While Ronin was resting, Uvogin and the others had already slipped past the police search and appeared inside a private residence.
The homeowners—a young married couple—were lying in a pool of blood.
"I let my guard down," Uvogin said casually as he dropped onto the couch, a trace of frustration flashing in his eyes.
He wasn't surprised at all by Shalnark's appearance. The day before, he'd already been told that Shalnark would be coming with Nobunaga.
After Kortopi returned and reported Ronin's Nen ability to Chrollo, Chrollo grew curious. He told Uvogin not to rush to kill Ronin—bring him back first so he could take a look.
"So… did someone throw you off an airship?" Shalnark asked, looking at Uvogin's battered state, unable to keep the grin off his face.
A guy built like a bear like Uvogin hadn't been toyed with like a stray dog in a long time.
Uvogin didn't bother making excuses. "That bastard definitely wanted me dead earlier. If I hadn't spotted the police officer you were controlling in the crowd, I'm pretty sure he would've launched a sneak attack on me."
A fall from a few dozen meters up wasn't enough to seriously injure Uvogin.
Lying there and pretending to be weak was partly deliberate. That said, the fall really did make his blood and nen churn for a while.
The blood he coughed up was real—but waiting for the enemy to strike, then counter-killing them, had been part of his plan too.
Ronin was just too damn slippery.
After trying to kill Ronin twice in a row, that was Uvogin's most honest takeaway.
"He probably sensed something was off. Still, I'm curious how he noticed," Shalnark said, confusion flickering in his eyes.
He was confident his control over the police officer had been flawless. Even when approaching the crowd, he hadn't looked in Ronin's direction any more than necessary.
So how had he been discovered?
Uvogin shook his head. "He's improving fast—and he's extremely cautious."
Even though Uvogin had been stuck on the outside of the airship earlier and couldn't move freely, the strength Ronin displayed was far beyond what he'd shown back when they'd met in the forest.
"Where was the airship you were on headed?" Shalnark suddenly asked.
Uvogin thought for a moment. "The Northern Continent."
"The Northern Continent, huh?" Shalnark mused. "Was he just running blindly, or did he have a clear goal when he decided to leave?"
Uvogin stretched his body a bit. "We failed to catch him this time. Next time will be even harder. That kid's slick as hell. Honestly, if he weren't a Kurta, I'd actually like him. Brave, decisive, good fighting instincts and battle sense—especially cocky enough."
"You rate him that highly?" Shalnark asked, surprised.
"Yeah." Uvogin nodded seriously. "I'm guessing once we're gone, he'll grab another airship and leave Z City as fast as possible. If we want to find him after that, I'll need your help."
"It'll be hard to catch him in the short term," Shalnark shrugged. "I couldn't find him in the passenger records at all. He's probably boarding airships anonymously every time. And we've still got other things to take care of. Let's regroup with the boss first."
"There's still more work?" Uvogin frowned. "I thought once we dug out the eyes, that was it."
"Tying up loose ends," Shalnark replied. "The boss thinks we might dig up some clues we're interested in."
The moment Uvogin heard that, his irritation vanished, replaced by an explosive surge of killing intent.
"Good."
"Oh, and next time we go after him, let's do it together," Nobunaga finally spoke up.
What Ronin had shown made him intensely curious as well.
But next time they met, he would absolutely cut down Ronin's true body.
…
Heaven's Arena was located in the Katopoli Federation on the Northern Continent.
Seven days after the attack, Ronin finally arrived after transferring between several airships. The place was steeped in a fighting atmosphere—so much so that even riding in a cab, he could hear the driver chatting over the radio with colleagues about who had won another match today.
Advertisements for Heaven's Arena were plastered all over the streets.
Burly, muscular men could be seen everywhere. Fighting had become the trendiest and most popular form of entertainment here.
The driver wasn't especially talkative—maybe Ronin's refined, aloof appearance made whatever the driver wanted to say die in his throat.
After getting out at Heaven's Arena, Ronin looked up and couldn't even see the top of the building.
He'd already picked up a city brochure in the cab, and the main highlight was this very structure: a 251-story skyscraper standing 991 meters tall, the fourth-highest building in the world.
Its facilities were incredibly complete, and it was known as the holy land of fighters.
By the time Ronin arrived, the registration line already stretched far outside the building.
Judging by the scene, hundreds—if not thousands—of people signed up every day. That made sense, considering the brochure claimed that an average of 4,000 people steadily advanced to higher floors daily.
After getting a registration form, Ronin lined up at the very end of the queue.
In the name field, he openly wrote "Ronin." For fighting experience, he casually wrote "ten years."
If he remembered correctly, when Killua came here at age twelve, he'd also filled in ten years.
None of that really mattered anyway. Heaven's Arena had almost no restrictions—so long as you could knock your opponent down, it counted. After the 200th floor, even using weapons was allowed. Because of that, Heaven's Arena also had a not-so-flattering nickname: the holy land of barbarians.
After turning in the registration form, Ronin officially stepped into this massive temple of combat.
The moment he entered, roaring cheers that made his blood boil flooded his ears.
The enormous stands were packed with spectators, and below them were sixteen neatly arranged fighting rings.
People whose numbers were called kept stepping onto the rings to fight, while waves of thunderous cheers erupted from the front-row seats near the arenas.
Ronin's number was 2025.
He found a seat at random, watching the fights below while waiting for his number to be called.
All around him were others just like him, waiting their turn.
Ronin's plan was to push his way up to the 100th floor as quickly as possible. That would earn him a private room, and the prize money would be more than enough to cover his daily expenses.
After that, he'd slowly climb higher, all while learning more about this world and preparing to gather information by finding a suitable mafia organization later on.
He also planned to sign up for the Hunter Exam. A Hunter License was an incredibly useful thing.
And if he took it now, he probably wouldn't run into any real monsters. With his abilities, getting the license should be fairly easy.
The Yorknew Auction was held in September, and the Hunter Exam wouldn't take place until early next year—so he still had plenty of time to prepare.