Conrad looked at the three Nen users and his target, Aresto, as a calm yet far-from-kind smile appeared on his face. He did not need to make much effort to understand what the men before him were feeling or thinking.
Their faces had turned completely pale. They looked less like people confronting another human and more like wild animals facing a predator.
A few seconds later, Miladi began speaking. His voice was anxious and uncertain.
"I... don't know what kind of problem you have with us."
"But I'm sure we can resolve it. There's no need for hostility..." he said.
At the same time, Tatris, Ridlef, and especially Aresto rapidly nodded in agreement.
They were currently in a strange situation.
Especially Tatris, Ridlef, and Miladi were experiencing something completely unexpected.
The idea that another Nen user could be this dangerous, that someone could release an aura oppressive enough to suppress them to this degree, was not something they had ever hoped to experience in their lives.
To be honest, this encounter had also reminded them of just how small they truly were.
"Hmmm. That's quite a strange offer," Conrad said.
"Why should I need some kind of reason to destroy you?" he asked innocently, as though he were saying something completely normal.
Miladi and the others froze momentarily. They did not know what to say.
"Why are you all so surprised?" Conrad asked.
"After all, the Quarmir Family is a mafia family. You earn your money, your lives, and your luxury by crushing other people—sometimes killing them, ruining them, poisoning them, completely through intimidation and similar actions."
"After behaving like that, what exactly could you say to someone who came here to treat you the same way? What kind of explanation could you possibly offer?" he added.
Aresto, especially after hearing those words, could not stop his expression from souring for a brief moment.
For less than a few seconds, his ego and the inner source of his desire for power revealed themselves.
As a mafia leader, he did not care about morality in the slightest. He believed other people existed to serve him, and if he needed to live a better life, then sacrificing others was perfectly normal.
But it did not take long for him to understand his current situation and force himself back into a calmer attitude.
Miladi, Ridlef, and Tatris, however, were experiencing different emotions entirely. As Nen users, their perspective on such matters differed somewhat from ordinary moral standards.
To be honest, Conrad's words applied to all three of them as well, and they realized there were no extra words they could use to escape from that truth.
"To be honest..." Miladi began.
"I don't know what I can even say to that," he admitted.
That was genuinely how he felt.
Conrad was operating under a simple universal rule:
If you aim to kill others, then you must also be prepared to be killed yourself.
If you involve yourself in mafia business and live within the underworld—if you actively steal, kill, and crush others—then another person wanting to do the same to you was simply natural selection.
There was no meaningful moral argument against it.
"So."
"That's why, honestly, killing all of you seems more like doing this world a favor."
The moment those words ended, Miladi, Tatris, and Ridlef were overwhelmed by a strange wave of emotion in less than a second.
"Wa—" Tatris was about to speak when Conrad suddenly appeared beside him with his cane already in motion.
With a single swing, Conrad slammed a brutal strike into Tatris's neck.
Even though Tatris was a Nen user, the difference between them was so overwhelming that he could not stop his neck from collapsing inward and breaking.
Tatris was sent flying directly into the right wall of the shelter and crashed into it.
A few seconds later, Ridlef attempted to activate one of the mirrors he had prepared inside the shelter to teleport away.
But Conrad vanished again.
When he reappeared, he was directly above Ridlef.
Holding the cane with both hands, Conrad brought it down from above and crushed Ridlef's skull without hesitation.
Immediately afterward, he focused on Miladi and activated Blink once more.
Appearing beside him, Conrad first distracted Miladi with an upward kick before casually following up with a simple karate strike that sent Miladi's head flying off.
This entire battle—
No, it was not even a battle.
This execution, this massacre, had taken only around two seconds.
Conrad turned his eyes toward Aresto and smiled faintly.
"If you do as I say, you might still have a chance to live."
Aresto took a deep breath.
It felt as though he had been granted a second life.
He had already recovered from the shock and no longer cared about his dead bodyguards.
The only thing he could focus on was the possibility that he might still survive.
For him, that was the best possible outcome.
Conrad smiled and pulled a document from the small pouch at his waist.
"Sign these papers."
"I want every resource you own, all of your assets, transferred here. If you have any hidden resources, I want information about those as well."
"Don't be stupid."
"You know Nen users possess many kinds of abilities. If you lie or try to pull some trick, I'll know," he said.
Aresto nodded and immediately began signing every document using the pen Conrad handed him.
Afterward, he left the shelter together with Conrad and began making phone calls, transferring all of his money into Conrad's companies.
Conrad looked into Aresto's eyes and smiled.
"At least you don't have a problem following orders," he said mockingly.
Aresto simply laughed and nodded.
At this point, none of his arrogance remained.
His life rested in the hands of the man standing before him.
Pride would only get him killed now—
and he did not want to die.
Money and resources could always be regained.
Death, however, was an absolute end for him.