Nesli glanced at Nancy and shook her head. In truth, there was no need to say such things. If Tuck intended to betray them, he could do so even if he stayed right here. And with Tuck's strength, Nesli wouldn't be able to dispose of him quickly anyway. Since they'd chosen to come here, all they could do was trust him. Still, she didn't blame Nancy; she knew Nancy's anger ran deep.
Nesli was startled by Tuck's words. She found it hard to believe that Ron would offer help to people unconnected to him. Even a little help would contradict the principles he seemed to follow: a purely professional assassin who never acted outside his job description.
"But would Ron really do that?" Nesli asked. "He doesn't care about people who have nothing to do with him, does he?"
"Of course he would," Tuck answered. "Ron is a good man."
Nancy couldn't help asking, "Nesli, what happened to you before all this?"
"I was being pinned down by Ron," Nesli replied. "Tuck hired him to kill me. Ron told me that because he wasn't sure Tuck would survive, he wouldn't kill me yet, but he also wouldn't let me leave. I had to wait for the outcome on Tuck's side. If Tuck survived, Ron would finish me off; if Tuck died, Ron would cancel the job, since he wouldn't get paid. That's exactly how Ron put it. I tried many times to get away, but there was no chance—he's much stronger than I am.
"Later, Ron made a deal with me. Somehow, he hacked into the estate's surveillance, so I saw your entire battle. The deal was that if Tuck survived, I'd have to kill myself, so Ron wouldn't need to bother. After that, I made a request of Ron: to kill Karu.
He accepted. I never imagined things would end up the way they did. I was certain that even if we all died, Karu would at least go down with us. That was the only way we'd have accomplished something."
Tuck nodded. "That does sound like Ron—right in line with his style. Fortunately, he's the one I hired. Otherwise, Nesli, you'd probably be dead by now, and I'd never have uncovered Karu's true nature. I'd still be fooled, still acting as their lapdog."
Tuck's smile twisted bitterly. Nancy asked, "Is Ron really that strong?"
"Extremely strong," Tuck and Nesli answered at the same time.
Tuck went on. "We worked together once, back when we were both B‑level Nen users, but now he's A‑level and way ahead of me."
Nesli added, "I'm no match for him at all. Even one of his Nen Beasts was more than enough to overwhelm me. And during our fight, a powerful attacker appeared—someone Ron called a survivor of Red Tron. He was far stronger than me. The aura rolling off him was terrifying. But Ron didn't even move. He just summoned two new Nen Beasts. One blocked the attacker's assault and pinned him in place, while the other took him down with a single strike—killed him outright."
Tuck's eyes widened. "Someone stronger than you was killed in one hit by Ron?"
"Yes," Nesli replied.
Tuck studied her carefully. He'd clashed with Nesli before and knew her capabilities were above his own, unless he could draw out the fight. If someone stronger than Nesli was instantly killed by Ron, then Nesli would stand no chance. Neither would Tuck. It left him deeply shaken.
Originally, Tuck thought Ron's advantage was just a matter of focusing more on training while Tuck poured energy into his duties. But now it seemed Ron had left him far behind.
Meanwhile, Ron and Ponzu had moved on to another part of the city. Ron opened a laptop to speak with Gogus about the attacker infested by parasitic vines. He thought the details might help Gogus's research and help Ponzu learn more about the truth of that village. They connected over video, though Gogus still hadn't solved the problem of the electricity-eating bugs. He relied on another member of his group, someone with Emission-type Nen, to power the call.
Ron described the entire encounter in detail. Gogus fell silent for a moment, then said, "From that person's words, it seems the village was hit by some crisis—apparently only one person can survive. It sounds like the entire village is forced to face it. I suspect the disaster began internally. I've uncovered a few leads.
It seems the people there performed many experiments using these insects, but they can be very dangerous. I've researched them for years and only recently found a relatively safe way to employ them—still with risks, so I'm in the testing phase.
It looks like they didn't show such caution. Overusing insects can easily lead to plagues if something goes wrong. It's also possible someone triggered it on purpose. I need more time to investigate."
Far away, in a basement beneath the Zoldyck Estate, a whip lashed against flesh, each strike ringing out with grim regularity. The sounds echoed one after another, unrelenting.
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