Chapter 35: The Underground Order
Shieldgaru sat in a luxurious limousine parked outside the mansion, a satisfied smile on his face as he hung up the phone.
Wild Dog was dead...
He had thought Haze was a clever man, but facing an entire gang alone that was suicide.
As the head of the Shield crime family not the most powerful, but solidly in the middle ranks Shieldgaru understood that rising in the underworld meant inevitably clashing with rivals and making enemies.
To survive, he needed strong security.
Sam and his men were competent… but according to Kuga's report, Haze's skills far surpassed any of his current subordinates.
Rod had been killed instantly that alone spoke volumes.
Shieldgaru had hoped to recruit Haze, but unfortunately, the man clearly didn't understand the situation.
He stepped out of the car, pulled his jacket tighter, and entered the mansion.
Looking up toward the upper floors, he saw windows that had been dark moments ago suddenly flicker with light something had happened.
Inside, his secretary the woman missing an arm and Kuga, the bespectacled man, followed closely behind.
The silence on the upper floor indicated the battle was already over.
The only Nen user present asked the boss if everything was under control.
When she heard it was Bot who had called earlier, she frowned, thinking it odd the message should've come from Sam, the head of security.
Still, she relaxed slightly, remembering Bot's relationship with Sam.
That guy was probably just trying to take credit.
A few minutes later, a large group of people reached the second-floor hallway.
They smelled blood but didn't think much of it.
In this line of work, blood was normal.
They assumed Haze had been brutally tortured to death.
They only wondered if any of the four who had fought him were injured.
The door opened, and Shieldgaru entered with a faint smile, imagining Haze's corpse waiting inside.
He already planned to display the man's body and photos publicly a warning to anyone who dared to steal from his casino.
"Hello!"
Shieldgaru stepped forward and froze.
Seated casually at his desk, waving in greeting… was a very familiar figure.
His mind went blank.
He's… not dead?!
"Protect the boss!" shouted the lone Nen user by the door.
The cry snapped everyone back to reality.
Shieldgaru instinctively took a step back
just as everyone's eyes fell on the scene of carnage before them.
The room was wrecked.
Three bodies lay scattered across the floor, each mutilated in a different way.
Before Shieldgaru could even react, Haze who had been sitting in the boss's chair vanished.
A heavy crash erupted behind him.
Shieldgaru started to turn, but suddenly felt his body collapse under a crushing weight.
A hand was resting casually on his shoulder.
A faint drizzle fell from above
It splattered across his face, warm… and salty.
Blood.
As an ordinary man, Shieldgaru had no time to respond no way to comprehend what Haze had done.
But Bot, crouched trembling in a corner, saw everything.
Haze had moved like a phantom through the crowd, his blade slashing with the cold precision of a reaper from hell.
Heads flew one after another dozens in mere seconds bouncing across the blood-slick floor like corks.
Kuga, the man with glasses, Smith the one Haze had crippled before all dead.
None had survived a single strike.
It was as if the entire room had turned black and white only to be painted over with a bucket of crimson.
Blood rained down.
Heads rolled.
The floor gleamed red beneath their feet.
Shieldgaru stood there, soaked in warmth, trembling.
"You know…" Haze said quietly, one arm still around him, "I don't particularly enjoy killing. But in this world, being merciless is sometimes the only way to survive."
He smiled faintly, almost wistfully.
"Maybe I'm sick. Maybe just anxious. This world feels too dangerous… and if I can't overcome that fear, I'll never move forward."
Then he looked down at Shieldgaru.
"But you you're different. You enjoy killing, don't you? Human life means nothing to you."
"…"
Shieldgaru's body froze.
His mind went blank.
He didn't even notice the cigarette ember burning into his skin.
"What are you trying to do?!" he stammered.
"If anything happens to me, the entire Mafia will come for you! You'll be hunted down forced to live like a rat underground!
I can give you money whatever amount you want "
Before he could finish, Haze's fingers clamped around his cheek.
"Don't be naïve," Haze said coldly. "You murdered dozens of innocent people on that bus. To you, they were nothing weeds by the roadside.
But haven't you heard the saying? A killer will one day be killed.
That's what's been eating at me the fear that one day, someone will do to me what I'm doing to you."
His grip tightened.
"So from my perspective… you're just another weed."
"This is just a change in roles surely you understand."
His fingers pressed deeper.
"Ahhh !"
Shieldgaru screamed. His face twisted grotesquely in agony.
To Haze, though, his resistance was like that of a chicken in his hand.
"Shh… Quiet. You're supposed to be a gang boss. Where's your pride?"
"There were kids on that bus… They didn't die half as miserably as you."
Shieldgaru's right cheek began to collapse inward. Blood poured from his nose, ears, and mouth as Haze deliberately slowed the pressure.
He wanted him to feel every second of it.
Minutes later, Shieldgaru's body went limp breath shallow, life fading.
Half his face was crushed beyond recognition, deep finger marks embedded in the flesh.
Finally, Haze let go.
The corpse fell to the floor like trash.
Bot, trembling violently, stood frozen in place.
Haze turned away, stripping off his bloodstained clothes.
Without looking back, he said calmly, "Before sunrise, I don't care how but I don't want to see a single living person in this mansion."
"Y-Yes, sir…"
Bot nodded frantically, like a pecking bird.
He understood perfectly what that meant.
Though badly wounded, he dared not disobey.
Even missing a leg, killing ordinary men would be easy if he could just stay conscious Haze enough.
He was dizzy from blood loss, pale as a ghost but he moved.
He could use his position within the Shield family to trick the outer guards into coming inside, one by one.
It wouldn't be hard.
Haze simply didn't care to dirty his hands further why waste energy when a pawn was available?
Bot staggered toward the door.
Haze didn't worry about him escaping he couldn't.
Even if he tried to drive away, there was no chance.
He knew it too.
After Bot left, Haze found the bathroom and washed away the blood.
Hours passed.
The faint sounds of chaos echoed through the halls.
Screams, gunshots… then silence.
By the time dawn painted the sky, the mansion was eerily quiet again.
Bot returned, pale as a corpse, shaking.
Haze stood by the window in a freshly fitted black suit standard mafia attire, easily found upstairs.
He turned, clapping slowly.
Clap, clap, clap.
"Well done."
Bot forced a terrified, awkward smile.
"I have a few questions," Haze said coolly.
"Ask anything," Bot replied immediately.
"Now that Shieldgaru is dead… can I seize his assets easily?"
"Well…"
Bot hesitated, then explained quickly.
Haze could transfer money through the Shield family's accounts but he'd have to do it before the other families noticed anything.
Physical assets like casinos or property, however, would be harder to claim.
The underworld was chaotic gangs constantly fought for territory.
But if outsiders interfered, those same gangs would unite to destroy them.
At the very top stood the Ten Donss the foundation of the entire underground network.
They ruled everything.
Gangs had their own rules internal conflict was tolerated.
But if a family collapsed, others could only move in after receiving permission from the Elders.
They alone decided who inherited what.
So even if Haze wanted to replace Shieldgaru as the new boss of the Shield family it was impossible.
Once word spread that Shieldgaru was dead, Haze his killer would become every family's target.
The Elders maintained order.
Each family, no matter how big or small, paid tribute to one of them the "lord" of their region.
These ten were the emperors of the underworld.
"So, in other words," Haze said, "I've just gotten myself into an even bigger mess."
"That's… correct," Bot murmured.
"Looks like I won't be able to take the Hunter Exam this year," Haze sighed.
"Tell me everything about the Shield family its headquarters, Shieldgaru's background, key members, industries."
Bot complied instantly.
The more he talked, the more obvious his desperation to live became.
After a pause, he asked nervously, "What… what are your plans now?"
Haze tilted his head and gave a weary smile.
"What else can I do? If the Ten Donss control everything… then I'll just have to take their seats.
If I don't, killing one will just bring nine more the pile of scum will only grow larger. This won't end otherwise."
Bot's jaw dropped.
He hadn't even considered that possibility.
"Anyway," Haze said, smiling faintly. "Let's get back to business."
"B-business…?"
Bot blinked, confused.
"I told you, before sunrise no one in this mansion should be alive."
"I I did it! I killed them all! I made sure no one's left alive!" Bot stammered.
Haze frowned.
"My exact words were: I don't want to see anyone alive."
"I swear, I did what you said!"
Haze's expression darkened.
"Really? Aren't you still alive? Did you forget yourself?"
"…"
Bot froze.
A chill ran down his spine.
"Need me… to help you with that?"
"…"
(End of Chapter)