Chapter 68: The Injured Spider

Moments after Oboro left, a figure rushed to the scene.

Shalnark froze in horror at the sight of Phink's body.

He approached his companion one step at a time.

The shock paralyzed him for a moment, but his psychological strength allowed him to recover quickly. After checking Phink's wounds, he surveyed the battlefield.

The desert sun kept the temperature high, the air shimmering with heat.

Phink's blood had dried.

"Three sets of footprints, Phink's, Aldama's and his?" Shalnark remembered the face of the man in the suit.

The battlefield showed signs of heavy fighting.

But only Phinks lay dead.

The others were gone.

Phink's death felt wrong; the Examiner should not have matched him. Besides, unlike Uvogin, Phinks wasn't stubborn. Even against the superior Nen, he would have been able to retreat.

Unless someone had intervened.

According to their observations, the level of the suit in a two-on-one fight was considerable.

But killing Phinks shouldn't have been that easy, even for two.

The battle was over quickly, he'd arrived less than fifteen minutes late.

Phinks died in this short time.

"Enhancement type," Shalnark noted coldly, examining the bloody hole in Phinks' chest.

Without having witnessed the battle, he could only guess. The presence of the suit puzzled him; watching made sense, but intervening didn't.

First, they had no prior conflict or animosity;

Second, intervening in such an intense battle would require overwhelming power that no one would risk pointlessly.

"Although, knowing Phinks, he may have provoked the third party." Shalnark's mind raced. "With his ability, an escape should have been possible, unless something prevented it, giving no chance to react! An instant kill."

His heart trembled at the thought.

Though not Uvogin's equal, Phinks was one of the Troupe's top fighters.

Was Aldama that powerful?

Between the suited man and Aldama, Shalnark suspected the Observer of hidden strength; his earlier performance suggested considerable skill.

Or the observer wasn't the suit, but Aldama's associate, a more powerful hunter, secretly monitoring the test.

Such surveillance was not uncommon.

After noticing Phink's behavior, they'd followed.

Neither Spider had discovered them.

A being much stronger than Phinks could decide things instantly.

But that seemed unlikely. Where was the suited man?

Would such a powerful Association Hunter supervise a basic test phase?

Unlikely.

Shalnark's thoughts became confused.

"Were we targeted? Unlikely. We decided to do the test spontaneously. No time for information leaks.

If they had been targeted, they would have waited to eliminate him as well!

Logic suggested that Phink's carelessness had given Aldama an opening.

Though that felt wrong.

"Ambush or Nen ability?"

"The Examiner outranks the suited man, making him the prime suspect! Phink's death is traced back to Aldama. The suit lacks both ability and motive. Yet it witnessed everything," Shalnark looked thoughtfully at the horizon.

Blood spatter patterns indicated that the killer had sustained serious injuries. The Observer had just left. Go after him?

Shalnark dismissed the idea. Aldama had probably contacted the Association.

Their response remained uncertain, and Phink's death put him at risk as well.

Risk of exposure

He had to go.

Abort the hunter test!

*beep beep beep*

After one last look at his fallen comrade, sadness flickering across his face, Shalnark retreated while retrieving his phone.

The call was quickly connected.

"Phinks is dead," he reported directly.

"The killer is Hunters' Association investigator Aldama. I wasn't there for the details, another candidate witnessed it, but the current situation is delicate, can't locate the witness."

"Return."

The voice on the line replied calmly.

"Understood."

The brief exchange ended, and Shalnark disappeared into the endless desert.

Weather searing, heart frozen.

His mission had ended prematurely.

Meanwhile, in a gang-held military factory, daylight gunfire erupted in the warehouse.

Two figures moved like tigers among sheep, slaughtering without mercy, bullets and blades bouncing harmlessly off the human beasts.

The pungent smell of blood filled the air.

One crushed gang members to pulp with his massive hands.

The other's knife flashed coldly, his movements fluid as he dismembered his opponents.

Several observers watched dispassionately from a corner, content to let their two companions deal with the gangsters.

Chrollo, the troupe's leader, sat on a gun crate, one foot up and his phone down.

"Where's the car? Franklin and Feitan are so slow!"

Machi leaned against the wall, head in his hands, looking toward the door.

Pakunoda raised her silver pistol, eliminating those who tried to approach or attack.

She lowered the smoking weapon, hand on hip, and turned to their leader. "Shalnark? How'd it go?"

"Phinks is dead."

Chrollo said calmly.

The words froze everyone in the room.

Silence fell.

"Shalnark wasn't there. Probably his own fault." Chrollo spoke calmly, his hands in his coat pockets.

"Your identity."

"We'll know when Shalnark returns."

Chrollo's eyes remained calm.

The news visibly affected the others.

As Spiders, they would take what they wanted, by any means necessary.

No one could stop them.

They were proud thieves with no shame.

Individual power and group rules were absolute.

They refused no action, but no one could take from them.

For Spiders, revenge was the gift of death.