"Lilith turned around, her eyes lighting up. When she saw it wasn't Ralph, she looked disappointed. But upon realizing it was Ron, her eyes brightened again.
"Big brother!"
"Come with me. I'll take you to a place where you can shelter from the rain."
'But...'
Lilith hesitated.
Ron noticed and said, "Don't worry, Ralph is there too."
Hearing this, Lilith no longer hesitated.
Ron held Lilith's hand and took Haji's hand with his other.
Hassan held onto Haji's hand.
The four of them headed toward the courtyard.
As Ron stepped into the gate, Ralph quickly stood up.
"Haji! Hassan! Lilith!"
The three also saw Ralph.
"Big brother!"
But Ralph didn't rush into the rain; he waited at the edge of the shed.
When Ron walked in, Ralph hurriedly guided Lilith, Haji, and Hassan to the spot where he had been warming himself by the fire.
Wendy brought out three bowls and filled them with hot noodle soup.
"Thank you, big sister."
By the fire, the bodies of Lilith and the others gradually warmed up.
Ralph took the initiative to look at Ron and lowered his voice.
"Ron, when are we starting tomorrow? And what do I need to do?'"
At first, Ralph was somewhat resistant to this circumstance.
But after seeing Lilith and the others arrive, he had made his decision.
Since he had agreed to cooperate, there was no turning back.
Actively cooperating would allow him to gain more benefits.
"There are two ways." Ron said.
"One is for you and Kaba to actively search. Using Kaba's sense of his kind, our people will hide nearby. When you find a target, let us know."
"Then we'll take action."
"You don't need to handle killing the monsters."
"At the same time, we'll ensure your safety."
"The second way is for you to expose Kaba's existence, using yourself as bait to attract other monsters."
"Tomorrow, depending on the situation, we can do both simultaneously."
Night fell.
The fire was extinguished.
Ron and the others rearranged the rooms.
The inner room was occupied by Wendy and Lilith.
The outer room was shared by Ron, Dominica, Ralph, Haji, and Hassan, crowded together.
Each person took a corner.
When there weren't enough blankets, they used old clothes.
The next day, everyone began to act.
Ralph appeared on the streets.
Ron and Dominica hid in the shadows.
Wendy stayed with Lilith and the others.
The business was put on hold.
The public reason was that the heavy rain had damaged the tools and soaked the flour.
So they would rest for a few days.
Lilith and the other two stayed inside the wooden house and didn't leave.
Wendy made some pancakes alone.
She didn't make many, just enough for everyone to eat.
Lilith and the others didn't mind and devoured them hungrily.
Ralph, wearing new clothes, left the slum area and entered the city.
He was a bit nervous.
This was a place Ralph had never been to before.
Moreover, he might encounter danger later.
"Kaba, let's be careful."
'I know,' Kaba said. 'Those guys are much stronger than me.'
A middle-aged man looked at Ralph's figure, his eyes flickering.
"A familiar aura!"
The man secretly followed.
'Ralph, we're being watched.'
'Who?' Ralph became nervous, his heart pounding.
He instinctively wanted to look back.
But Kaba stopped him.
'According to the plan, we should go into the alley now.'
'Okay.'
Ralph walked toward the alley.
The middle-aged man followed Ralph into it.
"Kid, hand over your source matter!"
Ralph turned around.
He saw the man's head suddenly splitting, transforming into tentacle-like appendages.
The tips were extremely sharp.
In an instant, they lunged at Ralph.
Ralph was startled.
'Is this the true form of the monsters?'
'If I hadn't resisted Kaba's attempt to control me, would I have become like this?'
But at that moment—
"Akutagawa Ryūnosuke!"
Akutagawa Ryūnosuke appeared.
"Claw!"
Dark red claws attacked the man at an even faster speed.
'Slash!'
'Slash!'
'Slash!'
The man's tentacles were instantly cut off.
Even his body was severed into several parts under Akutagawa Ryūnosuke's attack.
In such a situation, an ordinary person would be dead beyond doubt, but the man wasn't. He was still moving; parts of his body could still function.
New tentacles formed.
Ron's eyes narrowed slightly.
'Their vitality is this strong?'
Then, Ron took out a Nen needle and flicked his wrist.
'Pfft!'
The needle pierced into the monster's body.
Soon, the monster began to change colour.
The deadly poison on the Nen needle drained the monster's life force.
Dominica glanced over.
'Is that poison made by Gel?'
'No, it's from the Crystal Featherbone.'
Dominica showed a look of realization and nodded.
The Crystal Featherbone, one of the world's seven most beautiful poisons, was highly poisonous.
If facing a fully formed mutated monster, it might have limited effect, but against these separated parts of the mutated monsters, it wasn't an issue.
Ralph's pupils contracted.
The appearance of the middle-aged man had made Kaba extremely alert.
Therefore, Ralph was aware of the man's strength.
But he hadn't expected the man to be killed so easily.
'Is Ron this strong?'
'What did he just use?'
'Why couldn't I understand it at all?'
Now Ralph knew that Ron's strength far surpassed his own.
If Ron wanted to kill him, it wouldn't take long.
Therefore, Ralph believed Ron's promise a bit more.
Using Ralph and Kaba as a breakthrough point to hunt the mutated monsters was clearly the right approach.
On the first day, Ron and the others had already killed three mutated monsters.
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