The Shadow Beasts are a mix of the old and the new, consisting of the Evil Wolf, Stinky Rat, Poisonous Snake, Falcon, Millipede, Fish, Cockroach, Mosquito, Maggot, and Frog.
Each member is infamous, having gained their reputation by ruthlessly killing under the command of the Ten Dons.
Recently, the Shadow Beasts had a shortage of members, and not just anyone could fill those roles. So, when they received orders from the Ten Dons to eliminate the man who had shamed the name "Shadow Beast," they felt confident.
Killing him would put an end to the mocking laughter from foolish people.
However, during their first encounter, Germain shocked the Shadow Beasts.
He appeared from the shadows and swiftly dragged Maggot and Frog into the darkness, disappearing in an instant.
When the other Shadow Beasts arrived, Maggot and Frog lay dead and lifeless on top of each other.
Germain jumped into a black car and sped away.
Seeing the two corpses, the Shadow Beasts were filled with horror. They stared at the car's taillights as they faded into the distance, feeling dazed.
"Drive and chase them!" commanded the Wolf, making a quick decision.
The Shadow Beasts and the Mafia members hopped into cars and motorcycles to pursue him.
After driving for a while, the remaining eight Shadow Beasts couldn't shake the image of the dead Maggot and Frog, along with the fear on their faces.
"Maggot and Frog are the weakest among us," said the Wolf over the walkie-talkie, trying to lift everyone's spirits.
"But…" Cockroach hesitated before speaking. "Less than a minute after we arrived, he identified them as the weakest and acted decisively…"
"This… this is too much. I can't understand it…"
In that moment, the ten Shadow Beasts had suddenly entered Germain's "En," and any human should have had time to react.
But Germain's reaction time was incredibly quick, and his judgment was spot-on. He killed with ease.
The Shadow Beasts realized that the way he dealt with Maggot and Frog was clean and efficient, showing his skill as an assassin.
Everyone felt that Germain had a bit of the same aura as the members of the Zoldyck family.
"We still have eight of us," the Wolf emphasized. "Fifty elite members armed and ready. We must win tonight. The Ten Dons didn't hire us to be a circus."
The Shadow Beast members are nominally of equal rank, but since they often team up, they need to choose a captain. When all ten Shadow Beasts gather, Evil Wolf is the captain that everyone agrees on. His words hold weight.
The intercom went quiet. No one wanted to admit defeat or face the elders in shame.
Thinking quickly, the Wolf gave the order: "Falcon, you have the best mobility. Millipede, your venom can cause blindness. You will lead the charge and take out the driver of that car first."
"As for Neon from the Nostrade family, I will ask the Ten Dons to rescue her if possible. Otherwise, forget it. They still need her as a hostage, so they probably won't kill her."
"Understood," came the voices of two men over the channel.
A new battle began.
The Twin Bridges stretch three kilometers. A black car sped by like lightning, covering a third of the distance in an instant.
Kurapika drove carefully, glancing at the rearview mirror and honking to warn the cars ahead that he was about to overtake.
Traffic rules didn't matter now; as long as the car stayed intact and no one was killed, Kurapika was fine with it.
In the backseat, Germain and Neon were both quiet but for different reasons. Germain was naturally calm, while Neon had screamed until her throat was sore. Now she was exhausted from fear and drowsy.
How will they treat me? Neon didn't dare to imagine, as all she could think about was how the Nostrade family typically dealt with those who offended them.
The images in her mind were bloody and horrific.
Of course, Neon wouldn't have to do the dirty work herself, but sometimes she received "trophies," making her feel involved.
However, at that moment, she was surrounded by her father, Eliza, Dalzollene, and other guards.
Now, with no one around her, she finally faced her fear alone.
Kurapika pressed the accelerator and glanced in the rearview mirror. This time, he noticed something unusual behind him. Something was flying through the air toward him.
He also heard a shrill cry.
"Ah-ha!"
The figure in the air was a man who threw a black, round object toward the black car, spinning like a tire.
"Teacher!"
"I know, just focus on driving," Germain replied.
Germain quickly rolled down his window, letting the biting night wind rush into the car. He shrank back and slid out like a loach, hearing a muffled sound from the roof of the car.
Germain was half-kneeling on the speeding black car, gripping the edge with one hand and holding a cannon in the other, aiming it at the flying object.
The object rolled and then opened up, becoming extremely long with many segments and lots of creepy legs.
This was the millipede, one of the Shadow Beasts, and the one who threw it was the Falcon.
The millipede's task was simple: it needed to use its long body and many legs to cling to the car and spray venom at the driver, forcing the car to lose control.
Though it was thrown down by the Falcon with enthusiasm, the millipede saw Germain waiting on the car's roof, holding a cannon and aiming at it.
The millipede's face went pale.
But in mid-air, it could do nothing except twist in despair and finally release its venom, spraying it like it had wet its pants.
The venom barely traveled half a meter before being blown away by the strong wind, posing no threat at all.
In contrast, a cannonball fired from Germain's cannon roared through the air and struck the curling millipede.
Bang—
The explosion lit up like a small sun.
The millipede's limbs scattered across the ground, and the sudden blast caused chaos on the road.
The Falcon nearby frowned, flapping its wings, and didn't dare to approach directly. After thinking for a moment, it flew low and landed under the Twin Bridges.
Germain watched the Falcon disappear into the night and then heard the roar of motorcycles.
A group of motorcycles was chasing closely, with two people on each bike—one driving and one shooting from the back. Bullets struck the roof and rear of the black car.
However, this car belonged to the Nostrade family and was Neon's personal vehicle. It was bulletproof to a degree, so regular bullets couldn't easily penetrate it.
Germain on the roof and the car's tires became new targets, especially the former, which was clearly easier to hit.
Germain conjured a shield and stood in front of himself, deflecting the incoming bullets one by one.
The motorcycle gang realized they couldn't penetrate the shield with direct fire. Lacking rocket launchers, they decided to spread out and shoot from the sides.
With only one shield, Germain couldn't block bullets coming from all directions.
The motorcycles moved left and right instead of staying together, making it difficult for Germain to use his cannon effectively.
So, he switched to a Firearm and aimed at the motorcycle that got a little closer.
After a loud bang, the motorcycle veered sideways, sending sparks flying and crashing into two other bikes like a bowling ball.
The three motorcycles threw their riders off, and at this point, no one cared about their safety.
Another motorcycle roared over, but this time the person on the back was Mosquito, one of the Shadow Beasts, who seemed ready to change the situation.
The mosquito spread its arms wide, releasing a swarm of buzzing black dots that flew toward Germain.
"Go, my little darlings!"
Those black dots were actually a swarm of mosquitoes with blood-sucking mouthparts, circling around Germain's head and about to pierce his skin! They were so tiny that ordinary people might not even notice them in the dark, especially at high speed.
However, for Germain, a Nen user, the situation was different.
In Germain's eyes using Gyo, the tiny mosquitoes looked like bright white dots, easily noticeable.
Without hesitation, he switched from his Firearm to a flamethrower and unleashed a stream of fire.
The flamethrower swept through the air, burning all the flying mosquitoes to ashes instantly.
The flames then lunged at the motorcycle carrying the Shadow Beast Mosquito. The rider didn't have time to stop and was thrown into the fire.
As the wind howled, Germain thought he heard the Shadow Beast Mosquito shout, "Stop!"
But the motorcycle kept going.
Two fiery figures, like Ghost Rider, rode the motorcycle head-on into the opposite lane and collided with a large truck, getting knocked away again.
Bang!
Meanwhile, the Evil Wolf, chasing behind in his car, listened to the screams coming through the radio. He punched the window in frustration.
Millipede, Mosquito… two more members of the Shadow Beast were dead, and most of the motorcycle gang was either dead or injured.
Even if they killed Germain today, the casualty rate would look terrible if it got out.
But the Evil Wolf thought of something worse.
What if Germain escaped? No, what if Germain killed more of them?
What then? The wolf didn't dare to think further.
Fortunately, the latest orders from the Ten Dons had come down. They instructed the Shadow Beast to ignore Neon and attack freely. The only goal tonight was to kill Germain.
They could deal with the Nostrade family later.
It would be easy to deal with Light Nostrade.
The Evil Wolf let out a sigh of relief and made up his mind. He picked up the walkie-talkie to relay the latest instructions from the Ten Dons.
"Did you hear that? No matter the cost or how chaotic it gets, as long as Germain dies, the Ten Dons will handle the aftermath."
"Get to work!"
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