Chapter 28: The Consequences of Omniscience
"Eh~"
That contractor felt a chill in his heart. Having mastered the plot's development, he had been smooth sailing since contacting the Traveling Group and had gained the Traveling Group leader's initial trust. Being able to act alongside Feitan and the others made him somewhat carried away.
"Everyone, I have no other intentions. I just want to help you snatch the auction items and get a share. Internal strife at a time like this..."
"Internal strife?"
The contractor's words were interrupted by Feitan, who suddenly stepped forward and grabbed him by the neck before he could react.
"Wait..."
The contractor tried to struggle. Milky-white aura spread around Feitan, and the arm gripping the contractor's neck surged with immense force, making it impossible for him to break free.
"The leader suspected you long ago. First, you deliberately approached him, then you acted all-knowing and all-powerful about everything. That face of yours was disgusting enough to make one vomit. And how did you know we were going to attack the auction house? The leader guessed you were a Specialization-type Nen user with prophecy abilities, a special talent. But after observing you for a while, you don't even understand the basics of Nen, nor do you have any prophetic abilities."
Feitan didn't bother listening to the contractor's explanations. The strength in his arm grew.
"Franklin... save me."
The contractor's face turned red. He had some friendship with Franklin, or at least he thought so.
"Feitan, don't kill him."
Hearing Franklin's words, the contractor's face lit up with joy.
"Torturing him might yield more information."
"You... what did you say?!"
The contractor's body trembled violently, as if mourning the dead. He had seen Feitan interrogate enemies once before.
"But time is short. The auction is about to start."
"It's fine. This is the leader's order."
"Alright. I've been annoyed with him for a long time anyway. I hope he can hold out a while."
Feitan exerted force with his hand, first choking the contractor half to death, then binding him with a special rope.
Five minutes later, the basement was filled with the smell of blood. Franklin frowned deeply. Feitan's methods of torturing enemies were truly heinous, exceeding most people's psychological limits. Just watching made one's scalp tingle, let alone experiencing it firsthand.
Feitan casually tossed aside an eyeball in his hand. The contractor was already barely recognizable as human.
"A mission? Could this guy be a spy for some organization?"
Feitan stared at the half-dead contractor with gleaming eyes. The other party's mouth was 'very tight,' only revealing a small amount of information.
In truth, it wasn't that the contractor had a tight mouth, but that some of the information he revealed was blocked by Reincarnation Paradise, such as the existence of Reincarnation Paradise itself. Under Feitan's torture, the contractor confessed everything, even things like when he was a teenager and 'jerked off' while peeping at his sister bathing.
"No useful information. What now?"
Feitan looked at Franklin, trusting Franklin's steady personality.
"It doesn't matter. Keep the original plan unchanged. But he mentioned Nen users besides the Shadow Beasts earlier. We need to be careful about that."
"Mm."
Feitan snapped the contractor's throat. The contractor couldn't believe, even in death, that he died because of one wrong sentence.
This was the consequence of lacking strength yet pretending to be omniscient in front of plot characters. Although Su Xiao wasn't weak, he often 'played dumb.'
"Let's find a way to infiltrate the auction first. Chrollo and the others are waiting for our cover."
As Feitan finished speaking, a tremor came from above.
Sensing the vibration, Franklin kicked the side of Shizuku's butt. Shizuku yelped and flew away, hitting her head against the wall.
Boom!
The basement ceiling shattered. Debris flew everywhere. A long blade slashed through where Shizuku had been standing. If Franklin hadn't kicked her away, her head would have been severed.
Not every member of the Traveling Group was very strong. Several members had abilities leaning toward functionality, not suited for combat. For example, Shizuku's conjured ability, 'Blinky,' was a vacuum cleaner-like creature that could suck in anything Shizuku deemed lifeless.
Smoke filled the basement. Feitan's expression was grim. Sensing the newcomer's aura, he judged that this guy was no pushover.
"Who."
"..."
No answer came, but Feitan clearly sensed someone inside the smoke.
"Dear 'guests,' why don't you use the front door? You're not planning to rob the auction, are you?"
Su Xiao walked out of the smoke. He hadn't discovered the Traveling Group members himself; Bubu Wang had heard sounds underground while patrolling the first floor.
If the plot had followed the original, Feitan and the others would have killed all the gang members participating in the first auction.
But Su Xiao had already cooperated with the Ten Dons' forces. If he let that happen, receiving five Soul Crystals (Medium) daily would be too unethical.
The smoke cleared. Su Xiao stood in the basement, long blade in hand. Above, a large number of gang members gathered, observing the basement through the broken hole. They didn't dare come down, only aiming their guns at Feitan and the other two below.
Not only gang members, but contractors who had joined the Ten Dons' forces also arrived upon hearing the noise.
"We've been discovered. You two retreat first. I'll hold them off."
Franklin's body emitted milky-white gas. This was Nen ability, invisible to ordinary people.
"You and Shizuku go first. I'll handle this."
Feitan looked at Su Xiao, a rare fighting spirit in his eyes.
"This should be a high-ranking member of the gang. Capturing him might yield a lot of information."
Franklin hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.
"Got it. Then Shizuku and I will go meet up with Uvogin and the others. The vault has news—it's empty. Be careful."
"Empty? So that guy wasn't lying."
Feitan glanced at the mutilated corpse nearby. As they spoke, Su Xiao had already stepped forward, blade in hand.
The Phantom Troupe wasn't easy to deal with. Fortunately, these Troupe members weren't here to kill but to loot the auction items.
Those items were the property of the Ten Dons, not directly related to Su Xiao. But if he simply handed them over to the Troupe, the Ten Dons would never let it go. That wasn't Su Xiao's style either.
The best outcome was for Su Xiao to fight the Troupe, causing heavy casualties among the Ten Dons' Shadow Beasts. At that point, whether the Ten Dons chose to pay for peace or make a strategic retreat, it wouldn't matter much to Su Xiao.
His main mission was to participate in the auction. Strictly speaking, there was no faction division. Helping the Ten Dons was only because they paid Soul Crystals.
Thinking about it this way, things became simple. As long as the Troupe didn't steal the auction items in the initial stage, when the Shadow Beasts were all dead, the Ten Dons wouldn't care about the items anymore. They'd be trembling, begging Su Xiao to save their lives. Then he could raise the price!
Inside the basement.
Sensing Su Xiao approaching, Feitan pulled out a dark red umbrella. Opening it, he aimed the umbrella's surface at Su Xiao. The umbrella had a black skull pattern. Feitan hid behind it, the advantage of his short stature evident as the umbrella completely blocked him.
Franklin and Shizuku crawled through the hole they had made when entering. The trio's purpose was only to divert the gang's attention. The ones actually going for the auction items were Uvogin, Nobunaga, Shalnark, and Machi.
Although they hadn't completed their planned objective, the three had successfully drawn the enemy's attention. However, all three sensed that Su Xiao was no pushover, so they left someone to hold the rear while the others retreated.
Su Xiao stared at the umbrella surface, recalling Feitan's abilities in his mind.
Although Feitan was a Transmuter, this guy had close-combat abilities no weaker than an Enhancer's. His melee combat skills ranked in the top three of the Troupe.
"Hehehe~"
Feitan chuckled sinisterly, drawing a long blade from inside the umbrella. The blade was thin and light. A sword hidden in an umbrella.
"It seems we use similar weapons. Haven't 'exercised' in a long time. Perfect for warming up."
Feitan suddenly vanished from his spot, his speed too fast for the eye to track.
Su Xiao squinted. Feitan's speed was incredible, so fast he could only catch afterimages.
A whistling sound came. Feitan appeared before Su Xiao, thrusting the long blade toward Su Xiao's face.
"Hard."
With a low shout, a massive amount of Nen energy converged onto the long blade in Feitan's hand. The Nen on the blade was so dense it emitted a golden glow.
Ding!
A crisp sound rang out far and wide. The blade tip stopped about ten centimeters from Su Xiao's brow, blocked by a translucent energy shield.