No sooner had Third Prince Zhang Lei's call ended, another came through.
"I'm Lihan, Royal Guard of First Prince Benjamin.
I'll arrive at 12th Prince Momoze's suite in ten minutes to assume security duty."
"Understood," Joey replied, eyes narrowing.
Ten minutes.
He couldn't leave.
The room—still hiding the restrained guards—would be exposed without his Nen barrier.
Extra bodies discovered now?
Incalculable risk.
Joey drummed his fingers against the table.
He glanced toward the hallway.
"Let's see how many men Benjamin can keep throwing at this," he muttered.
Five minutes later, Kurapika returned.
Joey explained the incoming reinforcements.
"Doesn't look like Benjamin's taking us seriously yet," he said. "Two of his soldiers dead, and still not worth negotiating with."
Kurapika didn't reply. But the implication was clear.
Benjamin was strong.
And he knew it.
His army was large.
Every private guard under his command could use Nen.
And Benjamin himself… was rumored to be even more dangerous.
Replacing fallen soldiers so swiftly after their deaths?
That was caution—but also control.
A few minutes later, two men exited First Prince's quarters.
One: a braided-haired man, expression unreadable.
The other: sharp-featured, eerily handsome.
Lihan and Babimainar.
Lihan was headed to guard the 12th Prince.
Babimainar? Tasked with overseeing the 14th.
They moved quickly, their demeanor serious.
Benjamin and his lieutenant, Balusamilco, had already drawn some chilling conclusions:
Kurapika, Hanzo, and Bill must have coordinated the double kill.
Someone had neutralized Vincent's voice.
Another had staged the apparent mutual kill with Pikot.
The third had likely immobilized Vincent long enough to die.
They suspected Kurapika, Hanzo, and Bill were the actors.
Joey—registered as a "merchant"—wasn't factored in.
At least, not yet.
So Benjamin deployed Babimainar: a frontline assault specialist, ideal bait and blade.
His mission?
Fabricate a scene where Queen Oito, under duress, kills her own child.
Frame it. Clean. Clinical.
Lihan, meanwhile, was sent to infiltrate 12th Prince's guard rotation.
Gain trust. Wait for Kurapika to tire.
Then?
Neutralize Momoze's Guardian Beast.
They already had data.
From Pikot's dying message:
The Beast asks: "Are you free?"
Answer yes → You're ensnared.
Refuse → It splits into multiple forms and follows you, repeating the question.
There was no intel on what happens if you continuously decline.
That would be Lihan's job to test.
Still, they weren't going in blind.
Lihan had the perfect counter-ability:
"Alien Invader" – a devouring type Nen.
Once he grasped how an ability functioned,
He could consume it.
Nullify. Disarm. Destroy.
And now? He knew enough about Momoze's Beast to pounce.
He'd blend in.
Protect the prince. Act loyal.
Wait.
Strike.
But that was the plan—before they rounded the corner and froze.
Littered along the corridor floor—scattered coins.
At first glance? Harmless. Random.
But the two men went rigid.
This hallway was under constant surveillance.
Nen users posted at every junction. Trained En specialists.
No one could enter unnoticed.
So how the hell were there coins on the floor?
A trap?
A message?
A Guardian Beast?
Lihan fell back behind Babimainar.
"Should we contact command?" he whispered.
Babimainar gripped his pistol.
"We probe. If nothing happens, you go. I stay."
He took a cautious step backward.
Nothing happened.
Only a fly, disturbed from its perch on the wall, buzzed into the air.
Lihan's fingers danced over his throwing knife.
One wrong move from the insect—and he'd kill it on reflex.
But it simply circled once and landed again, grooming its legs.
Still.
Just as things seemed to settle—
Clink.
Another coin rolled out of a nearby air duct.
Babimainar's eyes narrowed.
"Air duct… that links to Third Prince's room."
Could this be…
Zhang Lei's doing?
He barely had time to consider when a voice shattered the hallway silence:
"FRIED CHICKEN'S GONNA BURN!"
A flash.
A swallow-like bird zipped overhead.
Chased by a skull-faced toy tank, no bigger than a grapefruit.
"A Nen Beast!?"
"Whose?!"
Lihan hurled his blade at the bird.
Babimainar fired at the tank.
The fly stirred again—this time weaving in wild patterns.
Lihan struck out—caught it midair.
BOOM!
The skull tank detonated.
The blast ripped down the corridor, walls caving inward.
Still, it didn't stop moving—spouting incomprehensible nonsense in a shrill voice.
Smoke flooded the passage.
Babimainar's En expanded.
He sensed guards from First and Third Prince's quarters racing toward them.
"Too late…" he thought, turning to speak—
Only to find:
Lihan was gone.
Vanished.
No trace.
The fly he'd caught?
The coin beneath his feet?
All that remained was a dented coin where Lihan had stood.
"What... happened?"
Another explosion rocked the corridor.
When the dust cleared, the tank and swallow were gone.
All that remained?
Shattered stone. Burnt metal. Scattered coins.
"Hands up! Don't resist!"
Royal Army soldiers swarmed the hallway.
Babimainar didn't move.
From distant doors, guards from 2nd and 4th Prince's suites peeked out.
First Prince Benjamin arrived too, flanked by his stoic captain, Balusamilco.
Meanwhile, back in Room 12—
Joey's left arm was gone again.
He glanced at his watch.
"Twelve minutes since Lihan's call," he muttered.
"Still no replacements. Still no follow-up call."
He twirled a coin in his right hand.
The stump of his left slowly reformed—
Piece by piece—thanks to Golden Experience.
"The assassination was mine."
He hadn't told Kurapika.
Didn't think he'd approve.
"Kura still thinks this is a mission.
I'm treating it like war."
He wasn't bloodthirsty.
He was practical.
"In war, hesitation gets you killed."
So he took initiative.
Dispatched his Killer Queen and Golden Experience.
Built the trap in Benjamin's hallway himself.
"A dozen coins."
"One tank."
"One swallow."
"One fly."
"And a bomb."
"It's enough."
One enemy gone. One message sent.