The moment he walked through the door, he was amused by the scene before him.
In the living room, three strikingly beautiful young women with completely different styles sat around a table, engaged in a peculiarly tense game of Fight the Landlord.
"Pair of threes!"
Shermie—the ceiling of pure seduction—was currently wearing a sexy silk robe, her snow-white long legs casually crossed. She tossed out two cards, a confident, alluring smile on her face.
"Pass."
Goniko—the pure-as-white-lotus silver-haired girl—was wearing an adorable bunny pajama set, shaking her head with a troubled expression.
Clearly, she still hadn't quite grasped this ancient Eastern card game.
"Bomb!"
Leona—the ice queen beauty—expressionlessly slapped down four twos.
Her voice was still as cold as ever, but deep in her eyes, there flickered a trace of competitive fire.
Leona had actually been on assignment, but since she needed to familiarize herself with and adapt to her new powers, she'd come to Cloud's side during this period.
Heidern had simply given her an extended leave.
"Ah! Leona, how do you keep getting bombs?!" Goniko let out an adorable wail.
"Just luck." Leona replied flatly, then turned her gaze to Shermie, the meaning clear: Your turn.
Shermie looked at her own hand—completely demolished by the bomb—and her seductive smile froze.
"Damn it! Little Ice Mountain, did you cheat?!"
"No."
"I don't believe you! You definitely peeked at me and Goniko's cards!"
"No."
Just as a "war at the card table" was about to escalate into a "physical war"—
Cloud decisively cleared his throat.
"Ahem."
The three girls immediately froze like someone had hit a pause button.
They turned in unison to see Cloud walking in.
"Boss, you're back!" Shermie instantly switched to a sickeningly sweet smile and pounced over like a little cat, draping herself on Cloud.
"Cloud..." Goniko also stood up, a shy yet happy smile on her face.
Only Leona remained seated, but her unconsciously straightened back and perked-up ears had already betrayed her inner anticipation.
"Alright, alright, how old are you all? Still playing cards." Cloud helplessly "peeled" Shermie off himself, then tossed an envelope onto the table.
It was an envelope made of some unknown silver metal, radiating a futuristic technological aesthetic.
On the envelope, there was no text—only an intricate emblem resembling a bird's nest.
"What's this?" Goniko asked curiously.
"An... invitation to a Hongmen Banquet."
A playful smile curved at the corner of Cloud's mouth.
He slowly opened the envelope, and a holographic invitation projected into the air.
A cold, emotionless synthesized voice spoke:
["The King of Fighters 99"... is about to begin.]
[This tournament will adopt new rules.]
[Rule One: Teams of four.]
[Rule Two: Introduction of the "Striker" system.]
[Striker System Explanation: The fourth member of each team will serve as the "Striker." During three-on-three single combat, the active fighter may summon the Striker at critical moments for a one-time attack, defense, or assist. However, once the Striker acts, they cannot be summoned again for the remainder of that match.]
[A feast for kings, a stage for the strong.]
[We await your arrival at the summit... Mr. Cloud.]
The invitation finished playing and dissipated into the air.
The living room fell into brief silence.
"Teams of four? And... Strikers?" Shermie rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Sounds more fun than before. Kind of like... when playing games, you can call in backup or have a sideline coach?"
"You can make surprise attacks or provide protection at critical moments..." Leona's eyes gleamed with tactical analysis. "This rule creates enormous variables in combat."
"That... voice was so cold." Goniko shrank closer to Cloud, somewhat frightened.
Cloud laughed.
Of course he knew this tournament was a "stage" that NESTS had custom-built just for him.
Or rather, a "cage."
They wanted to use this tournament to collect more combat data on fighters. Especially on him, Cloud.
They might have even prepared countless "clones" and "enhanced humans," ready to hunt him down and eliminate him during this grand event.
But...
"A Hongmen Banquet?" Cloud's eyes gleamed with the excitement of a hunter. "I'd quite like to see if this feast they've prepared is enough for me to eat alone."
He'd made his decision. He would play along and venture into the tiger's den!
He would use this tournament to drag NESTS from the shadows into the spotlight! And then grind them beneath his heel!
"Alright, since we've decided to participate, the first question we face is..."
Cloud's gaze swept over the three strikingly different beauties before him.
"—Forming a team."
...
"What?! You're taking those three to compete in KOF?!"
From the other end of the phone came Chizuru Kagura's voice, filled with shock, confusion, and more than a little jealousy.
Clearly, Cloud's "earth-shattering" team decision had put considerable pressure on this shrine maiden who had just established her position as the "main wife."
"That's right." Cloud answered matter-of-factly. "Is there a problem?"
"There's a huge problem!" Chizuru's voice rose several notches.
"Goniko is Goenitz's adopted daughter, with pure wind power in her body! Leona is practically equivalent to a complete Hakkesshu member! And that Shermie... she's literally one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi! You're bringing a team that's entirely villains... er, entirely Divine Tribe bloodlines to compete—are you sure you're not going just to cause chaos?!"
"That's exactly why I'm going." Cloud laughed. "Besides, don't you think this team composition is quite... entertaining?"
Chizuru Kagura fell silent.
She had to admit—this team composition was indeed... extremely entertaining.
...
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