The Special Services Division, False Digitizers

The streets were crowded despite the hour, and the sky grew darker as the night was beginning to fall. Currently, a group of individuals had scattered from the Paradise Palace, scampering away like frightened animals.

It didn't take long for a timely police force to arrive sectioning off the area, but sadly for even them, another power was in the mix that seemed to be of even higher status. Looking within the police unit, one would notice that they had two familiar faces belonging to Osbon and Sera.

"Hmph! I knew something strange would happen, and since we can't directly interrogate the kid, there's nothing stopping us from silently observing him," Osbon said with a smile.

Sera that stood by his side, looked at him and replied with a slightly disappointed look, "You're right, but Inspector Osbon, though we've encountered this event, it's still hard for us to glean the full details."

Osbon frowned as he knew what she said was the truth, even right now, their police task force was hindered at the exterior as those who wore high-class combat suits with high powered weapons had blocked them from taking any further actions.

Suddenly, a man dressed in a simple suit with a hat logo appeared from behind them, he stared at those from the police force and spoke, "I'm sorry, but we will be taking it from here, return to your stations..."

The police unit had looks of discontent as some of them cursed out loud.

"Hey! We were the first to arrive, how can you suddenly just drive up here, and send us back?"

"That's right; you need to prove the weight behind those words, pal!"

Osbon frowned at this as did Sera who looked on with dark expressions, but as if the man wasn't disturbed he flipped a card with SSD on it as he spoke, "I believe this will suffice as enough explanation."

When the leading officer, at the foremost, saw the card, his face sunk as he hurriedly bowed and spoke, "Y-yes sir, we'll be leaving right away. All units and officers withdraw immediately!"

The others had discontented looks, but as the leading officer looked at them, no one complained as they orderly went back to their vehicles and started to leave the area.

'Dammit! Not again, darn that Special Services Division; I cannot let this past me by again!' Osbon gritted his teeth while cursing with his mind.

Sera who was about to leave, turned and saw that Osbon was moving towards a different direction, she frowned and spoke, "Inspector? Where are you going?"

Osbon placed his finger at his mouth and spoke softly, "Shh... I cannot accept this loss; we must get whatever they're hiding out into the public; all those previous cases, we must slowly expose them and their agendas. Follow along; I'll try to get as much footage as I can..."

Sera was confused; she cursed in her mind, 'What is he thinking? Is he a reporter now?'

Sera frowned, but she didn't really have much better to do, and Osbon was still her superior, she shook her head and followed along as the two stealthy made their way towards a different area.

***

Away from the previous scene, Nero had arrived at a distant and an unusually quiet alleyway. He chased the Bit Hunters for a little over half an hour, and by now night had descended. One could even hear the sounds of their footsteps as an old broken lamp dimly lit a portion of this path due to the silence.

"Get out here!" Nero shouted as he knew that they were still around, not having gone too far.

As if they heard Nero's voice, a bright light flashed as multiple lights came from all angles, fully illuminating his position.

Not long after, Perm and his men, along with a few more individuals, had surrounded Nero. Their figures a bit indistinct due to them standing in front of the various light sources, one of Perm's men who stood outside of the lights guarded the unconscious Elly that was placed on a chair as he stared over with a mean look.

Perm looked at Nero and smirked as he spoke, "Boy, do you know how hard it was to find you? Tell me, how did you escape from the last team?"

Nero didn't even know what the man was talking about, but he knew one thing based on his words, his thoughts went wild, 'Did some group attack me? When the hell did this happen?'

As if Adult Nero thought it was the right time, he spoke casually, 'Naturally, you were targeted the very same day you awakened your Digitize Bit.'

'What? Why didn't you tell me this?' Nero cursed, but even though he did so, he didn't take his eyes of the men, or rather, from Elly.

Adult Nero spoke again while leaning back with his hand behind his neck as he floated in their consciousness, 'Well, you weren't in danger, and another thing, you must learn to be more cautious by using your awareness to sense more from your surroundings.'

When Nero heard this, he felt like punching Adult Nero in the face, but he didn't bother to complain, right now, he had a different matter.

'Shit! To think that I was the one to get her involved, I even got that girl killed! Damn!' Nero cursed while gritting his teeth, his killing intent rising steadily.

Perm smirked at this and spoke in a cold tone, 'Kiddo, it seems you've gone deaf, don't worry, you will certainly be dying today. Once you're gone, I'll be certain to pay that mother of yours a visit; I'll then take good care of her, even more so than that missing papa of yours... hehe!'

"Hahaha..." The other Bit Hunters laughed in a lewd way while they prepared to start the hunt, each of them giving off dreadful dark power as a red mark with the number 3 came onto their forehead.

Perm took out a strange device and a knife as he licked the blade with his tongue and spoke, "Well then, shall we?"

As Perm spoke, his hair rose above his head as a dark power grew around his entire being. A similar mark appeared on his head, but it only grew brighter and had the number 4.

When Nero saw this and sensed the changes around him, he felt a bit flustered, but he knew this wasn't the time to panic. Though he felt a wave of anger when he heard Perm's words about his mother, he pushed himself to calmed down; he didn't want to act rashly, so he tried his best to hold back his anger as he sized up the situation.

He commanded with his mind while looking at Perm, "Inspect Status!"

Ding!

[Name: Perm]

[Tier - Novice Rank False Digitizer]

[Level 4 | Class: None]

...

Nero frowned at those details as he questioned inwardly, 'This power... it's different from what I've felt in that world? Who are these people?'

Adult Nero gave him a direct reply, 'It is as you've seen, the power of those termed as False Digitizers, otherwise known as Bit Hunters. They are a group of persons who have somehow acquired knowledge of awakening using a method that goes against the Universe Ring's laws, hunting down other Digitizers and forcibly binding with their Digitize Bits.'

When Nero heard this, he was shocked, but he didn't dare show it on his face, 'A bit can be stolen? Damn!'

Adult Nero replied, "Of course it can; it falls upon the true death of a Digitizer..."

Nero's heart grew cold at those words, he had forgotten before, but he recalled the All-Seer saying that it was only in the Novice Zone that he didn't have to worry about true death, he felt his back runny with sweat as he remembered that this wasn't some simple game.

After collecting his thoughts, Nero still stared at the men around him and frowned, he questioned once more, ''You say that they are after my Digitize Bit, right? Then why aren't they attacking? Why are they standing around like idiots?"

Adult Nero replied, "It's not that they won't attack, they are waiting for you to display your strength in a wild rage, that way they can scan your bit potential level."

Nero's heart rate sped up as he hurriedly asked, 'But... my bit, isn't it…?'

Adult Nero know what he was going to ask, he nodded and replied, 'Correct, it is far from the standard, and any who find out about it will hunt you down to the ends of the world to take it from your body. Being a False Digitizer has its downsides, but it's not really that hard to deal with; still, you do not need to worry about such things, with me here no one will be able to grade it accurately, at least not until you reach a certain level. So, fight without worry. Remember that once you summon your power, it will only last for 5 minutes, so make them count, I don't think I need to tell you what must be done to these men...'

When Adult Nero spoke, he looked at Nero's face, but as he did this, he noticed that Nero's previous calmness had vanished as if he a caged animal had finally lost its chains.

''Heh... I was right, the constant killing these past two days were enough, he won't be hesitant like I was in killing bastards like these. Plus, it should make for an excellent debut..." Adult Nero muttered with a smile as he noticed the hidden figures on distant buildings, and other areas, watching from afar.

Perm was a bit worried when he didn't see Nero attack in a wild rage, he thought to himself, 'Damn! What's taking this brat so long to lose it? I even used the name of his mother, or was that information wrong?'

Perm pondered what other methods he could use to get him to break down, but right at this moment, he saw that Nero had a sudden change. His previous calmness that seemed no different from a still lake had erupted like a furious volcano, as if all his bottled-up anger had come fort, scattering bright silver Magic Power from his entire body.

'Haha, finally! His Digitize Bit will be mine, I will do what that bastard Scarface cannot!' Perm thought as his eyes beamed with excitement when he pressed the button on the Bit Scanner, causing it to flicker with a myriad of numbers, but at this time, Nero had stretched his arm to the side, as a bright scythe mark appeared on his palm.

Nero's pupils then glowed in red lights as his silver hair seemed to have a tinge of blood on it as he spoke in a voice that seemed to travel from hell, 'You want my Digitize Bit? Then here it is, remember it on your way to hell! Come to me, Mazello!'

With Nero's loud shout, the alley became filled with brilliant silver lights, as an epic battle was about to unfold.