A few sharp sounds of air being pierced.
The four thugs guarding the entrance of the unfinished building collapsed in response.
Stones embedded precisely into their brows or throats; they didn't even have time to scream.
The dull thud of bodies hitting the ground was particularly jarring in the silent night.
The tattoo on the back of his hand continued to feel slightly warm, but Leo ignored it.
Micael Istom watched Leo's actions—picking up stones, throwing them, picking up more—which were as natural and fluid as breathing.
This two-star Crime Hunter asked calmly, "You're an Enhancer, right?"
"Yeah." Leo brushed the dust off his hands.
"Not bad strength."
Micael Istom followed his footsteps, and the two walked into the building.
"Any interest in joining the Association and becoming a Hunter? The Hunter Exam will be held in January next year. Being a Hunter comes with many privileges—of course, it also comes with corresponding obligations."
Micael Istom had investigated Leo's background, and the result was a blank slate.
For such a powerful Nen User with an unknown origin, if left unchecked, they would be a potential danger to society. If he could be recruited into the Association, he could at least be brought into the regulatory System.
"A Hunter, huh?"
Leo stepped into the dark interior of the building, his footsteps echoing in the vast concrete space.
"I'll go." He didn't say much, but his tone was firm.
Micael Istom nodded and stopped asking.
The first floor of the building was piled with construction waste and trash, but the footprints on the ground were clear—chaotic traces leading deep into the stairwell.
Following the tracks, the two soon discovered a hidden basement entrance.
The heavy iron door was ajar, and behind it were concrete stairs extending downwards, with the low hum of machinery faintly audible from the depths.
Exchanging a glance, Leo stepped in first, with Micael Istom following closely behind.
The stairs were long, descending at least the height of three floors.
The air grew increasingly humid, mixed with the smell of disinfectant and an indescribable sweet, fishy odor.
At the end of the stairs was a narrow corridor with rough concrete walls on both sides, and a dim emergency light hanging every few meters overhead.
At the end of the corridor was a heavy airtight door with an observation window.
The door was ajar, and brighter white light shone from within.
The moment Leo pushed the door open, his brow furrowed. Behind the door was an equipment room of considerable size.
Various surveillance screens hung on the wall—most were black, with only a few displaying empty corridor scenes.
In the center of the room, several devices similar to centrifuges were idling, emitting a low buzzing sound.
Metal crates were piled in the corner, their lids open, empty inside.
"Something's not right." Leo stopped, his voice lowered.
"They know we're here."
Micael Istom nodded and said, "The surveillance System was cut off remotely. It seems the Doctor is indeed cunning."
As soon as he finished speaking, a dense "squeaking" sound came from behind another door ahead.
The sound was faint at first, but it magnified rapidly, rushing in like a tide.
The next second, the door was slammed open—a black mass of rats surged into the equipment room like a burst dam!
The rats had blood-red eyes, dirty fur, and abnormally sharp teeth.
Their numbers were so vast that they instantly covered half the floor, crazily pouncing towards the two.
Micael Istom's Nen rose, preparing to act, but Leo reached out to stop him.
"Relax." Leo grinned, a flash of excitement in his eyes.
"Leave it to me." He took a step forward, his right foot stomping on the ground, cracking the concrete.
His entire body's Nen erupted; pale white Qi rose and swirled like flames, then crazily converged toward his right fist.
On his fist, the Nen compressed and condensed, emitting a blinding white light, as if he were holding a small sun.
A wave of Qi spread outward from Leo, blowing papers in the equipment room everywhere and causing instruments to shake.
Leo took a deep breath, his smile turning savage and wild: "Great... Destruction... Fist!"
Right, this was Uvogin's signature move.
This technique was essentially a straight punch infused with a massive amount of Nen. Any Enhancer Nen User could theoretically use it—provided they had enough Nen capacity and physical strength to support it.
And Leo lacked neither.
He swung his right fist. No fancy techniques, no complex trajectories. Just the purest, most violent straight punch.
"BOOM—!!!"
A blinding light exploded forward in a fan shape.
The air was compressed and shattered, emitting a deafening explosion.
The rats at the very front were instantly crushed into pulp, and those behind were blown away, slamming into walls and equipment, the sound of breaking bones as dense as popping beans.
A few seconds later, the dust settled. The front half of the equipment room was a mess.
The walls were splattered with flesh and blood, and the floor was piled with a thick layer of rat carcasses. Only a few scattered rats remained alive, fleeing in terror back behind the door.
Micael Istom was silent for two seconds before saying slowly.
"...Enhancers really are suited for frontal assaults. If it were me, it would have taken a lot of effort to clear out this rat swarm."
Leo shook his right hand, the bloodstains on his fist dispersed by his Nen.
"Let's go. Time to meet the main event."
The two stepped over the pile of rat corpses and pushed open that door. Behind it was a laboratory—a real laboratory.
The first thing that flooded their noses was the thick scent of blood, formalin, and the sweet, cloying smell of rotting flesh.
The lighting was pale and cold, illuminating everything in a stark, glaring way. The laboratory was large, about the size of two basketball courts.
In the central area were several operating tables, each with a person lying on it—men and women of various ages, all sharing the commonality of being emaciated, pale-skinned, and covered in IV tubes and electrodes.
Most were unconscious; a few had their eyes open, but their pupils were unfocused, showing no reaction to the light.
Against the right wall stood a row of transparent culture tanks, inside which various organs were soaking—hearts, livers, brains... some were still twitching slightly.
On the shelves next to the culture tanks, dozens of glass jars were neatly arranged, containing more human tissue specimens preserved in formalin.
And the most shocking sight was in the left corner of the laboratory. A "mountain of corpses" was piled there. At least twenty or thirty human bodies were stacked like garbage.
Some were already highly decomposed, exposing white bones; others were still relatively "fresh," but covered in surgical incisions and suture marks.
Blood seeped from the bottom of the corpse pile, congealing into a thick, dark red scab on the floor.
Leo's breathing stopped abruptly. He had seen death.
Hunting beasts in the Secret Realm, killing gunmen at the manor, even killing many rats just moments ago—but none of those could compare to the scene before him.
This was systematic, industrialized cruelty that completely objectified humans—a true hell on earth.
Micael Istom's expression was also extremely grim.
This experienced Crime Hunter's fingers turned white from gripping so hard, and his eyes behind his glasses burned with cold fury.
"I didn't expect Theodore and the others to all fall at your hands."
A female voice came from above, carrying mockery and contempt.
"You do have some skills. But... this is the end."
Leo looked up. On the second floor of the laboratory, there was a suspended metal platform connected to the ground by stairs.
Two people stood on the platform: on the left was a short-haired woman with a silver ring through her nose, crouching with a dozen larger black rats at her feet; on the right was a muscular man covered in dark cyan striped tattoos, his muscles bulging, his gaze fierce.
"Looks like you two are the 'Rat King' and 'Iron Wall'." Leo's voice was terrifyingly calm.
Micael Istom asked in a deep voice: "Only the two of you? Looks like the Doctor has already run away."
"Run?" The nose-ringed woman sneered.
"The Doctor never 'runs'. He just went to conduct great research. And you... will die here and become new experimental material."
Leo didn't reply. He reached into his pocket and took out those two dice—[Gambler's Fate].
"I can't wait to crush all your bones."
He whispered, then tossed the dice onto the floor at his feet.
The dice rolled and stopped.
Number Die: 2. Risk Die: Great Fortune.
Instantly, Leo felt something being ripped from his body—one day of his lifespan.
Following that, violent power erupted like a volcano!
His Nen capacity doubled, his muscle density increased sharply, and his five senses became acute enough to hear the heartbeats of rats in the distance.
Strength increased twofold.
"What?!" The two on the platform changed color simultaneously.
Leo didn't give them time to react. He exerted force with his legs, the concrete floor exploded beneath him, and his body shot straight at the platform like a cannonball!
"Stop him!" The woman screamed, waving her hands, and the swarm of black rats at her feet swarmed down.
At the same time, more rats poured out of the ventilation ducts in the corner of the laboratory—these were gray-white, slightly smaller in size but astonishing in number.
While in mid-air, Leo condensed Nen into his right fist again.
"Great Destruction Fist—" After an explosion, the rat swarm fell like wheat harvested by a sickle.
Amidst the flying flesh and blood, Leo had already stepped onto the edge of the platform. The "Rat King" retreated in terror, still trying to control the rat swarm, but Leo's speed was too fast.
After the twofold enhancement, the speed his body exploded with exceeded the limits of her dynamic vision.
A hand pressed down on the top of her head. That hand was steady, fingers slightly closing.
The Rat King's expression froze.
She saw Leo's face close at hand—there was no anger on that face, only a pure, cold intent to kill.
"No..." She only had time to utter half a syllable.
"Squish."
Her head exploded like a ripe watermelon.
A spurt of warm matter splashed onto Leo's face and body, but he didn't even blink.
The tattoo on the back of his hand felt warm. [Rank: Level 27 (61%)]
"Still too easy on you." Leo released his hand, and the headless corpse slumped to the ground.
He turned his head to look at the other side. Micael Istom had already subdued "Iron Wall".
The pale yellow light curtain of "Chamber Judge" enveloped the burly man.
"Where did the Doctor go?"
Micael Istom asked, his voice as cold and hard as iron.
The imprisoned Iron Wall showed no fear, instead grinning with a fanatic smile.
"You're too late! The Doctor has long since left! You will never catch him! His research... his great cause... you simply don't understand!"
Leo walked to the edge of the platform, looking down at the subjects in the laboratory below who were still alive but living in agony, then looked at the mountain of corpses in the corner.
"A brainwashed lunatic." He concluded.
"Can't get anything out of him."
Micael Istom pursed his lips in frustration but eventually nodded.
"I have notified the logistics unit of the Association branch; they will arrive tonight. These survivors need emergency medical care, and those bodies... also need proper handling."
Leo bent down to pick up the dice on the ground and returned them to his pocket.
The effect of the twofold enhancement began to fade, and a wave of weakness washed over him, but it was still within a tolerable range.
"I'll leave this to you." He turned and walked toward the stairs.
"I'm going outside to get some air."
"Leo." Micael Istom called out to him.
"This time... thank you."
Leo waved his hand without looking back, walked down the platform alone, passed through the bloody laboratory, and left along the way he came.
Micael Istom watched Leo's back; he was shocked by the strength Leo had just unleashed.
But he did not rashly ask questions; he knew very well that the fewer people who knew about one's own abilities, the better.
When Leo walked out of the unfinished building and breathed in the cold night air again, he muttered to himself.
"I still can't just turn a blind eye; perhaps becoming a Crime Hunter isn't so bad."
"Doctor, I've remembered you..."
In the distance, the lights of Tote City airport connected into a band of light in the night.
Inside the VIP lounge, a middle-aged woman wearing a white coat and gold-rimmed glasses put down her phone.
A cup of cold coffee sat in front of her.
The phone screen showed the call record that had just ended, the note name was "Rat King".
The woman pushed up her glasses and dialed another number.
"The Hunter Association has found us again."
Her voice was calm, with no emotion detectable.
"I have destroyed the items and materials clean. The experimental data has been backed up to the cloud."
The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds, then an electronic voice processed by a voice changer came through.
"Hmm, you handled it well this time. Losses?"
"Theodore, Terence, and Gabri confirmed dead. Rat King and Iron Wall... most likely won't be coming back either."
The woman's tone was calm, as if reporting the loss of experimental consumables.
"But the core data and samples have been transferred. The stronghold in Tote City was already planned to be abandoned next month; it's just a few weeks early."
"I will send someone to pick you up to the new stronghold."
The electronic voice continued.
"The next phase of the project can begin. This time... I will provide you with higher quality'samples'."
"Understood." The woman hung up the phone, snapped it in half, and threw it into the trash can.
She picked up her suitcase and walked toward the boarding gate.
Outside the window, an airship soared into the sky and vanished into the night sky.