"I'll look around a bit more first. I haven't seen this one before."
"If someone else buys it later, I'll come back."
The middle-aged man nodded calmly. "Of course."
Ron turned to leave, pretending to stroll casually. Once he was out of the man's line of sight, he pulled out his laptop and entered the address Menchi had given him. He typed in the term "silver coin shell" in the search bar and pressed enter. But no results appeared.
After a brief hesitation, Ron called Menchi. This time, she wasn't busy and picked up immediately.
"Senior Menchi, there's something I need to ask."
Ron explained in detail. "That person I ran into last time, the one recruiting people to catch Love Sardines—he showed up again today. But suddenly, he was no longer a regular person. He had disguised himself, even changed his appearance, and now he's in the ingredient market area, running a stall. There's a kind of ingredient displayed there, called 'silver coin shell.' I searched for it on the site you gave me, but nothing came up."
Menchi frowned. "Silver coin shell? Never heard of it."
"He said these shells might contain silver coins, and opening one means good luck."
"What do they look like?"
Ron sent her a picture message—an image of the shell. "It's just a normal shell," Menchi replied after looking at it. "There's no such thing as a silver coin shell, and no such claim has ever existed."
At that moment, a figure approached the middle-aged man's stall. The person seemed interested in the silver coin shells. After listening to the seller's explanation, the customer's eyes lit up and, without hesitation, bought one. The middle-aged man handed over a tool. The customer opened the shell and immediately showed an expression of surprise and joy. The seller made a subtle shushing gesture. The customer lowered his voice, but the look of happiness on his face remained unchanged.
Ron, turning slightly, had caught the entire scene. With a thought, he began tailing the man.
"Senior Menchi, hold on a moment—I think someone might've actually opened one..."
As he got closer, Ron deliberately bumped into the man. "Bang!"
The man stumbled, and the shell he was holding fell to the ground. "Ding!" A silver coin rolled out from inside.
The man cursed angrily, panicking as he scrambled to recover the coin. Ron noted the appearance of the coin before quickly disappearing. By the time the man looked up, Ron was nowhere in sight.
"What terrible luck."
"Good thing I didn't lose my lucky coin. This is the symbol of my fortune."
Ron returned to the corner and described the silver coin's appearance to Menchi. As she listened, her expression grew serious and heavy.
"That's no silver coin shell," she said.
"And that coin doesn't symbolize luck."
"The true name of that coin is the Cursed Silver Coin. I can't believe someone is pulling this kind of trick again."
"Ron, where are you right now? I'm coming to you."
Ron gave his location.
Just as he ended the call, another one came through. "Big brother, where are you? The food's almost all here!"
"You guys eat first. Something came up over here."
Ron didn't say much. Before long, Menchi arrived, clearly in a rush. Traces of some kind of culinary seasoning still lingered on her clothes—it was obvious she had dropped everything and come straight over, unwilling to waste even a second.
"Ron, where's that person?"
Ron pointed to where the middle-aged man was stationed. More people were approaching his stall to buy shells. Ron noticed that, although the man claimed the chance of finding a silver coin was low, in reality, almost every single buyer ended up with one. This meant the probability was actually one hundred percent. And after obtaining the coins, the buyers all seemed... different somehow.
Menchi stared at the stall with open disgust in her eyes. "Ron, let me handle this."
With that, Menchi walked straight toward the man's stall. "Hello, I want to buy something," she said, her eyes fixed on him.
Without warning, her hand gripped the cooking knife at her waist and, with a lift, swung it directly at the man in a fierce chopping motion. A sharp whooshing sound sliced through the air. The man's pupils shrank violently as he dodged in haste. A light shield formed around him, blocking the attack.
Taking advantage of the moment, the man slipped into the crowd. Menchi immediately gave chase, but there were too many people. Her sudden action had thrown the entire market into chaos as everyone panicked and scattered. Amid the disorder, Menchi lost sight of him. Though she was strong, the man seemed to possess abilities of his own.
Her face darkened. The man, breathing heavily, reached a secluded alley. He glanced behind him, and when he saw that Menchi hadn't caught up, he slapped his chest and let out a sigh of relief, a shadow passing across his face.
"That woman's insane!"
"Good thing I have the power and blessing of the Evil God."
He pulled out a mirror and examined his reflection. Compared to how he looked when running the stall, his appearance had changed dramatically—almost like a different person entirely.
But he didn't notice that, not far away, a figure had been standing there for some time. Ron had used En. The man had received power and abilities, but such rapid enhancement was only force-fed growth. He was lacking in many areas.
He hadn't sensed Ron approaching at all. In Ron's hand was a metal bat. In the next instant, he swung it hard at the back of the man's head.
The man's body stiffened instantly. His eyes rolled back.
He collapsed to the ground without resistance. From start to finish, he hadn't realized Ron was even there.
Ron pulled out his phone. "Senior Menchi, I've got him."
Menchi froze for a second, then sounded overjoyed. "Perfect. Ron, where are you exactly? I'll be right there."
Ron gave her the location. Soon, Menchi arrived, pulling out a rope that clearly wasn't ordinary—it carried Nen aura. It was a Nen tool.
Once she used it to bind the man, he was instantly forced into a Zetsu state, unable to use aura. The effect was similar to Kurapika's Chain Jail.
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