Chương 96: Lawrence's Theory

"Elegant and swift. Will contestant Aren continue like this and rack up ten victories without slowing down? Let us look forward to tomorrow's match." The commentator's voice from Aren's match with Zald Yasa came from the television. At that moment, the other three members of the newbie killer group stared at Aren's close-up on the screen with grim expressions. His relaxed face made it look as if he had done something completely ordinary and insignificant. Beep.

The man with burn scars across a large part of his face pressed the power button on the remote and turned off the television. The air seemed to grow heavy. After a long silence, the burned man spoke.

"What do we do now? Zald Yasa was instantly defeated. Our strength is about the same as his. If we face Aren, I don't think the result will be much better. What should we do?"

"I told you something was wrong with him," another man said anxiously.

"He agreed too quickly this afternoon. Anyone who can reach the two-hundredth floor can't be stupid."

"When previous newcomers saw us surround them, they clearly knew something was wrong. We always had to use tricks to make them agree. Aren agreed from the start. He must be extremely confident in his own strength. Maybe his aura nodes were already open." His voice grew more anxious toward the end. After all, tomorrow was his match against Aren. If they could not come up with a workable method tonight, he would definitely lose.

"Do you remember what Aren showed just now?" Lawrence, the man with one leg missing, suddenly asked. The other two froze.

"His speed was too fast to see." Lawrence nodded.

"Exactly. Aside from speed, he still did not show any ability. That means he may truly not have opened his aura nodes."

"Zald Yasa concentrated too much aura into Invisible Hand and was caught off guard by Aren's sudden speed. That is why he neglected defense behind him."

"So as long as we pay attention and don't put too much aura into offense, the attacks of Aren, who has no aura, should have almost no effect on us while we maintain aura defense."

"In other words, if we are careful, we can still beat him. Remember, he has no aura. If we touch him once, he is finished."

"We can wait for him to attack. When he approaches, defend against the first strike and immediately counter at close range. That way, we absolutely can win." After listening to Lawrence's analysis, the burned man and the man beside him, who wore a knit cap with no obvious defect showing, both looked thoughtful. It sounded... Almost reasonable. The tightness in the burned man's chest finally eased a little. To be honest, he had no better choice at this point. No matter what Lawrence said, he could only try.

After adjusting his mindset slightly, the burned man's face regained its former composure. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. As a Heavens Arena veteran, he knew how important mentality was in a fight. At the very least, he could not be afraid before the battle began.

"Thanks, Lawrence. Now that you say it, Aren really is only faster than us. As long as we don't grow careless, no matter how many times he hits us, without aura, he cannot truly injure us. And if we touch him once, he is done."

"That means his margin for error is zero. Ours is infinite. He can't possibly beat us." The more the burned man spoke, the faster his confidence returned. By the end, he had recovered his old sense of superiority. Lawrence watched him quietly from the bed. What he had just said was indeed one of his guesses. But that guess required a test subject. The burned man, Aren's next opponent, was perfect. Lawrence had said those words to make him test the theory.

If the burned man were so frightened by Aren's performance that he withdrew without fighting, Lawrence would lose his guinea pig. So Lawrence had to help him regain confidence. If things were truly as Lawrence guessed, perfect. If Aren still had other methods, Lawrence would adjust. After all, there was still one more guinea pig. Lawrence turned his gaze toward the man in the knit cap. When filling out the forms earlier, he had sensed something wrong with how readily Aren agreed.

So while the others rushed to choose earlier match dates, Lawrence quietly wrote down the last day. If Aren was different from their guesses and truly knew Nen, Lawrence could build a targeted plan based on the matches before his own. No matter what happened, he had protected himself from the start.

'Ah, I really am too clever.' Lawrence praised himself inwardly.

'You two can be my test subjects and clear the path to my victory.' The next day, at three-fifty in the afternoon, Heavens Arena's two-hundred-seventh floor was packed. Unlike yesterday's last-minute match, news of Aren's four consecutive days of fights had already spread through his fanbase overnight. So today's match was difficult to get tickets for. Even scalpers had not grabbed many.

"Everyone, today is contestant Aren's second match in his four-day streak on the two-hundredth floor. His opponent is contestant Muir Jim, who holds the same record as yesterday's contestant Zald Yasa: five wins and one loss."

"Can contestant Aren continue yesterday's performance? I believe everyone can't wait to see him fight, so we won't waste time. Let the match begin." Amid the audience's roaring cheers, the commentator did not tease them for long today.

"Point-based knockdown system. No time limit. Begin." The referee placed a hand between Aren and Muir Jim. As he gave the signal, he raised his hand sharply to start the match. Aren looked expectantly at Muir Jim, whose face was now covered by a mask. Zald Yasa's ability had been a pleasant surprise yesterday. He wondered what surprise this Muir Jim would bring. After waiting a while, Muir Jim showed no intention of attacking. Instead, he guarded in place, maintaining Ten while watching Aren warily.

"Not planning to attack first?" Aren immediately understood.

"So you absorbed Zald Yasa's lesson from yesterday. Are you preparing to defend and counter?" Seeing that Muir Jim was not going to show his Nen ability, Aren suddenly lost interest.

"Forget it. I'm done playing." Whoosh. A current of air rose under Aren's feet. In the blink of an eye, he vanished.

'Here he comes.' The moment Muir Jim saw Aren disappear, his gaze sharpened. He knew Aren had used that speed to attack him. Not only him. Lawrence, who had secretly bought a ticket and sat in the audience, was also staring around Muir Jim with full concentration, waiting to catch Aren's figure. He knew he could not track Aren with the naked eye. But he did not need to. All he had to do was wait. Aren's destination would definitely be somewhere near Muir Jim.

'It won't be that easy.' Muir Jim pushed his aura to the limit, forming Ren, though he did not know the term. He tried to use his aura output to block Aren's strike. Once he blocked it, it would be his turn to counter.

"Guh..." Muir Jim felt as if the back of his head had been struck by a heavy object while completely undefended. His brain seemed to tremble. No matter how unwilling he was, his consciousness sank into darkness. Thud. Muir Jim collapsed to the floor and did not get up.

"There it is. Contestant Aren's new finishing move. At a speed invisible to the naked eye, he combined a powerful hand chop with perfect timing and struck contestant Muir Jim." The referee stepped forward, checked briefly, and immediately made the call.

"Contestant Muir Jim is unconscious. K. O. Winner: Aren Voss." Aren was slightly unsatisfied that he had not seen Muir Jim's Nen ability. Still, he had never expected much from these amateurs. He only wanted to see their ideas. After the referee announced his victory, Aren walked down from the stage with an indifferent expression.

"Wow! Contestant Aren has once again defeated his opponent with a single hand chop. Are even two-hundredth-floor contestants unable to stop his advance?" Watching Muir Jim fall so cleanly, Lawrence's face in the audience finally darkened. This time, he had seen clearly. Muir Jim had used all of his aura for defense, yet still failed to block even one of Aren's hand chops. At this point, even a fool knew Aren must have opened Nen. Lawrence's aura reserve was not much different from Muir Jim's.

Otherwise, they would not have become teammates. That meant if Lawrence entered the ring, his situation would not be much better. Speed, inferior. Strength, inferior. Even Aren's real ability remained untested.

"This is troublesome."