Chương 72: Adam's Oath

"I want to follow you." Adam stared at Aren with burning eyes. In that moment, Aren was like truth walking through the world. He was the object Adam had been chasing his entire life without knowing it.

"You want to follow me?" Aren repeated the words, unsure he had heard correctly. If he remembered right, he had just killed Adam's five teammates. No, six, including the sniper in the attic. All of Adam's teammates were dead, yet the man's eyes looked like he had just found God.

"Yes," Adam said, voice still feverish.

"I want to follow you."

"The old me was too naive. I believed the greatest power in the world was intelligence. Strategy. Calculation."

"But your appearance made me understand. The more a man relies on schemes, the more easily he falls into situations he never expected."

"Only absolute violence is the sole truth of this world."

"And you are that truth walking among men." Admiration nearly overflowed from his eyes.

"Huh?" Aren could understand the part about violence. He really was strong, and he was self-aware enough to admit it. But truth, schemes, and the world were beyond him. He had no idea how Adam's thoughts had twisted this far.

'Is this the unique nervous wiring of a Specialist?' Aren had already guessed Adam was probably a Specialist. Once he realized Adam's ability connected minds, Specialization was the most likely category.

"I know you may not be able to imagine what I mean right away," Adam said, "but I can swear an oath. May I know your name?" Aren, still a little stunned by the man's logic, answered on instinct.

"Aren." After receiving his name, Adam immediately began.

"I, Adam, swear on my life that I will never betray Mr. Aren. If I break this oath, my heart will burst and I will die." The instant Adam finished speaking, it was as if an invisible chain locked around his heart. Nen was a frighteningly subjective power. If the heart believed firmly enough, certain things could be made real. Restrictions and Pledges were the clearest example. But the oath had to come fully from the person making it. Judging from the effect, Adam was serious.

'Young man, you just opened a new path for yourself.' Restrictions and Pledges were double-edged blades. There was never only restriction without compensation. While binding the user, the severity of the condition also strengthened certain aspects of their Nen. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. From now on, when Adam faced anyone other than Aren, some part of him would probably become stronger.

'So I picked up another fanatic?' For a moment, Aren did not know what to say.

'Why are all my most devoted followers men?' When Aren still did not answer, Adam knelt directly on the ground, worshiping him like a true god.

"Please allow me to follow by your side, Mr. Aren. I believe I can be of some small use to you."

"Fine. Get up." There was little else Aren could say. A loyal dog had shown up at his doorstep. Of course he would accept. Adam would be perfect for watching Nostrade.

"Yes. Thank you, Mr. Aren." Adam rose and respectfully stood behind him.

"By the way, that..." Aren paused.

"You are..." He had been about to confirm whether all of Adam's members were dead. His En only covered two hundred meters, so some might have been outside the range. Then he realized he still did not know Adam's name.

"Mr. Aren, my name is Adam."

"Oh. So you're the leader. Confirm something for me. Is your entire group here?"

"Yes. Aside from me, everyone else died under Mr. Aren's divine power." Adam discussed his dead team members with complete calm. There was no grief at all. Aren nodded.

"Then go kill the remaining Evans Family members. I'll go chat with Francis Evans."

"Yes." Adam left to clean up the other mafia members. On the first day he arrived, he had already memorized the layout of Evans Manor. Understanding the terrain before a fight had always been his habit. He simply had not expected that habit to be useful this way.

'Having manpower really is convenient. At least I don't have to open En and search for each person myself.' After Adam left, Aren jumped onto the roof of the manor. With The Hand, he opened a hole through the top and entered directly. Most family heads placed their rooms on the highest floor. Aren's En told him Francis was there too. There was no reason to climb floor by floor when he could enter from above. The guards outside Francis Evans's room saw the ceiling suddenly open. Then Aren dropped through it.

They immediately raised machine guns and opened fire.

"Adam failed?"

"Damn it! They fool around all day, and when it matters, they're useless."

"We spent that much money hiring them and brought women in for them every day, and this is all they can do?"

"I knew Adam's group couldn't be trusted. They talked big, but they couldn't stop even one person. All they know how to do is screw around. I could do that too!" Aren paused.

'Why does that last one sound jealous?' Facing the storm of bullets, he kept both hands in his pockets. He did not even bother raising them.

"Noisy." Limitless Technique reflected every bullet. In such a narrow hallway, the Evans Family guards had nowhere to dodge. One by one, they were turned into sieves. Blood formed a shallow stream across the floor. Aren's leather shoe stepped into it with a soft tap. Ignoring the corpses, he walked straight to the largest door in the hall and pushed it open.

"Excuse me." Inside, Francis Evans ignored him. He was calmly tidying his appearance. From the moment gunfire had sounded outside, he understood two things. Adam had failed. And he was going to die today. Aren did not interrupt him. He pulled out the chair in front of Francis's desk and sat, quietly waiting while the man combed his hair. After a while, Francis set the comb down and looked at him.

"My apologies. That was rude of me."

"I didn't expect Light Nostrade to find an expert like you. He truly is lucky." Aren agreed with that. Meeting him really was Light Nostrade's luck.

"He is." Francis took out a pistol, but he did not aim at Aren. He placed the muzzle under his own chin. Aren raised an eyebrow. It seemed Francis intended to end it himself. Before pulling the trigger, Francis looked at him.

"To be honest, I have no personal grudge against you. You destroyed the Fanobi Family with your own hands, but the true culprit was Nostrade. I understand that clearly."

"So at the end, I will give you one piece of advice. Leave the Nostrade Family as soon as possible."

"Once I die, the Fanobi Family's final revenge fund will be triggered."

"At that time, the money will be used to hire the legendary assassin family: the Zoldycks."

"I have said all I can. What you choose after that is your own affair." Francis pulled the trigger without hesitation. In truth, he had no idea how the revenge fund would be used. Everything he had just said was only meant to scare Aren with the name of the Zoldyck Family. If Aren stayed with Nostrade and the person sent for revenge could not defeat him, then the fund would be wasted. To avoid that, Francis tried using the name of the world's greatest assassin family to frighten him away.

As long as Aren felt even a trace of concern and left Nostrade, revenge against Light could still succeed. As for revenge against Aren himself, Francis had already given up. The man had destroyed Fanobi at its height, then wiped out the Adam Mercenary Band alone. That kind of individual power had gone beyond the world Francis could touch. Bang. After the smoke cleared, Francis Evans hung limp in his chair. Aren looked at the corpse in silence for a while, then stood and walked out.

His shoes clicked through the corridor. Bloody footprints spread behind him.

"Zoldyck. So this is the real interlude the prophecy mentioned."