[RENTAL COMPLETE. PLEASE RETURN THE RENTED NEN WITHIN THREE DAYS. IF OVERDUE, A FORCIBLE COLLECTION WILL BE TRIGGERED!] The abrupt appearance of the Lending Devil beside Luo Ning came with a sharp reminder.
Luo Ning's brow furrowed slightly.
This really wasn't a good time.
On the other side, Shalnark's eyes lit up. He finally straightened out several doubts that had been puzzling him.
However, just as he made sense of it all, a figure suddenly appeared behind him.
She wore a sharp, black women's suit with trousers and a pair of short-heeled, red-bottomed leather shoes.
Those well-proportioned, slender, and beautiful hands—which Luo Ning couldn't help but glance at a few extra times whenever they met—were now clenched into fists. She aimed a devastating blow directly at the center of Shalnark's back!
It was Milia!
Boom!
The fist hit its mark, but it wasn't Shalnark's back. Instead, Shalnark had spun around just in time to throw up his arm in a hurried block.
The massive force sent Shalnark crashing into the corridor wall.
"Go!"
Without any unnecessary explanation, Milia, having seized the initiative, pressed her attack. She shouted loudly to Luo Ning even as she lunged forward again.
A flash of hesitation crossed Luo Ning's eyes, but he immediately accelerated, moving quickly with his shadow clones. At the same time, he shouted at the top of his lungs: "Watch out for the antennas!"
Shalnark continuously blocked Milia's attacks, but his gaze remained mostly fixed on Luo Ning.
That stick-figure devil that had suddenly appeared was likely a deliberate move by the opponent to distract him for a sneak attack.
Now, hearing Luo Ning's shout, he confirmed another thing.
Back at the airship field, the boy probably hadn't noticed anything unusual about the police officers themselves, but had instead spotted the antennas on them!
But how did he do it? Or had his own intelligence been leaked in advance? Was it discovered during the massacre of the clan?
Or was it because of those special eyes?
Although the woman in front of him had decent close-combat skills, she wasn't enough to pose a real threat to him. However, with Luo Ning's warning, his chances of sticking an antenna into her had been greatly reduced.
Furthermore, her appearance gave Luo Ning an even better chance to escape. Now, Shalnark had to consider whether it was worth going all-in to intercept them.
The fact that Machi and the others hadn't appeared at the entrance for so long meant that something unexpected had happened in the arena.
Additionally, Shalnark noticed the movements of the shadow clone's hands. The opponent seemed ready to activate an ability at any moment; it appeared he was also wary of other factors.
Moreover, Shalnark could faintly feel eyes watching him from outside the corridor.
He just couldn't be sure who it was!
One thing was certain: Luo Ning was better prepared than they were. To be able to spare people to stall Machi and Franklin meant he must have known about their plan in advance.
Unless an external force—meaning another member—broke through Luo Ning's deployment, then even if he acted now, it would be meaningless!
Shalnark hesitated with the antenna in his hand.
As Luo Ning ran past not far from him, Shalnark did not choose to stab the antenna into his own body.
He even took the initiative to pull back, ending the brawl with Milia.
Shalnark's choice surprised Luo Ning slightly. He had thought the other man would choose to enter "Auto Mode" for a life-and-death struggle.
He and his shadow clone had already prepared to release ninjutsu at a moment's notice. His eyes were even locked onto Shalnark's, ready to interfere with genjutsu the moment the man looked his way.
Seeing the opponent choose to retreat on his own, he breathed a small sigh of relief.
Even if he still had trump cards held back, it was better for Luo Ning if he didn't have to use them.
The shadow clone stayed behind to cover the retreat, while Luo Ning and Milia quickly fled the corridor.
"If I speak to you, can it be transmitted to the original?" Shalnark asked calmly, without moving.
However, his words were full of testing intent, and he was secretly calculating in his heart.
The shadow clone gave no answer and abruptly vanished a minute later.
At that moment, Machi appeared in the corridor.
"At least you're okay." Machi sighed in relief. "That boy named Luo Ning... has he really only mastered Nen for a little over a month?"
Machi was skeptical.
The abilities the opponent had displayed on the stage had completely exceeded her expectations.
Even though she had heard about Luo Ning's abilities from Shalnark and the others before, seeing them for herself was different. She had maintained a degree of doubt until now.
Now that she had faced it head-on, the shock in her heart was almost overwhelming.
Machi had seen Nen users who could transform their aura into flames before, but none could achieve the exaggerated level Luo Ning had.
Those flames that had enveloped the entire arena were simply terrifying.
"How is Uvogin?" Shalnark asked, implicitly acknowledging her previous question without answering it directly.
"It's very serious. He'll definitely lose an arm. Even if he's saved, whether he can still fight normally is another question. The burns are just too severe!"
Although Machi had learned cosmetic techniques for morticians, she had a profound understanding of human injury and anatomy.
When Nobunaga brought the unconscious Uvogin to her, she had already made a judgment on the severity of his wounds.
"To the surveillance room first, then we'll find them," Shalnark said.
He wanted to take the recording of today's battle in the arena to study it. The opponent was a formidable enemy.
Especially since their Troupe had slaughtered the boy's entire clan; the grudge between them was irreconcilable. It was a situation where only one side could survive.
Right now, they were the ones hunting him.
But Shalnark felt that this situation might be reversed before too long!
The opponent's growth potential and the bizarre nature of his abilities made him feel an immense amount of pressure and threat.
They had to eliminate him as soon as possible!
However, when he reached the surveillance room, Shalnark discovered that all the video footage related to the match in Arena 227 had already been taken.
"It's that woman!" Shalnark understood instantly.
He had already seen Milia's photograph and naturally knew she was Luo Ning's gold-star manager.
The various advertisements and posters in the arena, along with the obvious bias of the referee and commentator on stage, all told him one thing: Milia held significant power within Heaven's Arena.
Looking at it now, his judgment hadn't been wrong at all.
...
"I thought you would have headed to Mauldin City ahead of time?" Luo Ning had already brought Milia back to his room on the 188th floor.
This place hadn't been exposed yet.
When he left Arena 227, he had already sent text messages to Adley and the mercenary.
There was no need for the two parties to meet again; the commission would be deposited into their accounts after the mission was completed.
Luo Ning had also kept their phone numbers. If needed next time, he could hire them again for a high price.
Still, a price of 1.7 billion Jenny for a single instance of protection and deterrence was truly not something just anyone could afford.
However, in Luo Ning's view, Nen users who could stall members of the Phantom Troupe were well worth the price. In fact, he felt it was unlikely he could hire them for 1.7 billion Jenny next time.
"Oh, I forgot to remind you. I have to be present for you to return the Nen you obtained through the Lending Devil early. Otherwise, you can only wait until the rental time hits the critical limit, at which point the Lending Devil will judge that you're having trouble 'paying back the aura' and forcibly collect it." Milia spoke as if it were a trivial matter.
However, seeing Luo Ning's calm expression, Milia couldn't help but realize: "You guessed it already?"
"Pretty much. It was more of an intuition," Luo Ning said.
He had considered this after renting the Nen. This was also one of the reasons he hadn't chosen to deliver a finishing blow to Uvogin before quickly leaving.
As the saying went, the benefits of renting Milia's Nen outweighed the risks.
So, even if he had known this long ago, he still would have borrowed Milia's Nen first.
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