At night, the three who went out to gather information returned.

Joukai Inu and Chigusa Kaki stood on either side of the sofa, reporting their respective findings, wholeheartedly following Rikodu Gaiki who led them out of the nightmare land.

“Lord Zhong, the King of Sheep is an esper who manipulates gravity. We couldn’t get close to him, fearing that close combat attacks would be ineffective. Will his esper abilities affect your illusions?”

“No matter. His subordinates are his weak point.”

“Understood.”

“Lord Rikodu… The second-ranked individual doesn’t seem to meet your requirements for contractors.”

“Deficiency is not frightening; what’s frightening is being both deficient and worthless.”

After listening, Rikodu briefly responded to the two who were both followers and comrades. He reached forward into the empty space, and misty illusions formed into a trident.

The trident lightly tapped downward, emitting a metallic clink.

“Leibo Street is indeed a feng shui treasure trove. Both individuals are exceptionally talented and have not been absorbed by other factions… Joukai, Chigusa, the information gathering can end. I’ve encountered two of the three individuals ranked by Feng Tai. As for the third, it doesn’t matter if we can’t find them for now.”

His crimson pupils symbolized the Six Paths of Reincarnation, a power brought about by human experimentation.

“Tonight, we’ll take care of those two.”

Feng Tai, locked in this house, revealed himself, his eyes numb, seemingly resigned to the situation.

His inner thoughts echoed with one phrase:

[You’ve got the wrong person, Mukuro!!!]

Meanwhile, the true heir to the 10th Generation of the Vongola, Sawada Tsunayo, sneezed on the bus to Yokohama, rubbing his nose and despairingly looking at the group of people traveling with him.

Why was Hibari joining in on this mess?!

Isn’t lounging on the top of the bus enough of a gathering?

Next to him, Liu Dao Hai buckled his seatbelt, looking like a law-abiding good baby, indulging in his daily cuteness.

The first hitman’s mind was calculating.

Yokohama seemed to be the territory of the Port Mafia.

This wasn’t going to be another meeting for gymnastics with stupid Gokudera. This time, it could be the first encounter between the Italian mafia and the local Japanese mafia families in Yokohama.

Yokohama… I hope the organization that just resolved its internal strife won’t set its sights on Rikodu.

Otherwise—

Tsk, everyone wants a promising seedling.

Teenagers are the most malleable and are in the prime age to demonstrate potential. After a few years of training, they’re the most suitable for cultivating loyalty to the organization. And illusionists have always been a specialty of Italy, rarely circulating to other organizations overseas. But that doesn’t mean foreign forces aren’t eyeing them.

Liu Dao Hai muttered, “Even if we lose Mukuro, we must exchange for someone of equal value…”

“What are you talking about?” Tsunayo felt puzzled, looking at Liu Dao Hai.

“Nothing.” Liu Dao Hai smiled innocently.

Tsunayo shivered inexplicably. Since Liu Dao Hai’s arrival, his inherited hyper intuition had been on high alert to the point of numbness. Ordinary dangers no longer triggered his chills.

The modern city, bustling with trade, lay before them…

In the distance, the five towering buildings of the city center stood, along with the Ferris wheel, becoming landmark structures reflected in the eyes of every visitor to this city.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful!”

“This is Japan’s second-largest city, and it looks lively even at night!”

“Yokohama, Lord Mukuro wants to try the local specialties!”

“Huh, are we already here…”

The bus slowly entered the entrance of the neighborhood. Liu Dao Hai, sitting on the roof of the bus, sat up. His school uniform jacket fluttered on his shoulders in the slightly cool summer night breeze, prompting him to press it down with his hand.

His aloofness and individuality were equally embraced by the city, and passersby didn’t seem surprised.

—There were stranger things than this person.

This fact sparked a bit of goodwill in Liu Dao Hai, who deeply loved and prospered in that land.

“Will there be many carnivores?” he asked.

He was drawn here by Liu Dao Hai’s mention of Yokohama’s young strongmen. So far, he had maintained a skeptical attitude, but upon arriving in Yokohama, his fighting instincts began to stir with excitement.

The darkness beneath a city depends on its level of prosperity.

In a modern, bustling port city like this, where logistics flow continuously and few police stations were visible, there must be someone controlling the whole situation. He believed that even if these controllers weren’t strong themselves, they would have strong subordinates, and these individuals would be his next targets for challenge!

In the Sheep organization, where only the elderly and infirm remained, the disappearance of a teenager for a moment didn’t raise suspicion. Everyone just assumed he couldn’t resist running out to play.

Later, the boy, even smaller than Tsunayo, returned, head down, holding a cold weapon in his hand.

Tsunayo glanced at him when he came out. “Only part of a trident? Did you find it?” he asked.

The boy nodded, too timid to speak.

“Stay safe,” Tsunayo said, offering only this piece of advice, without delving into the boy’s hobby of scavenging items.

The boy followed him all the way to Tsunayo’s room. Tsunayo couldn’t help but ask, “What do you want to say to me, Kimura?”

The boy handed the trident to him, and Tsunayo chuckled. “I don’t need this kind of thing,” he said.

Tsunayo, with his hands still in his pockets, had almost no exposed skin, even in summer, wearing a jacket and T-shirt. Under the hoodie of his sweatshirt was a fair and handsome face.

He no longer had complete trust in the Sheep members, but he still had a soft spot for them. So, he reluctantly took the trident.

“This kind of toy…”

The boy’s hand trembled, and the trident, sharper than it appeared, easily cut Tsunayo’s skin. Tsunayo hissed in pain, looking at his hand. It was just a small bloodstain. His first reaction to being injured was not to blame the boy but to generously comfort him. “It’s okay, it was just an accident.”

The boy returned to his room with the trident, expressionless.

Tsunayo frowned. “Has my credibility decreased so much in their eyes?”

He pressed his hand against the bloodstain on his hand, trying to suppress the annoyance in his heart.

Sheep.

Originally, it was his home…

In the clinic’s ward, two beds were placed side by side, with Hyakki lying in the single bed against the wall. He lay on his side, his eyes that would never close, seeming to watch over Dazai throughout the night. The clean white bedsheet, coupled with the beauty of the young man with missing limbs, easily aroused certain unsavory excitement.

Cruelty is a kind of horror, and horror can also be a kind of beauty.

Hyakki always made people want to dissect him, to lay him out like a packaged beauty. Looking at his lifeless and indifferent face, touching the warmth and heartbeat at his chest, one would feel a profound sense of awe for the meaning of life.

When Dr. Mori made his rounds at night, all he could do was sigh at the fact that children will be children.

“Dazai, remember to cover him with a blanket.”

Dazai stretched out an arm from under the covers but couldn’t lift the blanket that was pressing on Hyakki. Sensing his movement, Hyakki sat up and handed him the blanket to cover himself.

Dr. Mori closed the door of the ward and went back to rest. It wasn’t safe to stay in the clinic even for members of the Port Mafia.

Sigh, who made him an unpopular and overworked boss?

With Dr. Mori gone, Dazai popped his head out, meeting those unreal gray-brown eyes.

“Hyakki’s willpower has reached the limit of human endurance, hasn’t it?”

【I’m going to sleep, Dororo.】

“Don’t lose.”

【Goodnight.】

“Asleep… Tomorrow, we’ll go see the little dwarf’s comedy. The person who always trusts others… will end up dead…”

The sleeping boy had the face of an angel, serene and beautiful. His soft, fluffy blackish-brown hair was partially covered by white bandages wrapped around his right eye. Lacking a healthy complexion, he had unknowingly let down all his defenses and entrusted the task of guarding his safety to the other person.

This means —

You…