Chapter 8

If a comparison is to be made, Flash City is similar to Los Angeles on Earth.

The city is home to two of the world's three major airship manufacturing companies, "Windless Bird" and "Hiram." Additionally, the food and clothing industries here are extremely developed. Due to the location of the world's largest airship airport and the important port, "Flash Port," in this city, the cargo throughput ranks first in the world.

After more than seven hours on the train, Xiaoming finally arrived in Flash City, but Heather's travel destination was not here.

The travel writer, Guogai, whom she had met on the train, had already gotten off at an earlier stop, not even daring to say hello. It seemed he realized that Heather had discovered his hidden intentions and fled.

However, Heather didn't give this person a second thought, instead focusing all her attention on the novel.

Exiting the train station, Heather chose a very famous restaurant in the city, High Rock Fireplace Hall, based on the recommendations in the "Flash City Travel Guide," as her dinner destination.

As the name suggests, High Rock Fireplace Hall is a restaurant specializing in grilling. It is a meat shop skilled in using open flame grills. Whole sausages, slightly charred ribs waiting to be cut, and tender, juicy beef brisket, these dazzling meats hung around the central large open flame grill like Christmas tree lights, one after another, happily.

The restaurant's pride and joy is the "Hall-Level Set Meal." A super-large plate is piled high with thick slices of tender, juicy grilled beef brisket, crispy and charred salad, wobbly pure meat sausages, and ribs with a rich sweet sauce. There is a bowl of sauce containing thirty-two seasonings (unlimited refills), pickles, halved roasted potatoes, and a bottle of ice-cold beer just taken out of the ice.

Heather had to admit that the meal was indeed very satisfying.

Arriving at Hiram International Airport at 8:40 PM, located at the northernmost point of Flash City and the Yulubian continent, one can reach the Sky Arena by airship from here.

The hunter world has no airplanes, but there are plenty of airships.

The 100,000 reni airship ticket was indeed worth it. The super-large airship, with an internal space the size of a football field, was not slow. The airship meals provided by Hiram Airlines, though simple, were quite delicious, especially the coffee and cake, which were exceptional.

Ding dong!

"Dear passengers, thank you for choosing Hiram Airlines. The Sky Arena is about to arrive. Please do not move around the cabin随意走动, and there will be a slight vibration upon landing, so please do not worry..."

Heather lifted her eye mask, stretched comfortably, and looked out the airship window.

The weather was not good, but a huge tower with various buildings and exhibition stands could be seen towering into the sky, resembling a giant sword stirring the thick clouds from a distance.

The Sky Arena, with 251 floors and a height of 991 meters, is the fourth tallest building in the world.

Following the crowd out of the air station, Heather found dozens of dedicated buses waiting at the entrance, heading directly to the Sky Arena. The Sky Arena is located in the "Yosk District" of the Archipelago continent, adjacent to the Batokia Republic. All surrounding public facilities, residential areas, and even cities are built entirely around the Sky Arena.

At the base of the Sky Arena,

Heather looked at the seemingly endless queue and scratched her head: "Is it this lively?"

She glanced at the promotional brochure in her hand, which the tour guide had distributed to each person in the queue for free.

[There are no strict rules; as long as you can defeat your opponent, you can advance.]

[Each time a contestant advances, the floor they are on rises, and the prize money increases with the floor.]

[On average, 4,000 people challenge higher floors each day.]

[Over one billion spectators enter each year, and the arena has all kinds of facilities.]

[High-level warriors can even own an entire floor.]

[This is the holy land of barbarians and the paradise of fighters.]

The queue looked long, but the progress was fast. Within an hour, it was Heather's turn.

"Welcome to the Sky Arena. Please fill out your information here. Since it relates to your opponent and difficulty, please fill out the form truthfully for your safety."

At the registration window, a female receptionist in a uniform with a fist pattern was sweet and gentle, handing the form to Heather with both hands.

Name, age, and gender were not a problem, but the last item, [Fighting Experience], was the main concern. Heather thought for a moment and filled in [15 years].

This way, she could be assigned a sharp-eyed referee and a more interesting opponent, right?

Stepping into the first-floor lobby of the Sky Arena, one could truly appreciate the enormity of the building. In addition to a large hall that can accommodate thousands of people, there are several "small" arenas, each with its own number.

Heather, with the number [2415], was assigned to the F Zone. This is a huge square arena with hundreds of people scattered in the audience stands in four directions, including contestants preparing to enter and enthusiastic spectators cheering and betting.

In the center of the arena, 16 square platforms are arranged in a 4x4 grid, with two people fighting fiercely on each platform, each with a dedicated referee.

"Contestants 2415 and 1793, please proceed to Platform K."

After a short wait in the stands, it was Heather's turn. It seemed the computer randomly selected the numbers.

Amid the noisy cheers of the audience, Heather and a muscular giant walked onto the platform. It was unclear who the cheers were for.

"It's Montel! This guy is so lucky, his opponent is just a scrawny monkey!"

"Kid, don't wet your pants, hahaha!"

"Let me go! This is the best chance to advance!"

Heather's lips twitched. Well, the cheers weren't for her.

The squint-eyed referee stood beside the platform and explained formally:

"In the first floor matches, the contestants' skill levels are determined by their performance. Please try your best within three minutes."

"Then... start!"

The giant called Montel cracked his knuckles loudly: "Kid, don't blame me for being too rough. You'll be in the hospital for two months!"

He charged at Heather like an angry bull, the platform shaking with each heavy step. Great, just one punch to KO this four-eyed monkey!

He punched Heather, but before he could gloat, he realized his fist had hit nothing but air. He had only hit Heather's afterimage. Then, Montel's stomach went numb, and as his vision blurred and the scene rapidly receded, he realized he was flying.

The noisy cheers from the stands abruptly stopped.

From the perspective of the referee and the audience, a two-meter-tall, muscular giant was punched off the platform, flying several meters high and crashing into a solid wall dozens of meters away. The visual impact was overwhelming.

"Don't worry, he's still alive."

Heather looked at the stunned referee and chuckled. This was like fishing with dynamite, right?

"2415, you can go directly to the 50th floor."

The referee, completely unaware of Heather's [Aura], handed her a ticket with a device: "Please keep it up."

Of course, a referee who can see [Aura] wouldn't be assigned to the first floor to watch beginners. Feeling like she was throwing a wink at a blind person, Heather took the ticket, which had her number and floor printed on it.

"Please follow me."

Another pretty waitress, the Sky Arena really knows how to treat people. Heather followed the lively waitress to the elevator, listening to her cheerful chatter:

"From the first floor to the 200th floor, every ten floors is a level. So, if you win on the 50th floor, you can advance to the 60th floor. If you lose, you will be demoted to the 40th floor. After the 100th floor, you will even have a private room."

Finally, Heather got rid of the lively waitress and arrived at the 60th floor via the elevator.

The atmosphere here was different from the first floor. There were fewer contestants, but they were all seasoned fighters.

At the reception window, the prize money she received was a meager 152 reni.

"Just enough to buy a can of juice."

Heather put the few coins in her pocket and said to the receptionist, "Please arrange my next match as soon as possible."

"Huh? Don't you need to rest, contestant?" The receptionist was surprised. Wasn't this person just promoted from a lower floor? Shouldn't they be tired?

"Completely unnecessary, please arrange it for me."

"Okay, please wait... Then, please go to the contestant lounge with this ticket."

The simple lounge had only a few rows of lockers and benches, and it was full of contestants. As soon as Heather entered, she attracted the attention of many contestants, all wondering how such a scrawny, four-eyed person could be placed on the 50th floor. Did they bribe the referee?

"Mr. Toma Dice, Mr. Dragon Noodles, please proceed to Platform A on the 55th floor."

"Mr. Mario, Ms. Bowser, please proceed to Platform B on the 57th floor."

Hmm? Did I just hear some strange names? Heather sat in the lounge, bored, waiting. It seemed that different platforms were scattered throughout every ten floors for the contestants to fight.

About twenty minutes later, Heather heard her name on the announcement.

"Mr. Dakado, Mr. Heather, please proceed to Platform C on the 59th floor."

Platform C on the 59th floor was different from the first floor. The audience stands, which could accommodate thousands of people, were already full, and the lights were focused on the central platform where the two contestants were waiting for the referee's command.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for your patience!"

"The next match will not disappoint you!"

The female host, wearing an earpiece, quickly stirred up the audience's emotions:

"Both contestants are formidable! They both performed outstandingly on the first floor and were directly promoted to the 50th floor! The big screens will now show their previous battles."

Four large screens hanging above the platform simultaneously played the battles of Heather and the one called Dakado.

"Mr. Dakado, like an immovable mountain, remains unscathed no matter what attacks hit him! His counter-punches can even blow the curtains in the audience stands!"

"Mr. Heather moves as fast as lightning, creating afterimages with his speed. His slender body contains boundless strength, and he can hit a 200-kilogram giant out of the park!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to place your bets? Then, press the button now!"

Ding!

The screen showed the odds for Heather and Dakado at 2.075 and 1.500, respectively.

"The betting results show that Dakado is more favored! Is it because of his invincible defense that everyone has more confidence in Dakado?"

Tsk, underestimated.

Heather stretched her arm and looked at her opponent. Dakado, a muscular man about two meters tall, had no scars on his bare upper body, and his shaved head gleamed. He was staring at Heather with a confident look.

"This match will be a three-minute, three-round, point-knockdown system."

"Start!"