"Brilliant!"
Up in the stands, Kurei couldn't help clapping in admiration. As an Explorer, he'd originally thought that the girl nicknamed Tuantuan, "Liu Wuxiang," was as good as dead. Who would've thought she'd actually break the deadlock in such a desperate situation?
Face? Pride? Those things meant nothing to Explorers. Once this world was over, they'd be gone—who would ever meet her again?
Surviving and completing the mission was what truly mattered.
Earning Endcoin—nothing shameful about that.
"What the hell? Is this a surrender? And this counts as a gladiator?"
"Hahaha, this is Kōō Academy's representative? What a joke. Some 'new-era female gladiator'—she kneels the moment she faces Metsudo's Fang."
"Didn't they say she'd go down in history? Hah, looks like she will—just as a black mark."
"..."
After a few seconds of stunned silence, the audience erupted into laughter and ridicule.
The ones with the worst expressions were naturally those from Kōō Girls' Academy. Soryuin Shion's fists clenched so hard they turned purple-blue as she stared at the kneeling figure below.
"What exactly are you trying to do…?"
She'd accepted Liu Wuxiang's request, assuming it was simply overconfidence—challenging Metsudo's Fang in the very first match.
She wasn't afraid of Liu Wuxiang losing.
But she'd never imagined this kind of scene.
Could Liu Wuxiang be a mole sent by a rival faction, deliberately humiliating them?
Surely it wasn't that she'd stepped onto the stage, been crushed by Kurosaki Rei's aura, and just… knelt on the spot?
The situation inside the arena was utter chaos. Even the host, Katahara Sayaka, didn't quite know how to smooth things over.
"Oh—what's happening here? Could it be that Metsudo's Fang already made a move without us seeing it? To force the Eerie Killing King to kneel? What exactly is going on with this bizarre scene?"
Hearing Sayaka's commentary, Kurosaki Rei's mouth twitched. He wanted to ask the same thing.
"What do you mean?" he frowned. "You're not fighting and just surrendering on your own? Or do you want me to personally send you flying?"
"Since you stepped onto the arena, I won't treat you as a woman," Kurosaki Rei said coldly. "You have three seconds to surrender."
Inside, Liu Wuxiang finally let out a sigh of relief.
This absurdly powerful big shot didn't seem like a bloodthirsty lunatic. He was someone who could be reasoned with.
Because of Kurosaki Rei's confusion and the audience's chatter, more than thirty seconds had already passed since the match began.
Her main quest was complete.
With her return qualification secured, she could—strictly speaking—have the Terminus Space pull her out immediately. As for the strange contradiction of vanishing in front of everyone, the Space would handle the explanation.
But she didn't leave.
Because that wouldn't align with the teachings of the Coward's Survival Manual.
"Thank you for sparing me, Boss. Three thousand. Go easy on me and send me off."
Liu Wuxiang—or rather, the Explorer Tuantuan—spoke in a low voice.
She'd used Kurosaki Rei to complete her mission. He would figure it out soon enough, and when he did, he'd definitely be annoyed.
As an Explorer of the same tier, they might run into each other again in another world. According to the Coward's Survival Manual, it was best to be sensible now—so she wouldn't get cut down later, and maybe could even cling to his thigh again someday.
"Ah?"
Kurosaki Rei was completely dumbfounded now.
He hadn't expected that just fighting a knockout match could bring him extra income. Why was the other side giving him Endcoin?
He couldn't figure it out immediately, but money delivered to his doorstep wasn't something he'd refuse. Once he heard there was cash involved, he found Liu Wuxiang much more pleasing to the eye.
What a pretty, lovely, considerate girl.
So he sprang into action, leaping up and delivering a kick.
The kick landed squarely on Liu Wuxiang's abdomen just as she was standing, sending her flying more than ten meters.
The kick looked fierce—powerful and heavy—but he'd used finesse. Liu Wuxiang wouldn't actually be injured, and she landed lightly.
Still, she cooperated perfectly—collapsing to the ground, head lolling to the side, eyes rolling back. She was only missing a bit of foam at the mouth.
The referee stood there in a daze for a few seconds before reacting. He hurried over to check on her condition, then announced:
"The winner—Metsudo's Fang, Kurosaki Rei!"
Yet the atmosphere in the arena was deeply strange. There was no cheering at all.
Metsudo's Fang hadn't shown any overwhelming strength. In the eyes of many gladiators, that kick hadn't looked impressive at all—and Liu Wuxiang had just fallen over.
Was it a fixed match? A setup?
"What a strange bout," Sayaka said, trying to smooth things over. "It's a shame we didn't get to witness Metsudo's Fang's true strength. We'll have to wait for the challenger in the second round."
Despite her efforts, the audience buzzed with speculation, many suspecting Chairman Katahara of arranging a fake match.
As Katahara's daughter, Sayaka knew better than anyone that her father would never pull such tricks. Besides, with Kurosaki Rei's terrifying strength, why would he need to fix a match?
And if he were fixing one, he certainly wouldn't do something as clumsy as having the opponent kneel at the start.
After leaving the arena and entering the backstage area, Kurosaki Rei found Liu Wuxiang already waiting for him. She immediately sent a trade request.
"Oh? Pretty rich, aren't you."
Kurosaki Rei was genuinely surprised. The trade panel clearly showed 3,000 Endcoin. Ordinary Explorers usually didn't have the leeway to bring that much saved currency into a world.
"It's basically all I have left," Tuantuan said honestly. "I made quite a bit in this world. If I couldn't get past you, I'd die. So I really have to thank you for sparing me."
Her main quest had several stages, and she'd even completed a side quest at Kōō Academy. Her total earnings in this world exceeded ten thousand.
But the final stage of her main quest carried an erasure penalty on failure. She had no retreat.
If she fought Kurosaki Rei head-on, she believed death was guaranteed.
"Not bad. You know what you're doing."
Kurosaki Rei nodded in satisfaction. This was the first time he'd met such a sensible Explorer. Compared to Kurei, this one was far more considerate.
"Just call me Tuantuan," she said. "There are a lot of hidden dangers here. I'm heading back now. If fate allows, we'll meet again."
With that, she turned and ran off. At the other end of the corridor, Soryuin Shion was rushing over, clearly intending to demand an explanation.
Kurosaki Rei pocketed the Endcoin, feeling thoroughly satisfied, and returned to his rest area to quietly await the real show.
...
Twenty miles outside Kengan Island, beneath the seemingly calm sea, a submarine hovered silently.
Through the cameras, they watched the live broadcast of the tournament, monitoring movements all across Kengan Island in real time.
"Metsudo's Fang actually changed," said a blond, muscular man with slicked-back hair and sunglasses, chuckling as he lit a fresh cigar. "Interesting. Looks like the trash you trained turned out useless after all."
If Wu Erioh were here, he would immediately recognize him.
This man was the Wu clan's traitor—the leader of the Westward Wu faction:
Edward Wu.
"Just a piece of trash that ran away halfway through the breeding process," replied the white-haired middle-aged man lounging on the sofa, his tone lazy. "He barely learned the surface of the Niko Style. He was never truly my disciple."
He was one of the world's only remaining Tokita Nikos—the so-called White Niko, a high-ranking cadre under Shen Wulong, and a monster among monsters.
"Heh. But I heard that Kiryu Setsuna—who you supposedly trained quite well—also died," Edward Wu mocked mercilessly. "Is the Niko Style really still useful?"
The taunt made White Niko's temples bulge with veins.
He straightened up and stared at Edward Wu.
"Edward… are you asking to die?"
"Oh?" Edward Wu leaned forward as well. "Do you know who you're talking to right now?"
Invisible pressure collided as the two men faced off, terrifying the lower-ranked Worm members inside the submarine into silence.
"Enough. This isn't the time for internal conflict."
A weary voice interrupted them just as things were about to explode.
The speaker was a handsome man with long, pale-gold hair.
He was Xia Yan, the supreme leader of the Worm, and someone with a very close relationship to the Connector, Shen Wulong.
Rubbing his forehead, Xia Yan sighed.
"The Tiger's Vessel has been killed. Things are bad enough already. Do you really need to make my head hurt even more?"
At those words, the killing intent around Edward Wu and White Niko dissipated.
It wasn't that they feared Xia Yan—
They feared the Connector, Shen Wulong.
Xia Yan looked at the two powerhouses before him.
"Do you remember our objective this time?"
Edward Wu broke into a grin.
"Of course. The Tiger's Vessel has been destroyed—we naturally have to return the favor. An organization like the Kengan Association… it's about time it met its end."
That was right.
This massive mobilization of the Worm, with three top-tier experts deployed, had only one purpose—
On Kengan Island, to wipe out the entire upper echelon of the Kengan Association in one decisive strike.
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