Luo Ning was not so arrogant as to step onto the stage without first reviewing the intelligence on Gallegos. He had a clear understanding of the attack methods Gallegos would likely employ from the very beginning. Bricks, lime powder—these were Gallegos's standard tactics. According to the data gathered by Milia, Gallegos was a former street thug who had fought that way since childhood.
However, video records of Gallegos's matches revealed that while the bricks were created through his Conjuration ability, his other tools were items he carried on his person. For instance, after Luo Ning blocked his initial barrage, Gallegos pulled a massive wrench from his pocket!
Luo Ning dodged the swinging wrench and threw a punch straight toward Gallegos's face. In Luo Ning's opinion, the title "Ugly Gallegos" wasn't quite accurate; "Sinister and Ugly Gallegos" was far more fitting.
*Thud!*
Luo Ning's fist struck Gallegos, but it didn't hit his face. Instead, it smashed into a brick that had suddenly materialized in front of him. Behind the brick, Gallegos didn't wait for the momentum to carry the object into his own face; he had already crouched down, swinging his wrench toward Luo Ning's waist.
The brick shattered instantly under Luo Ning's punch. However, the pulverizing impact released a massive cloud of dust—a trick Gallegos had never shown in his previous fights. Luo Ning reacted instantly. The moment his fist shattered the brick, he closed his eyes and drove his knee upward toward the crouching Gallegos's face. He seemed to have no intention of defending against the incoming wrench.
If Gallegos had chosen to retreat, he could have dodged the knee strike. But he possessed a streak of ruthlessness; just as the knee was about to connect, he conjured another brick in front of himself.
*Boom!*
Luo Ning's knee slammed into the brick. The immense force shattered it instantly, and the momentum carried through, striking Gallegos squarely in the face. As blood sprayed, Gallegos's wrench also struck Luo Ning's kidney area.
Trading blow for blow?
Luo Ning's brow twitched. As his leg returned to the ground, he had already lunged forward. As for his waist, he felt very little pain. Enhancement was the most effective of the six Nen types for boosting attack, defense, and self-healing. As a Conjurer, Gallegos could only achieve sixty percent of a natural Enhancer's efficiency in combat.
With similar amounts of aura, an Enhancer's punch would always deal more damage than a Conjurer's. Furthermore, Luo Ning could mobilize more aura in an instant than Gallegos could. Thus, Luo Ning's punch broke through Gallegos's Ren, dealing significant damage. Conversely, Gallegos's wrench failed to crack Luo Ning's Ren. This was the nature of Enhancement—pure numerical suppression!
Gallegos's advantage lay in his various gadgets, but against Luo Ning's preparation, those tools couldn't bridge the gap in aura capacity. In a close-quarters brawl, Gallegos was destined to lose.
Leaping high into the air, Luo Ning left two bright red trails behind him. His fist, brimming with both Nen and Chakra, slammed heavily into Gallegos's chest as he descended!
*Boom!*
An explosive roar filled the arena, followed by absolute silence. Then, a tidal wave of applause and cheers erupted. As for Gallegos, whose chest was now caved in and whose life was uncertain, no one cared. At that moment, as Luo Ning stepped back and stood firmly on the stage, he was the most dazzling person in the hall.
"The winner is Luo Ning!" the referee signaled, blowing the whistle and declaring the verdict.
The commentator let out a passionate shout, and medical staff rushed onto the stage amidst the fervor of the crowd. Luo Ning closed his eyes briefly, savoring the fanatical cries of the masses. When he opened them again, he turned and left, leaving behind only the silhouette of a solitary, aloof figure.
Sitting below the stage, Milia pushed up her glasses. She hadn't been wrong; Luo Ning was her best choice. He was a natural-born combat star!
'But how should I "lend" my aura to him?' she wondered. 'Should I wait for him to challenge a Floor Master after his tenth win, or should I artificially create some difficulties for him?'
Milia stood up as well. If she chose the latter and was caught, it would likely cause a rift between them. But with Luo Ning's personality, even if he were to lose, he probably wouldn't choose to rely on outside help. It was quite a dilemma.
Luo Ning attended the banquet Milia hosted for him. The most important part of the event was taking photos to promote his strength. Everything proceeded according to plan. This kind of banquet had been agreed upon when he and Milia first started their partnership; it was good for publicity and didn't take up much of his time. Besides, his first victory on the 200th floor was indeed worth celebrating.
After staying for half an hour, Luo Ning informed Milia and quietly departed.
For Luo Ning, the most important aspect of the fight with Gallegos was the confirmation of his previous judgment. He had found an "Intermediate State" between the Sharingan and normal eyes. This state was, in fact, the Scarlet Eyes!
The Sharingan evolved from the Scarlet Eyes, but the transformation was usually so fast it was almost negligible. However, through continuous experimentation, Luo Ning had managed to stretch out this instantaneous process. Consequently, his aura also underwent a change; a portion quickly converted into Chakra, while the rest remained as Nen.
This was exactly the state Luo Ning had been searching for—a method that wouldn't expose the existence of his Scarlet Eyes or Sharingan, while allowing him to briefly possess both Chakra and Nen simultaneously.
In this state, Luo Ning began trying to strengthen Ninjutsu with Nen. The results weren't great. Ninjutsu didn't actually require the addition of Nen, and for techniques like Fire Style, increasing the effect would likely require him to change the property of his Nen. Although an Enhancer's efficiency in Transmutation is about eighty percent, Luo Ning felt this was a waste of his innate talent.
After all, even if his Enhancement-type Nen could strengthen a Ninjutsu, how much stronger could it really get? It was far simpler to just release more Chakra during the technique to increase its power naturally.
Furthermore, the most vital point of this Intermediate State was that it allowed Luo Ning to use the Sharingan to replicate the Nen ability he had seen Uvogin use. As for using Enhancement to boost his physical techniques, the result was exactly as he had imagined: one plus one was greater than two.
However, to achieve this effect, he needed to be extremely focused. During his private practice, it had been difficult to truly unleash such a powerful attack. The state of total concentration he reached while fully immersed in combat on the stage actually made the execution of the ability feel like second nature.
As expected, combat was the fastest way to improve!
Fortunately, Luo Ning had held back some of his power at the last moment. Otherwise, with the explosive force of those two powers merging, there probably wouldn't be anything left of Gallegos except for scattered pieces. If Gallegos survived, Luo Ning felt the man truly owed him a debt of gratitude.
Of course, Luo Ning hadn't stayed his hand out of mercy; he simply didn't want a gruesome death to tarnish his public image.