"Then would you still choose to go to Moldin City with me?" Ronin suddenly turned the question back on her.
"I never agreed to go to Moldin City with you in the first place," Milia said, spreading her hands. "All I said was that we could continue working together. If you ever need to rent Nen, you're more than welcome to come to me. And if you really do manage to control one of the Ten Dons of the underworld, I wouldn't mind cooperating with you either—providing some technical and professional support. But Heaven's Arena is my home base."
Ronin paused for a moment. "I see. That works."
Even if Milia hadn't shown up in that passageway, Ronin still had ways to make it out of Heaven's Arena alive.
But the fact that she had appeared there at all was a favor he owed her.
Regardless of whether Milia was doing this to squeeze more benefits out of him, after this cooperation, the distance between them had clearly closed.
At the very least, Ronin now regarded Milia as a friend he could trust.
…
"What a shame. If that kid in the passageway had made a move, I could've made two billion Jenny."
The speaker was a young man with a bowl-cut hairstyle.
His name was Mathur, a partner of the mercenary group. Unlike the logistics guy who'd fired the gun earlier, Mathur was a combat specialist with real strength.
Of course, his price was just as impressive.
He'd come along this time because he was already scheduled to take on a mission with the mercenary group. Since he was here anyway, he figured he might as well earn a little extra on the side.
He hadn't expected Ronin to be so sharp—offering a high payout, but also attaching conditions.
There were different prices for killing the target versus merely intimidating them.
Two billion for a kill. Only two hundred million for intimidation.
On top of that, Ronin had provided advance intel on Shalnark's abilities. Mathur was genuinely tempted by the two billion.
But after getting more information from Mühair, he ultimately chose not to make a move and settled for the two hundred million instead.
Looking at the two hundred million Jenny that had already been transferred to his account, Mathur was still fairly satisfied.
The Mühair he'd mentioned was the leader of the mercenary group—the "Elf" guy who had sniped Machi.
"Adley, you made a profit on the referral fee. Remember to charge more next time," Mühair said coldly.
"You didn't even bring Golem. This price is fine," Adley said with a shrug, his inverted V-shaped hairstyle swaying slightly. "Besides, there was no need to kill anyone—just stall them for a bit."
"That's only if there's no follow-up. What if those mad dogs come after us?" Mühair shot Adley a glare. He still felt the price was too low.
"Alright, alright, I get it," Adley said after thinking for a moment. In the end, it wasn't his money anyway—it all depended on Boss Ronin's willingness to pay.
Still… is Heaven's Arena really this profitable? Adley thought, as a business card appeared in his hand.
Printed clearly on it was a single line:
Heaven's Arena Gold Agent — Milia
…
After finishing her conversation with Ronin, Milia left his room. Only then did Ronin begin dealing with his own condition.
Opening the Eight Gates and using the Primary Lotus had left him with some accumulated injuries.
Fortunately, for someone in the Enhancement category, these were just minor wounds. With a few days of rest, he'd recover completely.
And since he didn't plan to stay at Heaven's Arena any longer, on the third day after the fight, Ronin returned the Rental Nen Devil to Milia after extracting enough Nen from it—then quietly left Heaven's Arena.
By the time he departed, the massive impact of his battle with Uvogin was already being heavily promoted throughout Heaven's Arena by Milia.
Killua, who had just completed his 190th-floor match, also saw the overwhelming wave of publicity.
Holding a poster printed with Ronin's bright, beaming smile, Killua clicked his tongue. What a show-off.
He casually tossed the poster into the trash, packed his luggage—mostly candy, especially chocolate balls—and prepared to leave the place he'd stayed for the past two years.
According to that bastard Illumi, anything above the 200th floor wasn't something he should be challenging right now.
Even though he didn't know the exact reason, he still had to head back to Kukuroo Mountain with that annoying guy.
What awaited him next was probably some real-world assassination training.
Honestly, it wasn't something to look forward to at all. Not even a little exciting.
Too bad he wouldn't get another chance to challenge Ronin this time—but the next time they met, he'd definitely be stronger than he was now.
And then, he'd challenge him again!
…
Inside the large medical facility on the 150th floor of Heaven's Arena, Uvogin had woken up.
His body was wrapped in bandages. One arm had already been amputated, and the extensive burns would take quite a long time to heal.
More importantly, after waking up, he'd developed an extreme aversion to fire.
Even the tiniest spark could send the crippled Uvogin flying into a rage, ignoring his injuries and springing up from the bed.
"I got some intel," Shalnark said, pulling a network cable into the room so he could sit there, keep an eye on Uvogin, and search for information at the same time.
"About Ronin?" Machi asked, standing near the window and idly tossing an apple in her hand.
Nobunaga and Franklin weren't in the room—they'd gone out to smoke. Neither of them wanted to risk sending Uvogin into a frenzy over a cigarette butt.
But the moment Machi finished speaking, Uvogin on the bed reflexively sat up, murderous intent blazing in his eyes.
"No," Shalnark shot Machi a look before continuing. "I found a possible method on the Hunter intelligence network that might restore Uvogin to normal."
"Regrowing a severed arm?" Machi asked skeptically.
"Yeah," Shalnark said. "The credibility of the info is hard to verify, but it's worth trying. At this point, it's like treating a dead horse as if it were alive."
"What method?" Uvogin asked from the bed.
"Have you ever heard of Greed Island?" Shalnark said slowly.
Before Uvogin could answer, Shalnark's phone rang.
The caller was Chrollo.
"Send me Ronin's information," Chrollo said, getting straight to the point.
"Alright," Shalnark replied just as succinctly. He understood exactly what Chrollo meant—Ronin had clearly drawn his full attention.
And that made sense.
Nen abilities on that level were perfect targets for theft.
It was a shame they'd been busy tracking down another lead earlier. Otherwise, even if Ronin had been well prepared this time, he probably wouldn't have escaped the Spider's encirclement.
Next time. Next time, we'll definitely catch him, Shalnark thought as he compiled Ronin's data and sent it to Chrollo. He also had several videos on hand.
They'd all been recorded by spectators at the time. He organized those as well, though they'd have to wait until they met in person to watch them.
…
The battle at Heaven's Arena made Ronin realize there had been a flaw in his previous way of thinking.
He'd been equating power directly with the rank of a jutsu.
But in reality, a jutsu's rank only represented how difficult it was to master—it didn't fully reflect its actual power.