Chapter 484: The Second Player Team in the Top 16
Cats are creatures that do as they please, and Cat Spirits are even more so.
In the view of Nero Cat, or rather, the Cat Spirit, fun always takes precedence over everything else.
Both Cat Princess and Nero Cat are, in essence, beings that bring disorder and chaos to the world. Disrupting the competition and playing outside the rules are also part of that chaos.
In Nero Cat's judgment, the outcome of Cheng Tian's request would be far more interesting than him winning this match!
...Furthermore, causing dismay and anger to his teammate, Cat Princess, was also part of Nero Cat's chaotic play.
Even fellow kin are fair game—that's a Cat Spirit for you.
The task it accepted was to help Cheng Tian precisely collect the blood of the Qin brothers.
Nero Cat had an immortal Chaos Mosquito that always followed Cheng Tian, which was essentially an extension of Nero Cat itself. Cheng Tiancould directly speak to the mosquito about anything.
Leveraging his newly established connections—the intelligence channels of KaibaCorp—Cheng Tian easily located the Qin brothers, who had not deliberately hidden their whereabouts, and he received real-time updates.
Of course, as a boss accustomed to controlling the entire situation at all times, Kaiba, who was busy recovering his own condition, still inquired about Cheng Tian's purpose.
Cheng Tian took advantage of the brief interlude for body removal and arena repairs to directly tell Kaiba about the Secret Scroll's Bloodline Curse and the clone un-cursing, matters that sounded quite rebellious and against human ethics.
Perhaps due to differing perspectives or a game-like viewpoint, Cheng Tian genuinely saw no problem with cloning people in a dungeon. He also didn't think there was anything to hide about a 'secret technique,' as it couldn't be deciphered without the necessary technology. However, it sounded distinctly different to Kaiba.
Kaiba felt a sincerity from Cheng Tian that was unlikely even among acquaintances.
Doesn't this guy know what he's talking about?
Cheng Tian's straightforwardness and lack of concealment touched Kaiba, and then, a very bold idea popped into his head!
If he could find a way to get Yugi Muto's DNA, then Cheng Tian could theoretically create a clone of Yugi Muto. And if he could then find a way to reassemble the Millennium Puzzle, wouldn't it be possible to... Kaiba Seto's heart burned with excitement, his mind gradually cleared, and his consciousness gradually became chaotic.
As long as he could fight Atem one more time, Kaiba Seto would pay any price—
Kaiba's body suddenly paused, and then his gaze involuntarily shifted to his side, his eyes filled with the smiling face of the Blue-Eyes Maiden.
And so, he added a 'she is different' suffix to the 'any price' in his mind.
He acts on his thoughts; if there's no technology, he creates it. Kaiba is always so decisive, so he immediately gave his full support.
Coincidentally, Qin Chongxiu, who had become a disciple of Kim Kaphwan, was in a hotel not far from the main arena, arranged by the officials. Getting there would be a matter of minutes.
Cheng Tian's original intention was for Nero Cat to help after the match, but he simply withdrew.
If yesterday's match had an audience satisfaction rating of 10 or even 9 points, then today, the second day of the main event, only had 6 points, and even those 6 points were due to the sight of blood.
The problem actually stemmed from the excessively overwhelming visual effects of yesterday's match, especially the God Slime's Crushing Divine Fist, which instantly raised the audience's excitement threshold incredibly high. This was also the real reason why the organizers at the time decided not to extend the match, allowing both players and audience to decompress for a night.
However, how could a mere night be enough to decompress fully?
With such a high standard set, even if subsequent matches were still far superior to other international events, everyone's emotions would inevitably be affected.
If it weren't for the bloody and fatal duel between Geese and Bazett, which further stimulated the audience's senses, satisfaction might have dropped even lower.
Fortunately, in this low-pressure arena atmosphere, the players for the seventh—and penultimate—match of the Round of 16 appeared. Among them, the lone Iori Yagami was clearly one of the most eye-catching presences in the entire King of Fighters tournament.
As someone who had killed two teammates in the previous tournament, Iori Yagami had clearly gained a following of 'crazy fans' in this MUGEN world.
As a teammate, we reject Iori Yagami, but as entertainment, we welcome him!
With his appearance, the low-pressure atmosphere in the arena clearly began to lift.
In contrast, there was the 996 team, one of only two player teams to enter the main event in this tournament.
Unlike Cheng Tian, who was carefree and even accepted restrictions to face challenges, the 996 team felt considerable pressure. Especially since their opponent, Iori Yagami, was a popular dungeon protagonist, his related information was quite complete in the space, so the 996 team clearly knew what kind of ticking time bomb they were facing.
Unfortunately, they faced a ticking time bomb, but fortunately, there was only one opponent, giving the 996 team a clear combat advantage.
So the team's strategy was very clear: they wouldn't hope to defeat him in one round, but rather planned to use the first two matches of the three-match series to wear him down as much as possible, and then defeat the opponent.
Of course, as they were currently in the top 16, they had already completed the main quest and could settle. Therefore, they approached this competition with the attitude of 'as long as no one dies, it's fine,' aiming to achieve the highest possible ranking.
In short, survival first.
However, what currently made them most wary was not the arrogant lone wolf Iori Yagami, but the Orange Host who had severely interfered with multiple matches yet had never been removed due to his powerful backing!
Cheng Tian's crazy exposés and 'unboxing' actions clearly terrified these players. Although they were certain they had never interacted with Cheng Tian in other dungeons, Cheng Tian's terrifying amount of data had successfully exceeded their cognitive range.
So much so that after discussion, the 996 team unanimously believed that Cheng Tian possessed some special detection skill capable of querying secret information!
This was the most reasonable inference under normal circumstances. Who knew that Cheng Tian had accumulated over twenty years of relevant data in the real world before entering the space... And what they feared most was whether this detection skill could also affect players!
After much deliberation, the temptation to advance further in the rankings still outweighed the danger of potentially being 'unboxed,' so the 996 team ultimately decided to continue the competition.
What if it doesn't work?
"Team 996! Please send out your vanguard!"
The sunglasses-wearing man with a small mustache began the hosting process, and Cheng Tian also watched the 996 team with curious eyes, wanting to see what kind of spectacle they would create.
Then, he saw a very peculiar monkey show.
He saw the male player, wearing a baseball cap backward and registered with the ID "Xiao Zi," pull out a red and white Poké Ball. As the Poké Ball opened, a purple shadow floated out and condensed in the air, forming a Ghost-type Pokémon consisting of a main body and two floating hands—
Gastly.
But at this moment, Xiao Zi raised his hand, pointing at Gastly. Gastly, which was half the size of a person, actually spiraled back into the player's palm, condensing into a spherical body that retained Gastly's facial features.
Then, Xiao Zi actually pressed the spherical Gastly directly into his chest!
In an instant, mental energy fluctuations, fused with ghostly aura, emanated from player Xiao Zi!
"A Ghost-type Pokémon combined with a Shaman King's Spirit Unity?"
Cheng Tian covered the microphone with one hand, his face full of surprise.