Chapter 26: The Impolite Great Waves

Opening the doors to the lounge, Li Yu stepped into the hall. A few fighters who had been chatting among themselves paused, their expressions turning rather strange when they saw him emerge.

They kept casting fleeting glances his way, hastily averting their eyes and nudging one another whenever Li Yu looked in their direction.

These veteran fighters all understood the situation. As the hired gun brought in to stop Roarer Gore from securing his hundredth consecutive win, Grey Spear was backed by a bookmaker who naturally would never allow any uncertain factors to disrupt their plans.

After all, the big bookmakers were entirely focused on making a profit.

A match between Grey Spear and Gore was guaranteed to be a completely one-sided massacre. By that same logic, a fight against Li Yu would likely end the exact same way.

In their eyes, he was already a dead man walking.

However, given his undeniable strength, none of them dared to mock him openly. They could only harbor a quiet sense of superiority in their hearts. So what if he was strong? He was still going to die anyway.

After exchanging a few silent stares with the fighters, Li Yu watched with satisfaction as they retreated, utterly speechless.

His gaze soon landed on a burly figure standing a short distance away with his back turned. The man was well over two meters tall, built like a tank, and dressed in ordinary clothes. Li Yu's eyes lit up slightly as he approached him.

The towering figure turned around. Well, well... it was a familiar face. It was actually Roarer Gore from the promotional posters. He had dark skin and exceptionally bright eyes.

Although he looked incredibly savage on the posters, seeing him face-to-face painted a different picture. The guy did not seem nearly as barbaric in person. He was holding a Pink Lion Pattern Thermos Cup that looked like it had seen years of use.

Gore also looked somewhat surprised. "Oh, it's you..."

He naturally recognized Li Yu as well. After all, he was scheduled to be Grey Spear's next opponent. In a way, they shared a common enemy.

Gore answered in a mild tone, "It's on the fourth floor of Tyron Tower. But if you go up there looking like that, you'll probably cause quite a stir."

Li Yu was a little speechless. He never expected to receive the celebrity treatment one day.

"I still have a few sets of clothes from when I was younger," Gore added while sizing Li Yu up. "They should be around your size. You can come and pick something out."

"Sure... honestly, this outfit is just too ugly." Li Yu was not particularly demanding. If his current attire was not so incredibly hideous, he wouldn't have even bothered changing.

His white shirt, though dry now, was completely covered in wrinkles and torn in several places. His brown pants were patched all over, not to mention his battered, worn-out shoes.

The two men walked in silence the entire way, drawing surprised looks from many passing fighters.

Stepping into Gore's lounge, Li Yu noticed how spotless the room was. Several pink ornaments were hanging around. Li Yu had no prejudices against tough guys who liked pink, and Gore himself seemed entirely unapologetic about it.

Gore set down his thermos and opened the wardrobe. He pulled out a large pile of exaggerated, flashy outfits—costumes he had once worn in the arena.

From among them, he retrieved three garments carefully stored in a plastic bag. They featured simple black-and-white tones, but the colors complemented each other perfectly.

Gore brushed some imaginary dust off the clothes, a hint of nostalgia in his voice. "These are from before I integrated my Gene Chain. I can't wear them anymore, so they're just sitting here gathering dust anyway."

"They look great," Li Yu praised.

"Yeah... they..." Gore fell silent for a moment, a complex emotion surfacing on his dark-skinned face. "They're pretty nice..."

Li Yu unfolded one of the shirts. The fabric felt exceptionally comfortable to the touch, soft and cozy.

"It's made from a specially processed plant native to my hometown. Very comfortable." Gore wore a faint look of pride that was hard to associate with the ferocious, roaring beast on the promotional posters.

"QQ?"

Li Yu traced two embroidered letters on the collar, startling him greatly. For a second, he thought he had run into a fellow earthling.

"That is..." A gloomy haze clouded Gore's eyes as a murderous aura surged around him. Yet, his massive corporeal form appeared somewhat powerless in that moment. "Just a mark. It doesn't mean anything."

He turned his body away, hiding the expression on his face.

Li Yu remained noncommittal and simply began changing into the clothes. They fit him perfectly, which surprised him a little; he could almost believe they had been custom-tailored for him.

An astonishing light gleamed in Gore's eyes. Looking at the completely refreshed Li Yu, it was as if he were looking at his past self.

And...

"So handsome..." Li Yu admired himself in the mirror with satisfaction, relieved that he finally didn't have to wear those tattered rags anymore.

"Grey Spear is very difficult to deal with..." Gore's voice suddenly spoke up from behind him.

"I am certain that he has reached the D-rank. You are no match for him."

Looking puzzled, Li Yu turned around to face Gore, wondering why he had suddenly brought this up.

"There is a loophole in the Tyron Chamber of Commerce's arena rules. It strictly forbids matches between people whose public power rankings are not on the same tier."

"If you extract the Gene Chain from your body right now and let your ranking drop to the F-rank, the match will be canceled. It can keep you alive."

Li Yu's expression remained entirely calm. Instead of directly addressing Gore's suggestion, he asked, "Why?"

"Why what?" Gore frowned.

"Why are you suddenly telling me this?"

A fierce, menacing aura abruptly erupted from Gore. "You don't trust me?"

"No..." Li Yu shook his head. "I'm just curious. Is it because of these clothes? Or is it something else?"

"Do you not want to live?" Gore's expression grew moody.

"Heh..." Li Yu chuckled softly. "Thanks for the clothes and the warning. I'll be taking my leave now."

The lounge door opened, and Li Yu walked straight out. Gore remained completely silent until the mechanical door slid shut behind him.

Only then did he carefully pull a slightly yellowed photograph from his pocket. It depicted a little girl smiling brightly, her hair tied into two high pigtails.

Drip!

A single droplet of water fell onto the photo...

"Kiki..."

...

"Woohoo..." Li Yu stretched his limbs. The friction against his clothes no longer felt awkward; on the contrary, it was incredibly comfortable.

"Scram! Throw this guy's corpse out of here! Who told you to bring it back to me? Just looking at it pisses me off!" an angry roar echoed from a short distance away.

The mechanical door to a nearby lounge was wide open. A wretched corpse lay on the floor, its entire body twisted unnaturally and its eyes hollow. It was none other than Hook Fang.

The one yelling was a humanoid creature with a shark's head. He possessed a robust, muscular build, with ferocious-looking fins glinting with a metallic luster on his arms and back.

"Boss Great Waves, he had already declared your identity, yet he was still killed! This is a direct provocation against you!"

Someone inside the lounge spoke up. Because of the angle, Li Yu couldn't see the person who was talking.

"Provocation my ass! That guy is already matched up against Grey Spear. He's basically half a corpse already, so why bother with him..."

Great Waves barked out, coincidentally turning his head just in time to spot Li Yu standing outside through the still-open mechanical door.

Li Yu waved his hand in greeting, causing Great Waves's shark face to instantly darken.

"Which blind idiot forgot to close the damn door?"

The mechanical door buzzed as it slid shut. Li Yu shook his head and muttered, "How impolite..."