Mizaistom Nana, Double-Star Crime Hunter.
His conduct was hailed as the conscience of the Zodiac Twelve. Even factional enemies would give Mizaistom high praise despite their opposition.
Mizaistom had come to Chezlon Port this time after accepting a commission to bring Bazel to court.
But Mizaistom always acted prudently. After tracking Bazel's movements, he didn't act immediately, instead he observed and gathered information from the shadows.
Naturally, this led to the discovery of Bazel's younger brother.
By today, Mizaistom believed the timing was right. Coincidentally, Bazel was involved in a "human trafficking" deal, giving Mizaistom the idea to take them all down in one fell swoop.
Thus, Mizaistom had to wait until the "material evidence" arrived at the port before making his move.
Unexpectedly, before the evidence arrived, a suspected Blacklist Hunter and Nen user had already taken action against Bazel.
Mizaistom gazed at the rows of corpses in front of the distant warehouse, deep in thought.
If he waited until the "material evidence" arrived before acting, he could confirm the nature of this criminal operation.
If he didn't wait, the suspected Blacklist Hunter might die at Bazel's hands, or Bazel might die at the hunter's hands.
Bazel can't die here.
One of these possibilities quickly led Mizaistom to a decision.
Given his profession, he naturally leaned toward prosecution. But now, he was tasked with bringing Bazel to court, so the commission took priority.
Having made his decision, Mizaistom immediately headed for the warehouse.
—--
Meanwhile.
Inside the warehouse.
Bazel looked at the sea of corpses outside the warehouse doors, his earlier excitement completely gone, replaced only by grim tension.
He was arrogant, but not stupid.
The meteor shower-like Nen bullet attack just now had made him acutely aware of his opponent's strength.
This strength forced him to abandon any thought of charging out recklessly.
The loss of control precision actually helped me.
Bazel glanced at the nearly sixty puppets inside the warehouse.
Originally, he had planned to control all the puppets to rush out in one go and adapt to the situation as needed.
But with so many puppets, his control precision was affected, causing them to crowd together like zombies bursting from a cage, blocking the ones behind.
Thus, when the meteor shower of Nen bullets fell, Bazel had just enough reaction time to pull back the rear puppets.
Otherwise, he might have lost all his puppets in an instant.
Seems they're not planning to storm in.
After waiting over ten seconds inside the warehouse with no further action from the Nen user outside, Bazel sneered.
A little longer, and Barock will be here.
Bazel positioned the puppets inside the warehouse to form firing lines, in no hurry to counterattack but standing ready.
He would wait for his younger brother Barock to join him before dealing with the two Nen users outside together.
Just to be safe.
Bazel took out another phone and dialed the number of the bald middle-aged man's subordinate.
The call connected in two or three seconds.
Bazel immediately roared in a panicked tone, "Xylie and his bastards stabbed us in the back! Get over here now!" Without waiting for a response from the other end of the call, Bazel lightly raised his index finger, controlling one of his puppets to fire an empty pistol magazine toward the warehouse ceiling.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After the fierce gunfire, Bazel didn't even listen to the reaction on the other end of the phone, crushing it expressionlessly in his grip.
For this deal, the bald middle-aged man had only brought over twenty subordinates to the scene, but another group of his men were stationed at an inconspicuous location outside the port.
Bazel had mobilized them here, not only to create chaos but also to replenish his puppets at any time.
A few seconds after the gunfire faded, suddenly, several smoke grenades flew into the warehouse, bouncing off the ground before releasing thick clouds of smoke.
Hmm?
Bazel narrowed his eyes, hearing the crisp sound of glass bottles rolling and shattering amidst the hiss of the smoke.
Due to the smoke's cover, he couldn't see the swarm of tiny ants with sharp fangs scattering from the shattered glass fragments, scurrying chaotically in all directions.
Each tiny ant bore a needlepoint-sized Star Mark.
At the same time, a sharp noise suddenly rang out from the warehouse ceiling.
Bazel jerked his head up, only to see numerous fluorescent green Nen bullets piercing through the roof, raining down like a sudden storm.
Damn it…
Bazel's expression darkened as he manipulated the nearby puppets to shield him in a stacked formation.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Even though the space around him was tightly sealed by the puppets, Bazel could still hear the sounds of Nen bullets tearing through flesh and blasting into the ground.
Even when dispersed to this extent, they still had such power?
His wariness deepened.
—--
Outside the warehouse.
Kalluto withdrew his gaze from the warehouse roof, still reeling from the technique that resembled his grandfather's Star Rain, when he saw Morrow pull a pistol from his waist.
"Was that just now…?"
"Oh, you mean the things in the glass jars?"
Morrow calmly watched the warehouse under heavy assault and explained, "Those are a type of ant I recently discovered, small, fast-moving, and highly aggressive. Implanting Star Marks on them is much easier than on cockroaches. Best of all, you can just buy them with money."
"That's not what I was asking."
Kalluto looked bewildered.
Morrow casually raised his pistol and said seriously, "Oh, you mean the pistol and smoke grenades? Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm actually a decent shot. As for smoke grenades, they're pretty useful in many situations. Since we came prepared, bringing a few isn't strange, right?"
"..."
Kalluto blinked in confusion.
Morrow chuckled, not giving Kalluto a chance to press further, and strode toward the warehouse as the commotion gradually subsided, reminding him, "Kalluto, that guy probably has allies nearby. Stay alert, I'm going in first."
"Got it."
Following Morrow's instructions, Kalluto snapped back to focus and quickly adjusted his stance.
Once he received the response, Morrow approached the warehouse entrance.
Starlight Convergence.
His aura shattered into starlight, swirling around him.
Morrow controlled the range of the starlight, limiting it to the front to extend its reach.
Then, he swept the forward-expanding starlight through the warehouse, confirming the general situation before retracting it.
Gripping his pistol, he didn't immediately step inside. Instead, he fired a Shooting Star parallel to the ground behind him.
Only after this did he stride into the warehouse. The sight that greeted him was a scene of utter devastation.
Broken corpses lay scattered across the ground, with blood and gore splattered everywhere.
The only intact figure was Bazel, Morrow's target, along with several puppets clearly under the control of a Manipulation ability, currently pushing aside the corpses.
Bazel's expression darkened as he watched Morrow step through the warehouse entrance.
The previously set-up defensive line had already been obliterated by the earlier star rain...
Now, only three puppets remained under his control.
"Blacklist Hunter?"
Bazel glared coldly at Morrow as he spoke.
Morrow responded calmly, "That's right. You've already witnessed my older brother's strength. I suggest you surrender now, that way, we can take you in alive for the bounty, and you'll at least keep your life."
"Hahaha..."
Bazel laughed in furious disbelief.
He didn't understand why the other Blacklist Hunter, the one with overwhelming offensive power, hadn't entered with this kid.
To him, the brat before him seemed like a reconnaissance-type, with no particularly notable aura intensity.
Yet, he realized this might be an opportunity.
"Think this is funny?"
From Bazel's reaction, Morrow confirmed that the man knew about his and Kalluto's attack, but not the details. Feigning irritation, he raised his gun and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire erupted as bullets, searing with heat, tore through the air toward Bazel.
But the moment the shots rang out, the three puppets had already positioned themselves in front of Bazel, forming a human wall.
When controlling a large number of blood-pact puppets, Bazel's precision, and even the strength of his control, would noticeably diminish.
Conversely, the fewer puppets he controlled, the sharper and stronger his manipulation became.
The human wall of three puppets, bolstered by aura surging from their bodies, effortlessly blocked the incoming bullets.
Take care of this brat first...!
Killing intent flashed in Bazel's eyes as he sent two puppets charging toward Morrow, while he and the remaining puppet followed steadily behind.
But the moment he moved, Morrow abruptly sidestepped to the side without warning.
Confused, Bazel could only remain wary.
Then, in the next instant...
A Nen bullet pierced through the warehouse wall beside the entrance, streaking along a straight trajectory toward Morrow's back.
Morrow smoothly ducked, letting the bullet fly past overhead, straight toward Bazel at the rear of the formation.
Bazel's pupils constricted sharply.
How did the person outside pinpoint his position?
Was it some kind of reconnaissance ability with shared vision?
With no time to think, Bazel hastily defended, using the single puppet in front of him as a shield. At the same time, he ordered the two puppets ahead to attack Morrow, aiming to crush any chance of a follow-up strike before it could begin.
It was a... terrible move.
But it wasn't entirely wrong, either.
The fault lay in the unpredictable nature of Nen abilities.
Without sufficient intel, it was nearly impossible to foresee the outcome.
Unless Bazel had combat experience as vast as Biscuit's.
Unfortunately, he didn't.
Starlight Convergence.
As the two puppets raised their guns, Morrow didn't hesitate to activate his ability.
Fragmented starlight instantly engulfed them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Boom!
Inside the warehouse, the sound of gunfire and Shooting Star impacts striking the puppets rang out simultaneously.
Morrow dodged the bullets and manifested golden chains through his ability, restraining the two puppets.
This meant that unless Bazel consciously released the Nen applied to the puppets immediately, the Star Mark would transfer to Bazel upon the puppets' destruction.
Of course, Bazel lacked such awareness.
Nor did he have any capacity to spare for it at this moment.
Facing the incoming Shooting Star, he barely managed to use the puppets as shields. Yet the attack's force still shattered the aura-clad puppets, with the residual impact slamming heavily into him.
He was sent flying, covered in blood that could no longer be distinguished as his own or the puppets'.
Morrow glanced sideways at Bazel's airborne figure.
With Shooting Star's explosion, his aura output returned to its original peak state.
Casually discarding the emptied pistol, Morrow drew the Poultry Scarlet Knife and effortlessly executed the two puppets bound by golden chains.
As the puppets were destroyed, the Star Mark naturally transferred to Bazel.
Yet Bazel still couldn't spare attention for this Nen phenomenon.
After crashing heavily to the ground, he vomited blood, raised his contorted face, and immediately burst through the warehouse's metal wall to escape outside.
—--
Meanwhile...
Outside, Kalluto, standing guard, encountered a gaunt man.
It was Bazel's younger brother, Barock.
Swish...
Kalluto opened his purple bamboo fan adorned with Sanrio Keroppi, coldly eyeing Barock.
Barock halted, returning the icy stare.
A child...
No older than seven or eight?
Nevertheless, Barock remained vigilant.
In the world of Nen, formidable children weren't unheard of.
Moreover, he sensed murderous intent from Kalluto's aura that far exceeded his age.
No further proof was needed.
Barock was certain this child had walked over countless bloodied corpses.
"Barock, run!"
Suddenly, Bazel's voice came from the warehouse's other side.
Having broken through the wall, Bazel couldn't pinpoint his brother's location but guessed he must be nearby, shouting the warning into the air.
Unintentionally, this desperate cry revealed Bazel's vulnerability, causing Barock to momentarily drop his guard.
Seizing the opening, Kalluto moved, flashing before Barock, his fan wrapped in condensed Nen slashing toward vital points.
Shu, a Nen Technique, had always been Kalluto's diligently trained specialty.
Barock's heart lurched, instinctively raising an arm to block.
Splurt!
Blood sprayed as a severed arm spun through the air.
"Ah!"
Pain jolted Barock. His pupils contracting sharply, he desperately retreated to create distance.
Kalluto didn't pursue, merely covering half his face with the fan, cruel amusement crinkling his eyes.
The youngest child of the Zoldyck Family now bared his true fangs without restraint.
—--
Elsewhere...
Barock's scream reached Bazel.
But Bazel had no attention to spare.
Before him stood another Nen user radiating immense aura. The newcomer was none other than Mizaistom.
"Bazel, you're under arrest."
Holding a yellow card between his fingers, Mizaistom looked at the battered Bazel, deducing that in his current state, the man posed little threat.
At the same time, his peripheral gaze shifted to Morrow standing behind Bazel.
"Young man, allow me to confirm your identity."
Mizaistom's expression remained calm, but his mind was anything but.
He hadn't expected that in such a short time, the infamous Bazel could be reduced to this state by a mere youth.
"If you're a Blacklist Hunter, I can guarantee you'll receive the full bounty under the justification of 'assisting in the arrest of a criminal.' There's no need for further violence."
To ensure Bazel could be smoothly brought to trial, Mizaistom refrained from using force and instead made an offer.
Morrow recognized Mizaistom by his attire; this was the Crime Hunter known as the conscience of the Zodiac Twelve.
But he didn't respond. Instead, he silently condensed the aura in his palm into a sharp shape.
Mizaistom's eyes narrowed. He immediately raised the yellow card marked with an exclamation point toward Morrow and said sternly, "Stop! This is a warning, cease all aggressive intent immediately."
"I am a Blacklist Hunter, pursuing Bazel within legal bounds. But..."
Mid-sentence, Morrow abruptly condensed a Shooting Star.
Mizaistom was prepared. With a grave expression, he flipped the yellow card.
Unlike the exclamation mark on the front, the reverse side bore a bold "X" symbol.
"Violence prohibited, confinement!"
Having fulfilled the prerequisite conditions of his ability by issuing the warning, Mizaistom immediately activated his restraining power against Morrow.
In an instant, Morrow found himself completely immobilized.
But his intent to attack didn't require physical movement.
Whoosh!
The Shooting Star shot straight from his palm.
Then, tracing an eerie arc through the air, under Mizaistom's helpless gaze, it struck Bazel.
Boom!
Flesh and blood sprayed instantly, a single, fatal blow.
"..."
Mizaistom stared at Bazel's mangled corpse, his brow twitching slightly.
A homing-type attack... I underestimated him.
Restraining Morrow under the prohibition of violence also meant he was barred from using force.
Naturally, he couldn't stop that Nen bullet.
Even if he could, it was already too late.
This young man...