Hibari's attack came suddenly, but it didn't surprise Kingpin.
He calmly raised his cane and activated the laser function again.
The scene looked familiar, but the result was completely different.
The laser struck the metal sphere and bounced harmlessly off. The spiked ball, spinning at high velocity, slammed directly into Kingpin's face.
Only then did Hibari's explanation arrive: "Cloud Flame-enhanced matter isn't as hard as the original solid material. But when the size is too large, the flame distribution becomes scattered, reducing overall density."
Kingpin didn't answer. Couldn't answer, given his current situation.
The spiked sphere spinning at high speed didn't knock down his massive frame, but it forced his upper body backward significantly. The ball embedded itself in his face, spines digging in, refusing to fall off.
"AARRGH!"
Kingpin roared in rage.
He spread his arms wide, tensed his entire body, ignored the spikes piercing his skin, and slapped both hands against the sphere. He gripped the Cloud Hedgehog tight and ripped it off his face with pure force.
Blood immediately streamed down his features, creating a horrifying sight.
But only for a second.
Aside from breaking the skin, the high-speed rotating impact hadn't caused serious damage.
"Is that all?"
Kingpin straightened up, speaking with disdain. Then he flexed again, muscles bulging across his entire body, tearing through his expensive suit and revealing his massive, intimidating physique.
Muscle. Nothing but muscle.
This fat man with a wide body who occupied two-thirds of the corridor width turned out to be solid muscle beneath his clothes.
And unlike the sculpted muscles that came from protein shakes and gym routines, Kingpin's muscles were more... honest. Practical.
But also completely exaggerated.
Under those absurd muscles, the Cloud Hedgehog's spikes could only pierce the epidermis—they couldn't penetrate deeper into his palms. And the sphere, reduced to basketball size, no longer suffered from scattered flame distribution. It shattered like glass with a series of cracking sounds.
Kingpin stood proudly among the crystal fragments, his huge body radiating dominance like a king looking down on his subjects.
He looked at Hibari with contempt. "Even if the hardness is the same, so what?"
"...Monster-level physique."
Fighting a Box Weapon with bare hands and raw strength... Facing such an absurd display, Hibari spoke his honest thoughts aloud.
But his expression didn't change. Just a hint more caution in his cold eyes.
He pulled six more rings from his pocket, arranged in three rows, and slipped them onto his middle, index, and ring fingers. The burning flames ignited more vigorously and powerfully than ever before.
"I'd actually enjoy fighting someone at your level one-on-one." Hibari glanced at Madame Gao, Nobu, Bullseye, and the others surrounding him, then returned his gaze to Kingpin. "But you won't give me that chance. Even if I create a separate space using sphere formation, that old woman can break through it. So... I'll win with quantity instead."
As he spoke, the vigorous Cloud Flames were absorbed by both the Cloud Hedgehog floating nearby and the debris scattered on the ground.
The Cloud Hedgehog continued expanding, and when it reached about two meters in diameter, it began splitting. The debris on the ground swelled as separate entities from the start.
In the blink of an eye, the entire floor's walls were crushed and filled with spiked metal spheres, each about two meters in diameter.
Seeing this, everyone's expression changed dramatically. Even Kingpin, Madame Gao, and the others looked grim.
Two spheres would be difficult enough. Now there were more than a dozen.
How the hell were they supposed to fight this?
Well, that was just Kingpin and the regular gangsters' perspective.
Madame Gao and Nobu didn't think that way.
They possessed power capable of easily destroying these spheres and even killing Hibari directly.
However, using that kind of power would definitely be sensed by Kunlun.
And then they'd have to flee again.
In the past, that wouldn't have been a problem.
But now, the elixir of life in their bodies was nearly exhausted. They only had two months left before they needed to mine more dragon bones to refine new medicine.
If they attracted Kunlun's attention now, they might not escape.
Or even if they escaped, they wouldn't have time to refine the elixir.
And then they'd actually die.
Here, even if they got killed, it didn't matter—they could rely on the elixir of life to revive.
But nobody liked dying.
Especially when the battle wasn't decided yet and victory was still possible.
"Kill that kid and these things will collapse on their own!"
Madame Gao, as a disciple of Kunlun with hundreds of years of experience, instantly identified the only hope of breaking the situation. She immediately circulated the chi in her body and charged toward Hibari.
The others followed suit, rushing the Cloud Guardian.
"Now I'm the one with superior numbers."
Hibari's mouth curved slightly. The spiked spheres floating throughout the floor rioted instantly, spinning at high velocity to block between him and the attackers.
Bullseye stood in the distance, gun in his right hand. Without seeming to aim at all, he emptied an entire magazine.
The first bullet struck the side of the nearest sphere, then ricocheted diagonally, hitting the side of the sphere to its right front. It bounced again, hitting the flank of the sphere to its left front... After four ricochets, Bullseye's attack finally passed through the blockade and reached Hibari.
However, after four bounces, the bullet's power had diminished significantly. Plus, Hibari had already seen Bullseye's ability and prepared accordingly. When the bullets arrived, he casually swung his tonfas and knocked them all down.
BOOM!
Kingpin threw a devastating punch and sent one sphere flying. On the premise that his opponent's strength could destroy the Cloud Hedgehogs in sphere form, the creatures didn't clash directly with Kingpin.
When receiving his fist, they used his own force to shoot backward, avoiding being destroyed again.
The moment one sphere was hit away, two more flew in from both sides.
Kingpin had just punched with full force—before he could pull back, he was caught between two high-speed spinning spheres.
But his muscles really were incredible. With his mortal body fighting Box Weapons, he endured the spikes and threw both spheres away.
But as soon as two were thrown, three more came. And three more floated nearby.
Kingpin's raw power and durability were unmatched.
But his flexibility was extremely poor. Facing continuous attacks, he could only endure the assaults repeatedly.
The Vladimir brothers, relying on mutual support, dodged desperately and barely kept their lives under a single sphere's assault. The rest of the ordinary gangsters weren't so lucky—they were instantly crushed into paste.
And Madame Gao and Nobu...
Facing spheres attacking from all directions, they moved like swallows, always dodging attacks without reducing speed. Even when attacked from multiple sides simultaneously, they always slipped through the gaps before being pinched.
In just a few breaths, both reached Hibari.
"Die!"