"Ahhh! My leg! I can't move my leg! I can't feel anything!"
"It's so cold! What are these freezing gases?"
"Quick… quick, shoot him! Something's wrong with this kid!"
"Damn it! My gun is frozen too! I can't pull it out!"
Accompanied by cries of sheer panic, the four Cabrelli Family members were immediately plunged into limitless terror. When faced with mysterious power they couldn't comprehend, seemingly tough and vicious mobsters were no different from most ordinary people; they feared, and they hysterically cried out for help.
Unfortunately, everyone in the hotel lobby was scared stiff, and the entire area was empty within a minute or two.
Meanwhile, the cold generated by the Nen ability was rapidly spreading. In no time, it had passed their abdomen and was creeping toward their chest and neck. It was likely that the four men would be completely frozen solid soon.
Seeing the look of despair in the eyes of the four men, Allen judged that their psychological defenses had collapsed. He then ceased using his Nen ability and asked expressionlessly, "Last chance. Tell me where Marcus Cabrelli is."
"Marcus-san is on the top floor of the hotel! Let us go! We're just low-ranking members!"
"That's right! We're just foot soldiers! Please take your grievances directly to him."
To save their lives, the thugs in suits abandoned their usual concern for "face" and "rules," scrambling to reveal the location of their Mafia family boss. After all, they were just trying to earn a living, mostly relying on their Mafia affiliation to bully and intimidate ordinary people, which fundamentally distinguished them from truly reckless desperadoes. Moreover, according to the Hunter x Hunter setting, non-Nen users simply cannot contend with Nen users, so deciding to back down and ensure their survival was the choice of a rational person.
"It's this hotel, as expected. Looks like my tracking wasn't wrong. Thank you. A final reminder: call an ambulance quickly, or you might face a very high risk of sudden death or amputation. Because my ability is more than just cold and freezing."
After saying this, Allen stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the thirtieth floor. As the doors closed, he didn't forget to wave goodbye to the four men frozen in place.
…
Simultaneously, the commotion on the ground floor had already been reported by the security staff to Marcus Cabrelli, who was enjoying red wine and fine dining on the top floor.
When the slightly overweight Mafia boss saw the footage of his subordinates being frozen by the cold on the surveillance monitor, his face drastically changed. He immediately instructed the bodyguards behind him, "Take everyone! Stop this guy at the elevator door! Remember! Shoot as soon as the elevator door opens! Empty the entire clip! Don't pause for a second! Do you understand?"
"Understood! Rest assured, sir. No matter who sent him, he's dead today," a bodyguard pulled out a sleek pistol, removed the safety, and promised confidently.
In less than ten seconds, he and over twenty men were waiting by the elevator door, forming a dense crossfire network.
Ding-dong!
Following the crisp chime, the moment the elevator door opened, over twenty pistols opened fire simultaneously, creating a metallic storm of death.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Instantly, the entire corridor was filled with the sound of gunshots, muzzle flash, and the smell of gunpowder.
After everyone had emptied their clips and stopped to check if the person in the elevator was dead, they suddenly heard an emotionless voice ring out.
"Go. Tear them apart."
The next second…
"Awoooooo!!!!"
A giant wolf covered in blackish-purple energy charged out of the elevator. It instantly pinned the commanding officer to the ground and severed his neck, and the wound blackened, decayed, and began to smell at a visible speed. Undoubtedly, this was the terrifying power of Shadow Energy—the corrosion of both body and soul.
"Mon… Monster!"
"Open fire! Keep firing! Don't let it get close!"
"Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!"
However, the mobsters clearly couldn't focus on such details. Everyone shouted while frantically reloading their clips and firing wildly, desperate to kill the terrifying, unidentified creature. But the power of the pistol bullets was too low, and Lupos used the pet ability Dash; its running speed was so fast it was impossible to aim.
The result was no surprise.
The twenty-plus Mafia gunmen were all dead in under a minute. The corridor outside the elevator was littered with twisted corpses, and thick, dark red blood splattered everywhere—on the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. Furthermore, under the corrosion of the Shadow Energy, the bodies were rapidly blackening, decaying, and emitting a foul smell, making the scene indistinguishable from a hellscape.
"Excellent work!"
Allen stepped out of the elevator, casually discarding a translucent, shield-shaped, blue-white substance, and praised Lupos while stroking its head.
Evidently, he had used that object to block the continuous pistol fire. The surface even showed very shallow, pockmarked bullet marks.
Once this mysterious substance was no longer under the control of his Nen, it immediately began to absorb the surrounding heat, evaporating at an incredible speed. Within a minute or two, it had completely vanished without a trace, leaving behind only large patches of silver-white frost and an intense, biting cold. Even the nearest metal elevator door was brittle like puffed rice, instantly shattering into several pieces with a light touch.
"Woo woo woo…"
The Shadow Wolf Alpha canceled its Shadow Form, extending its tongue to gently lick its master's hand as a sign of affection.
"Let's go. Let's have a proper face-to-face talk with Marcus Cabrelli. I'm sure he's witnessed our power by now and won't be foolish."
Saying this, Allen stepped through the corridor, which was piled high with mutilated corpses and exuded a bone-chilling cold, walking directly toward a heavy alloy security door, thick as a bank vault.
It was obvious that Mafia boss Marcus Cabrelli was hiding behind this door. Through the Hunter ability Track Humanoid, Allen could clearly see the red dot named Marcus Cabrelli inside the room.
Normally, unless massive explosives were used, even an Enhancer Nen user would struggle to violently break through a security door of this thickness.
But Allen merely extended his right hand toward the cold metal door and released his Transmutation Nen ability.
In less than a minute, the door began to glow red, radiating terrifying heat, and eventually melted into a puddle of scorching iron liquid under the dumbfounded gaze of the person inside. Fortunately, the floor was covered in marble instead of wood, or a massive fire would undoubtedly have erupted.
Admiring the look of alarm, terror, and disbelief on the man's face, Allen couldn't help but say with a smile, "Quite incredible, isn't it? You should know that knowledge is power. What seems like an incomprehensible phenomenon to you is merely basic physics in my eyes. Now, I believe we can finally sit down and have a good talk."
"Nen… Nen user!"
Marcus Cabrelli squeezed out a few words from his throat before collapsing back onto the sofa. As a high-ranking Mafia member qualified to attend the Underground Auction, he was certainly aware of the mysterious, powerful, and terrifying Shadow Beasts under the Ten Dons, and he knew the horror of Nen.
Especially the boy before him, who was barely fourteen, had melted a security door as tough as a bank vault into iron liquid in such a short time while also possessing an ability that seemed to create super-low temperatures. The silver giant wolf beside him was equally formidable, having slaughtered over twenty of his most elite gunmen and bodyguards in under a minute.
Faced with such a combination, he was already uncontrollably racking his brain, trying to figure out if he had recently offended someone he shouldn't have, leading them to hire an expert assassin to kill him…