Chapter 20: Fond of Slaughter! First-Strike Move: Fake Out! (2/5, seeking data)

"Hehehe... cough, cough..."

After a moment of silence, Jem suddenly burst into wild laughter, but coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, his face turning even paler; the laughter was hideous.

Enduring the discomfort in his body, Jem revealed a bizarre, smiling face, as if he had thought of something amusing.

Although they had only fought for a short while, he knew clearly that the other party wouldn't let him go; he would likely die after revealing the information.

But... so what?

He had long been prepared for death; if he could cause one more slaughter before dying, that would be the most satisfying thing.

He had no professional ethics; all he had was a heart filled with murderous intent.

The more people he could take with him to the grave, the better!

Black was also good, this kid was also good; if they both died together, that would be even better!

After spitting out the blood in his mouth, Jem revealed his blood-stained teeth and smiled eerily:

"Kid, your talent is good; you're the most impressive person I've ever seen, and your future achievements will surely be high, it's just a pity I couldn't kill you."

"Do you know who the shopkeeper you killed earlier was?"

"That man was the illegitimate son of Black, a minor elder of the inner circle."

At this point, Jem’s words came to an abrupt end, and he maintained that eerie smile, as if wanting to keep it even after death.

Luo Ge understood; now it made sense. It was indeed a case of revenge.

If it involved the inner circle, it made sense that a Nen user had been dispatched.

Although Luo Ge felt Jem might have been hiding something, such matters could be verified by asking around, so it was still credible.

Suddenly, a purple light flashed.

A sharp Poison Sting pierced Jem’s throat directly; as blood continued to flow out, his life force rapidly dissipated.

Even though he was dead, Jem still wore that terrifying smile; looking at it for too long was unsettling.

At the same time, Nidoran gained a large amount of experience points, and its strength clearly increased significantly.

The experience points gained from defeating this Nen user were more than the sum of all the experience Nidoran had gained in the previous days.

Sure enough, fighting small mobs was not as fast for leveling up as fighting a "boss."

Machi looked at the thoughtful Luo Ge and asked softly: "So, what now?"

Luo Ge looked toward the direction they had come from.

"Wait for me a moment; I have some business to handle. Of course, if it’s impossible, I’ll leave directly."

A villa in the inner circle.

This was the residence of the minor elder Black; it could be said to be famous, and everyone in the vicinity knew who lived here.

Inside the villa was an office where Black usually handled various matters.

It was worth mentioning that many subordinates had died here, because Black was capricious, and killing was a common occurrence.

It was precisely because of this that Jem was willing to serve as a bodyguard and stay by Black’s side.

Because by Black’s side, he never lacked opportunities to kill; it was a win-win deal.

It was well-known that people often died in Black’s office, but there was another secret that no one knew.

In his office, there was a hidden door; through it, one could reach his secret collection room.

Inside were all the antiques he had collected, which were of immense value; Black went to admire his collection almost every day.

In the dim collection room, the light was low, with only an old kerosene lamp on the table providing a faint glimmer.

The room was so quiet that the fall of a needle could be heard; the corners were filled with thick darkness, without a trace of light.

Black liked a dark environment.

He felt that darkness helped him think, and a bit of dimness added a sense of mystery to his collection.

After a while, Black put down the antique in his hand and left the collection room with the kerosene lamp, muttering to himself that Jem should be back soon.

Thinking of this, Black couldn't help but rub his forehead, worried that Jem had fallen into his old habits and killed someone directly.

He only had this one Nen user at his disposal, otherwise, he wouldn't have let Jem take action.

Carrying the kerosene lamp, Black quickly walked from the dim collection room to the equally dim office.

Just then, he noticed a figure vaguely standing in the corner.

Jem?

Black was just about to speak when he saw the figure charge over extremely fast, leaving only afterimages on his retinas.

Luo Ge’s expression was calm; he slapped his palm directly onto Black, his hand wrapped in a dense mass of Nen.

Black felt his vision blur, and then he felt his entire body stiffen, unable to control his own physical movements.

This was another skill Luo Ge had acquired in these past few days—Fake Out!

[Fake Out]: A first-strike attack that causes the enemy to flinch; it is only effective when used immediately at the start of a battle.

He hadn't used this move on Jem earlier because it was an attack skill that had to hit the target to have a flinching effect.

And since Jem had charged directly at him, the best choice before figuring out the opponent’s strength was to dodge.

That was why Luo Ge had chosen [Quick Attack] to dodge at that time.

Now that he was ambushing Black, it was a sneak attack tactic, so naturally, he used [Fake Out] with its flinching effect.

Although his body was stiff, Black’s brain remained clear, and he immediately realized that the person was not Jem.

Fortunately, he was also a Nen user, and his strength was not much different from Jem’s; he just had to wait for the stiffness to pass.

Judging by the feeling of being hit just now, the opponent’s power wasn't high and hadn't caused him any damage; he estimated the opponent’s strength was low. ===== CHAPTER 22 =====