The bounty hunters surrounded glober from every direction.
He was hiding behind a perforated concrete pillar, fragments of shattered cement still falling from it like gray dust.
One of the hunters shouted loudly:
— "Come out! There's nowhere left for you to run!"
No response.
One second passed…
Then suddenly—
Random gunfire erupted from behind the pillar.
The hunters staggered back a step, then their restraint snapped all at once.
They unleashed a brutal barrage of bullets at the pillar—not to kill him, but to terrify him… to force him out.
The concrete column was reduced to a hollowed shell, riddled with holes, barely intact.
A heavy silence followed.
Then—
glober stepped out.
Calm steps.
Completely indifferent.
He tossed his pistol aside. It slid across the floor with a metallic scrape.
Every weapon immediately locked onto him.
He smiled.
And said, in an unexpectedly calm voice:
— "The game is over."
One of the American hunters replied sharply:
— "Your playtime is finished. Now surrender quietly."
But the Chinese team leader did not lower his weapon.
He frowned, staring at glober intently.
— "This… is strange."
Then he added:
— "He gave up far too easily."
The American answered confidently:
— "He's out of options. He's exhausted every trick."
He gestured dismissively.
— "He was using only a handgun, and he's out of ammo. No need to overthink it."
glober looked at them, his smile unchanged.
— "It seems you didn't understand."
They exchanged uneasy glances.
glober continued, his voice cold and precise:
— "When I said the game was over… I wasn't talking about myself."
A brief pause.
— "I meant you."
At that exact moment—
Gunshots rang out from behind them.
Precise shots… aimed only at their legs.
Everyone collapsed at once.
Short screams of pain. Weapons slipping from their hands.
The Chinese team leader struggled to turn his head.
What he saw froze him in place.
Men dressed entirely in black.
Black motorcycle helmets.
No insignias. No faces.
The American team leader shouted in fury:
— "Who the hell are they?! How did they get behind us?!"
Then he yelled:
— "Wasn't my team sealing the exit?!"
glober replied coldly, as if stating an obvious fact:
— "Your team was sealing the exit… from me."
Then he added:
— "They didn't care who might come up behind you. They focused only on your orders… and on me."
The American swallowed hard and asked, his voice tense:
— "If you have men like these… at your age… then who the hell are you?"
glober calmly raised his hand.
One of his insects landed on his palm.
— "You don't need to know."
Then, in a low voice:
— "What matters… is what happens to you now."
A charged silence filled the space.
glober looked at them one by one and said:
— "This insect carries a chemical serum… created by your own species."
A faint smile crossed his face.
— "I improved it easily, thanks to my knowledge."
One of the mercenaries muttered in fear:
— "A serum…?"
glober continued:
— "Just a small dose… and you'll live with hallucinations for the rest of your lives."
Someone asked shakily:
— "Hallucinations…? So you're not going to kill us?"
glober shook his head.
— "Kill? No."
His tone shifted slightly.
— "In my homeland, killing is forbidden. Those who violate that law… are erased."
Then he added coldly:
— "Even the team guarding the exit… they were already bitten with a powerful sedative."
— "They'll sleep for a long time."
— "And when they wake up… they'll suffer hallucinations just like you."
He leaned forward slightly and whispered:
— "Soon… you'll realize that death would have been kinder."
As his words ended—
Dozens of insects surged out of the shadows.
Rapid bites.
Panicked screams.
glober left the building calmly…
Behind him, he left a place filled with screams, chaos, and minds beginning to fracture.
Six hours later…
Inside an isolated wing, the Numbers sat around the black table.
The screens before them displayed distorted images of Kouichi, captured by scattered cameras across the city.
No one spoke at first.
Number 3 finally broke the silence, his eyes fixed on the screen:
— "He's more dangerous than I expected."
He paused, then added:
— "He turned professional bounty hunters into raving lunatics."
Number 2 scrolled through a medical report on his tablet.
— "The doctors confirmed there's currently no known cure for those hallucinations."
He looked up, concerned.
— "But they'll do everything they can… at least to keep them stable."
Number 4 clenched her fist, impatience clear in her voice:
— "So what now?"
— "Do we proceed with the plan we prepared?"
Number 1 slowly raised his head.
His voice was calm… but decisive:
— "Of course we proceed."
Then he added:
— "But first, we need to distract him."
A brief silence followed.
Number 1 continued:
— "And I know the perfect person for that."
Number 2 stiffened instantly.
— "Don't tell me you're thinking of contacting that person."
Number 1 looked at him without denying it.
— "I have no other choice."
— "He's the most suitable for this mission."
Number 2 shook his head in frustration.
— "He always demands an outrageous price."
— "And worse… he can't be trusted."
Number 1 replied in a cold, steady tone:
— "Do you know anyone better for this job?"
Number 2 opened his mouth to answer…
Then fell silent.
He had no reply.
The new Number 5 leaned forward slightly, hesitant:
— "Um…"
— "Who exactly are you talking about?"
Number 3 exchanged a brief glance with Number 1, then said:
— "A highly skilled ninja."
— "He's participated in countless assassinations."
— "Entered places no one could escape… and left without a single trace."
He paused, then added in a lower voice:
— "No one knows what he looks like… except Number 1."
— "He communicates with no one else."
— "Even we don't know the nature of their connection."
The new Number 5 raised her eyebrows in surprise, but said nothing.
Number 1 ended the discussion with a firm tone:
— "That's enough."
He stood up slowly and looked at each of them in turn.
— "Prepare yourselves well."
— "Soon… we move."
Several screens shut down automatically.
And a heavy feeling settled over the room—
The feeling that the game had entered a far more dangerous phase.