Ivan stared at the Pachycephalosaurus and the Velociraptor in front of him and fell into thought.
The information he had extracted from Zalan wasn't much, but it was enough to confirm that the man probably hadn't lied.
Because Ivan genuinely knew the name Yituoku.
That man was indeed the vice patriarch of the Kasha Family.
Ivan didn't know what kind of Nen ability Yituoku possessed, but someone who could hold that position definitely wouldn't be simple.
From Zalan's tone, Ivan could also tell that quite a large number of people had been deployed to investigate this area.
Right now, Ivan had two possible courses of action.
The first was to tie Zalan up, cancel the dinosaur transformation, and interrogate him properly.
Since the man had already started talking, the interrogation would likely be easier.
Contrary to popular belief, these mafia members weren't always as tough as they liked to appear.
But that approach would take time.
And time was exactly what Ivan didn't have.
He had already been delayed here long enough.
The second option was to send the two dinosaurized men out to create chaos, buying himself a better opportunity to escape.
In fact, when Ivan had noticed the two approaching earlier, he hadn't fled in the opposite direction precisely because he had already been considering this option.
The only deviation from his plan was that the two men sent here weren't ordinary thugs.
They were Nen users.
People like that were usually considered minor leaders within a mafia family.
Of course, this meant that Ivan's ability to turn others into dinosaurs would probably become known.
But even that could work in his favor.
First, they would need to confirm who had used the ability.
If Ivan remembered correctly, the young heir of the Xi-Yu Family, Hinrigh, possessed an ability that allowed him to transform weapons into animals.
Who could say Hinrigh wasn't capable of turning people into animals as well?
While transforming humans into dinosaurs leaned more toward Transmutation, Hinrigh himself was a Conjurer.
And Conjuration sat right next to Transmutation on the Nen affinity chart.
According to standard Nen training theory, it wouldn't be strange for Hinrigh to develop some Transmutation abilities.
In other words, Ivan's power shared quite a few similarities with Hinrigh's.
At the very least, once people discovered their men had been turned into dinosaurs, anyone familiar with Hinrigh's ability would probably think of him first.
Which meant Ivan could shift the blame quite effectively.
On top of that, Ivan suspected the Xi-Yu Family might have already sold his information to the Kasha Family.
If that were the case, the dinosaur transformations could become the perfect disguise.
At the very least, until someone tracked him down again, no one would immediately connect him to what happened here.
Feeding investigators clues that contradicted his actual profile would also help divert their attention.
Ivan sent the Velociraptor Zalan ahead.
Meanwhile, he cautiously exited the warehouse together with Pat, the Pachycephalosaurus.
The light rain falling outside diluted some of the lingering smells in the air.
But it barely affected Ivan.
He had already picked up the scent of gasoline drifting from the distance.
That was the direction Zalan and Pat had originally come from.
As Ivan moved that way, his senses began detecting more and more small dinosaurs.
That was precisely why he had sent Velociraptor Zalan ahead first.
After all, the warehouse didn't contain only the three of them.
There were also snakes, insects, rats, and other small creatures.
With a velociraptor's sense of smell and speed, Zalan only needed to touch them briefly.
Even tiny creatures could be transformed into dinosaurs.
Although the size of dinosaurs created by Scary Monsters was limited by the size of the original creature, every one of them possessed excellent dynamic vision and remarkable agility.
Some species even gained unique special abilities.
About fifty meters outside the warehouse, Ivan spotted a black sedan parked by the roadside.
He still had the car key in his hand.
He had intentionally kept it when Zalan transformed.
Otherwise, the key—and even clothing—would have changed along with the target.
Just like the half of Ivan's jeans that had exploded during his own transformation.
In fact, he could have transformed the jeans along with his body if he had controlled it better.
Opening the door, Ivan climbed into the driver's seat.
The last time he had driven a car was over a decade ago.
But when he inserted the key and started the engine, the process felt natural.
After all, he had inherited the memories of this world's Ivan.
The Ivan who had graduated from military academy possessed quite a range of skills.
Especially after becoming an investigator, driving to crime scenes had become part of his daily routine.
There was a radio communicator inside the car.
Occasionally, voices came through it.
Reports like:
"Sector three—no abnormalities."
"Nothing found in this area."
It sounded somewhat unprofessional, but they were at least trying to organize a search.
Ivan waited.
He couldn't tell which exact sectors the radio referred to.
But he knew that Velociraptor Zalan and Pachycephalosaurus Pat had already left the area around his vehicle and were heading farther away from the warehouse.
Once they were discovered…
Once they were intercepted…
That would be Ivan's best chance to escape.
Meanwhile—
A car stopped at a nearby intersection.
The man in the driver's seat, Sobbin, set down the communicator.
A trace of surprise appeared on his face, bringing unexpected life to his otherwise weary expression.
The passenger door opened.
A man with shoulder-length center-parted hair and a cigarette between his lips climbed inside.
It was Yituoku.
"The eastern abandoned warehouse area has reported dinosaurs," Sobbin said.
As he spoke, the rose tattoo on his neck shifted slightly with the movement of his throat, almost giving the illusion that the rose had come alive.
"Did Zalan lose control of his ability?" Yituoku asked, somewhat surprised.
He was the leader of this operation and the vice patriarch of the Kasha Family, one of Kakin's three great mafia families.
To be honest, he hadn't wanted to get involved in the Judge Lyman incident at all.
Because it wasn't originally their problem.
It was the Ai-Ai Family's mess.
Their involvement felt like nothing more than cleaning up someone else's garbage.
But orders had come from above.
So he had no choice.
Frankly, he had been prepared to lie low until things were almost over, then show up just to make an appearance.
After all, according to the intelligence they had received…
The Phantom Troupe might also be connected to this incident.
And Yituoku understood the younger generation all too well.
Many of them actually idolized the Phantom Troupe, treating them as role models.
But at his age?
All he wanted was a comfortable life.
"No," Sobbin said lazily, turning the steering wheel sharply as he drove toward the warehouse district.
"They're not toy dinosaurs."
"They're flesh-and-blood monsters."
"Real dinosaurs?" Yituoku suddenly looked interested, a faint smile forming on his lips.
"If that's true, Zalan will probably be thrilled."
Sobbin's next sentence immediately wiped that relaxed look off Yituoku's face.
"Zalan and Pat have both lost contact."
Yituoku removed the cigarette from his mouth and exhaled slowly.
"What happened?"
"No idea yet," Sobbin replied.
"Let's go take a look. Things might get messy."
The car sped down the road.
Along both sides of the street, armed mafia members could be seen moving toward the abandoned warehouse district.
After a long silence, Yituoku finally spoke again.
"…Was it the young master of the Xi-Yu Family?"