"So, will you still choose to head to Mortin City with me?" Luo Ning turned the conversation back with a question.
"I never agreed to go to Mortin City in the first place! I only said we could continue to cooperate." Milia spread her hands. "If you ever have the need to rent Nen, you're more than welcome to come find me. I wouldn't even mind collaborating with you to provide technical and professional support if you truly manage to control one of the Ten Dons. But here, Heaven's Arena is my base of operations."
Luo Ning paused for a moment. "Is that so? Fair enough."
Even if Milia hadn't appeared in the passage, Luo Ning would have found a way to leave the arena alive. However, he had to acknowledge the favor of her showing up there. Regardless of whether Milia did it to extract more profit from him, their relationship had clearly grown closer after such a collaboration.
At the very least, Luo Ning now considered Milia a trustworthy friend.
...
"What a pity. If that kid in the passage had made a move, I could have earned two billion Jenny."
The speaker was a young man with a bowl cut. His name was Marshall, a partner of the mercenary group. Unlike the logistics personnel who had fired the guns earlier, Marshall possessed formidable combat capabilities. Naturally, his price was also extremely high.
He had originally come along to handle a mission with the mercenary group, thinking it wouldn't hurt to make some extra pocket money since he was already there. He hadn't expected Luo Ning to be so shrewd; while offering a high price, the man had also set specific conditions. There were different rates for everything from killing a target to merely intimidating them.
A kill was worth two billion, while intimidation was only two hundred million. Furthermore, the employer had provided advanced intelligence on Shalnark's abilities. Marshall had been quite interested in those two billion Jennies. However, after receiving information from Muherr, he chose not to strike and settled for the two hundred million.
Looking at the two hundred million Jennies deposited into his account, Marshall was reasonably satisfied.
The man he mentioned, Muherr, was the leader of the mercenary group and the 'Elf' man who had sniped Machi.
"Adley, I've earned you a referral fee. Remember to raise the price next time," Muherr said in a cold tone.
"You didn't bring Golem with you, so this price is fine." Adley, with his V-shaped hairline, shrugged. "Anyway, there was no need for a kill; we just had to stall for a while."
"It's fine as long as there's no aftermath. What if those mad dogs come looking for us?" Muherr glared at Adley, still feeling the price was too low.
"Alright, I get it," Adley thought for a moment. It wasn't his money anyway; it all depended on Boss Luo Ning's wishes.
'But still, is Heaven's Arena really this profitable?' Adley wondered as a business card appeared in his hand.
On the card, a line of text was clearly visible: Gold Medal Manager of Heaven's Arena, Milia.
...
After communicating with Luo Ning, Milia left his room, leaving him to deal with his own condition. Opening the Eight Inner Gates and using the Front Lotus had resulted in some accumulated injuries. However, for an Enhancer like him, such minor injuries could be fully recovered with just a few days of rest.
He didn't plan to linger at Heaven's Arena any longer. Thus, on the third day after the battle, after returning the Lending Devil—which had extracted enough Nen—to Milia, Luo Ning quietly departed from Heaven's Arena.
By the time he left, the sensation caused by his battle with Uvogin had been widely publicized throughout the arena by Milia. Killua, who had successfully completed his fight on the 190th floor, also saw the overwhelming advertisements.
Holding a poster printed with Luo Ning's brilliant smile, Killua curled his lip. "Talk about being a show-off!"
Tossing the poster into the trash, Killua packed his luggage—consisting of a large amount of candy, primarily chocolate balls. He was ready to leave this place where he had stayed for two years. According to that bastard Illumi, the 200th floor and above were not places he should challenge yet.
Though he didn't know the reason, he still had to return to Kukuroo Mountain with that annoying guy. What awaited him next would likely be some practical assassination training. There really wasn't much to look forward to, and it didn't spark any interest.
It was a shame he couldn't challenge Luo Ning again, but the next time they met, he would definitely be stronger than he was now. He would issue a challenge again when that time came!
...
In the large medical facility on the 150th floor of Heaven's Arena, Uvogin had already woken up. He was currently covered in bandages; one of his arms had been amputated, and the extensive burns would require a significant amount of time to heal.
More importantly, after waking up, he had developed an extreme loathing for fire. Even a single spark could cause the maimed man to bolt upright from his bed in a violent rage, regardless of his injuries.
"I've obtained some information." Shalnark had pulled a network cable into the room so he could sit and watch over Uvogin while searching for data.
"Is it about Luo Ning?" Machi stood near the window, playing with an apple in her hand.
Nobunaga and Franklin were not in the room; the two had gone out for a smoke, not wanting to make Uvogin go berserk because of a cigarette butt. However, as soon as Machi finished speaking, Uvogin sat up reflexively, a powerful killing intent erupting from his eyes.
"No." Shalnark glanced at Machi before continuing. "I found a possible way to return Uvogin to normal on the Hunter intelligence website."
"Regenerating a limb?" Machi asked, somewhat skeptical.
"Yeah," Shalnark said. "It's hard to verify if the info is true or not, but it's worth a try. Think of it as a last-ditch effort."
"What's the method?" This time, it was Uvogin on the bed who asked.
"Have you heard of Greed Island?" Shalnark said slowly.
Before Uvogin could answer, Shalnark's phone rang. The caller was Chrollo.
"Send me the data on Luo Ning," Chrollo said succinctly.
"Understood." Shalnark's reply was equally brief. He understood the meaning behind Chrollo's words; clearly, Luo Ning's situation had fully caught his attention.
It made sense. A Nen ability of that caliber would surely be an excellent target for theft. It was a pity they had been leading a team to track another lead earlier; otherwise, even if Luo Ning had been prepared, he wouldn't have escaped the Spider's web.
'Next time. Next time, we will definitely catch him!' Shalnark thought as he packaged Luo Ning's intelligence and sent it to Chrollo in the form of a message. Additionally, he had some videos in his possession. They were all recorded by the audience at the time, and he organized those as well, though those would have to wait until they met in person.
...
The battle at Heaven's Arena had allowed Luo Ning to discover a misconception in his previous thinking. He had seemingly equated power with the rank of a Ninjutsu. In reality, the rank of a Ninjutsu only represented the difficulty of mastering it, not necessarily its ultimate power.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]