A moment later, Illumi retracted his right hand.
"Boss, Swagger Base's reinforcements will arrive in ten minutes."
"Retreat."
Illumi slowly rose. He had obtained what he wanted: Wilbur's memories.
He pulled out his phone, and a continuous stream of white Nen flowed into the phone, saving Wilbur's memories as a file.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, a bullet was fired at Illumi.
"Clang!"
The bullet accurately hit Illumi's temple, but what sounded was not the bullet piercing through flesh, but rather a clang as if hitting steel, sparking and then ricocheting away.
The moment the bullet struck him, Illumi's head tilted slightly from the impact, then slowly turned to look at a figure holding a rifle beneath a large tree a hundred meters away.
"Damn it, what kind of monster is this!?"
Captain Hancock stared at the unharmed Illumi. He was certain he had shot the person in the head.
"Run!"
"Hancock, run!"
At this moment, Lieutenant Colby, who had been squatting on the ground in surrender, suddenly burst out, picking up his rifle that he had thrown on the ground, and pulled the trigger at Illumi and Kippsyller.
"Clink, clank, clatter..."
But only a series of metallic clanging sounds echoed.
The lieutenant concentrated and saw that all his bullets had actually struck a black wall.
"Where did this wall come from!?"
A question mark appeared above the lieutenant's head.
"Click... clack, clack..."
Lieutenant Colby kept pulling the trigger while retreating backward, but in less than five seconds, his bullets ran out.
So he discarded his rifle and ran desperately into the depths of the forest, occasionally looking back to fire a shot, ensuring that Illumi and his group couldn't catch up to him.
The captain also cooperated with his actions, providing cover for him.
"What's going on? Do you know who they are?"
The captain and lieutenant both ran frantically, panting as they ran.
"I don't know, but they killed Wilbur," the lieutenant replied.
"What was the reason?"
"Sounded like a personal grudge."
The two ran wildly, for how long, five minutes or ten, they finally couldn't run anymore.
"Huff huff, they shouldn't be able to catch up, right?"
The two leaned against a large tree trunk, slowly squatting in the grass, breathing heavily.
"Rustle..."
Suddenly, an extremely faint sound reached their ears. The captain looked up and saw a figure walking towards them.
"Someone!"
Captain Hancock nudged the lieutenant's arm. Both simultaneously raised their guns, aiming at the figure in front.
"Stop!"
"If you don't stop, we'll shoot!"
The captain and lieutenant pointed their rifles and pistols at the black figure, warning sternly, but the figure continued to walk forward, ignoring them.
"Bang! Bang!"
The two frowned and pulled the triggers without hesitation.
"Swish!"
The moment they pulled the triggers, their eyes blurred, and the black figure suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Pfft!" x2
The black figure's hands clamped around their throats, slowly lifting them.
"Ugh... cough, cough..."
The two clutched the black figure's arms tightly, their legs continuously kicking the black figure's body.
"What do you want to do?" Illumi squeezed their necks, lifting them into the air. His cold voice echoed from the shadows, "Want to run?"
"Running a hundred kilometers in a dark, silent forest?"
"How foolish."
Illumi finished speaking. Before the two could respond, his five fingers tightened. With two "crunch" sounds, he crushed their throat bones.
A moment later, the two's necks went limp, and they were completely silent.
"Buzzing..."
The Night Raven aircraft flew in, hovering above Illumi. The front hatch of the aircraft opened, and a cable with a circular platform at its end was lowered from the hatch.
Illumi dropped the two corpses in his hands, stood on the platform. The platform slowly ascended, and Illumi returned inside the aircraft.
Accompanied by a peculiar engine roar, the Night Raven aircraft's sleek body disappeared into the night, vanishing without a trace.
At the same time, Wilbur's body also disappeared.
One minute later, Swagger Base's reinforcements arrived, but all they saw were the corpses of the Black Panther Special Forces, and the wreckage of four Black Panther patrol vehicles, two Hippo armored vehicles, and three Paramilitary armed helicopters.
As well as a forest fire that turned the night sky red.
Ten minutes later...
Walton Industries, Tate Tower.
"Buzzing..."
The Night Raven aircraft landed on the helipad atop Tate Tower. Illumi and Kippsyller stepped out of the hatch, and under the escort of the emer team, headed straight for the Walton CEO's office.
"Tap... tap..."
Crisp footsteps echoed in the empty corridor. Illumi, transforming into Wilbur as he walked, arrived outside the CEO's office.
"Creak~"
Accompanied by a harsh creaking sound, Illumi and Kippsyller, a group of fourteen, entered the office.
The CEO's office was spacious yet cold. Unlike the top-floor office of the Umbrella Biotech headquarters building, this one, apart from an office chair, a desk, and a liquor cabinet filled with various fine wines, only had the circular panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows that protected the entire office.
"Pour~"
Illumi took out a bottle of expensive red wine from the liquor cabinet and opened it. It was exactly the "New Heron" wine, a specialty of Pergolesi.
Illumi took out two clean wine glasses from the liquor cabinet and placed them on the desk.
The wine bottle rested on his left forearm, its mouth gradually tilting. Dark red liquid, like a stream, swayed elegantly, trickling into the wine glasses.
He poured one-third of the wine into each of the two glasses; one for him, one for Dr. Kippsyller.
"Returning to this place, what are your thoughts?"
Illumi held a glass of red wine in each hand. He handed the right-hand glass to Kippsyller. Kippsyller took the glass and slowly walked to the panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows.
"Emptiness."
Looking at the vast city enveloped in neon lights outside, Kippsyller uttered these two words.
"Feeling empty is not a bad thing, Doctor."
Illumi walked to Kippsyller's side, admiring the colorful beauty of the city outside with him.
"It is precisely because humans can feel emptiness that they pursue spiritual and material satisfaction."
"Emptiness is also one of the important factors that drive human progress."
Location: 200 nautical miles off the eastern territorial waters of the Aztec Republic, Greed Island.
Time: August 10, 1988, 06:25 AM.
"Buzzing..."
In the stratosphere ten thousand meters high, a Night Raven aircraft was gradually descending its flight altitude, eventually landing in the forest in the central area of Greed Island.
At this moment, Leorio.
"Hmm?"
Razor, who was cultivating in the tavern, suddenly looked up, his brows slightly furrowed, then relaxed.
"Well, I didn't expect anyone to find this place."
"They really went through a lot of trouble."
A smile appeared on Razor's face. He slowly rose and walked towards the tavern door.
"Since that's the case, let's give them a good welcome."
The prisoners who were training or exercising inside the tavern couldn't help but feel their hearts tense when they saw Razor's movements.
What was this demon planning to do?
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