After speaking, Kaizen stood, placed the coffee spoon in front of the young man, and walked out of the café.
The young man glanced at the spoon lying on the table.
It was bent completely out of shape.
When the waiter had brought it earlier, it had been perfectly intact.
No ordinary person could have done this.
"Who is that guy?"
The young man looked toward the café door, but Kaizen's figure had already vanished.
"Sir," he said, returning to the middle-aged woman at a nearby table.
"Well?" she asked without looking up.
"That boy is no ordinary person. He noticed me."
The young man placed the spoon on the table.
"He also left me a warning."
The middle-aged woman's expression hardened as her eyes darted to the bent spoon.
"I see," she said after a moment. "Let's leave it at that. No further contact."
"What about Melina?"
"Let it go," the woman replied. "The boy's strength is impressive for his age, and his background is undoubtedly significant. It's not a bad thing for Melina to befriend someone like him.
"Remember, this isn't the Kakin Empire. The world out here is vast."
In the Kakin Empire, the royal family sat at the pinnacle of society, their authority absolute.
But outside its borders, things were different.
The V5, the Hunter Association, global syndicates, Heavens Arena—these powers rivaled even the Kakin royal family.
Kaizen moved through the bustling streets of Yorknew City, his sharp eyes scanning the crowd.
Officially, he was just another traveler.
But in truth, Kaizen's purpose here was more calculated: to observe and absorb the methods of the world's most dangerous criminal networks.
Unlike Orion, where gangsters flaunted their affiliations, the syndicate members in Yorknew were discreet. They blended in, appearing as ordinary citizens until the need arose to strike.
Later that evening, Kaizen returned to his hotel, holding a crystal ball that pulsed faintly with light.
"Seventy percent," he muttered, watching the light flicker as the ball absorbed more aura.
The rate of progress was slowing, just as it had when the crystal ball reached 30% in Orion. Back then, Kaizen had ventured near a forbidden area to accelerate the process.
But here in Yorknew, no such forbidden zones existed.
There were, however, the infamous underground auctions.
"In a few days, the auctions will start," Kaizen thought. "That'll give me a major boost, just like the battle tournaments at Heavens Arena did."
In the meantime, he decided to take on a few assassination contracts to pass the time.
Kaizen logged into a black-market commission site, letting his assistant, Altan, filter through the available jobs.
He set clear criteria:
Fees ranging between 1 billion and 10 billion Jenny.Targets located within Yorknew City.
Taking contracts outside the city would be a waste with the auction so close.
That night, Kaizen stood atop a tall building, gazing across the cityscape.
His target was in a hotel room across the street, its curtains drawn. Dim light spilled out, casting shadows of two entangled figures on the blinds.
"Bertram," Kaizen muttered, his expression unreadable. "A director of Alpha Industries. Bounty: 1.2 billion Jenny."
He opened his laptop, bringing up a live surveillance feed—one Bertram had set up himself.
The man had a peculiar vice: broadcasting his intimate escapades online for others to watch. This quirk made him easy to track.
Through the camera, Kaizen observed Bertram surrounded by several women, all strikingly beautiful and lavishly dressed.
The room was littered with scattered bills, and guards stood posted outside the door, armed to the teeth. One of them had the telltale aura of a former rookie fighter from Heavens Arena.
"They've got some Nen users," Kaizen noted. "But nothing special."
He didn't even need to handle the job himself.
Raiken, his shadowy companion, scaled the hotel's exterior, reaching the target's window unnoticed.
At Kaizen's signal, Altan killed the power in Bertram's room.
Raiken crashed through the window in total darkness, snapping Bertram's neck before disappearing into the shadows.
Moments later, the lights came back on, followed by the panicked screams of the remaining occupants.
"Done," Kaizen said, packing up his laptop.
He leapt from the building, landing silently in a dark alley.
Later, Kaizen strolled through the streets, carrying a skewer of meatballs and a steaming oden in a takeaway bag.
The sound of sirens echoed faintly in the distance, but no one gave him a second glance.
Back at his hotel, Kaizen submitted the completed contract through Altan. Moments later, 1.2 billion Jenny was deposited into his account.
This was the daily life of a killer.
Meanwhile, in a quiet corner of Yorknew, a middle-aged woman stood behind Melina, who quickly closed her laptop.
"You're still in touch with that boy from the airship, aren't you?" the woman asked.
"I—"
"Relax," the woman interrupted. "I'm not stopping you. While we're here in Yorknew, you're allowed to stay in contact with him. You can even invite him to spend time with you.
"But," she added sharply, "you must not reveal anything about your true identity. And this arrangement ends the moment we leave the city. Understood?"
Melina's eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? I can?"
"Yes," the woman said with a sigh. "Back when I was your age, I longed for friends too but never had the chance. Consider this my way of living that dream through you."
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