Chapter 203: That Man's Heartbeat is Called Hope
"Do not rely on others. Use your own actions to change what you wish to change, Halkenburg." Hui Guo Rou looked at the Ninth Prince, his smile fading as he rarely displayed his kingly authority. "Nothing is uglier than a hypocrite who preaches benevolence and morality, understand?"
Facing the pressure of King Hui Guo Rou, the Ninth Prince's forehead was covered in sweat, and his right hand gripping the pistol trembled uncontrollably.
Just as he was about to collapse under the pressure, the belief buried deep in his heart pulled him back.
"I... I will definitely stop the succession war!" The Ninth Prince raised his head, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at Hui Guo Rou before him.
Goodbye, Father!
Bang!
The Ninth Prince pulled the trigger without hesitation, and the gunshot rang out.
Yet Hui Guo Rou remained seated motionless. To the Ninth Prince's astonishment, the bullet stopped in mid-air right before Hui Guo Rou's eyes.
Hui Guo Rou extended two fingers and effortlessly plucked the bullet away.
"Your aim is quite accurate, but it's impossible to kill me with such a toy."
Hui Guo Rou spoke calmly, "Don't worry, I won't punish you or your private soldiers for this. As for the succession war, you cannot stop it. Give up on that idea."
"Is that so?" A resolute smile appeared on the Ninth Prince's face as he turned the gun and aimed it directly at his own temple. "What about this?"
The next moment, without the slightest hesitation, the Ninth Prince pulled the trigger again.
But this time, it still didn't go as he wished.
The bullet stopped one centimeter away from his temple, suspended in mid-air. The one who intervened was the Guardian Spirit Beast perched on his shoulder—the one-eyed Kui Bull.
Hui Guo Rou looked up at the one-eyed Kui Bull, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. "It seems your Nen beast shares my thoughts. Have you come to your senses now?"
Helplessness and despair completely enveloped the Ninth Prince. He could no longer hold onto the gun, and it fell to the ground with a clear clatter.
In this cruel world, the weak cannot even choose how they die.
...
Banquet Hall.
As the members of the Heil-Ly Family died, the chaos gradually subsided.
Just when everyone thought the night's events were over, an unexpected change occurred. Morena and a man wearing a dog-headed mask suddenly appeared beside the Fourth Prince.
Then, in front of everyone, they blew the Fourth Prince's head apart.
Before anyone could recover from the shock, something even more bizarre happened. The memory of the Fourth Prince's body lying in a pool of blood vanished—even the blood disappeared.
It was as if none of what had just happened had ever occurred.
The Fourth Prince stood alive and well on the other side, raising his gun and firing three shots at Morena.
As the ones directly involved, Morena and the dog-headed mask man were even more mentally shaken. They had no time to react, and the masked man could only instinctively shield Morena with his body.
But what followed was an even more intense barrage of fire from the Fourth Prince's private soldiers.
Under the spray of bullets, the dog-headed mask man was riddled with holes like a sieve!
"I... I can no longer protect you..."
The man in the dog-headed mask looked down at Morena in his arms, his mask cracking to reveal a face disfigured by burns.
This extraordinarily ugly man now had eyes filled with sorrow and reluctance.
Morena reached out and closed his eyelids.
"You've done well enough..."
The Fourth Prince Tserriednich looked down at the traitorous Morena, a cruel smile spreading across his face. "Morena, I believe I told you before that I despise women who betray me more than anything in this world."
"From the moment you betrayed me, you should have anticipated this outcome."
The scene of the Fourth Prince personally dealing with the traitor was so brutally violent that even seasoned private soldiers and Hunters accustomed to life and death couldn't bear to watch.
Right before everyone's eyes, Tserriednich peeled off Morena's skin while she was still alive.
Until her last breath, Morena never uttered a single plea for mercy or scream of pain, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on Fourth Prince Tserriednich the entire time.
"Heh heh heh, just handling some family matters. Apologies for the spectacle," Tserriednich casually tossed the eyeball in his hand to the ground, stood up, combed his hair with blood-stained hands, and smiled at the crowd.
That smile sent chills down everyone's spine.
Meanwhile, the doubt in everyone's hearts remained unresolved—they had all clearly witnessed the Fourth Prince should have been dead moments earlier. The banquet hall was deathly silent.
"Clap! Clap! Clap!"
Just then, a series of applause broke the stillness.
All eyes turned toward the source of the applause—the direction of the Twelfth Prince's seating.
"Quite a performance."
Mord's lips curved into a slight smile.
Among all the Nen abilities on this ship, the one he desired most was the Fourth Prince Tserriednich's "Instant Ten Seconds"—an ability that touched upon the laws of time itself.
Everyone watched Mord, awaiting his next move.
"Tenth Prince, Eleventh Prince, no need to hurry away." Mord's suddenly raised voice stopped Kacho, Fugetsu, Melody and their group who had quietly reached the entrance unnoticed. "I know your original plan was to escape to the lifeboats during tonight's musical banquet and completely flee this succession war. But your plan was doomed from the start. From the moment you signed the Pot Egg Vow, you could never escape this fate. There's only one outcome for those who try to leave this ship—death."
Mord paused here, turning to look toward where King Hui Guo Rou of Kakin was seated.
"Am I right, Hui Guo Rou?"
As these words fell, King Hui Guo Rou slowly emerged from the private room, followed by a despondent Ninth Prince.
"Is what he said true, Father?" Kacho demanded loudly.
"He's correct." Hui Guo Rou first glanced at Momoze, then fixed his gaze intently on Mord, speaking in a heavy tone. "Why do you know so much about the Pot Egg ceremony? Where is Momoze's Guardian Spirit Beast? What exactly are you trying to accomplish?!"
"I'm here to end your Kakin Kingdom's thousand-year-long destiny." Mord replied with a laugh.
At Mord's words, everyone present paled dramatically.
King Hui Guo Rou of Kakin's face turned extremely grim as he stared fixedly at the man before him, trying to discern something from his expression.
He wanted to know exactly how much this man was aware of.
The other princes also wore unpleasant expressions, though they interpreted the words differently.
To their ears, Mord was declaring his intention to support Momoze as the next ruler of Kakin.
This was something they could not tolerate.
The First Prince Benjamin's face flushed with rage. Mord had previously killed members of his private army, creating enmity between them, leaving no room for pleasantries now.
When enemies meet, their eyes blaze with hatred.
The First Prince roared angrily, "How dare you boast that a single person like you could influence the succession to the throne? Let's see what you're really made of!"
The Fourth Prince sneered repeatedly, chuckling darkly, "Hey, kid! You're finished! Offending the First Prince means certain death!"
Even in such a moment, Tserriednich couldn't resist making a sarcastic remark about Benjamin.
The others all stared coldly at Mord, looking at him as if he were already dead. In contrast, Melody actually pulled Kacho and Fugetsu toward Mord's side.
"Melody, have you gone mad? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"Please trust me, Tenth Prince, Eleventh Prince," Melody looked up at the Kacho sisters and said earnestly. "That man's heartbeat... it's called hope."
Observing everyone's reactions, Mord smiled.
"Just a bunch of pitiful pawns. Come at me all together."
"Given face but refusing to take it—do they really think we're afraid of him? He's clearly tired of living," the Third Prince muttered under his breath.
He had been waiting for the First Prince and Mord to fight to the death so he could reap the rewards.
The Third Prince wasn't the only one with similar thoughts, but now that Mord had issued this challenge, they could no longer remain uninvolved.
The First Prince Benjamin understood his brothers' intentions all too well. He took a step forward, his face filled with disdain.
"Since you're seeking death, I'll grant your wish."
With a wave of his right hand, the First Prince mobilized his entire private army!
The moment his words fell, four figures charged fiercely toward Mord.
For these soldiers who only followed orders, there was no concept of unfair advantage in numbers.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Before they even reached him, Nen bullets infused with aura arrived first.
Three Nen bullets tore through the air, aimed directly at three vital points on Mord's body.
The other three soldiers surrounded Mord from different directions, each unleashing their killing techniques with the intent to finish him in one strike and avoid unnecessary effort.
Even a lion uses full strength to catch a rabbit—this was the philosophy the First Prince Benjamin had always instilled in them.
Mord shook his head slightly, a faint smile on his lips. Facing the killing moves of the four private soldiers, he didn't move his feet but suddenly threw a punch forward!
A terrifying shockwave tore through the air. The four private soldiers' faces contorted in horror, but before they could react, they were swallowed by the shockwave.
Bzzzt—
Only then did the people in the banquet hall hear the violent tremor of air.
When they looked up, they saw the four private soldiers' bodies explode into bloody rain that splattered across the floor.
Not even their corpses remained intact!
"...Is this... Vincent's Vacuum Fist?"
Someone behind the First Prince recognized that Mord's punch just now was the same ability as Vincent, who also belonged to the First Prince's private soldiers and had previously died while carrying out the mission to assassinate the Fourteenth Prince.
But was Vincent's Void Fist really this powerful?
The First Prince, Benjamin, knew the power of the Void Fist best. Due to his Nen Ability, "Inheritor of the Stars," he himself could use the Void Fist.
Mord's Void Fist was nothing like what he understood.
"How... how is this possible?" Benjamin murmured in disbelief.
Although the First Prince had lost four of his most capable subordinates, the other princes found no joy in it at this moment.
They stared blankly at Mord, their eyes filled with immense fear. A chill surged from the soles of their feet, rising straight up and piercing their hearts.
Only at this moment did they realize that Mord's words were true.
The princes suddenly recalled the phone call from a few days ago, which had been broadcast directly to the public channel shared by all the princes.
"Those who want to quickly learn Nen Abilities, come to the Twelfth District to find me."
"Those who want to escape this Succession War, come to the Twelfth District to find me."
"Those who want to reach the top in this Succession War, come to the Twelfth District to find me."
At the time, everyone had thought it was the ravings of a madman, just as they had all believed Mord was doomed moments ago.
But reality was now slapping them hard in the face.
Some of them couldn't help but wonder: if they had personally sought out Mord back then, would the outcome today have been different?
The Third Prince shook his head.
The past was beyond retrieval; what was missed was missed.
The Third Prince cast aside the faint regret in his heart, and his gaze gradually grew resolute. He, too, had his own trump card.
If it were that group of people, they might not be inferior to Mord.
However, from the start of the banquet until now, that group had vanished without a trace, which made him somewhat uneasy.
At this moment, the Seventh Prince shared the same thought.
And they both knew clearly that those people had come precisely for the man before them.
"At a time like this, are you still thinking of standing by and watching? If I die, you'll be next!" the First Prince Benjamin roared loudly. A powerful aura burst forth from him, tearing his upper garment to shreds and revealing his solid, muscular physique.
"We are willing to die for the First Prince!"
The few remaining private soldiers behind Benjamin shouted in unison, each wearing an expression of fearless determination.
The other princes were not fools; they knew Benjamin spoke the truth.
With Mord's assistance, the Twelfth Prince had now become their greatest competitor. Under such circumstances, even the Second Prince Camilla and the Fourth Prince Tserriednich, who were most at odds with Benjamin, dispatched their private soldiers to attack Mord.
In an instant, dozens of people charged toward Mord.
Behind Mord.
Faced with such a scene, Fugetsu trembled all over, so unsteady on her feet that she had to rely on Melody and Kacho for support. Though Kacho kept comforting her younger sister, her own trembling hands betrayed her.
Kacho was merely putting on a brave face. At that moment, she glanced at Momoze not far away and, seeing the other's calm expression, showed a puzzled look.
"Aren't you afraid?"
Hearing the voice, Momoze turned her head to look at Kacho and the others, shaking her head.
"I believe in Lord Mord."
After saying this, Momoze once again fixed her gaze on the man before her.
Kacho looked into Momoze's eyes and saw a light called hope shining within them.
Following Momoze's line of sight, Kacho looked at the man's back and, for some reason, inexplicably felt a sense of reassurance.
She finally began to understand what Melody had said earlier.