Chapter 397: What's it like for three people to share one face?
"I am magnanimous, so I'll give you one more chance!
Tell me my name!"
The helmeted man roared furiously, while actually pulling out an extended-barrel Colt revolver from his Pregnant and aiming it at Cheng Tian.
As the lethal weapon appeared, many ordinary citizens who had been watching immediately let out shouts of alarm, scattering in panic. However, a portion of them still chose to remain nearby, their eyes clearly betraying a bloodthirsty curiosity.
Compared to ordinary brawls, this unexpected, lethal firearm clearly provided a greater thrill.
Although the fighters in the King of Fighters world each possessed destructive power far exceeding conventional firearms, if viewed through a screen, it could be explained away with special effects. Even if large-scale destruction genuinely occurred, it could be covered up with excuses like "gas explosion" or "biogas combustion."
"You're not even fit to polish Kenshiro's shoes, Jagi."
Cheng Tian raised his middle finger, mercilessly exposing the fellow who liked to borrow others' names to enact his "Your Name at the End of the Century" antics.
Jagi, a MUGEN crossover character, originated from "Fist of the North Star: The Twin Blue Stars of Judgment - Fist of the Fierce Warriors." He belonged to the Fist of the North Star school, ranked third. Due to jealousy over his master choosing Kenshiro as the successor, he harbored resentment and actively provoked him. After being defeated, his resentment deepened. Since then, he has been using the scar on his chest and borrowing Kenshiro's name to commit evil deeds, attempting to frame Kenshiro himself.
In the preliminaries of this tournament, Jagi was not selected as a seeded player. However, his choice of Cheng Tian as a target for plunder could be considered a highlight of his life.
"Wh—"
After Cheng Tian exposed his true identity, the shock and anger on Jagi's face were evident even through his rugby helmet. But just as he uttered a single word and before his finger could pull the trigger, an orange-gold figure appeared behind him almost instantaneously.
Even with the world's speed forcibly reduced to B-rank, the corresponding player had already reached an agility level of around 40.
And dealing with a character like Jagi clearly didn't require a super special move like The World.
By the time Jagi realized The World had appeared behind him, it was already too late.
The orange-gold gauntlets of The World, with their metal studs corresponding to the four ulnar styloid processes, bore the patterns of a circle, cross, triangle, and square. It rapidly advanced before Jagi's eyes, quickly transforming into a dazzling flurry of punches—
Muda Muda Muda Muda!!!!
Even though The World's speed and destructive power had decreased, it was still not something that Jagi, with his unrefined martial arts, could resist. The rapid, continuous punches formed a complete curtain of fists, landing precisely and perfectly on Jagi's body.
At this moment, Cheng Tian, who had no intention of giving his opponent a chance to retaliate, gave Bazett a look.
The designated Seal Enforcer, understanding his intent, quickly stepped forward, unconsciously replaying the image of The World's punches in her mind. As a result, a curtain of fists, slightly shorter in reach due to arm length but a line faster, enveloped Jagi's back.
Anyone who has played "Yu Yu Hakusho: Makyo Toitsusen" on the MD platform might have seen the screen where a character, caught between two attackers and furiously beaten, has the '1 HIT' counter rapidly transition to 'MAX HITS' above their head.
When The World and Bazett simultaneously stopped, Jagi, having been repeatedly pounded to a pulp akin to Chaoshan beef balls, crumpled limply to the ground, as if he had no bones in his body.
"...Comminuted fractures all over his body, brain, organs, etc., all damaged. He's like ground beef. He's alive but might as well be dead. Even if he recovers, he'll be drooling."
This was the conclusion given by another group of paramedics, who appeared from who-knows-where, after a thorough examination.
As the paramedics finished speaking, a treasure chest, visible only to Cheng Tian and other relevant players, popped out from Jagi's body.
Considering the tournament rules, Cheng Tian chose not to kill him, as Jagi wouldn't drop anything good anyway.
However, according to the underlying logic of fighting tournaments, if an opponent can be defeated within the rules, there's a chance for a treasure chest to drop even without killing them. In this situation, even a finishing blow wouldn't yield a second treasure chest.
The fact that a treasure chest dropped clearly indicated that the third-ranked member of the Fist of the North Star school had been completely eliminated.
Similar situations of interception and ambush by characters like Jagi against unfamiliar seeded teams were simultaneously unfolding in various locations near the arena. In less than half an hour since the countdown began, over a dozen preliminary teams had been completely eliminated.
Of course, each team had a different attitude towards this battle royale-style preliminary round.
For example, Kyo Kusanagi, the eternal high school repeat student from the Japanese team and the current heir to the Kusanagi-ryu ancient martial arts, directly collaborated with the organizers to set up a ring in the most densely populated area. He openly challenged all preliminary contestants to a fight, whether one-on-one or a group brawl. As long as they could defeat Kyo Kusanagi, the invitation letter would be handed over directly.
Daimon Goro and Benimaru Nikaido, from the same team, had no objections.
Kyo Kusanagi was so excited, he was practically screaming "I'm an idiot" to the whole world in the middle of Shibuya.
Well, at least Iori Yagami must have thought so.
Among the three contestants from the Great Universe team, Chen Guohan (Big Hammer), who used to be a bandit, and Choi Bounge (Little Monkey), were openly using their matches to rob challengers of their belongings—
Then, the two of them were severely beaten by their team leader, Kim Kaphwan, a Taekwondo master full of a sense of justice.
A large number of cameras belonging to the organizers were fully tracking the sixteen seeded teams. Viewers at home could choose to watch the battle status of any of these teams on TV.
However, among them, two teams had the highest viewership ratings.
One of them was the Psycho Soldier Team. More accurately, Athena Asamiya, a world-class idol, single-handedly boosted the ratings. There were no challenges to snatch invitation letters; instead, under the coordination of Athena's agency, a new round of idol fan meetings had been urgently launched.
Making money, you know ~ no shame in that ~
As for the other team with high viewership, the number of male viewers was absolutely unparalleled.
"Are you really not jealous?"
Inside a small pub, Terry, the leader of the Fatal Fury team, patted Andy's shoulder, pointing at the TV with a teasing expression.
Andy, the awkward man who had rejected countless marriage proposals, looked at Mai Shiranui on the TV screen, her large expanse of skin deliberately exposed as her skirt fluttered, with a constipated expression.
"Ah ~ this woman is amazing ~"
Hearing this comment, Andy jolted, suddenly stood up, and looked towards the source of the voice. But this glance made Andy freeze.
He was about to blurt out the words "Hong Fu," but he couldn't help but rub his eyes, because three identical large noses and similar facial features had appeared before him.
Hon Fu from "Fatal Fury," Cheng Fu from "Double Dragon Fighting," and Lei Wulong from "Tekken"—three people with completely identical appearances, personalities, and even design origins—were currently clinking glasses and celebrating boisterously.