On the deathly still auction stage, Black Cocoon used a restraint belt to choke Robert’s neck, suspending him upside down under the spotlight, staring motionlessly at Urushibara Osamu’s face.
Ghost Bell squinted his eyes and slowly uttered the name of the uninvited guest.
Anluns and Jack the Ripper exchanged glances. Neither understood who Black Cocoon was, so they turned to Bloodline and Oda Takashige, only to see confusion and surprise in the eyes of the other two team members as well.
It seemed no one knew where this guy came from.
After a moment of silence, Urushibara Osamu asked Black Cocoon: "What do you want?"
"Finally, someone asked, otherwise it’d be so awkward if I kept posing here." Black Cocoon sighed, "Actually, what I want is very simple," he paused, "Have your team members, right now, immediately, release Blue Arc and hand him over to Ghost Bell."
"Impossible." Urushibara Osamu replied abruptly.
Black Cocoon shrugged, saying blandly: "Is that so? Then it’s also impossible for me to release poor Mr. Robert. This hardworking old team member surely didn’t expect to endure such suffering in the end, while the captain he holds dear plans to abandon his life. Even I can’t help but sigh for him."
He paused for a moment: "Think it over, Captain. Are you really planning to abandon member number 7 to save Blue Arc’s life? Is this really a profitable deal for you?"
A brief silence enveloped the two.
Urushibara Osamu pondered for a moment and finally spoke: "I can agree to your terms, but there must be an additional condition."
"Feel free to say it."
"You let Ghost Bell leave here first, I’ll have my people release Blue Arc, and then you return Robert to us."
"Such nasty ideas, Mr. Urushibara. You also understand once Ghost Bell leaves, you monsters will act recklessly." Black Cocoon said, "I’m afraid I wouldn’t have time to take Blue Arc away before you’d kill me, right?"
Without expression, Urushibara Osamu asked: "So what do you want to do then?"
"Let’s do it this way. First, keep your people still." With that, Black Cocoon bound Robert’s neck and rotated down to the auction stage floor.
Black Cocoon led Robert toward Ghost Bell, deliberately bypassing several team members, keeping a certain distance from them.
"You... what exactly do you want?" Ghost Bell asked, staring at him, in a deep voice.
"Who knows, what do I really want? What do I want, what do I want?"
With that, Black Cocoon used the restraint belt to steal Robert’s superpower.
[Passive skill "Restraint Suppression" activated: During the period of being bound by your restraint belt, the other side cannot use any extraordinary abilities.]
[Active skill "Superpower Stealing" activated: Your restraint belt has stolen the superpower from the Superpower User "Robert", and it can be released within 24 hours (after "Skill Release" or "exceeding the time limit", the stored superpower will automatically disappear).]
Immediately following, under the gaze of everyone present, Black Cocoon, dragging Robert, approached Ghost Bell’s clock tower, then raised his hand to touch the tower wall, creating a "wooden door" on the otherwise empty wall using the stolen superpower.
This scene startled all the members of the White Crow Travel Brigade—only Ghost Bell was unaware of Robert’s superpower, mistakenly thinking it was Black Cocoon’s own ability.
Anluns and Jack the Ripper paused in surprise, even a hint of amazement appeared in Oda Takashige’s eyes.
"Uh... Miss Ripper, did I just see him using Robert’s superpower?" Anluns shrugged and turned to ask Jack the Ripper.
"It seems so..." Jack the Ripper nodded.
Urushibara Osamu’s deep pupils reflected that wooden door, thinking without expression: "Not only can it suppress superpowers... it can also steal superpowers? If only we’d met under different circumstances."
Bloodline sat at the edge of the auction stage, resting his cheeks in his hands, and said casually:
"Oh... no wonder the captain wanted to bring this ugly thing into the brigade, turns out he has this kind of ability."
Black Cocoon stood in a rather ostentatious pose, leaning against the clock tower.
All eyes in the auction house gathered on this flamboyant madman. The team members couldn’t figure out why such an obviously easy-to-kill lunatic was able to restraint everyone, leading the progress of the situation... living long enough, you see everything.
Black Cocoon lightly tapped the clock tower with his fingers and continued: "Now let’s sort out the current situation again. Miss Ripper’s injuries and Mr. Blue Arc’s injuries are similarly serious... if the deadlock continues, I’m afraid both will die."
He paused: "So, why don’t we each take a step back? I’ll let Ghost Bell wait behind the door, then the other team members and the captain will pull back, allowing Mr. Ninja to hand over Blue Arc to me alone;"
"And I’ll return Robert to Mr. Ninja, then take Blue Arc and Ghost Bell with me out of here, make this door disappear, and we’re even."
After speaking, his gaze swept over everyone present: "White Crow Travel Brigade’s bunch of bastards... along with the admirable captain, what do you think?"
Black Cocoon’s gaze finally rested on Urushibara Osamu, whose deep eyes always seemed like a black swamp, making it impossible to read his thoughts.
At this moment, both Ghost Bell and Urushibara Osamu remained silent; the other team members also had no decision-making power, quietly waiting for the captain to give instructions.
After pondering for a moment, Urushibara Osamu spoke to break the silence.