The airship landed smoothly at the Tote City airport.
Leo walked out of the terminal and immediately spotted his target in the pickup crowd—a man wearing a black suit and sunglasses.
A dark sedan was parked next to the man, its windows covered with privacy film.
"Mr. Leo?" The man stepped forward to confirm his identity, and after receiving an affirmative reply, he respectfully opened the rear car door.
"Please, get in!"
The vehicle drove out of the airport, not entering the bustling downtown area of Tote City, but instead heading in the direction away from the city center.
The scenery along the way gradually changed from high-rise buildings to a suburban villa area.
In the passenger seat, another man in black turned around and handed over a neatly bound stack of documents.
"Mr. Leo, this is the information we have currently collected on the other party, as well as the data on our own situation. We hope it will be helpful to you."
Leo took it and began to read through it.
The documents were organized very professionally, with text descriptions, photos, and even some blurry, secretly taken images.
He browsed through them quickly, his mind gradually piecing together the outline of the entire incident.
The Colton Family, to which Vivian belonged, was originally a medium-sized Gang in Tote City.
Two months ago, Vivian's father—Old Colton—accidentally obtained an item needed by one of the Ten Dons, and through this, he made a connection.
If things went smoothly, the Colton Family would likely rise to power through this.
But the news leaked.
The rival Gang, the Waldeck Family, was originally slightly stronger than the Colton Family and had been suppressing the Colton Family's development for years.
Upon learning that the Colton Family might rise, the Waldeck Family made a decisive move, launching a bloody ambush on the road while the Colton Family was out.
Old Colton and a portion of the senior management were wiped out; only Vivian, who was late due to some reason, escaped the disaster—she happened to meet Gorenou, who was passing by while she was shopping.
The aftermath was just as Gorenou had recounted: he saved Vivian and was hired as a temporary bodyguard.
The latter part of the document involved those two Nen Users.
After paying a significant price, the Colton Family's intelligence network found a name: "The Purifiers".
This was a mysterious organization that had reached some kind of cooperation with the Waldeck Family—the Waldeck Family secretly captured a large number of homeless people to send to The Purifiers.
And The Purifiers dispatched two members to assist the Waldeck Family in wiping out the remaining forces of the Colton Family.
Regarding the Purifier Organization itself, there was very little information in the documents: the number of members was unknown, their strength level was unknown, and their purpose was unknown.
The only thing certain was that this organization acted in secret.
Leo closed the documents and closed his eyes to ponder.
The Purifier Organization... it had not appeared in the original work. This meant he had lost his "prophet" advantage and could not predict the other party's background and methods.
However, judging from their cooperation with a local Gang like the Waldeck Family, it probably wasn't a top-tier organization—truly powerful Nen User organizations would not look down upon this level of cooperation.
Moreover, since Gorenou was able to injure one of them, it meant that the strength of those two Nen Users was at least within a controllable range.
"When I see Gorenou later, I must ask in detail about the characteristics of those two people's abilities."
Leo planned in his heart, "Only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you formulate countermeasures."
The vehicle continued to drive for about half an hour, finally stopping at the gate of a massive manor.
The manor wall was three meters high, with electric fences and surveillance cameras installed at the top.
The iron gate slowly opened, and the vehicle drove in.
The interior of the manor was more spacious than it looked from the outside.
The main building was a three-story European-style villa, surrounded by auxiliary buildings such as garages, servant quarters, and warehouses.
The meticulously manicured lawns, fountains, and flower beds displayed the owner's former wealth and taste.
But at this moment, a tense atmosphere permeated the manor.
When Leo got out of the car, his gaze quickly swept across the surroundings.
Every twenty meters or so stood an armed guard, with a well-trained hound crouching beside them.
The guards' positions were carefully designed so that they could form crossfire coverage between each other. The surveillance cameras had almost no blind spots.
"The defensive layout is decent," Leo evaluated inwardly, "They are afraid of being killed right on their doorstep."
However, he knew that this level of defense was just a formality to a true Nen User expert—especially an expert who had mastered the Enhancer style.
Someone at the level of Uvogin from the Phantom Troupe could probably barge in and kill everyone in the entire manor, only sustaining some minor flesh wounds.
A man in black came forward and bowed respectfully.
"Mr. Leo, the leader and Mr. Gorenou are already waiting for your arrival in the second-floor conference hall. Please follow me to the conference hall."
Leo nodded and followed the man toward the main villa.
Entering the hall, the interior decoration was luxurious but not overly ostentatious.
The marble floor was reflective, and the crystal chandelier cast warm light.
The stairs were covered with a deep red carpet, and the walls on both sides were hung with some oil paintings—likely the collection from the Colton Family's prime.
While going upstairs, Leo could feel the gazes cast from the shadows.
At least four or five hidden guards were monitoring the movements of the entire building.
At the end of the second-floor corridor was a thick solid wood door.
The man leading the way stopped in front of the door and knocked three times.
"Please come in," a voice came from inside.
The man pushed open the door and stepped aside: "Mr. Leo, please."
Leo stepped in. The conference room was spacious and bright, with a dark solid wood long table occupying the center.
Seated at the head of the table was a blonde woman—Vivian Colton.
She was dressed in a sharply tailored black suit, her long golden hair draped over her shoulders; her face was exquisite, but her eyes carried obvious fatigue and vigilance.
Her hands were folded on the table, her sitting posture upright, revealing a composed temperament that belied her age.
Two black-clad bodyguards stood on each side of the conference table, their figures robust, their hands always placed at their waists in positions easy for drawing guns.
Gorenou stood to Vivian's right, his upper body wrapped in white gauze, with blood faintly seeping through.
Seeing Leo enter, his serious expression softened, and he revealed a smile.
"Thank you for coming, Brother Leo." Gorenou walked forward and shook hands with Leo.
Leo returned the smile: "Since Brother Gorenou thinks highly of me, how could I not come? Am I right? More friends mean more paths."
Gorenou smiled awkwardly, obviously remembering the conversation when the two first met.
He let go of his hand and turned to the side, saying: "You've read the documents, right? Is there anything unclear?"
Leo nodded: "Yes, I have a rough idea. However..." His gaze swept across the four bodyguards on both sides.
Gorenou immediately understood and looked at Vivian.
Vivian's gaze lingered on Leo for a moment, and then she made a gesture.
"You guys go down, don't come in without my orders."
"Understood." The four bodyguards replied in unison, quickly exiting the conference room and closing the door.
Only three people remained in the room.
Leo sat down at the conference table and cut straight to the point.
"Brother Gorenou, tell me in detail about the situation with those two people."
Gorenou's expression became serious.
"The first person should be an Emitter or a Conjurer—he uses a handgun, but what he shoots is not ordinary bullets, but Nen Bullets."
"The power is much greater than conventional firearms, and it has an automatic tracking function. It took me quite some effort to figure out the pattern."
He pointed to the gauze on his left shoulder.
"I activated my Nen Ability and caught him off guard, injuring him."
Gorenou briefly explained his Nen Ability to Leo.
"But just then..." Gorenou turned around, revealing the long bandage on his back that slashed diagonally from his right shoulder to his left waist.
"The second person made a move. He should be an Enhancer, wielding a blade, and his speed is extremely fast."
"Ordinary firearm bullets were all blocked by his blade. Even if one occasionally hit, it didn't cause much damage."
"He had been hiding nearby, waiting for me to attack the gunman before ambushing me from behind. This slash... if I hadn't dodged to the side in time..."
Leo frowned.
"It seems they didn't intend to kill you immediately. Since they could injure you with a blade, if they had coated it with poison, you would have already lost your life."
Gorenou nodded gravely: "I think so too. They held back; they might be trying to capture me alive."
Leo's mind quickly connected the clues—the Waldeck Family providing a large number of homeless people to the Purifier Organization, likely conducting human experiments.
A Nen User with combat experience like Gorenou was indeed an excellent "specimen."
But this also gave them an opportunity.
Gorenou continued.
"Due to the urgency of the situation, Vivian did not issue a public request for bodyguards, fearing that assassins or people from the Waldeck Family might sneak in."
"And I have always been a lone wolf and have no other partners, so for this commission, you are the only help. I hope you can understand!"
"Mm, I understand. I have a rough plan. Brother Gorenou, you have a hunter license, don't you?"
Gorenou nodded.
Then, Leo turned to Vivian.
"Young Miss Vivian, I can solve this trouble, but I need you to agree to one request."
Vivian leaned forward slightly: "Please speak."
"At some point in the future, when I need it, the Colton Family must do one thing for me within their capabilities."
Leo's tone was calm.
"Of course, this matter will not make you too difficult, nor will it exceed your capabilities—if it truly exceeds them, you have the right to refuse."
Vivian was silent for a moment, her eyes beneath her golden hair sharply examining Leo.
"A future request... a very vague promise. If I agree, how can you guarantee that this request won't drag the Colton Family into an irredeemable situation?"
"I cannot guarantee one hundred percent."
Leo said candidly.
"But you can trust my judgment—I will not make a request that would cause your Family to be destroyed, because that would not benefit me either. Moreover, you have the right to refuse."
He added.
"In exchange, I will not only deal with these two Nen Users before us, but I will also help you completely wipe out the threat of the Waldeck Family. Let the Colton Family gain a firm foothold in Tote City."
Vivian's fingertips tapped lightly on the table; this was her habit when thinking.
The room was so quiet that one could hear the faint chirping of birds outside the window.
After a long while, she looked up.
"I can agree. But there are two premises: First, this 'future request' is limited to one time."
"Second, if you fail this time and don't resolve the matter with those two Nen Users, then you need to stay here as my bodyguard for a period of two years."
"For these two years, you cannot leave and must protect the safety of myself and the Colton Family with all your might."
This was a shrewd hedge—succeed, and she pays a future promise; fail, and she gains a powerful bodyguard.
Leo almost didn't hesitate: "No problem. It's a deal."
He reached out his hand.
Vivian stood up and shook his hand. Her hand was cold, but her grip was steady.
The sunlight outside the window filtered through the blinds, casting mottled light and shadows on the conference room carpet.