Illumi was a person with a strong desire for control.
His desire for control is not only reflected in the things he likes, but can also be seen in battles.
He only acted when he was sure, wanting to precisely and constantly control the situation.
This is the desire for control that Illumi displays in battle.
From controlling the Needle People to rush into the restaurant → using Torlan's personal bodyguards to create opportunities → forcing Lisha to reveal a flaw → luring Moses to be hit by the needle → calmly exiting the battle → stabbing Torlan with the last needle to complete the mission.
The entire process from start to finish was under Illumi's control.
He was confident that there would be no change in the outcome.
Then-
When he was most confident and calm, Moses, who should have been completely under his control, used a fierce punch to teach him not to be happy too early.
While flying backward, Illumi knocked over numerous tables and chairs, eventually smashing through the wall and heavily falling to the ground in the adjacent room, buried under debris.
'This is not good…'
Severe pain came from his right ribs, and Illumi coughed up blood.
He pushed aside the largest piece of debris pressing on him, then staggered to his feet, and assessed the severity of his injury with an expressionless face.
In an instant, he came to conclusion that he could no longer continue the fight.
'My Nen needle... has indeed penetrated him, and there is indeed feedback after activating the ability. So... why was he able to break free from control?'
Illumi looked around and quickly found an escape route from the battle.
'Is that person... also a Manipulator?'
'Before being hit by my Nen needle, he used his own Manipulation-Type ability to control himself in advance, so he obtained a higher priority of control, and then restrained himself from taking action?'
'Can such a thing...be done?'
'I can't figure it out at all.'
Illumi shook his head irritably.
Because the Nen needle could only affect living beings' ability mechanisms, and Illumi does not perceive other Aura, this made him rule out the possibility that Moses in the restaurant was a clone Nen Beast from the beginning.
As a result, no matter how much he thought about it, he could not find a clear idea of what's happening.
The inability to fathom the situation's essence made him, who was accustomed to controlling the situation, show signs of going mad.
At the same time…
Falling into the hands of a person who he considered to be an average Nen User, inevitably produced a sense of frustration that he had never experienced before.
This made him feel uncomfortable all over.
Glancing in the direction of the restaurant, knowing that the other party had chosen not to pursue him, Illumi calmly dragged his heavily injured body out of the room adjacent to the restaurant and onto the street.
'Ah... let's go home and sleep.'
Illumi wiped off the blood from his mouth with his hand.
Although he was severely injured by Moses, fortunately, he has completed the assassination mission.
He felt that the punch he received today would be something he would remember for a long, long time.
But in the final end, it is not as important as maintaining the family's reputation.
'I shouldn't be thinking of saving the Nen needle when I took action at noon.'
Until now, there is one thing that Illumi still doesn't understand.
That is why Torlan, who had his head cut off by him, is still alive.
He has confirmed that Torlan is not a Nen User, and he has also confirmed that Torlan is a real human being. In the known information, there is no information about him having twin or the like.
But the fact is that Torlan was still alive after he cut off his head.
Illumi couldn't figure it out, so he thought that if he had directly given Torlan a Nen needle that noon...
Perhaps he won't have to come to the restaurant tonight, let alone experience the frustration of being punched by Moses.
"What a terrible day…"
Illumi staggered away, with the image of Moses constantly shifting in his mind like a haunting ghost.
It was too bad, a mood he had never experienced before, a mood that was unprecedentedly bad.
At this moment, he suddenly sensed something and looked towards the restaurant's front door.
"Eh?"
A dazzling lightning flashed in his eyes.
Then, an unbelievable scene unfolded before him.
In his eyes, numerous bodies that were originally lying on the ground, were unexpectedly resurrected, each one perfectly intact, while the ground exhibited densely intertwined black scorch marks.
Witnessing this scene, Illumi instantly understood the reason why Torlan, whose head he had severed, could reappear in the evening.
However, he didn't comprehend the nature of this ability that allowed these dead individuals to resurrect on the spot.
Nevertheless, this didn't hinder him from taking the next course of action.
"Kill that guy, leave no room for survival."
Illumi issued a final command to the remaining Needle People.
The Needle People who received the order naturally included Tolan, whose entire arm had been shattered into blood foam.
Inside the restaurant, Moses looked straight forward, and within his consciousness, two consecutive voices rang out, bringing an inexplicable sense of joy.
"Your stealthy strike caught Perception off guard. Your Zetsu level +1"
"You have severely wounded Illumi. Your wonderful performance has been highly recognized by Perception. Replica Nen Box +1"
This was the first time Moses has received two consecutive rewards from Perception.
For Zetsu level +1, he can understand it as the result of 1 to 3 months of training.
But the Replica Nen Box was an unknown item beyond his knowledge.
'Replica Nen Box?'
Moses thought doubtfully in his heart.
Suddenly, some information related to the Replica Nen Box appeared in his mind.
After reading this information, Moses's mind shook abruptly.
The so-called Replica Nen Box was essentially a reproduction of the opponent's Nen Ability.
At this moment…
Inside the readily materialized Replica Nen Box within his consciousness, a Nen needle derived from Illumi's Nen Ability was stored.
Although this is just a one-time consumable, it had undergone partial improvements from the original ability and could fully unleash the effects of the Manipulation system.
'Incredible…'
Moses marveled in his mind.
The reason why he felt that it was incredible was not the Replica Nen Box, an item capable of reproducing others' Nen Abilities, but the fact that Perception could reward him with such a thing.
Then he thought of an extremely crucial point.
Was the reason he received two consecutive rewards because the person he severely injured was Illumi?
Was the perfect replication of Illumi's Manipulation-Type ability with the Replica Nen Box due to the detailed information about Illumi's Nen Abilities existing in his consciousness?
Without waiting for Moses to delve further into his thoughts, Torlan, who was previously knocked away by Lisha's strike, with one arm already turned into blood froth and seeming impervious to pain in his Needle People state, staggered to his feet, take out a pistol, and aimed it at Moses, ready to pull the trigger.
"Moses."
Lisha, who has snapped out of her disbelief, noticed Torlan's actions and promptly warned.
However, Moses without needing Lisha's reminder, swiftly removed Torlan's head.
Poof!
A blood column immediately erupted from the neck of the headless corpse.
It is also at this moment that the gang members, who were resurrected as Swamp People, rushed into the restaurant and witnessed Moses removing Torlan's head.
"Boss!!"
In an instant, these gang members were furious, glaring at Moses with murderous eyes.
Moses threw away Torlan's head aside.
Torlan, who has become a needle man, is no different from death. Besides, he is still a Swamp People in essence.
Thud.
Torlan's head hit the ground, and the headless body collapsed in tandem.
At the next second…
The head, body, and even the splattered blood all turned into viscous black substance, and rushing towards Moses in mid-air.
Lisha's expression changed when she saw this.
The events that happened one after another in this minute turned her head into a mess.
However, even with messed thought, she rushed forward to help Moses block the unknown black viscous substance.
However, Moses didn't let her do what she wanted. He swiftly dodged, allowing the unknown black substance to cover his body and then rapidly disappear.
Then, Moses looked at the fifty to sixty agitated gang members in front of the restaurant's entrance.
'Why did so many Swamp People suddenly appear? Can I absorb them all... I won't burst from absorbing too much, right?'
Moses exclaimed in his heart.