[19] Pursuit

"Hey, maybe we should just give up..."

Inside the room, Bauer looked at his accomplice, who was carrying the young girl, Kazumi.

"This little girl is too cautious, isn't she? She just made a phone call, right? Her family could return at any moment. Let's go after those who are less vigilant."

"Perhaps you're right..." A tall Caucasian man, a head taller than Bauer, said. "But it's too late for that now. She's already the tenth one, and we won't need to do this again afterward. Besides, she's an outsider, which makes it more convenient and less likely to cause trouble... And, we have God's Envoy on our side here!"

"Well..." Bauer thought for a moment but didn't say anything. He had seen the extraordinary abilities of God's Envoy firsthand.

Maybe... he was right.

So, the two of them, holding Kazumi, left the hotel and headed to the car waiting outside. The car already had six other boys and girls besides Kazumi, all of them unconscious.

"Hey, look at that guy." Bauer pointed to Kazuya, who had just rushed into the hotel. "Could he be this girl's family?"

"Who cares? Let's go!"

Bang—

"Kazumi—" Kazuya pushed open all the doors in the hotel room but found it empty.

"What is this..."

There were no signs of forced entry on the room's door, and it had naturally opened. However, the iron chain that had been fastened to the door appeared to have been severed by something very sharp, leaving a clean and precise cut.

"Is this some kind of laser or something? But for now, the priority is to find Kazumi... Wait a moment? The car at the entrance just now?"

He pulled back the room's curtains and could vaguely see the departing car.

Although he couldn't see what was happening inside, the car had shrunk to a small point by now. However, he believed that his sister, Kazumi, was in there!

Just like in "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure," where JoJo and Dio could roughly sense each other's locations through their physical connection, Kazumi might not be able to sense him, but he had a rough sense of her whereabouts. She had detected him following her to school every day.

He could only roughly gauge her location, though. Just like now, the car had been right at the hotel entrance, and Kazuya could sense that his sister was nearby.

She might be in the room, in the vicinity, or in that car. He couldn't determine the exact location.

But now—he clearly sensed that his sister was moving away from him!

"She won't get away!"

...

"Sob..."

"Mom, Mom..."

"Where is this..." Kazumi was awakened by the sounds around her.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a dimly lit room.

Around her were numerous boys and girls, just like herself. They were whispering and crying, speaking in Japanese, English, and some other languages she couldn't understand.

Even though she could understand some of the languages, it was limited to words like "Dad," "Mom," "papa," "mama," and "dad."

Her brother had taught her these words, after all. They were planning to go on a trip, so even though she was still young, she had learned some basic phrases and terms.

She couldn't carry on a conversation, but this was enough to deduce some things.

She had been abducted.

Surrounded by others who had also been kidnapped, she realized she had been caught up in a large-scale event.

"Onii-chan..."

Amidst the cries around her, Kazumi gritted her teeth. Tears welled up in her eyes, but when she tried to wipe them away, she realized her hands and feet were bound.

A closer look revealed that the others were bound in the same way.

"Help me... Onii-chan..."

Kazumi lowered her head, her heart pounding with anxiety. She had a vague feeling...

...

"Hey, who are you?" The burly white man was slightly intrigued as he watched the approaching figure.

Before him stood an Asian man, but his height was far from typical for Asians.

He looked almost 1.9 meters tall, tall and robust, giving off a very imposing presence. In one hand, he held a phone, as if he were communicating with someone.

"Is this the place?" Kazuya said, "I came here to find your boss."

"Hmm? What's going on?" The man inquired.

"You don't need to know," Kazuya replied, punching him directly in the chest and then striking him hard on the back of his head with his elbow.

In an instant, the man collapsed to the ground.

"Just get some rest for a while," Kazuya said. In his dreams, he had killed countless people with his fists, knives, and firearms, and he felt no psychological burden.

After all, he had killed someone today, and the next night, he would see them alive and well again.

He had knocked people unconscious countless times in his dreams, too. Every person he encountered in his dreams, he had rendered unconscious. Although he often failed at the beginning, either because he applied too little force and they didn't lose consciousness or because he applied too much force and caused external bleeding...

His purpose was straightforward: to discern the details of their clothing and their physical condition.

Given the current situation, he had indeed practiced for a while how to knock someone out...

Dreams might be dreams, and you couldn't bring things back from them, but knowledge could be taken back!

On the other hand, after confirming the location, he continued to talk to the police using the phone that hadn't been disconnected, then quietly entered the room after pushing the door open.

"I feel it... I can feel it getting closer. It seems like it's right here."

The people here had very low vigilance, as evidenced by the man he had knocked out at the door—they were all just ordinary people...

In this case, there were two possibilities: either these people were indeed a ragtag group, or they simply didn't care whether someone barged in.

He hoped it was the first option... because if it was the second...

...

Bang, bang—

"What's going on outside?"

"Nothing, I think." The man lit a cigarette. "How much longer?"

"About three more hours," Bauer said, checking the time. "The ritual will begin in three hours."

"That's good then. We'll wait here for a few hours."

"But, I thought I heard something just now. What if it's the police?"

"The police?" The man sneered. "Don't forget who we're working for. God's Envoy! Even if those worthless people find this place, what can they do?"

"God... Let's hope it's that way." Bauer fell silent after saying that.

---

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