Book 7: Chapter 13: Nostrade

“The Nostrade Family?” Qin Lun looked curiously at Yin.

“Oh, that’s a good suggestion!” Liza thoughtfully nodded. “The Nostrade Family is a newly rising mafia family. The head is Light Nostrade, a relatively famous underworld organization in Yorknew.”

“A local syndicate?” Qin Lun frowned and asked hesitantly. “Do they have the ability to monitor Nen users entering Yorknew City?”

“No, they don’t have that ability!” Yin and Liza smiled at each other, and Yin immediately explained. “However, Light’s daughter, Neon Nostrade, has a special Nen ability. She is a prophet!”

“A prophet?” Qin Lun blinked, looking a bit surprised. “There are Nen users like that?”

“Ha, you didn’t think all Nen users were the combat type, did you!” Liza couldn’t help but laugh. “Nen ability is a magical power. Many outstanding people in the world awaken Nen abilities in their own areas of expertise.”

“Painting, music, games, finance, forging, archaeology… almost every industry’s top talents have a high chance of awakening Nen abilities.” Yin smiled in agreement. “They don’t have combat abilities. However, they can get a Hunter License through special evaluation by the Hunter Association.”

“By the way, I keep hearing you talk about the Hunter License. Is this thing very useful?” Qin Lun’s eyes flashed as he asked casually.

“Yes, the Hunter License is proof issued by the Hunter Association to official Hunters.” Yin flipped his hand, and suddenly a playing card-sized card appeared between his fingers. He handed it to Qin Lun. “This is my Hunter License. You can use it to connect to the Hunter Association’s website. Not only can you accept tasks from the Hunter Association, but you can also buy information there.”

“The Hunter Association includes talents from all aspects. They are also the world’s largest intelligence organization and can provide us with a lot of conveniences.” Liza added with a smile.

Qin Lun curiously took Yin’s Hunter License. He didn’t know what material it was made of. It felt like cold metal in his hand, but it was much lighter than metal, more like a plastic card. On the front was a black and red pattern composed of two X’s. Below was the date Yin joined the Hunter organization and some text descriptions.

“So your idea… is to have Neon predict for us whether there’s any danger in this auction?” Qin Lun looked at it a few times, confirmed it wasn’t a World Treasure, and returned the license to Yin.

“That depends on what type of prophecy ability she has. We’ll only know after we’ve seen it.” Yin spread his hands, shrugged, and said indifferently.

Actually, in his and Liza’s hearts, they didn’t think anything would go wrong with this auction. They just wanted Qin Lun to gain more mission experience, which was why they were faithfully following the complete mission steps.

“I’ll contact them!” Liza took a cell phone from her suit’s inner pocket. Dialing as she spoke, she said, “I had contact with them during a protection job before. Light Nostrade probably won’t refuse our request.”

“Light Nostrade was originally just a small mafia boss. In recent years, he climbed up very quickly thanks to his daughter’s prophecy ability. Now he’s connected with many mafia leaders.” Yin explained with a light laugh. “However, many people are jealous of this. Being able to curry favor with us Shadow Beasts, he’s probably just wishing for it.”

“Yin, you just said there are many special Nen abilities. Then, are there Nen users who focus particularly on control in combat, I mean completely controlling other people…” While Liza was contacting the Nostrade Family, Qin Lun seized the opportunity to ask Yin.

“Of course there are! Haven’t you been listening to the Nen ability lessons for about seven or eight days?” Yin raised an eyebrow, looking amusedly at Qin Lun. “Emission, Conjuration, Manipulation almost all have control methods. For example: Emission can turn Nen into water flow to restrain enemies, use lightning to paralyze opponents; Conjuration can materialize shackles and fetters; Manipulation can turn people into puppets by injecting Nen, etc.”

“I thought that only worked on ordinary people.” Qin Lun’s expression turned somewhat unpleasant as he frowned and asked. “Can high-level ‘Ten’ avoid others’ control?”

“No, ‘Ten’ is actually the most basic level of Nen ability application. Unless there’s a huge difference in strength between two Nen users, just ‘Ten’ alone can’t defend against already materialized control skills.” Yin looked at Qin Lun and said comfortingly. “To deal with materialized control skills, you need high-level Nen application techniques. For example: ‘Shu’, ‘Ken’, ‘En’, and so on.”

“What is…” Qin Lun’s eyes lit up as he was about to continue questioning. Liza in the distance had finished her call and was walking toward them.

“I got in touch with them. We’ll go directly to the Nostrade Family’s hotel here.”

“Let’s go, we’ll talk about it later!” Yin patted Qin Lun’s shoulder and said with a laugh. “First get familiar with the basic techniques of Nen ability, then slowly learn the high-rank application skills later. You’re progressing very fast already, don’t rush. Too much haste makes waste.”

Hearing Yin’s words, Qin Lun had no choice but to nod with a bitter smile. His time really couldn’t be considered ample. Moreover, Yin and Liza probably still didn’t know: since he had followed the plot and been guided to Yorknew City, responsible for the auction’s protection work, then problems were definitely going to occur next. The sooner he learned high-level techniques, the stronger his self-preservation ability would be.

…

“Welcome, honored guests!” When they reached the hotel lobby where the Nostrade Family was staying, a man in a suit and a man in a sweater came forward to greet them. It seemed they recognized Yin and Liza.

“Miss Liza, it’s an honor to see you again!” The man in the suit bowed respectfully. His movements carried the efficiency unique to military personnel. “I am Ivanov, Miss Neon’s bodyguard. This is Dalzollene, the family’s security captain.”

“Ha, I remember you, Ivanov. Thank you for your hospitality last time. Where is Mr. Light?” Liza said with a light laugh. It seemed the two had a pleasant cooperation last time.

“The boss still has some other matters. He instructed us to entertain the three esteemed guests first. He will arrive in Yorknew City the day after tomorrow.” Dalzollene beside Ivanov picked up the conversation.

“I see. Then, could we see Miss Neon first?” Liza frowned slightly.

Ivanov looked somewhat troubled as he glanced at Dalzollene beside him. Actually, matters here were handled by this security captain. Just because he knew Liza, Light Nostrade had instructed him to be responsible for receiving Liza and her two companions.

“Miss Neon is resting right now. I’m afraid you three will have to wait a moment.” Dalzollene pondered for a while before finally nodding cautiously.

“You three haven’t eaten yet, right? Please follow me. Let’s rest for a while first. I think Miss Neon should be awake by then.” After getting Dalzollene’s agreement, Ivanov let out a relieved sigh. A faint smile appeared on his usually taciturn face.

“Then we’ll trouble you.” Liza exchanged a glance with her two companions and followed the two Nostrade Family guards.

“Are you three also participating in the underground auction starting September 1st?” In the hotel café, the atmosphere began to relax. Dalzollene asked with a smile.

Hearing Dalzollene’s words, the three of them each felt a stir in their hearts. They knew Light Nostrade and Ivanov hadn’t revealed their identities. Dalzollene probably didn’t know they belonged to the Shadow Beasts organization.

“No, we are affiliated with the Shadow Beasts. We took on the task of protecting the normal proceeding of the auction.” Yin was quite satisfied with Light Nostrade’s worldliness.

The Nostrade Family also belonged to the mafia organization. During the auction period, they were on the same side. Besides, he just considered this work as an official expense-paid trip. He didn’t plan to hide his identity.

“We want Miss Neon to do a divination regarding the auction’s security.” Liza gave Yin a somewhat reproachful look, clearly displeased with his attitude toward the work. However, since Yin had already exposed their identity, there was no need to hide it anymore.

“Shadow Beasts organization?” Dalzollene’s eyes lit up. As a Nen user, he had of course heard of this famous dark organization.

“The auction starts September 1st?” Just as Dalzollene was making friendly conversation with Liza, Qin Lun suddenly frowned. He checked his Death Notice and looked up to ask Ivanov beside him, “Isn’t today already October 2nd? How can the auction be on September 1st? Is it some kind of code?”

“No, it’s not!” Ivanov was slightly taken aback and said with a serious expression. “Yorknew doesn’t use the Yorbian calendar. The two differ by about a month. The day after tomorrow here is actually September 1st. The auction lasts ten days in total. The first few days auction various rare treasures. The later days will auction the world’s most dreamlike game cards.”

The conversation between Ivanov and Qin Lun quickly caught Yin’s attention.

“The most dreamlike game?” Yin’s eyes lit up, and he immediately pressed Ivanov for details. “It couldn’t be that one, could it!”

“Yes, that one!” Ivanov grinned and nodded affirmatively.

“Which one?” Qin Lun looked at the two speaking in riddles and asked somewhat frustrated.

“I’ll tell you later!” Yin patted the young man’s shoulder amusedly. “That thing is too expensive. We can’t afford it.”

Qin Lun’s face darkened slightly. Looking at Yin’s somewhat annoying smile, his fingers twitched involuntarily. He irritably turned his head away.

On the other side, Dalzollene and Liza’s topic also gradually shifted to the auction.

“Miss Liza, your task this time is quite heavy!” Dalzollene lowered his voice and said cautiously in a soft tone. “Actually, during this period, some organization leaders have already requested divinations from Miss Neon. The divination results weren’t ideal. It seems something might happen during the auction period.”

“Oh, really?” Liza looked at Dalzollene half-believing, half-doubting.

“Yes, the boss specially recruited a group of people to protect Miss Neon because of this.” Dalzollene nodded affirmatively and said with a smile. “Among them are some pretty good Nen users.”

“Oh, could you introduce them?” Qin Lun suddenly turned his head and said with a smile. “We all have the same goal. Perhaps we can assist each other when the time comes.”