In the prep kitchen, Kisho did not approach the group of servants squatting on the ground, racing against time to eat. Instead, he flashed at extreme speed into the ingredient storage room connected to the prep kitchen and shut the door behind him.
Only now did the nerves that had been stretched tight finally relax.
Leaning his back against the door, he sat down, slowly closed his eyes, and conserved his energy. Before long, faint knocking came from outside the door: once, twice.
Kisho opened his eyes and did not even bother to stand up, simply shuffling a little along the floor to change position.
The door was pushed open. When Amos walked in, the instant the two met eyes, strange expressions surfaced on both their faces—after only two days apart, roommates who had eaten and lived together for over ten days were almost unrecognizable.
Amos's chestnut-colored hair had been dyed black. He tied it up, and with his face darkened by a shade and a deep purple suit with subtle patterns, even his own brother would not recognize him.
Kisho stared at him and laughed.
"Why are you dressed like this?"
Amos closed the door behind him and raised an eyebrow.
"If I don't change my getup, and I run face-to-face into my brother, wouldn't I be finished on the spot—what, got a problem?"
"Probably just not used to it after seeing you in rags for so long." Kisho shrugged. "No real problem—so what do we do now?"
He paused, then told Amos what he had seen.
"I disguised myself as a food service waiter and went up to the third floor. The security is very tight. A frontal assault is basically unrealistic, unless we can take down two Nen users in one go."
"Forget about a frontal assault. That's impossible." Amos replied while sliding a hand into his sleeve, drawing out a weapon sheathed in a protective case, and tossing it to Kisho. "Even if the two of us could instantly kill those two Nen users, as long as Cadis isn't dead, there'll still be a steady stream of people rushing up to kill us."
"Oh—right, this is for you."
Kisho caught it, pulled off the protective casing, and frowned.
"A triangular spike?"
Amos nodded.
"I'm wearing a suit. This is easier to hide than a dagger, so I picked this. You don't have a weapon anyway—make do with it for now."
"It's good. If you really gave me a dagger, I wouldn't be very good with it." Kisho gripped the triangular spike and swung it twice to get a feel for it, then slid it back into the casing and tucked it into his sleeve.
"As for what to do next, I have some ideas." Amos sat down cross-legged in front of Kisho. "If breaking through head-on is too hard, we can approach from the side."
Kisho frowned.
"You mean from the fourth floor, or from the adjacent room?"
Amos gave a low "Mm" and explained in detail.
"The fourth floor won't work. The stairs from the third to the fourth floor have already been sealed."
"The cannon fodder the Elders brought are all waiting on the first and second floors. The Elders and their important subordinates are staying in rooms on the third floor. The fourth floor is where they hold meetings in the afternoon—and it's also where the guards are thickest."
"Then we can only find a way through the adjacent room."
As he spoke, Kisho pulled out the triangular spike and injected Nen into it, carving a map directly into the floor.
"This is your brother's room."
He sketched a simple layout of the third floor on the ground, then tapped several points.
"His people are stationed at these four positions, and there's another Nen user hiding behind the corner."
He circled the room to the left of Cadis Eros's room.
"The right side is just the corner—there's no room there. So we can only get in from the inside."
"The problem is, we don't know whether someone is staying in this room right now. If someone is inside, since they're living on the third floor, they should be qualified to attend the meeting."
Amos thought for a moment.
"After they all go to the meeting, we go in and check this room?"
Kisho nodded.
"Yeah."
He stood up, brushed the dust off his body, walked around the storage room, casually grabbed two fruits that looked a lot like tomatoes, and tossed one to Amos.
"Eat something?"
Amos caught it with a raised hand and sneered.
"The last meal, and this is it?"
Kisho: "…Can you say something auspicious?!"
"Ha~" Amos chuckled, holding the fruit and looking up at the ceiling. "Whether we succeed or fail, at least it'll finally be over."
...
After three in the afternoon.
Kisho pushed a cleaning cart hung with mops and towels out of the workroom. After a simple check, he pushed the cart toward the third floor.
The instant his figure appeared on the third floor, it drew the guards' vigilant gazes.
He kept his expression unchanged and continued forward, passing Cadis Eros's door, and under several guards' vicious stares, arrived at the door of the target room.
A bearded man stood up, walked over, and barked fiercely.
"What are you doing? Get lost!"
"Hello, sir. The gentleman in this room called for cleaning service." Kisho bent forward.
He ignored the bearded man's gaze that made his skin prickle and waited quietly.
After staring at him for a moment, the bearded man waved his hand.
"Get in there! He's not inside. Just go straight in, finish fast, and get out."
Without a word, Kisho raised his hand, took down a key hanging from the back of the cart, poked it into the lock, and turned it slightly—
The door opened.
Kisho's heart was pounding wildly, but his face was utterly calm. He took the "Cleaning in Progress" sign and hung it on the door, pushed the cart into the room, and then closed the door.
Only after the door blocked the outside view did Kisho relax.
He took several breaths to suppress his racing heartbeat, then lifted a large bucket full of towels from the cart and set it on the floor, lightly tapping the side of the bucket.
The towels piled on top were lifted away. Amos crawled out from inside the bucket and shot Kisho a look.
Since the people outside could all use Nen, the two did not speak. Kisho returned the look and nodded.
The room was not very large, but it was luxurious enough. Against the wall separating it from Cadis's room stood a set of cabinets, and there was even a box-shaped television mounted.
Kisho walked over, placed a hand on the wall, closed his eyes, and slowly released his Nen.
On the other side, Amos went into the bathroom and turned the faucet on full to create the illusion of cleaning, then walked to the bed outside and, with a dark expression, folded the messy blankets on the bed.
...
Half an hour later.
Kisho finished putting everything in order and stared steadily at Amos. Amos smiled at him and gave a thumbs-up.
Kisho curled his lips in response, pushed the cart, pulled the door open, and walked out, taking down the "Cleaning in Progress" sign.
With his back to that door, he left with firm steps.
...
Night, 9:13 p.m.
The Elders and their subordinates came down from the fourth floor to the third. No matter the outcome of the meeting, at least in front of everyone, smiles still hung on the Elders' faces.
A young man in a black suit shook hands with a potbellied middle-aged man. Both wore "amiable" smiles.
The young man slowly raised his head. Though he appeared respectful, a dark glint leaked from his eyes, like a venomous snake choosing its prey. Having observed every courtesy, he spoke softly.
"Elder Taber, then it's settled. A pleasant cooperation."
The middle-aged man laughed, the folds of fat on his face piling up grotesquely as he waved his hand.
"Easy to say, easy to say. As long as Mr. Eros is forthright enough, I naturally won't shirk that matter—and as for your younger brother, ha, I'll also have people keep an eye on him."
These two were the Elders of the eastern and western districts.
They exchanged empty pleasantries at the stairway for a while before "reluctantly parting" and heading toward their respective rooms.
Their attendants followed silently.
Two people followed behind Eros—one young man about his age, and one middle-aged man.
He turned to the middle-aged man in the gray suit with a bow tie.
"Raul, go check the vehicles. Tell the people below to stay sharp. We return to the west district immediately tomorrow morning."
The middle-aged man bowed his head.
"Yes, Lord Eros."
Then he hurried away.
Cadis glanced around at the bodyguards dutifully stationed at the door. One of them quickly opened the door for him.
After seeing Cadis return to his room, the young man who had been standing beside Raul finally lifted his foot and walked toward his own room—because his status was somewhat special, he alone had the right to rest in his room.
He entered, casually turned on the light, took off his coat and tossed it onto the rack, relaxed his entire body, and walked toward the bed in the bedroom.
However, his steps suddenly stopped.
He felt an unbearable, piercing pain in his chest. His eyes widened in disbelief. He tried to cry out, but a hand clamped tightly around his throat.
Until his blood drained away, he never saw who had killed him—nor did he know what kind of person could slip in under the watch of so many bodyguards and take his life without warning, like the arrival of death itself.
Behind him, Amos slowly loosened the hand choking his throat and little by little withdrew the dagger from his heart.
Using Nen to pour into the weapon to break through "Ten," then delivering a fatal strike from behind—although he had used this move to death over the past dozen days, it was still as effective as ever.
Amos stuffed the corpse into the bathtub in the bathroom, pulled the shower curtain closed, then went to the sink outside and washed the blood from his hands and dagger.
He stood in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection, and curled his lips—
The demon with black eyes in the mirror curled its lips back at him as well.
He shrugged at the demon in a provocative gesture.
He walked out of the bedroom and slowly sat down against the wall separating him from his dear elder brother.
He took out his phone, found the only contact in the address book, and slowly pressed the call button.
"Bzzz… bzzz…" After two vibrations, he hung up.
The final act was about to begin.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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