Kurapika and Neon. It was time to test the results of their training.
"Keep the one with the cloth. You can just kill the ugly one," Luo Ning called out.
In the air, Bat descended slightly. Nearby, a red-skinned freak emerged from the ground. It was another member of the Shadow Beasts, Worm.
By now, only the white-haired, dark-skinned youth remained unidentified in terms of his specialty, but Luo Ning had seen the mucus he secreted earlier. He was likely a Transmuter. He just didn't know the specific effect of that mucus. Kurapika was certainly cautious; the moment the slime touched the chain, he had canceled the conjured weapon. It was an effective defensive measure. After all, Kurapika could re-manifest the chains at any time.
Owl adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose. His arm felt slightly numb; the strength of the girl's kick had exceeded his expectations. He hadn't expected such a frail-looking girl to be an Enhancer.
"Slug, do you want to switch?" Owl took the initiative to ask the youth beside him.
"OK!"
Slug replied as mucus began to drip from his body. He turned to size up Neon. His appearance and behavior made Neon feel a wave of nausea. She really didn't want to face such a disgusting guy, but Luo Ning had said to capture the man with the cloth, and Kurapika was indeed better suited for that task.
'So, I'll deal with the slime man then.'
With that thought, Neon reached into her pocket and pulled out a fountain pen. She scrutinized her opponent, though her gaze wasn't that of someone looking at a living person; it was more like she was searching his body to see if any part of him was worth collecting as a trophy. Unfortunately, the answer was no. At least on the surface, he held no appeal for her collection. Perhaps he had some inner beauty?
A number of cars were gathered at the intersection, but the people inside were shivering as they watched the two sides face off. It wasn't until the loud blast of a heavy truck's horn broke the silence that the frozen confrontation resumed.
Luo Ning stomped heavily on the ground. As gravel sprayed upward, he reached out and caught a piece, coating it with Nen. With a flick of his wrist, the stone shot toward Bat in the sky like a bullet.
Meanwhile, Worm dove back into the ground. His target wasn't Luo Ning, who could punch craters into asphalt, but Kurapika. An Enhancer monster was hard to approach, but a Conjurer would surely be unable to escape being dragged underground and crushed!
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