Chương 92: Odds and Hyenas

At nine-thirty that night, Aren and Neon were in the Almeria Commercial Center near Heavens Arena. Heavens Arena was a world-famous institution, so it had matching commercial districts around it. In a city filled with money and fame, anyone with enough wealth could enjoy things ninety-nine percent of the world would never experience in a lifetime. Here, one could find most cuisines from across the world, as well as a small number of rare delicacies.

Compared with Gambi Town, this place was practically a food paradise.

"Ah, Master. Neon is so full. Carry me." After leaving a restaurant that specialized in magical beasts, Neon rubbed her slightly rounded belly and raised both arms toward Aren pitifully. The restaurant's owner was said to be a Double-Star Gourmet Hunter. Although this was only a branch, the food was genuinely good. More importantly, the ingredients were the best Aren had tasted in this world. Neon's little belly proved she had found it so delicious that she could not stop eating.

If he had the chance, Aren wanted to try the main restaurant. If the Double-Star Gourmet Hunter cooked personally, even better. Since the man had opened restaurants, he must care about money to some extent. And Aren had plenty of money, plenty of aura, and plenty of abilities. Even though Neon looked pitiful, Aren did not soften this time. He extended two fingers and lightly tapped her forehead, imitating Itachi poking Sasuke.

"You need to walk because you're full. After eating, you have to digest a little. Otherwise, Neon might turn into a chubby girl." Neon looked down at her belly with some worry. Then she obediently took Aren's hand. Seeing her adorable reaction, Aren smiled.

"Good girl. We'll reduce tonight's exercise by one set."

"Yay! Long live Master." Neon happily jumped twice. This was the downside of Biscuit not being around. Aren was often defeated by Neon's cuteness and cut one or two sets from her training. Just as Aren was about to lead Neon back to the private room Heavens Arena had arranged for him, his step paused.

"Hm? Master, what's wrong?" Neon noticed and looked up at him.

"Nothing. Master found a shortcut. Let's go that way." Aren pointed to a dark alley nearby.

"Okay." Although Neon found it a little strange that Aren suddenly changed routes, she still answered obediently. The moment they entered the alley, Aren's eyes sharpened. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Five people. They had been following him since he and Neon left the restaurant. Aren was worlds apart from the version of himself before Biscuit's training. Even without En, he could quickly sense people tracking him in secret.

When Aren reached the deeper part of the alley, three of the hidden figures suddenly leapt over him and landed in front. The remaining two appeared behind him, trapping him between them.

"Kid, you had a chance to stay safe, and you walked straight into trouble instead." One of the three in front, a short figure, spoke in a hoarse, unpleasant voice.

"If you had kept walking on the main road, we wouldn't have found a chance. But you just had to enter an alley. We really should thank you." His throat sounded as if it had been injured. Aren found it hard to believe someone could be born with a voice that broken. Facing five people surrounding them, neither Aren nor Neon showed any fear.

"So, what do you want from me?" Aren looked at the short figure calmly. The man seemed to think Aren's calm was either an act covering fear or pure ignorance. Before coming, they had observed Aren carefully. He had never displayed a single trace of Nen in his matches. At most, he had been born strong, stronger than ordinary people. Their boss, however, was a genuine Nen user. A mere normal person could not resist him. That was the tragedy of amateurs. They did not even understand the Four Major Principles.

Because Aren had never used Nen visibly in the ring, they concluded that he was not a Nen user.

"Enough. We won't waste words. In your next match, surrender on your own, and we'll let you go." The leader stepped forward and looked at Aren with disdain. He should be the group's boss. His left eye was artificial, and a large scar surrounded the socket. It had likely been an old injury. Ever since Aren reached the hundredth floor, this man had been paying attention to him. He had watched almost every one of Aren's matches. So he was certain that Aren had never used even a trace of Nen in any match.

Aren had only fought with physical strength. Because he did not know what Gyo was, he could not observe Aren's perfectly sealed life aura. He could only barely see aura flow when others actively used Nen, thanks to the aura nodes around his eyes being opened during his own baptism. If someone did not use Nen, or if they used In, he could not detect anything. That was why he judged Aren to be an ordinary person who did not know Nen.

From what Aren remembered, Killua had once told Gon that above the hundredth floor, better treatment came with higher floors, so many people used dirty methods to avoid losing their status. The longer those people stayed above the hundredth floor, the better they became at defending their rank. Whether inside or outside the ring, they were troublesome. But this group was not made of Heavens Arena contestants. They were another kind of hyena that lived around the fighting district.

They had not come because one of them needed to protect a rank, nor because they were helping a contestant do so. They had come for Heavens Arena's odds. The biggest daily flow of money in Heavens Arena was gambling. Compared with the amount represented by betting, contestant prize money was almost nothing. This group specialized in using private threats to manipulate match results and profit from Heavens Arena's gambling system.

Aren's current opponent did not have odds as extreme as Tulls had on the fiftieth floor. But the opponent was still around five-to-one. If Aren lost and they bet heavily on the other side, their profit from this one job would exceed five hundred percent. There was an old saying: at three hundred percent profit, people would trample every law ever written. Now, more than five hundred percent profit had been placed in front of them. Ignorant, yet unaware of their ignorance.

'Was this another form of pride?'

"Hahahaha." The one-eyed man seemed amused by Aren's attitude and laughed loudly.

"Kid, I know you've been popular in Heavens Arena recently. You slap every opponent away, and people call you One-Slap Aren."

"Maybe you are strong to the outside world. But in the end, you're just an ordinary person." He glanced at Neon.

"Honestly, since you brought a little girl with you, I don't want to cripple her brother in front of her and leave a shadow in her heart." The one-eyed man lowered his head slightly, then raised his remaining eye toward Aren. He pushed all of his aura toward Aren, trying to pressure him and make him understand his own ignorance.

"Tch."

"Ignorant insects really are everywhere in this world." The moment Aren finished speaking, a gust of air suddenly rose where he stood. The next second, he vanished from everyone's sight. Squelch. The sound of flesh being pierced echoed through the quiet alley. Aren had appeared behind the three men blocking him. His right hand was shaped like a blade and wrapped in a spatial ripple. It swept across their necks in a straight line. The three men who had been laughing freely were cut down in an instant.

Strictly speaking, not all three heads were removed. Because their heights differed, the shortest man's skullcap was sliced off instead. The result was the same. The uneven sprays of blood left Aren slightly dissatisfied.

"You... what... what are you..." The two men behind him broke out in sweat and started babbling. Boss Bass had said this boy was an ordinary person.

'How had this happened?' Their voices drew Aren's attention. When he looked over, the two grew so terrified that they collapsed onto the ground.

"Wait! You can't kill us. We're Tour's people."