"The Worm really has some nerve."
From the top-floor VIP suite, Luke watched the arena through the glass, a faint smile curling his lips. "Still, they picked an unlucky time to make their move."
Erioh Kure stood beside him, staring down at the ring as killing intent rose in his aged eyes. "Raian, don’t disappoint me."
Today’s match, Yamashita Trading versus UM Corporation, was a father-son showdown in more ways than one.
UM Corporation’s real boss was Kazuo Yamashita’s son, Kenzo Yamashita—though Kazuo himself did not yet know that. And in the ring, Raian was the Kure Clan’s current prodigy, while his opponent, Alan Wu, was one of the Westward Faction’s five executives.
Alan Wu carried the memories of Wu Hei, the founder of the Wu Clan from five thousand years ago. In a sense, it was an ancestor beating up his descendant—a grandfather-grandson match.
The Westward Faction had never sealed away the Wu Clan’s ancient forbidden art, [Huisheng]. Generation after generation, they had inherited the memories of the original Wu Hei. This generation had even produced five "Wu Heis" to serve as the Westward Faction’s administrators.
"Raian, ignore the referee. Kill him."
Erioh Kure had given Raian that instruction before the match began. It showed just how deeply he hated the Westward Faction.
Then again, there was no need to tell a hotheaded bastard like Raian that. As long as he could win, he had never intended to let Alan leave alive.
One look at Raian’s expression said it all. That level of manic facial expression could only mean he had spotted prey and was having the time of his life.
Look at that. The kid was smiling so happily.
"You’re not going to watch the match, Luke?"
Erioh Kure looked on in confusion as Luke turned around and settled onto the sofa.
"There’s nothing to watch. It should end in an instant. Raian won’t get careless, and he won’t hold back. A Wu Hei at Alan’s level isn’t his opponent."
Luke was more interested in the Worm’s next move. Someone at Alan’s level was obviously expendable.
After sparring with Luke for several days, Raian had clearly become stronger than before. There was no chance of him losing this fight.
Sure enough, less than a minute after the match started, the audience erupted in shocked cries.
In the ring, Raian looked like a demon after activating Removal. Gripping Alan by the upper and lower jaws, he tore him directly in half!
Raian’s act of ripping the foreign bastard apart with his bare hands was savage and brutal, but even Karla—who usually could not stand Raian—clapped in approval. At last, the Kure Clan had vented some of their anger.
Yet the people watching from the submarine remained expressionless at the sight. They even had the leisure to mock one another.
"Your Westward Faction is pathetic. Alan was one of your executives, wasn’t he? How did some young punk tear him apart with his bare hands?"
Tiger Niko had finally found a sore spot to jab. The other man’s mockery of his useless disciple a few days ago had left him simmering with frustration.
"Alan was the weakest of our five Wu Heis. We merely used that brat’s hand to get rid of trash."
Edward Wu took a puff of his cigar, a cruel grin on his face. "But I get the feeling that kid is provoking me through the screen. Looks like he still doesn’t understand the gap between himself and a real powerhouse."
Raian truly was drunk on killing in the arena, shouting at the top of his lungs, "You Westward Faction pigs, wash your necks and wait! I’ll torture every last one of you to death!"
"Raian is as energetic as ever. Still, it looks like this tournament will give him plenty of killing to enjoy."
Luke chuckled.
"Mr. Luke, do you think more members of the Worm and the Westward Faction have infiltrated the island?"
Hollis Kure, the Ogre Weeping Child, asked curiously from nearby. Naturally, the Kure Clan took this tournament seriously and had conducted plenty of investigations across the island.
But aside from the obvious target, Alan Wu, they had found very few other suspicious people so far.
"I see quite a few suspicious powerhouses."
Luke pointed at the tournament roster hanging on the wall. "The fighter Fei Wangfang, hired by the new president of Ten Kings Communications, and that assassin Lu Tian whom Hayami sent out. They’re probably both Worm agents."
That was practically omniscient knowledge on Luke’s part. He had read the original work, after all, and knew who they were.
In the original work’s second part, Fei Wangfang and Lu Tian appeared as A-list Purgatory fighters, both possessing extraordinary strength.
Lu Tian was a disciple trained by Tiger Niko—a true powerhouse who had endured the Gu ritual. He had also mastered the Kure Clan’s Removal, making him an expert who possessed both absurd stats and refined technique.
As for Fei Wangfang, he was even more ridiculous. Luke considered him Tiger Niko’s greatest disciple. By combining [Possessing Spirit] and [Fallen Demon], he had created the third form, [Divine Demon]. As an explosive power-up technique, its output utterly surpassed Removal.
But [Divine Demon] came with severe side effects. Fei Wangfang had died because he recklessly kept it activated.
In Luke’s view, Fei Wangfang’s defeat had been entirely dictated by the plot. He had already overwhelmed the Tiger, Wakatsuki Takeshi, yet at the very end, he insisted on competing in raw stats against a man with a superhuman physique.
And then there was his brilliant tactic of standing around with [Divine Demon] activated and chatting with his opponent. To Luke, that was a suffocatingly stupid move.
Luke believed that if Fei Wangfang had fought properly instead of playing around, he would have ranked among the strongest fighters in the entire series. Still, Tiger Niko had fooled him badly, and the man did not seem especially bright to begin with.
The tournament continued, and it was soon Luke’s turn again. This time, his opponent was Lu Tian.
This violent man, who had mastered Removal, did not seem to take Luke seriously. The result was that Luke took him out with two punches and a kick.
Luke did not kill Lu Tian—not out of any fighting spirit, but because he figured Lu Tian’s soul would provide substantial growth for Prison Demon. Killing him with his bare hands would be a waste.
"This new Fang of Metsudo named Luke has some skill. Lu Tian may be useless, but he shouldn’t have lost that easily, should he?"
Inside the submarine, Xavier watched the scene with interest.
"According to the schedule, he’ll soon face Fei Wangfang. I’ll have Wangfang test Luke’s true depth."
Tiger Niko was quite satisfied with his disciple Wangfang’s strength. But that disciple would never know that no matter how hard he tried, he could never become the Tiger’s Vessel.
That was because the Tiger’s Vessel was not chosen based on strength, nor did practicing the Niko Style make one the Tiger’s Vessel. The Tiger’s Vessel had to be a clone created from the Connector’s genes—and specifically, a partial clone of the "Tiger" personality in his left brain.
The next day, in the quarterfinals, Fei Wangfang finally got his wish and faced Luke.
Facing the stern-looking Fei Wangfang, Luke flashed a grin. "Come on. Activate [Divine Demon]."
Fei Wangfang’s expression shifted in surprise. Very few people knew he possessed [Divine Demon]. How did this man know?
Luke spread his arms, baring a row of gleaming white teeth. "Come at me with everything you’ve got. Don’t worry—I’ll leave you alive."
Fei Wangfang felt the subtle pressure emanating from the man before him. In all his years of martial arts training, he had felt that kind of pressure from only one person.
The moment the thought occurred to him, he found it absurd.
How could that be possible? How could Luke possibly be mentioned in the same breath as that man?
Looking at Luke’s open-armed stance, he felt as though the man was full of openings—and yet had no openings at all.
That strange contradiction pressed down upon him, making even his breathing slightly unsteady.
"Since you want to die so badly, I’ll show you the highest realm of the Niko Style!"
Fei Wangfang’s expression hardened. In the next instant, he tore off his upper clothes. As the fabric fluttered through the air, his sculpted muscles swelled violently and his skin turned dark red.
Veins bulged all over his body. His heart hammered at a terrifying speed, echoing like an engine. The heat radiating from his body rapidly evaporated his sweat, stirring a faint current of air that made his long hair stand straight on end.
Feeling his opponent’s power rise, Luke’s smile widened. "That’s more like it. Come on—let me enjoy this fight."
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