Chapter 194: Dancing on the Blade's Edge
Without Feitan and the others knowing, the warehouse manager of the Cha-R Family had been killed and provocatively dumped in a place they had passed earlier.
Looking at the unlucky man lying in a pool of blood, Feitan sighed softly and said, "Well, if he's dead, there's nothing we can do. Let's search on our own."
Shalnark, playing with his phone, spoke up without even glancing at the corpse. "Are we just leaving him like this?"
Franklin, standing nearby, added, "What else can we do? A corpse won't help us, and we can't call anyone else."
"Alright, help me find the custom umbrella first," Feitan said indifferently.
However, as the three chatted, they failed to notice a faint sound coming from the ceiling—the sound of a pair of hands.
Meanwhile, chaos erupted in the third-class passenger area of the Black Whale. Soldiers of the Kakin Royal Army were struggling to secure the crime scene.
"No, you can't go any further!"
"No one is allowed inside until the evidence collection is complete!"
The one conducting the on-site investigation was none other than Mizaistom, the "Ox" of the Hunter Association's Zodiacs.
From the guards at the scene, Mizaistom learned that someone disguised as a royal soldier had entered the room, swiftly killed twenty people, and escaped.
Mizaistom turned to the person in charge and asked, "Was the perpetrator a Nen user?"
"Uncertain," the person in charge shook his head. "The weapon was a blade, and there were no signs of Nen ability usage."
"Were there any witnesses?"
"There were survivors at the scene. The perpetrator is a man in his twenties, slender, 185–190 cm tall, with a large crescent-shaped scar on his left cheek. We've investigated the surrounding area but haven't found any eyewitness accounts matching this description. The survivors' testimonies are too vague, and many key details are unclear. It's possible they suffered trauma, leading to mental confusion."
Listening to the person in charge, Mizaistom felt something was off. The whole situation seemed unnatural, and his expression grew serious.
"I'll ask again."
...
The scene shifted back to Feitan and the other two.
The owner of the hands that had suddenly appeared on the ceiling of the Cha-R Family warehouse was a man with a crescent-shaped scar on his face. He stared excitedly at the people below.
"Feitan, Shalnark, Franklin!"
"Hehehe, so calmly ignoring my prank... As expected of the infamous Phantom Troupe! I'm in awe!"
This person was a member of the Heil-Ly Family, the "Crescent-Faced" Luini.
His current level in the Contagion—With Etude of Love was 21, meaning he had just acquired his ability.
He was the one who killed the twenty people on the third floor.
The ability he gained was a spatial-type Nen ability.
It could only create one door, and it required a simple, fully enclosed room—these were the conditions for activating his Hatsu.
Once activated, he could travel through the walls or floors of that room to other locations.
In other words, once the conditions were met, Luini could tear open walls or floors to achieve spatial travel. After completing the spatial transfer, he could return to the original room anytime, anywhere.
However, if the single room door is opened, breaking its sealed state, the ability would instantly reset. Moreover, it could never be activated again in the same room.
As for the destinations one could travel to, they were limited only to places he had previously visited.
Though it sounded quite restrictive, such limitations were quite normal for a spatial-type ability.
After finding a new type of custom-made umbrella, Feitan left satisfied.
On their way back, the three of them discovered that all the warehouse managers of the Cha-R Family had gone missing.
"Everyone from earlier has disappeared," Shalnark remarked, glancing at the empty scene.
"Wrong," Feitan and Franklin said simultaneously. "One person escaped."
Shalnark followed Feitan and Franklin's gaze and saw bloody footprints.
Bloody footprints leading continuously in a certain direction.
Feitan's eyes narrowed, his face showing clear displeasure.
"This looks like an invitation to chase after them."
He crouched down, touched the bloodstain on the ground, and said, "The blood has already dried. The timing of the attack should coincide with when the corpses disappeared and reappeared."
Shalnark wondered, "I don't understand what this guy is trying to do. If he wanted to pin the blame on us, the person from earlier should have been enough. If someone escapes here, wouldn't it expose that we aren't the culprits?"
Feitan stood up, his eyes dark and gloomy. "That would only matter if the owner of the bloodstain is still alive."
After a moment of thought, Franklin said gravely, "...This matter might have nothing to do with us at all."
Shalnark turned to Franklin and asked, "You mean the murders here and the ones in the warehouse earlier weren't committed by the same perpetrator?"
"No," Franklin shook his head. "Why deliberately let a severely injured person escape?"
Without waiting for Shalnark or Feitan to respond, Franklin continued, "It must be to let them run back to their companions' base. After seeing the corpses, if we take action and clash with other members, a full-scale battle would erupt. That's likely what the perpetrator wants to see."
"But if we don't take action, the perpetrator can choose to track them down themselves to locate the Cha-R Family's base."
Shalnark said, "You're saying the other party is a whimsical brat, trying to use us, and if we don't take the bait, they immediately go 'ah, whatever' and abandon the plan, reverting to their original course of action?"
"Acting on a whim..." Feitan muttered softly, then raised his head. "That's quite similar to us. Of course, these are just speculations. The perpetrator might be someone else, or it might just be a momentary lapse, prompting them to chase after the person."
At this point, Feitan paused, and a terrifying killing intent suddenly emanated from him.
"But the initial corpse was clearly meant to mock us."
As he spoke, Feitan began following the bloody footprints ahead.
Shalnark and Franklin followed behind him.
"Judging from the earlier corpse, the perpetrator's methods were not clean. Moreover, their hostility seems more directed at the Cha-R Family than our troupe."
As the three of them, including Feitan, were talking, they arrived before a closed door.
And the bloody footprints ended right at this door.
Shalnark glanced at the surveillance camera in the upper right corner and said with a laugh, "This doesn't look like the security facilities you'd expect at the lowest level at all. I'm really curious about what's behind this door."