"Dear viewers, the much-anticipated Floor Master Challenge is about to begin!"
"Star player John Smith, who boasts 10 wins and 0 losses, challenges the Floor Master of the 244th floor—Menk Rin Zourlo! What kind of sparks will these two powerhouses create? Is a new Floor Master about to be born, or will this young prodigy learn how vast the world truly is, have his edge blunted, and suffer his first defeat in Heavens Arena?"
"Let's find out!"
The huge and lively venue echoed with the sweet voice of the beautiful host, and the atmosphere was fully charged. Waves of applause, cheers, and whistles came one after another.
Under the spotlight, Liam and Shadow Beast Purple Ape—Menk Rin Zourlo—entered the ring from opposite sides.
Liam stood over 1.5 meters tall with a childish appearance. His limbs and body didn't look thick at first glance, but appeared thin and slender. Opposite him, Purple Ape stood about 1.8 meters tall, hands in his pockets, looking down at Liam with a relaxed and casual manner that radiated careless oppression.
At least the referee felt quite oppressed. Sweat formed on his forehead.
Being a referee for superhuman experts is really hard!
"You're pretty good to come here with ten straight wins, little guy," Purple Ape said with a smile. "Actually, there's no need to challenge a Floor Master. This way you could maintain a glorious record. Otherwise, losing to me as Floor Master, even being called a 'wannabe' seems embarrassing."
Liam seemed not to have heard and asked, "Hey, have I seen you somewhere?"
Purple Ape's eye twitched.
"Ah!" Liam suddenly remembered. "Shadow Beast?"
Purple Ape's expression changed slightly. A sharp light flashed in his eyes. "Oh? A kid like you has also heard of the Shadow Beasts?"
"Ahem! You two..." The referee looked at both fighters to confirm their readiness, then raised his palm and announced loudly, "Then, player Liam versus player Menk Rin! The match begins!"
The dark auditorium all around suddenly erupted in roaring waves!
However, neither Liam nor Purple Ape moved in the ring.
Purple Ape relied on his own strength and identity, unwilling to take the lead and appear to be bullying someone.
Liam was thinking: How did a Shadow Beast become a Floor Master instead of bodyguarding the Ten Dons?
Still, it was rare to encounter a live Shadow Beast. If he could find an opportunity to control one with a Star Mark, it might be a useful vest. At least a character who could collect intelligence from the mafia and even the Ten Dons. As for what information to collect, Liam hadn't thought about it yet.
"It seems both players are quite cautious, still gauging each other's momentum!"
The referee hid under the ring and continued commentary without prompting. He wanted to bring the topic to the two people on stage. What are you looking at? Come on, fight already!
Liam said, "Why don't you show me your Ren?"
Purple Ape's eye twitched again. His anger began rising.
Liam's phrase "show me your Ren" was generally what the stronger seniors among Nen users said to weaker juniors. It was a general term for asking the other party to demonstrate what they'd learned when giving instruction.
Purple Ape sneered. "Don't get confused, kid. You're the challenger, and it's you who should—"
Before he could finish, Liam released his Ren, shocking Purple Ape so much that he swallowed the second half of his words.
The referee near the ring felt it even more deeply. An invisible strong wind surged out from player Liam on stage. His aura suddenly became serious and terrifying, so much so the referee didn't even dare look directly into his eyes.
This kid's aura... is much stronger than in the video!
Purple Ape was secretly surprised. It's only been a few months. How could there be such an exaggerated improvement?
A layer of aura as strong as thick armor, as stable as rock, wrapped around Liam's body.
Liam shifted his feet, assuming a fighting stance, and acknowledged, "You're right. So, shall we?"
As he spoke, he raised his hands.
Purple Ape's anger welled up. Is this brat looking down on me?
Purple Ape let out a low shout. The aura wrapped around his body suddenly surged with terrifying momentum. He took one step forward, crossed several meters, and punched Liam in the face.
When Liam raised his hand to parry, the thick aura from Purple Ape's fist suddenly surged out, stretched with a whoosh, bypassed Liam's arms, and punched him from the side.
Liam spun around and flew backward, pressed against the ring, then flipped over and jumped to his feet.
"Transmutation?" He looked across the way. The aura on Purple Ape's fist stretched half a meter and transformed into a furry fist, like a strong and powerful ape arm.
It was this ape arm—stretched and transformed by aura—that had curved around and landed a sneak attack!
However, the side of Liam's temple where he'd been hit just now bore no injuries from the strike.
Liam wasn't Hisoka. He didn't like fighting without Ken, breaking his arms when he felt like it, giving them away for free.
At the start of battle, Liam had activated maximum Ken.
Judging by inspection, this Shadow Beast's aura was estimated to be close to 20,000.
The opponent was probably Transmutation-type. His fists and kicks were quite destructive in close combat, but not to the point where a casual punch could break through Liam's defense. Not to mention that Liam's total aura exceeded his opponent's, and his Ken wasn't weak.
After all, he was a Shadow Beast and Floor Master. Having such strength wasn't beyond Liam's expectations.
But Liam's strength far exceeded his opponent's expectations.
His unexpected Ape God Fist failed to break the opponent's body-protecting aura? Purple Ape's expression turned cold. He pressed toward Liam again like a giant human-shaped aura ball.
The same punch again!
The same straight punch? Did he think he could make a second sneak attack? Liam suddenly felt that some kind of aura seemed to appear out of thin air behind him. At the same time, Purple Ape's aura in front weakened.
Gyo! Liam gathered more aura into his eyes.
The Purple Ape punching him from the front suddenly turned into a purple-haired gibbon. It screeched strangely, continued Purple Ape's attack, and slapped him with its claws.
"It's a Nen beast!"
In the auditorium, there was naturally no shortage of other 200th-floor fighters who'd come to watch. These people were all Nen users, and many had the insight to recognize Nen beasts.
As bystanders, they naturally saw clearly what happened on the field.
Floor Master Menk Rin feigned a frontal attack but released a purple-haired ape-shaped Nen beast behind Liam.
Just when Liam was about to parry Menk Rin's frontal attack, Menk Rin swapped positions with the ape Nen beast released behind Liam!
The ape swung its claws at Liam from the front. Menk Rin, now behind Liam, certainly wouldn't miss the opportunity. He concentrated strong aura with one punch. The aura transformed into ape claws, enhancing destructive power. He swung mercilessly at Liam's back, attacking from both front and rear with his Nen beast!
Flowing Star Strike.
The Star Mark under the collar on the back of Liam's neck activated. He entered a state of semi-thought, with sapphire-like glimmers flowing in his eyes.
A flash of lightning passed. The dull sound of fists striking flesh sounded in the ring.
With the entire audience watching, Floor Master Menk Rin—who for some reason had teleported behind Liam to launch a sneak attack—was beaten back repeatedly.
In the middle of the ring, Liam's action of spinning a kick in the air hadn't yet ended. But at a level invisible to ordinary audiences, in the eyes of 200th-floor fighters watching the match, Liam had not only beaten Floor Master Menk Rin back and kicked him away at incredible speed, but simultaneously clamped the claws of the ape Nen beast attacking from the front with one hand, spun around in the air, and smashed it to the ground.
Purple Ape stepped on the ring's edge. Bricks shattered.
The ape Nen beast smashed a crack into the ring, then bounced high. Whoosh. The position of the ape Nen beast flickered, replaced by Purple Ape himself.
He punched at Liam in the air not far away.
The aura from his fist surged out in large quantities, turning into giant ape claws, ruthlessly tearing at Liam.
At the same time, the ape Nen beast he'd swapped to the side of the ring wasn't idle either. Its long hairs trembled and flew. After landing, they transformed into smaller monkeys that looked younger.
"The Nen beast divided into more Nen beasts?"
"This is too shameless!"
"Is this the level of Floor Masters?"
The 200th-floor contestants watching the competition were all surprised, not only by the sophistication and complexity of this Floor Master's Nen ability, but also by his aura reserves.
Before Liam hit the ground, unable to parry or dodge, the huge claws ripped from the air by Purple Ape slammed down.
The place where Purple Ape had attacked him just now turned into a small monkey Nen beast.
Liam grabbed the ground with his hands and feet. As soon as he stood up, another gust of wind came from the side!
However, Liam twisted away from the sneak attack claw at an incredible angle. With eyes like he had them on the back of his head, he grabbed Purple Ape's claw with one hand and slashed toward Purple Ape's throat with his other palm.
Just when Liam's sharp hand blade was about to cut his throat, the Purple Ape he'd grabbed in front of him changed shape and turned into a little monkey Nen beast.
Liam's hand blade cut into the neck of the little monkey Nen beast. The latter quickly turned into a ball of aura and dissipated.
Looking around, he was surrounded by dozens of densely packed monkey Nen beasts.
And Shadow Beast Purple Ape, as well as his initial Nen beast gibbon, were hidden among them.
"Hehehe, you must be thinking: it's impossible. How could someone create so many Nen beasts? There must be some special rules!" Purple Ape's laughter came from different positions in the monkey group. He seemed to be constantly swapping places with his Nen beasts. "Yes! There are indeed rules that make me very uncomfortable, but can you solve it? If you can solve it, even I will feel—"
Liam's expression remained unchanged. When he turned around and looked around, the aura from his body had already flowed out.
"—I'll also feel a headache!"
Whoosh. Purple Ape swapped positions with one of the little monkeys and launched another sneak attack. But suddenly his expression changed dramatically. The aura sweeping over his body... is this En? This kid has mastered En?
He really had a headache now!
The En released by Liam enveloped the entire arena without any blind spots.
Liam caught Purple Ape's fist without looking back and said suddenly, "So that's it. There are only three real little monkey Nen beasts! The rest are empty shells made using Transmutation skills!"
Purple Ape gritted his teeth and raised his knee to strike. Before he could touch Liam, the latter struck first and knocked Purple Ape away with a punch.
Whoosh. The Purple Ape who'd been beaten away was replaced by a little monkey Nen beast.
"Even so, can you tell which one is which at any time?"
The densely packed real and fake monkeys all around smiled slyly and made sounds like surround sound.
Liam's eyes went slightly blind. He almost wanted to plug his ears with his fingers.
He estimated that with this Shadow Beast's Nen ability, he'd probably be shocked to death by Uvogin's voice. Even if you can swap bodies, your body still exists nearby. Uvogin is full of Enhancement aura. After his roar shocks your movements and exposes your position, your next fate is probably getting punched in the head.
Liam wouldn't punch him in the head.
But no matter how Purple Ape used the real and fake little monkey teleportation beasts as springboards for teleportation, and no matter how superbly he launched surprise attacks on Liam from all directions like some kind of teleportation jutsu, it was useless.
The En that enveloped the entire arena and the Flowing Star Strike Mark on the back of his neck made Liam almost enter a state of Ultra Instinct.
Purple Ape's movements. The trajectory of his strikes. The direction of attacks.
One by one, they were clearly reflected in Liam's mind. In an instant, when Liam's thoughts arose, his body also reacted naturally. Sometimes pulling the opponent and giving an elbow. Sometimes turning around and kicking him in the face. Sometimes spinning around and punching hard. Sometimes taking a sidestep to dodge and hitting the opponent's flying body with a knee.
So under the gaze of the entire audience, there was a scene like this: Contestant Liam or John Smith stood in the middle of the ring, unchanging in response to all changes. Meanwhile, Floor Master Menk Rin—who should have calmly defended the ring—surrounded Liam and kept "flashing," constantly attacking from various angles, but being countered one by one. Liam didn't show much fatigue, but the Floor Master seemed to be getting more and more embarrassed.
The vast majority of the audience was stunned.
The referee was stunned. So were the 200th-floor fighters. Who's the Floor Master here?
Tetsuro wasn't surprised by this result.
Although his brother Tetsuo, who'd come to watch the match with him, had a look of disbelief on his face, Tetsuro had witnessed Liam's fight with Hunter Association President Netero at the summit of Sensui Mountain. He understood deeply that Liam's fighting skills and martial arts talent were so outstanding they were enviable. Of course, this might be the result of Liam using some kind of Nen ability, but who could say that wasn't also martial arts talent?
Although this Floor Master was powerful, his own strength didn't exceed Liam's. He still wanted to surpass Liam in close combat? He's really overthinking it.
Liam retracted his En, closed his eyes, dodged the fist coming from the side slowly yet quickly, blocked the opponent's extending and changing claws, and pushed them away with an elbow.
"Oh? Why didn't you use the substitution technique?"
Liam was surprised that this time it was actually real contact, instead of being replaced by a little monkey Nen beast at the last moment.
All the Nen beasts in the ring disappeared. At some point, together with the one Liam had just hit, there were two Purple Apes left in the ring.
The original gibbon Nen beast had lost all its hair and transformed to look like Purple Ape.