A pale band appeared on the horizon as the first faint light of dawn broke.
Leo stood on the roof of an abandoned building opposite the unfinished tower, gazing down without expression.
The entrance to the Cleaners' base was brightly lit. Uniformed support staff and medical teams moved in and out, carrying survivors on stretchers and carefully bringing out body bags.
Overnight, this place had gone from hell back to the world of the living-though its scars remained.
Footsteps came from behind him, steady and measured.
Mizai Istom walked up beside Leo and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
"Sometimes I wonder."
Mizai Istom spoke suddenly, his voice low in the morning breeze.
"If we act in the name of 'eliminating every breeding ground of evil,' does that justify any means? Does it... let us treat human lives as experimental data, just like they did, unrestrained by morality?"
Leo remained silent.
He knew Mizai Istom wasn't looking for an answer. He was questioning himself.
Mizai Istom gazed at the gradually brightening horizon and gave a self-deprecating smile.
"After all these years chasing criminals, after seeing so much of the darkest depths of human nature... I've finally understood. It's precisely because we know how deep the darkness can run that we understand what it means to protect the light."
He paused and turned to Leo.
"Last night, in that underground laboratory, I was furious, frustrated, and even... for a moment, I wanted to execute Iron Wall on the spot."
"But that 'pain' will always remind me what I'm fighting for-not to vent my anger, but to spare more people from experiencing that despair."
Leo lowered his head, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
Mizaistom's words were idealistic to the point of naivety, but that was exactly what made them so precious in a world filled with scheming and violence.
He drew a deep breath of the cool morning air and slowly let it out.
"Then keep moving forward with that conviction. We can't save everyone, but we can stand up for each person who needs help. That's enough."
Mizaistom looked at Leo in mild surprise.
He had assumed this powerful, decisive young man would believe more strongly in the law of the jungle. He hadn't expected...
"Thank you."
Mizai Istom patted Leo's shoulder, lightly but with approval.
"What are your plans now?"
Leo raised his head and looked in the general direction of Heaven's Arena.
"Return to Heaven's Arena and finish the climb I started. My training isn't over yet."
Mizai Istom nodded and took a plain white business card from the inner pocket of his suit. It identified him as a lawyer who ran a private security company.
"If you run into a problem you can't solve, contact me."
Leo accepted it, glanced at it, and put it in his pocket.
"All right." He didn't say "thank you," but Mizai Istom understood that those two words already held a promise and acknowledgment.
"I'll leave things here to you."
Leo turned and waved, his back to the dawn.
"I'm off."
Mizai Istom watched him descend the stairs and disappear into the building's shadows, then turned his gaze back to the busy rescue operation below.
His usual solemn expression returned as he headed for the stairs-there was still plenty of cleanup work that required his personal supervision.
Colton Manor, ten in the morning.
Goreinu received Leo in the drawing room.
The burly, thick-browed man looked much healthier. Most of his bandages had been removed, leaving only a few covering his deeper wounds.
"The Cleaners' base in Toth City has been destroyed. The Colton Family is safe."
Leo got straight to the point.
Goreinu nodded with a smile of relief.
"The Waldeck Family is finished too. Last night, with all their elite fighters gone, I led our people straight into their headquarters and wiped them out. The Colton Family has now absorbed all their territory and assets-from now on, the Colton Family will be the only voice in Toth City."
He took a catalog from a drawer in the coffee table and pushed it toward Leo.
"Vivian told me to give you anything that catches your eye as a token of thanks. The Waldeck Family had plenty of good things in their collection."
Leo didn't stand on ceremony. He took the catalog and quickly flipped through it.
The first few pages listed assets such as real estate and company shares. He skipped them outright.
The middle section contained artwork and antiques. He glanced through it, then his finger stopped.
The catalog listed more than a dozen items, including antique weapons, unusual ores, gemstones, and crafts of unknown origin.
Leo's gaze settled on a gemstone with a brief description.
[Item number: T-07] Name: Red Storm Source: Purchased by the Waldeck Family at a black-market auction two years ago Description: Contains a storm-like pattern. Extremely hard; cannot be cut. No radioactivity or energy response.
Leo's eyebrows rose slightly.
"This one," he said, pointing to the entry for T-07.
"I do need it. If possible, I'll take this."
Goreinu leaned closer for a look. "No problem. Anything listed here is yours."
He turned to the butler standing nearby. "Fetch item T-07 from the storeroom. Pack it up and bring it here."
The butler bowed and withdrew.
Goreinu turned back to Leo.
"The payment of 1.5 billion Jenny has already been transferred to the account you provided. Also..." He paused.
"Vivian said that if you're interested, she'd like to hire you as captain of the Colton Family's guards. The annual salary is negotiable, and you'd have access to whatever resources you need."
Leo shook his head almost without thinking.
"Turn her down for me. I don't want to be tied to any faction."
He added.
"But if she runs into trouble she can't handle in the future, she can call me. I'm willing to help for the money, as long as she can afford my price."
Goreinu chuckled.
"You really are... direct."
"Better to be direct. Saves misunderstandings."
Leo closed the catalog and placed it back on the coffee table.
"By the way, Goreinu, what are your plans? Staying here?"
Goreinu shook his head and looked out the window.
"Once my wounds heal, I'll leave too. My journey isn't over yet. I was only passing through Toth City in the first place. I never expected to get caught up in so much..."
He turned his gaze back to Leo.
"What about you? Once you're back at Heaven's Arena, will you keep fighting your way up to the two-hundredth floor?"
"Yeah." Leo nodded.
"The two-hundredth floor is only the beginning. I need more actual combat, and I need... to face stronger opponents."
The two chatted a little more about how things had been going.
Ten minutes later, the butler returned carrying a black metal box and respectfully handed it to Leo.
The box wasn't large, but it felt heavy in his hands.
Leo opened the lid for a look, closed it, said, "Thank you," and tucked the box into his backpack.
He had what he came for, and everything that needed saying had been said.
Leo stood up.
"Then this is goodbye, Goreinu. Until we meet again."
Goreinu rose as well, a sincere smile spreading across his rugged face.
"Yeah, see you. Take care on the road."
Without lingering over pleasantries, Leo turned and left the drawing room.
Goreinu stood by the window, watching that figure with his simple pack cross the manor's lawn and disappear beyond the wrought-iron gates.
Toth City Airport, two in the afternoon.
Leo boarded a flight to the Republic of Padokea.
As the plane took off, he looked through the window for one last glimpse of the city's outline.
In less than two weeks, he had fought life-or-death battles, made new friends, earned a massive payment, and sown the seeds of future conflict with the Cleaners.
He had accomplished a lot in little time, but... it still wasn't fast enough.
He needed to grow stronger faster. In this world, strength was the foundation of everything.
Two days later, Heaven's Arena.
Leo entered the familiar towering building, and the roar of the vast atrium washed over him.
The air was thick with sweat, hot blood, and ambition. Somehow, it all gave him a strange sense of reassurance-everything here was straightforward: fight, win, grow stronger.
He was about to head toward the elevators when the giant screen hanging ahead suddenly changed.
It showed an exciting live match.
On-screen, a blue-haired woman spun through the air, her long leg lashing out like a whip and striking her opponent squarely on the chin.
Her opponent crashed to the floor, and the referee raised her hand.
The commentator's excited voice rang through the atrium.
"Ms. Sophia ends the match with a flawless spinning kick! Congratulations on her victory on the hundred-and-eightieth floor! This was her second fight on the hundred-and-eightieth floor, and her first win! Let's look forward to her challenge of the higher floors!"
Sophia. Leo remembered the woman he had met once-calm, efficient, and quite capable.
On the screen, she was covered in injuries, but her gaze remained sharp.
I didn't expect to see her again after so long.
Leo thought to himself.
Looks like she's had a tough climb.
That was normal. The higher one climbed in Heaven's Arena, the harder the fights became. Every ten floors marked another hurdle.
People who reached the two-hundredth floor without a single loss were exceedingly rare. Most struggled upward through repeated victories and defeats.
Leo didn't linger. He headed to the elevator and pressed the button for the hundred-and-eighty-fifth floor.
The elevator ascended smoothly, and he returned to his room.
Leo set his backpack on the table and checked his account balance first-the 1.5 billion Jenny had arrived. Combined with what he already had, he now possessed nearly 1.7 billion. He wouldn't have to worry about money for a while.
He planned to register for another match tomorrow.
Leo showered, changed into clean clothes, then sat cross-legged in the center of the room and entered a meditative state.
Nen Aura circulated around his body, his Ten natural and steady.
He gathered aura in his eyes, rapidly shifted it to his legs, then gathered it back in his eyes, repeating the process over and over.
This was training for Gyo and Flow, meant to improve the mobility of his aura. Though it wasn't slow, it still wasn't enough.
He also needed to improve how long he could maintain Ken. His last test had been nineteen minutes, still short of the thirty-minute benchmark.
And there was Hatsu-as an Enhancement Type, he had yet to develop his own unique ability.
It wasn't that he couldn't. He simply didn't want to make a hasty decision.
Once a Nen Ability was established, changing it would come at an enormous cost.
It won't be too late to consider developing an ability once I reach the two-hundredth floor and enter the realm of Nen users.
Leo thought.
For now, I'll build a solid foundation.
Night fell, and outside the window, the lights of Heaven's Arena came on floor by floor, like a vast pillar of light piercing the night sky.
Leo finished meditating and lay down on the bed. Before closing his eyes, he took one last look at the tattoo on the back of his hand.
Level 27. Three levels remained-until level 30.
And the battles above the two-hundredth floor of Heaven's Arena would be the best place for him to rapidly gain experience.
Tomorrow, the fighting would continue.
Before you continue