While Ronin was resting, Uvogin and the others had already slipped past the police search and appeared inside a private home.
The homeowners—a young couple—were lying in a pool of blood.
"I got careless." Uvogin flopped down on the sofa, a trace of unwillingness in his eyes.
He wasn't surprised at all that Shalnark had shown up. He'd received word the day before that Shalnark would be coming with Nobunaga.
After Kortopi returned and told Chrollo about Ronin's Nen ability, Chrollo grew curious. He wanted Uvogin not to kill Ronin too quickly—bring him back first so Chrollo could take a look.
"So you got thrown off the airship?" Shalnark looked at the battered Uvogin, and the grin creeping up his face was impossible to hide.
A bear-like brute such as Uvogin hadn't been toyed with like a stray dog in a long time.
Uvogin didn't bother arguing. "That guy was trying to kill me. If he hadn't spotted the cop you were controlling in the crowd, I bet he would've ambushed me."
A fall from a few dozen meters wasn't enough to seriously cripple Uvogin.
Part of the "weak" look while he was lying there had been intentional. That said, the fall did make his blood and qi churn for a while.
Spitting blood had been real—but waiting for Ronin to strike, then turning it into a counterkill… had also been his plan.
Ronin was just too slippery.
That was Uvogin's most honest impression after two consecutive hunts.
"He probably noticed something was off. But I'm curious how he noticed," Shalnark said, puzzled.
He believed he'd controlled that officer perfectly. Even while moving toward the crowd, he hadn't looked too often in Ronin's direction.
So how had Ronin found out?
Uvogin shook his head. "He's improving fast. And he's cautious."
Even though Uvogin had been restricted by the airship hull and couldn't move well, Ronin's displayed strength was still far beyond what he'd shown back in the forest.
"Where was the airship you took heading?" Shalnark suddenly asked.
Uvogin thought for a moment. "Northern Continent."
"Northern Continent…" Shalnark frowned, thinking. "Was he running randomly, or did he have a purpose in leaving?"
Uvogin rolled his shoulders. "We didn't catch him this time. Next time will be even harder. That kid's slick. If he weren't a Kurta, I'd almost admire him—brave, decisive, with good combat talent and battle sense. And he's got the nerve, too."
"You rate him that highly?" Shalnark looked surprised.
"Yeah." Uvogin nodded seriously. "Once we leave, I'm betting he'll hop on another airship and get out of Yanshui City fast. If we want to find him then, I'll need your help."
"Catching him in the short term will be tough," Shalnark shrugged. "I couldn't find him in the passenger logs at all. He's probably boarding anonymously every time. And we still have things to do—let's regroup with the boss first."
"Still more work?" Uvogin frowned. "I thought once we dug out the eyes, we were done."
"Cleanup," Shalnark replied. "The boss says we might dig up some clues we want."
Uvogin's annoyance vanished instantly, replaced by a surge of killing intent.
"Fine."
"Oh—and next time we hunt him, we go together." Nobunaga finally spoke.
Ronin's abilities had sparked strong curiosity in him too.
But next time they met, he would cut Ronin's real body in half.
…
Heavens Arena was located in the Republic of Padokea on the Northern Continent.
On the seventh day after the attack, Ronin reached it after transferring airships multiple times. The place was soaked in fighting culture—so much so that even in a taxi, he could hear the driver chatting over the radio about who'd won today.
Advertisements for Heavens Arena covered the streets.
And everywhere you looked, there were hulking, muscular men. Combat had become the trendiest, most popular form of entertainment here.
The driver wasn't especially talkative—maybe Ronin's refined, aloof good looks made the driver swallow whatever he wanted to say.
After getting out at Heavens Arena, Ronin looked up and couldn't even see the top.
But he'd picked up a city brochure in the taxi. The brochure highlighted one major attraction above all else: this 251-floor skyscraper, 991 meters tall—the world's fourth-highest building.
It had complete facilities and was known as a holy land for fighters.
By the time Ronin arrived, the registration line already stretched far beyond the building.
Hundreds—maybe even thousands—of people must sign up every day. It made sense: according to the brochure, an average of 4,000 people were steadily climbing to higher floors daily.
After getting a registration form, Ronin lined up at the back.
In the name field, he didn't hide anything—he wrote "Ronin."
In the "fighting experience" field, he casually wrote "ten years."
If he remembered right, when twelve-year-old Killua came here, he'd written "ten years" too.
But it didn't really matter. Heavens Arena had very few restrictions. As long as you could knock your opponent down, it counted. Past the 200th floor, even using weapons was allowed.
So the place had another, less flattering nickname:
A holy land for barbarians.
After submitting the form, Ronin officially stepped into this enormous fighting sanctuary.
The moment he entered, roaring cheers hit him like a wave.
The massive stands were packed with spectators. Below them were sixteen neatly arranged fighting rings.
Contestants whose numbers were called kept climbing onto the rings to fight. Near the front rows closest to the rings, bursts of enthusiastic cheering erupted again and again.
Ronin's number was 2025.
He casually found a seat, watched the fights below, and waited for his number to be called.
There were plenty of others around him doing the same.
Ronin's plan was to reach the 100th floor as quickly as possible—so he'd get his own room, and the money he earned would cover his daily expenses.
After that, he'd climb higher step by step, while also learning more about this world and starting to gather information on suitable underworld groups for later.
He also planned to sign up for the Hunter Exam. A Hunter License was extremely useful.
And entering now, he probably wouldn't run into any real freaks. With his abilities, getting a license should be easier.
But the Yorknew auction was in September, while the Hunter Exam wouldn't be held until early next year—
So he still had plenty of time to prepare.