The boss's double responds with a yes to my firm command before hanging up the phone, and during the next few minutes, my own doppelganger and I prepare ourselves in anticipation of the arrival of the ringleaders of this kidnappings operation.
This includes cleaning my right arm, still covered in the manager's blood and flesh, splinting my fractured right arm, trying to calm the frightened prisoners by assuring them of our good intentions to take them back home, and of course, preparing the performance I will put on to coerce the leader and his henchmen into revealing the method to undo the Nen barrier.
While I practice the strategy and acting I'm going to follow with my double playing the criminal leader, we both suddenly hear the large warehouse gate opening, and peeking out from behind a column, we see Riven next to Kai's doppelganger dragging a group of six men, including the leader I remember from the first timeline.
"There they are. It's time to take action. Let's move." I whisper, coming out from behind the column while my double remains hidden.
As I get closer to them, Kai's doppelganger, who is keeping the thugs under control with his Barrier Orb, releases the one I recognize as the leader who shot me on my first attempt and throws him to the ground in front of me.
"Since he's the only one whose aura flow remained closed instead of leaking, I assume he's the leader you were looking for. I heard the others call him Kreed." Kai's doppelganger says.
"What happened to the other members scattered around the place?" I ask, trying to sound as serious as possible.
"Those we didn't kill in our initial intrusion have been subdued and tied up. We didn't allow any of them to escape." Riven answers.
"Well, you heard it. We've taken you all down, all your business plans have been thwarted, and you're headed for a life of rotting in prison."
"You've certainly had a very bad day. Though nowhere near as awful as the ones those poor souls you used and sold like toys have to endure right now." I say, looking down at him, not trying to hide the hate and revulsion in my tone.
"It's over. You're not getting away this time, so abandon any futile attempt at resistance and cooperate. It will be much better for you if you do as I say."
The man tries to get back up and looks up at me with a defiant look and smile still on his face. "Kid, you have no idea who you've messed with. You think you've finished us off just by attacking this base of operations? Don't make me laugh."
"You haven't managed to stop anything. Kidnappings and trafficking won't stop. You haven't achieved anything with your little game of the brave hero, and I'm not going to say a shit to you. The only thing I'll give you is this!"
Standing upright but still kneeling on the ground, Kreed pulls a hidden pistol from his sock and tries to shoot me directly in the face, but Kai doppelganger creates a barrier out of his orb that stops the shoots and then traps Kreed once again with it.
He writhes, trying unsuccessfully to free himself from the restraint, and although the sudden gunshots startled me, I try to calm my nerves again and return to my role.
"That was quite pathetic. You're incapable of assessing the situation you're in and try to deny your defeat with a desperate, pointless attack. I'd feel sorry for you if I didn't know you were a complete piece of trash with no moral qualms about harming or taking advantage of innocent people to line your pockets." I declare with disdain despite being startled by the gunshots.
"Fuck you, you son of a bitch! Having defeated these bunch of useless subordinates doesn't mean a shit!" Kreed shouts in a fit of rage, still unwilling to yield.
"Do you know who the Ten Dons are?! They are the underworld bosses who rule across the 6 continents from the shadows! Their influence and contacts extend everywhere, even to the government, and our company has their backing!"
"Furthermore, they have sent us one of the Shadow Beasts, their most powerful group within the Mafia Community, to guard this place!"
"It's only a matter of time before Fish gets here, and when he finds you, he'll put you through hell! You're all three dead!"
"Fish? Was that guy's name? You don't have to wait, he's already here." I state, pointing my finger in his direction.
Upon laying his eyes on the corpse of his supposed guardian lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, Freed's previous confidence crumbles, giving way to despair.
And he's not the only one affected: his henchmen are horrified to see that the trump card that was going to rescue them has been eliminated, and Riven also abandons his serious demeanor for a moment to express his discomfort at the disturbing scene.
Even I feel upset when I look again at the evidence of my first murder, feelings of fear and torment returning to me as I recall the incident.
Nonetheless, when I see boss Kai's doppelganger give me an encouraging nod, I regain my composure and crouch down to speak at Kreed eye level, trying to put on an intimidating expression as I restart the conversation.
"As you can see, we have already dealt with that powerful Shadow Beast in which you had placed your hopes of being freed."
"It's true he was quite problematic to deal with, as you can see, but in the end I was able to handle him." I say, drawing attention to my splinted arm.
"You have no options left. No one else is coming to get you out of this, so do us all a favor and end this futile resistance. It will be less painful for you if you cooperate."
Ignoring my warnings, Kreed spits in my face before resuming his yelling. "You arrogant little brat! Do you have any idea what you've done?! The Shadow Beasts serve the Ten Dons! I don't know who you think you are, but you've just put yourself and everyone else on the mafia's hit list! You've condemned us all to—!"
Kreed doesn't have time to continue rambling and complaining as I tightly grab the wrist of the hand with which he holds the gun and begin to exude my Ren, tinged with rage and harmful intentions, before following the transmitted script.
"It seems you still refuse to understand. The Shadow Beast, the Ten Dons, or the Mafia Community mean nothing to us. They aren't the problem you should be worried about right now. What you should really fear right now is us."
Maintaining my grip tight, I hesitate for a few seconds about whether to do it, but I swallow and in one movement, I fracture Kreed's wrist.
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!" Kreed's scream of pain echoes throughout the warehouse.
"We know very well who we are. We're Hunters, and we have a mission to unravel your operation and bring these women to safety. And for that, you have to spit out everything about your operation details and your ability." I say, my eyes cold and determined.
"If you still don't accept to cooperate, then we are going to have a hell of a time torturing you nice and slow for days until we get the information out of you. Do you understand?"
Kreed glares at me, frightened, feeling the malicious intent that I transmit in my aura, and seeing no way out, he finally drops his weapon and raises his good hand in defeat.
After this, he finally starts to share everything he knows about this place, detailing the movements of his operation in recent months and talking about his Nen ability to keep women captive, including how to disable it.
Obviously, I don't just trust the words of a human trafficker with no moral ethics, so I conjure my Nen tablet and use my Data Collection and Processing ability not only on him, but also on his subordinates to find out if what he says is true and if he is hiding something.
It was a little difficult at first because he still put up some resistance, but a little persuasion from Kai's doppelganger finally made him give in, discovering that despite telling the truth about the Nen ability and the gang's movements, Kreed was still hiding things like the evidence from a secret compartment he had in his office.
Once all the secrets are revealed, I and the rest tie up the criminals before setting to free the mistreated prisoners from their cages, starting with the mission objective, Catherine Belster.
"Calm down, miss Catherine, it's over now. Those men who kidnapped you and the others will get what they deserve. That's why we're here." I say, entering her cage and extending my hand to her. "There is nothing left to fear. You can go home now."
Catherine Belster hesitates for a moment, distrustful of me, but with tears forming in her eyes she takes my hand and finally leaves free with me from the cage that had meant the end for both of us in the first timeline.
With the method for freeing the prisoners secured and Kreed and the other criminals apprehended, we are ready to hand the members of the traffic operation over to the local authorities.
So, after freeing all the prisoners from captivity and gathering all the evidence, we call them, and while waiting for them to arrive, the four of us take care of the badly injured and traumatized women.
A couple of hours later.
The thermal power plant is surrounded by police cars and ambulances with their sirens blaring.
The police in their uniforms quickly burst in with their weapons raised, pointing them at the subordinates scattered and tied up throughout the whole facility, and when they come across us while we are looking after the prisoners, we obey their instructions without resistance and then proceed to explain the situation to them.
After clearing things up and leaving the warehouse so that the paramedics could provide medical care to the women in poor condition, I hand the criminal leader and his direct subordinates over, providing all the evidence we had gathered of their illegal activities.
"Oh, it's actually quite surprising. We have spent months trying to identify and locate the perpetrators of these kidnappings, and you rookies actually made it in only a few weeks. How did you gather that data so fast?" The police officer to whom I hand over the files asks.
"Sorry, that's a trade secret." I respond mischievously.
"Enough with the pleasantries. How much did we make for this successful capture?"
"Well, looking over the report, 37 criminals were captured successfully, with at least 13 of them having bounties on their heads across the continent, you got back several stolen goods and even provided evidence detailing their criminal operations." The police officer in charge begins to detail.
"In addition to that, there is also the rescue of the 20 missing persons victims, discounting the two victims who were killed during the intrusion. Taking all of this into account, I will give you an A for this Hunter work."
Despite the high rating on my first job as a Blacklist Hunter, I can't help but feel dejected by the agent's comment about the two women the Shadow Beast member murdered while trying to shoot me by surprise.
"So you will get 500.000 jenny paid off by the central office, plus an additional amount for the rewards from the criminals and missing victims, which should be around 200.000 jenny. It will be transferred to your agency account within one week." The police officer says to me.
"Alright, thanks. We'll wait to receive it soon. Call us if you need us to take on another assignment that may suddenly appear." I say.
"We'll take your company into account. Before you leave, we would like you to sign some forms giving your statement regarding the events and contact information in case we need to consult anything about the case. We will hand it over as soon as we can confirm the well-being of the victims, so please wait a little longer." The officer in charge requests with a respectful bow.
"Okay, I'll wait. Go with your coworkers and take care of the young ladies." I reply to the officer, who says goodbye and then joins the rest of his agents in taking statements from the victims.
For my part, I stand there in the middle of all the commotion, thinking about the death of the two innocent civilians and the murder I have carried out, unable to stop myself from racking my brain with guilt and wondering if I could have done better, with more prior preparation and more care at the time of execution.
"Don't bother thinking so hard about it. It won't make any difference." Kai doppelganger says, approaching me from behind along with my own doppelganger and Riven.
"You embarked on a very dangerous mission, and people have died on the way. These things happen all the time in this profession. You can't try to change that again, and obsessing over it won't do you any good."
"The best thing you can do to get over it is to rejoice in the fact that you managed to accomplish the goals you set for this mission, learn from the experience, and try to do better so that there are no deaths of bystanders next time."
"Kai's double is right, Nicholas. You've done a great job leading us on this mission. Especially when you confronted that despicable crime boss." Riven states beside him, trying to cheer me up.
"Yes, that's true. I was also amazed that you could wield such authority and pressure, especially given how affected you were by that guy's murder." Kai's doppelganger also praises me.
"Well, the truth is that I didn't do it entirely alone." I declare, scratching my cheek, a little embarrassed by their compliments.
Riven and Kai's doppelganger become somewhat confused until my doppelganger speaks up. "I kept feeding him information and encouraging him through an earpiece throughout the entire interrogation. He needed someone to support him in convincing that unprincipled man to talk."
"You are quite a shrewd fellow, aren't you, Nicholas? You've truly worked hard for the success of this mission, and that is why you shouldn't obsess over it." Kai's doppelganger speaks again, almost having completely soothed my sorrows.
"You've done a great job here, Nicholas, that's the true, and I know Kai will be very proud when you tell him. But this is just the beginning."
"In the future, you'll face far more complicated situations than this, with Nen powers much more troublesome than those you have faced, and you won't be able to solve them simply by fighting."
"To succeed without betraying yourself or Kai, you both must remain true to your personal beliefs, and continue learning, improving and connecting with others so you can thrive in this industry without being destroyed by what you encounter along the way."
"You two are Hunters, and that is your inescapable duty if you want to survive."
With that last statement, my last vestiges of doubt and remorse fade away as a satisfied smile adorns my face. "Thank you, boss. You've really helped me a lot this time too."
"I already told you not to call me boss. I'm just his double, so just call me Kai." He retorts somewhat irked, making the rest of us laugh.
As everything is sum up, I can't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. With the gang's capture, I have not only fullfiled the assignment boss Kai had given me and rescued the kidnapping victims, but also helped prevent those guys from kidnapping anyone else.
Even if there had been some stumbles along the way, my teammates on this occasion are right that I should be proud of my successes and avoid dwelling on my failures in order to continue growing as a Hunter.
The week and a half of preparation, compiling and reviewing files and witnesses throughout the city, had prepared us well, but I know that the true tests are yet to come.
With the mission complete and the kidnapped girls recovered by the police and the ambulances, I sign the forms that the police officers request me and make my way back to the hotel together Riven and the doppelgangers in preparation for receiving the boss and resume our journey to Glam Gas Land.
Kai's doppelganger was right. We are Hunters, and we must continue to strive for our work.