Chapter 105: Who Told You to Fire a Spirit Gun Through the Mega Buster?
Ross's request was rejected. Not surprising. Floor-200 rules were 1v1, ten wins to earn a Floor Master challenge. Casually agreeing to a 2v2 would create immediate problems with how wins and losses would be counted, and the other floor-200 fighters wouldn't agree to fight in something so outside the established structure.
But this was exactly the answer Ross wanted. Because only after the refusal would his next request be easy to make.
Which was to simply rent an empty arena floor with no events scheduled and run a private closed 2v2 on his own terms.
As expected, the same direct line that had just refused the first request only needed to briefly check with someone before coming back with a yes. The conditions were generous: Ross only needed to cover the cost of any damage to the arena facilities during the rental period.
To open a window, knock down the door first. Old wisdom still worked.
As for where to find teammates and opponents...
Knock knock knock.
A sharp knock at the door.
"Who's there?"
Ross called out.
...Kastro.
A slightly weakened voice came from the other side.
Up and walking around already. Vitality Surge Y was no joke.
Ross, not remotely surprised to have been found, went to open the door. Behind it stood Kastro in a hospital gown, face pale, long hair loose.
Seeing Ross's very young face, Kastro's lips moved slightly, and then he bowed deeply, ninety degrees.
"You saved my life. I am deeply grateful."
The medical staff had told him everything as soon as he woke up. Ross had made no attempt to hide what he had done. He had saved the person in plain sight, and since this was floor 200, a quick check confirmed Ross's status as a floor-200 fighter.
Kastro fell into genuine puzzlement.
He had no prior connection with Ross. Yet Ross had used a clearly valuable, and clearly expensive, item to drag him back from near-death, and then immediately left without asking for a single thing in return.
Based on his experience, Kastro suspected the inexplicable rescue might be related to a Nen ability. Perhaps saving someone was a prerequisite condition for activating it. He had checked his own condition carefully not long after waking.
The result: outside of severe blood loss and serious physical weakness, there was absolutely nothing wrong. No Nen residue anywhere in his body. This made the puzzlement worse.
As a Nen user who had voluntarily entered the dangerous world of Sky Arena combat, Kastro had long since prepared himself for accidents and even death. But if survival was possible, who would choose otherwise?
Ross's intervention had not only saved his life but given him a third chance at Hisoka. Verbal thanks alone was clearly insufficient.
"If there is anything I can help you with, please say so directly. Money, anything else at all."
Kastro was resolute. He knew his money probably couldn't match the value of the recovery drug Ross had used, but whatever Ross needed financially, he would give everything he had and find ways to earn more if necessary.
Hearing that, Ross's eyes lit up.
Right in front of him was an excellent Nen fighter.
"Actually, I do have something."
Ross skipped the polite deflections and followed up directly.
"Please, go ahead."
"Here's what I need: over the next few days, help me locate four Nen-capable fighters. Specifically, one MMA specialist, one boxer, one kick-based fighter, and one judo or grappling specialist. Minimum floor-200-fighter level of capability. I want to hold a private closed 2v2 sparring session.
Note: sparring, not a death match. No Sky Arena rules. Pure sparring. The side that can no longer stand loses."
Kastro blinked at this for a moment.
The request was strange. Simple in some ways, difficult in others.
After more than two years at floor 200, Kastro had quietly built more connections than he realized. Finding a martial artist, a boxer, a kick fighter, and a judo man was easy enough. Adding "Nen user" to each one made it considerably harder.
"No problem. I'll handle it."
But compared to the debt of a saved life, Kastro didn't see this as any issue and agreed on the spot.
Ross wasn't in a rush. Finding all four people and getting them to the Sky Arena would clearly take time and coordination. In the meantime, he might as well fight a match and pick up his first floor-200 win.
Hisoka's arms had been reattached, but the missing muscle mass was still gone, and he had already satisfied himself by finishing Kastro. He probably wouldn't fight anyone for a while.
Kastro was in serious post-injury weakness and wasn't about to compete from any angle.
That left floor 200 populated by a collection of fighters who weren't quite as formidable as he had originally assumed.
They were probably thinking the same thing, which meant the moment Ross submitted a "ready to fight immediately" application, a pack of hyenas would be scrambling for the slot.
His read was confirmed. He submitted at noon. By afternoon, approval had come through.
[April 12th, 3:00 PM, Floor 223 Arena. Ross vs. Riehlvelt.]
At the same time, the three-person hyena group who had once been on the receiving end of Ross's Zoldyck threat were gathered together.
"He disappeared for over two months and only came back now. He must have had no choice but to fight. Maybe you can win without doing anything."
Sadaso, minus both arms, watched Riehlvelt with unconcealed envy. The only physically intact member of their trio.
"Hmph. That supposed connection to the Zoldyck family was completely fake if you ask me. Proof: after the Gido match, all four of them ran."
Riehlvelt lounged on the sofa dismissing his upcoming opponent without effort.
His ability was arena-specialized across two components. The first was a custom Nen-powered three-wheeled vehicle that used Nen as propellant, enabling explosive bursts of movement around the ring.
The primary attack was a pair of thick, long whips called the Twin Snake. Through the whip-crack effect, a small range of swinging could generate an impenetrable whip net. And if an opponent were fast enough to actually grab hold of a whip, they would immediately have to contend with the electrical current running through it, equivalent to ten Pikachus' Thunderbolt attacks.
These two tools combined had given Riehlvelt overwhelming advantages against most fighters.
However.
...
A large blue-white Nen blast came out of the blue barrel, punched straight through the whip net without slowing, and sent Riehlvelt and his little vehicle flying clean off the arena into the wall above the spectator seating.
"Phew."
Ross blew on the Mega Buster barrel.
"Riehlvelt! Unconscious! Ruled KO!"
"The winner! Ross!"