The dust gradually dispersed.
A figure in white appeared in the space between the two groups.
He stood there with his hands in his pockets, the corners of his clothes swaying gently in the night wind.
The stone pavement beneath his feet cracked outward from him as the center, the fractures spreading like a spider's web.
His expression was very calm.
The members of the Black Tiger Gang were stunned.
The Mafia members were also stunned; everyone was stunned.
The gunfire stopped, the shouting stopped, and even the sound of breathing seemed to stop; the entire street fell into a deathly silence.
Kurapika peeked out from behind a stone pillar and saw that white figure.
His pupils constricted slightly, and his lips moved. His voice was very soft, but Basho heard him.
"This... it's Examiner Leo!"
Basho suddenly turned his head and asked in a low voice.
"What? Do you know who this person is?"
Kurapika nodded without saying a word.
His gaze never left that white figure.
Leo's gaze swept over the members of the Black Tiger Gang holding firearms, then turned to sweep over the wounded still groaning on the ground and the corpses scattered everywhere.
He saw Dean watching from a distance, and Dean gave Leo a slight nod.
His expression didn't change at all.
"You're the ones here causing trouble?"
His voice wasn't loud, but in the silent street, everyone heard him clearly.
Black Tiger swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
He felt danger—not the kind of tension felt when seeing an enemy, but a primal fear from being stared down by a natural predator.
But behind him were more than twenty brothers, with guns, rocket launchers, and spoils filled with treasure.
He didn't believe anyone could stop so many of them.
He forced a smile, his voice somewhat dry.
"What? Are you going to stand up for them?"
Leo looked at him without speaking.
Then he smiled.
The smile was faint, but it sent a chill down Black Tiger's spine.
The next second—
Golden Qi flared from Leo's body, soaring into the sky.
The golden light illuminated the entire street, tearing the darkness to shreds.
The stone pavement beneath his feet could not withstand this power and cracked outward from him; the rubble was swept up by the shockwave and torn into powder mid-air.
A powerful Nen Pressure instantly enveloped the entire area.
Everyone felt that sense of oppression—it wasn't simple fear, but a despair seeping from their very bones that made even the thought of running impossible to conceive.
The air became viscous, breathing became difficult; some people's legs went weak, some couldn't hold their guns steady, and some simply collapsed on the ground.
Cold sweat poured down Black Tiger's forehead, and his whole body was trembling.
His teeth were chattering, clicking together, and he couldn't stop them no matter what.
Kurapika and Basho were also shocked.
They were hiding behind the stone pillar, yet they could clearly feel that sense of oppression, as if an invisible hand was clutching their throats.
Basho spoke with difficulty, his voice hoarse.
"This... this... such terrifying... Qi..."
Kurapika's eyes widened, and he didn't speak.
He had seen powerful people before, but no one had ever given him this feeling.
That kind of strength was completely on a different dimension.
"He can wipe out the Genei Ryodan by himself..."
Kurapika thought to himself.
"I thought it was the result of a team effort. Only now do I know... he is enough on his own."
Before Leo, all of them were like tiny ants.
Black Tiger clenched his teeth, the veins on his forehead bulging.
He couldn't be intimidated; he couldn't lose face in front of his brothers.
He suddenly raised his gun, aimed at Leo, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Fire—kill him!"
The next second—
"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!!!"
More than ten guns fired simultaneously, bullets pouring out like a torrential rain.
Flames danced at the muzzles, shell casings fell to the ground with a clatter, and thick smoke filled the air.
The bullets hit Leo's body with muffled thuds, sparking tiny points of light.
Those bullets, which were enough to pierce through steel plates, were squeezed, deformed, and bounced away when they touched the Nen on the surface of his body, as if they had hit an invisible wall.
He stood where he was, hands in his pockets, without even batting an eye.
He didn't eliminate them immediately because he wanted to let the Mafia behind him and the people of the Black Tiger Gang know what true despair and an overwhelming gap looked like.
"How is this possible..."
Black Tiger's voice was trembling, his finger frozen on the trigger, unable to pull it down.
Leo moved; he took a step.
It was just a single step forward, but the sense of oppression grew even stronger, like a mountain moving.
He walked forward step by step against the bullets; they bombarded the space in front of him, bursting into clusters of fiery light, yet he remained unhurried, like a pedestrian strolling through a rainstorm.
Black Tiger took a deep breath and pulled himself together.
He pulled a palm-sized object from his pocket—this was a bomb he had obtained by chance called a super bomb, said to have enough explosive power to level a whole building.
After activating it, he threw it violently toward Leo.
"Die!"
Leo saw the object Black Tiger threw; he didn't need to guess to know it was a bomb or something similar.
He reached out and steadily caught the super bomb.
His fingers closed tight, and Nen enveloped his palm, smothering the bomb in his hand.
Two seconds later, a muffled explosion went off directly within Leo's palm.
Smoke drifted out from between his fingers.
Leo opened his hand; his palm was perfectly intact, without even a red mark.
The street was deathly silent.
Then, the voice of a Mafia thug broke the silence.
"He... he caught a bomb with his hand..."
"And his hand is fine..."
"Is he even human?"
Black Tiger watched blankly, completely losing his mind.
He shook his head and screamed.
"Impossible! Impossible! This is a super bomb! Its explosive power is enough to level a whole building! How could someone withstand it without injury! No! No! No!"
His hysteria echoed through the silent street.
Everyone heard it—a bomb powerful enough to level a whole building had been caught by that man in white with one hand, and he was completely unharmed.
A Mafia boss peeked out from behind cover; looking at Leo's back, he said to the person beside him.
"Remember this person. In the future, if you see him, give him a wide berth."
Everyone nodded frantically; they might be arrogant, but they weren't stupid.
Black Tiger was terrified; this guy wasn't human.
He immediately turned around, wanting to abandon his partners and flee.
A hand clamped onto the back of his neck.
Black Tiger's eyes bulged, and his pupils constricted violently.
He wanted to struggle, to beg for mercy, to say he was wrong, but the strength in that hand tightened instantly.
"Snap."
The sound of bone snapping was exceptionally clear on the silent street.
Black Tiger's body slumped down, no longer making a sound.
His eyes were still open, his pupils dilated, and that stiff smile from moments ago still lingered on his lips.
Colin saw his big brother Black Tiger die right before his eyes, and his heart constricted violently.
He was terrified; he also wanted to run, he had to run—
"Whoosh—"
A gust of wind blew past.
Colin's body froze.
He looked down and saw a bloody hole in his chest. He wanted to say something, but as his mouth opened, only a froth of blood surged out.
Then he also fell.
Two seconds.
From the moment Leo acted to the end, it was less than two seconds.
Twenty-three people, all fell to the ground, never to rise again.
Some still held a running posture, some hadn't put down their guns, and the fear on some of their faces hadn't even faded.
Leo stood where he was, his hands still in his pockets, with not even a single drop of blood on his clothes.
He glanced down at the tattoo on the back of his hand.
[Rank: Level 81 (2%) -> Level 81 (12%)]
He withdrew his gaze, glanced at the corpses, then turned and walked toward the other end of the street.
Behind him, the Mafia members, Kurapika, and Basho were all dumbfounded.
In a few seconds, twenty-three people were all dead.
From beginning to end, that man had only made two moves.
The first was snapping Black Tiger's neck; the second—no one saw his movement.
He just stood there, and then everyone fell.
Kurapika leaned against the stone pillar, gasping for air, his heart beating so fast it felt like it would leap out of his chest.
His fingers were still trembling, not because of fear, but because of the shock.
That kind of strength wasn't just "stronger" as he had imagined; it was completely on a different dimension.
It was like standing at the foot of a mountain looking up at the summit, unable to see the top.
Basho just stared blankly at the corpses, then at the receding white figure in the distance, muttering under his breath.
"A monster... an incomprehensible monster..."
The Mafia members also stood where they were; no one dared to make a sound.
Some still had their guns raised, but their fingers were frozen.
Some were collapsed on the ground, their crotches already wet, while others covered their mouths to stop themselves from making a sound.