Chapter 131

Greed was filled with regret.

Regret for bringing Ron back to Aurean.

Regret for using Ron as an experimental subject.

And, even more bitterly, the fact that he was about to die before even officially becoming a member of the Shadow Beasts.

"Who exactly are you?"

Greed's mind echoed the same confusion that Dandins had felt earlier.

Ron's behavior was simply unfathomable to Greed.

A kid, barely in his teens, was stronger than him?

How could this be?

Then there were the Nen beasts—those Nen abilities left Greed in disbelief.

"You don't need to know."

"There's only one thing you need to understand."

"That is, even though this happened in the second research base, I won't be killed by the world mafia. I'll leave Aurean unscathed."

Killer Queen handed Ron a metal rod.

Ron swung the rod and struck it against Greed's head.

With an explosive shockwave, Greed's head was completely obliterated. (t/n brutal) 

Ron handed the rod back to Killer Queen.

Following Ron's command, Killer Queen began to dispose of Greed's body.

The entire secret room was thoroughly cleaned, erased of all traces.

Outside the secret room, chaos had already broken out at the No. 2 Experimental Base

Chii had invaded the second research base, causing a fire and releasing toxic fumes from the experimental vessels.

This turned the entire base into a chaotic mess.

However, that was just the beginning.

What really screwed them over was that Chii had released the monsters that had been contained in the second research base.

Human experimentation monsters.

Ron hadn't seen them firsthand, but he had seen them in the surveillance footage Chii had sent.

In the underground chambers, there were thousands of them.

Some retained human forms, some were semi-human, while others had fully transformed into monstrous shapes.

Some hadn't even awakened Nen and lacked any presence.

Some were like the rookie competitors from the Sky Arena.

But there were others whose aura had reached an extremely high level.

Chii had found Dandins's plans.

Dandins had intended to create thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of monsters.

Then, he would screen them.

The method of selection was simple and brutal.

He would throw them into cages to fight.

Dozens or even hundreds would be locked in a cage to battle it out until only one remained. Those monsters who survived would be much stronger than the others. An apex predator!

In fact, Dandins had some success with this method already as the second research base contained quite a few of these creatures.

Dandins had his own ambitions.

He wished to use these monsters to become stronger.

By harnessing their power, he planned to build his own faction.

But all of that was now impossible.

Dandins was already dead, killed by someone he never foresaw coming.

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

The sound of cages being destroyed rang out, and the monsters within heard the noise. Instinctively, they rushed toward the door, pushing it open with little effort.

The monsters' eyes lit up.

Having been trapped in the second research base for so long, the monsters despised it.

They had been treated like livestock.

Subjected to all kinds of experiments on their bodies.

They had had enough.

"Roar!"

A beast-like sound erupted.

The monsters surged out.

At that moment, the staff at the second research base were too busy fighting the fire and dealing with the toxic gas leak to consider the possibility of the monsters escaping.

Blood splattered as the monsters tore through the staff, killing and maiming them...

The entire second research base was thrown into chaos.

One staff member sounded the alarm, but the alert had already been deactivated by Chii.

"Report to Dandins!"

But when the person reached Dandins's office, he was nowhere to be found.

Most of the staff had already perished under the onslaught of the monsters.

The monsters hated these staff members to the core.

Given the chance to kill them, the monsters would not hesitate, some would even go out of their way to do so instead of escaping. 

Long periods of human experimentation and being locked in cages, and subjected to various tortures, had stripped most of the monsters of any human semblance, leaving them as true beasts.

They now possessed only beast-like instincts.

Their first instinct upon gaining freedom was to destroy and kill.

...

Only a few of the monsters remained calm, able to think clearly about their current situation.

They planned to take this chance to escape the second research base.

Escape Aurean.

The exit had already been opened by Chii.

"Charge!"

Some of the monsters spotted the exit and rushed toward it, unstoppable.

One, two, three...

More and more monsters poured out of the exit.

The lower-intelligence monsters ran around like headless chickens, while the more composed ones either hadn't yet made it out or, once outside, quickly found a hiding place.

They waited for the lower-intelligence monsters to draw the attention of the Underworld Mafia.

Then, they would truly have a chance to escape.

This was the moment Ron had been waiting for.

The riot at the second research base would undoubtedly attract the Underworld Mafia's full attention.

These monsters were strong, numerous, and highly destructive.

Even the Shadow Beasts alone were no match.

What was needed was the combined force of many high-ranking officials.

At that moment, Ron was still in the secret room.

Until a text message arrived.

"Done!"

It was a message from Chii, indicating that all traces of Ron at the second research base, including all information, had been completely erased from the Underworld Mafia's records.

Of course, Chii didn't just erase Ron's information.

Many others' data had been wiped as well.

This was to minimize any future complications for Ron.

"Time to leave."

Ron opened the iron door of the secret room and stepped out.

---

The entire Aurean city had fallen into chaos.

The monsters that had suddenly burst out caused massive destruction in Aurean. Ordinary people without Nen were no match for them.

Even those with firearms couldn't do anything.

"What?"

"The second research base has gone into riot?"

"Where's Dandins? Bring him to me immediately!"

A middle-aged man's face darkened as soon as he heard the news.

"Order all guards and patrols to move out and kill the test subjects."

"Send the Shadow Beasts and the Seven Deadly Sins."

Aurean's response was swift.

The monster's initial rampage had caused massive damage.

But as the city reacted, the damage was quickly suppressed.

A large number of agents, armed with firearms, formed small teams.

"Rat-a-tat!"

The monsters had incredibly tough bodies, and a few bullets didn't pose much of a threat. However, this didn't mean they were immune to them, when enough bullets hit, the monsters began to bleed and could eventually be killed.

With enough firepower, the situation changed.

But more importantly, Nen users had appeared.

In front of a monstrous creature resembling a praying mantis stood a red-haired young man. With a flick of his Nen, a sharp blade materialized in his hand.

The man and the monster crossed paths.

In the next moment...

"Thwip!"