Book 7: Chapter 19: The Last Day

Qin Lun, who was pointing the gun at Kurapika, did not relax his expression at all. With a twitch of his finger, the muzzle of Angel’s Praise spat out a flash of light again.

“Bang!” The pure white bullet brushed past the boy’s forehead, and a strand of golden hair drifted in the wind. Kurapika leaned his upper body back, pushed hard against the ground with both hands, and slid under Qin Lun like a skateboard. He kicked fiercely at the young man’s supporting leg.

A gleam flashed in Qin Lun’s eyes. As his ankle was kicked, he used the force to leap forward, flying over the boy’s body. With one hand bracing against the ground, he turned mid-air and fired another “bang” of a shot.

Kurapika seemed to have expected Qin Lun to attack from behind. He quickly blocked with a short knife behind his back, just in time to take the bullet.

“Clang!” Although he blocked the bullet, the huge impact still made the boy stagger forward a few steps.

Kurapika cautiously dove to the side and rolled, intending to avoid Qin Lun’s follow-up attack. However, to his surprise, no more gunshots came from behind.

“Shooting combined with combat—that’s my fighting style!” Qin Lun said with a laugh as he watched Kurapika stand up again. “Let’s stop here. If we continue, someone might get hurt.”

“Mhm!” Kurapika nodded gently and threw one of his short knives to the ground. This ordinary short knife had blocked two bullets, and its blade was broken.

Kurapika looked quietly at Qin Lun. A trickle of blood suddenly dripped from under his bangs—a wound caused by the bullet’s gust of wind earlier. “Why didn’t you attach your initial Nen Ability to the bullet just now? If you had attached that unicorn charge attack at close range, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to dodge it.”

“There’s a time limit. That ability can’t be used anytime.” Qin Lun smiled. He wasn’t lying; the spirit attack of Burial of Light and Darkness did have certain restrictions, and the Artifact Spirit needed time to accumulate energy.

“What about you? Why didn’t you use the chain on your right hand? That’s your real Nen Ability, right?” Qin Lun pointed at the chain finger cover on Kurapika’s right hand.

“Please forgive me. Before dealing with the Troupe, I don’t want others to know the abilities of these chains.” Kurapika bowed slightly and said sincerely.

“That’s fine. It’s only natural.” Qin Lun smiled and waved his hand, then turned to look at the horizon. “It’s getting light.”

Kurapika and Melody turned to look into the distance, where a round sun was slowly rising, painting the sky in fiery red. Seeing this sunrise, the three quickly realized that a new day had begun, and only the last day remained before the Auction started.

…

“His explosive power is a bit worse than mine. His agility is about the same as mine. Constitution is unclear. Perception has some gap compared to mine; he probably doesn’t have a sensory-type Nen Ability. Body protection is stronger than mine.” Qin Lun walked towards his room, his eyes somewhat dazed, lost in thought.

“However, at that moment when I almost shot him in the head…” Qin Lun’s steps paused slightly. At that time, he had sensed a powerful energy field.

The source of a Nen user’s Nen is Life Energy, but for Qin Lun, it was his Stamina Points. In fact, after Joey’s killing intent was transformed into Nen, Qin Lun’s physical attributes increased in two areas: one was Mental Will, and the other was Stamina Points.

Mental Will increased by a full seven points, and Stamina Points broke through from 810 to 930. But that wasn’t Qin Lun’s biggest gain. His greatest gain was that incomplete Nen Ability—Blood of Dissection.

Blood of Dissection was actually a variant of Heart of Slaughter. Besides forming something similar to a Nen Ability’s “Hatsu,” when activated, Blood of Dissection would also increase the Protection of the Law Body, enhance Constitution, and achieve some of the effects of “Ten” and “Ren.”

Compared to physical attributes, what Qin Lun felt from Kurapika was a vast Life Energy. Although it was only for a brief moment, he still experienced that tsunami-like impact. Converted into Stamina Points, it was at least several times his own.

If Kurapika had already fully developed his Life Energy into a mature Nen Ability, then his hidden combat power could possibly be one tier higher than Qin Lun’s.

Thinking of this, Qin Lun sighed softly. Nen users like Kurapika were truly blessed by heaven. From their earlier fight, he could tell the boy didn’t have much practical experience. If Qin Lun hadn’t stopped voluntarily, Kurapika would have definitely lost—after all, Qin Lun hadn’t even used Clock Eye.

This also showed that Kurapika lacked enough life-and-death trials and cultivation accumulation. Even if he had formed a mature Nen Ability, it was entirely thanks to the originally massive Life Energy within him. In other words, he was a young genius with high Nen talent.

“Qin Lun, where have you been? Hurry up, we need to go.” Lost in thought, Qin Lun reached his room door and found Yin and Liza waiting for him there.

“Go?” Qin Lun hadn’t fully come out of his contemplation and looked up somewhat dazedly.

“Why stay? We’ve already got the divination result.” Yin looked at the young man somewhat puzzledly.

“Oh, right! Then where are we going?” Qin Lun rubbed his nose and asked with a dry laugh.

“Meet up early with the Ten Dons’ direct Shadow Beasts unit. They’ve arrived too.” Liza said with a grave expression. “We passed the message to the representatives sent by the Ten Dons last night. They seemed to have also learned about the Phantom Troupe’s upcoming attack from other Mafia bosses. They plan to gather personnel to protect the Auction venue.”

“Gather personnel?” Qin Lun’s pupils contracted. After a moment’s thought, he looked up and asked, “Yin, our mission is to patrol Yorknew City for enemy traces, right? Can we stay on the periphery of the venue?”

“Staying on the periphery is possible, but the Ten Dons are the employers of this mission after all. If we don’t follow orders, they might deduct our mission points.” Yin and Liza exchanged a glance and reminded him cautiously.

“The enemy this time is very powerful. You saw the divination result too. If we go to the venue, there’s a high chance of life-threatening danger.” Qin Lun said with a smile. “If mission points get deducted, so be it. It’s not worth risking our lives for them. Besides, Neon Nostrade is also very important. In a critical situation, we could ask her to do another divination…”

“Well… how about this: you stay on the periphery, and the two of us will go to the venue. Inform us immediately if anything happens.” Yin frowned but quickly made a decision.

“Are you sure you want to go?” Qin Lun sighed. “This mission is mainly to assess me. You don’t really need to worry about the mission points.”

“It’s fine. Let’s just keep in touch!” Yin threw a look at Liza, and the two left quickly with somewhat strange expressions. They could see Qin Lun was determined not to go and didn’t try to persuade him further.

“That brat, for a woman, he just abandons the mission.” After leaving the hotel where the Nostrade Family was staying, Yin said indignantly, though a slight smile tugged at his lips.

“Hee hee, he lived in Meteor Street for so many years. As soon as he came out, he met a little enchantress. Of course, he’s gotten a taste for it now.” Liza covered her mouth and laughed.

The two obviously knew about Qin Lun’s romantic encounter last night and thought he was captivated by Baise, which was why they didn’t press him further.

“It’s just that Neon’s Divination Poem told us to stick close to the ‘darkness.’ When the Auction starts tomorrow, we should try to inform Qin Lun about the Shadow Beasts’ movements. Don’t let him get too far from us, lest he encounter danger we can’t rescue him from.”

Liza added with a laugh. Through analysis and comparison, they believed the “darkness” mentioned in the Divination Poem could only refer to the Ten Dons’ Shadow Beasts unit.

After Yin and Liza left, a trace of regret appeared in Qin Lun’s expression. These two had been quite good to him. It was a pity he couldn’t tell them his judgment, as it involved the hints of the Main Quest.

Combining the Main Quest content with the hints from the Divination Poem, Qin Lun had a vague feeling that the “darkness” referred to himself.

In reality, no matter which faction he joined, he wouldn’t appear during the Phantom Troupe’s first assault on the Auction. In other words, Qin Lun wouldn’t be at the Auction venue. Only by following him could Yin and Liza be sure to avoid life-threatening danger; otherwise, it was hard to say.

“Forget it, I’ll remind them when the time comes!” Qin Lun shook his head, dismissed his distracting thoughts, and checked a prompt message that had just appeared in the Death Notice.

“Dark Sonata?” Qin Lun’s eyes glinted as he looked at the newly appeared Side Plot and stroked his chin.

This hidden Side Plot was obtained from Melody. The task reward was high, and it could even increase mission evaluation by one tier. However, Qin Lun knew he couldn’t pursue this hidden plotline.

First, there were no clues. Given his relationship with Melody, unless they became life-and-death comrades through the Main Plotline, it was unlikely to go further. Second, the danger level of this Main Plotline was extremely high; he didn’t have the energy to handle this side plot as well.

“One more day to prepare!” A sharp light flashed in Qin Lun’s eyes as he slowly walked towards the elevator…

Yorknew local time, August 30th. As the Auction approached, Yorknew City became even more bustling. Even the suburban flea markets were packed with crowds. This wasn’t the official Auction venue. The stalls had many handicrafts and antiques, but more were fakes and counterfeits—it all depended on one’s discernment.

“Ah, I want this, and that one too…” Neon clapped her hands happily, directing the maid Arissa to sweep through goods in the general store. Behind them, Basho and Kurapika were buried under large and small shopping bags, their heads almost invisible.

Having been cooped up in the hotel all day, Dalzollene finally couldn’t withstand Neon’s willfulness and had to agree to let the Nostrade Family’s young lady out for some fresh air.

However, for safety’s sake, besides Neon and the maid Arissa, he also sent Kurapika and the other male bodyguards to follow. Baise, Melody, and the others stayed at the hotel.