The underground boxing ring only grew hotter.
Luka rolled his shoulders; his mechanical arms gave off a faint, restless hum. He stared at the red-haired young man across from him—Huo Linfei—who was bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet in an odd rhythm, swaying left and right like a pendulum.
"Hey, man!" Luka grinned, trying to break whatever focus his opponent might have. "That hopping around—warming up or what?"
Huo Linfei blinked, as if only just hearing him, then smiled. "More or less. Habit."
Habit? What a weird habit.
Luka muttered to himself, but the fight itch was already burning. "Then here I come!"
Before the words even finished leaving his mouth, Luka drove off his left foot and shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow—snapping out a fast, heavy left jab straight at Huo Linfei's face to test him. The punch whistled through the air.
What shocked Luka was that Huo Linfei didn't seem to react at all—his eyes almost unfocused, like he'd drifted off for half a beat.
But at the instant the fist was about to land, Huo Linfei's body moved as if it had a mind of its own: a tiny, perfectly timed lean-back paired with a sliding step. The knuckles skimmed past his nose by a hair.
Fast reaction—no… not like a conscious reaction.
Luka's heart jumped, but his momentum didn't stop. He chained into a brutal combo—left and right hooks blending into heavy blows empowered by the mechanical arm, hammering down like a storm. Belobog's fighting style was built for real combat: direct, vicious, and obsessed with one goal—crush the opponent as quickly as possible.
At first, Huo Linfei looked pressured, relying on instinctive slips and blocks. His movements even seemed a little rushed. But Luka quickly realized something was wrong.
The other guy was adapting at a terrifying speed—like his body came with a learning algorithm. Luka's punch routes started getting read. Whole follow-ups wouldn't come out at all.
Huo Linfei's hands kept appearing mid-force, cutting in with interceptions and deflections—not meeting power with power, but subtly changing the path of Luka's fists, redirecting them so the strength dumped into empty air. It was infuriating in a way Luka couldn't quite describe, like getting choked off before he could even breathe.
What the hell…? I've never seen this style.
Luka grew more and more alarmed. He could tell Huo Linfei's raw strength and speed weren't necessarily higher than his—if anything, the technique even looked a bit rough. Yet those precise stops and that bizarre rhythm made a seasoned ring fighter feel genuinely threatened.
Still, Luka had experience. He shifted gears—no longer forcing nonstop pressure, instead using cleaner footwork and feints to hunt for openings.
Meanwhile, Huo Linfei kept bouncing with that pendulum step—not as a showoff move, but because it was etched into his muscles. When Luka's jab came in like a spear, Huo Linfei's mind really did lag a fraction, yet his body reacted automatically.
That punch is fierce. Underworld-bred for sure.
He praised Luka silently. Luka's attacks were like Boulder Town itself—solid, heavy, and built to break things. Every punch carried a clear intent to put someone down.
Huo Linfei finally forced his focus to tighten. His dynamic vision kicked into full gear, and Luka's motion began to break apart into readable pieces.
Left hand feint… weight on the right foot… right hook coming.
Huo Linfei's arms moved like they had sensors installed, always intercepting at the moment Luka started to generate power. "Make the impossible possible; make the infinite finite"—that kind of principle was on full display.
He had no fixed routine. He simply responded to Luka's strikes, choosing the most economical straight punches or kicks to counter, interrupt, or cut off the attack line.
But he deliberately held back his power—and avoided vital spots.
When Luka switched tempo and started layering in sharper feints and more agile movement, Huo Linfei felt the pressure spike. That was the experience gap. Huo Linfei was reacting and solving problems in real time, while Luka was building setups.
More than once Huo Linfei almost got forced into the corner. Each time, he escaped only by sheer abnormal reaction speed.
The exchange hit a boiling point.
Luka threw a gorgeous feint that drew out Huo Linfei's interception—then his mechanical arm seized the window and launched a savage uppercut straight at Huo Linfei's jaw.
If that landed clean, the fight was over.
In a span of milliseconds, Huo Linfei's body once again showed something terrifyingly instinctive: an extreme back-slide that bled off force—while his right hand shot out like a viper.
Not to block.
To strike a point.
His palm snapped against the inside of Luka's wrist with surgical precision, knocking the uppercut's line just off-center.
Pop!
A crisp, sharp slap echoed in the ring.
Both of them froze at the same time—perfectly, naturally—just to a point.
Luka's fist stopped a breath from Huo Linfei's cheek, the wind of it ruffling his red hair. Huo Linfei's fingers, meanwhile, rested against the joint of Luka's arm—exactly where it mattered.
Sweat rolled down both their temples.
After a brief silence, Luka pulled back first, shaking out his wrist. His grin was wide—relieved, exhilarated, and a little helpless.
"Your style… it's too weird. But damn—you're really good."
Huo Linfei exhaled and wiped his forehead, lowering his guard. "You're the real deal. Your experience is insane. I almost got dropped."
The crowd erupted—applause and cheers crashing through the gym.
Hook bounced up and down like she'd won the universe. "Both of you are awesome! Pitch-Dark Hook the Great declares it a draw!"
Right when the mood was at its peak, the door opened and a ticket attendant in a beret shouted in:
"Um—excuse me! Is Mr. Huo Linfei here? Someone says they're a courier sent by Ms. Topaz from the Interastral Peace Corporation. They insist there's an urgent delivery that must be handed to you personally."
Everyone blinked.
Huo Linfei frowned, confused. Topaz? The IPC representative? She'd only just left—why was something being sent already? And marked urgent?
"I'm Huo Linfei," he called, walking over.
A young courier in IPC uniform stood at the entrance holding a mid-sized, elegantly packaged black box. The IPC logo was stamped clearly on the surface.
"Please sign for it."
The courier handed over the box and an electronic signature pad.
Huo Linfei signed, thanked him, and hefted the surprisingly heavy package, muttering under his breath.
"What is this supposed to be? Don't tell me it's some cooperation agreement."
With Luka, Hook, and a ring full of curious eyes watching, he tore open the packaging.
Inside, secured in the center, was a sleek, high-tech device—an eye mask with smooth lines, like some premium VR headset.
"Whoa! That's so cool!" Hook gasped.
"Latest IPC tech?" Huo Linfei lifted it and turned it over in his hands, completely lost. "Why would Topaz send me this?"
His finger brushed a sensor strip on the side—
Bzz.
The mask vibrated lightly.
The front lens lit up instantly, projecting a pale blue beam. A tiny hologram of Herta popped out—arms crossed, wearing that signature impatient expression.
The miniature projection pointed straight at the eye mask in Huo Linfei's hands and began shouting on an endless loop:
"Test!"
"Come test!"
"Simulated Universe—get over here!"
"Test!"
"Stop wasting time—put it on and test!"
"Test!"
Her chant had a weird, brainwashing sing-song rhythm to it, and the tiny arms and legs kept flailing dramatically with each line.
Huo Linfei stared in dead silence.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 119)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter79)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter125)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 73
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 55
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 66
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 63
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 55
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 31
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 31
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 31
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