That physique, those orange eyes, those patterned brown scales on his body, that long lizard-like tail, they were unmistakable.

'That's Daren!'

Just like the first time that he met the Geneform, Daren wore black combat pants, black boots, and he was shirtless. This was his stage costume.

DONG!

The bell rang in the octagon and the clash started.

Unlike the other fights, Leon couldn't pay attention to it immediately as he thought. 'What is he doing here?' And then he remembered. 'He did say something back then about joining the tournament'.

Leon heaved a sigh of relief.

Just like him, he had no doubt that Rex's death hit his other crewmates hard even more than him. Afterall, unlike him who only knew Rex for a week, they knew him for over a year as a friend and a comrade.

The fact that Daren was here meant even though Rex's death hit him hard, he didn't let it weigh him down.

Just like Leon, Rex's death made him even more determined to get stronger.

Leon quickly did the calculations in his head. 'Even if he didn't meet his Ascended Counter as a Cyber Gladiator yet, by joining this tournament, he'll definitely meet the target and be eligible to attempt a Trial'.

After his own experiences, Leon knew that completing the Ascended Counter didn't translate to an easy Trial but with that as the benchmark, he was pretty sure that attempting a Trial without completing it would be more like suicide.

At least by completing the Ascended Counter before attempting a Trial, the Ascended would have a fighting chance.

Within just a minute, the battle between Spitfire and Iron Fist escalated.

Daren gave this F Rank Cyber Gladiator the best fight so far today but knowing him, Leon knew that his crewmate was still holding back.

But he understood. 'It's normal to hold back in the preliminaries and keep trump cards to use during the finals in Verdanthold'.

Leon also reasoned that Iron Fist was holding back.

Within 3 minutes, both fighters locked in, using more Ascended skills as they punched, dodged, and moved around the arena at rapid speeds.

Judging from how loud the spectator stands was now and how excited the spectators were, Leon guessed that both Iron Fist and Daren were fan favorites.

And then, just after the 6th minute, Daren finally connected a devastating sucker punch, a left hook to Iron Fist's liver.

Iron Fist staggered with a pained look on his face. His face finally showed panic, he knew that he was in a vulnerable position.

But before he could react, Daren took advantage of his vulnerability and pounced on him with a sudden superman punch.

Impact Surge!

He finally used the powerful Cyber Gladiator ability, connecting straight to Iron Fist's Jaw.

BAM!

Iron Fist was knocked out cold!

"Spitfire!" "Spitfire!" "Spitfire!"

The young spectators in the stands immediately started screaming, confirming Leon's conjecture that Daren was a fan favorite.

The commentator went haywire, waxing lyrical about the devastating knockout even as medical practitioners immediately rushed into the octagon.

Unlike Picasso Lifestyle's run-down octagon arena with no medical insurance, Grand Prix Arena had a clause that promised medical insurance and treatment to all their fighters.

Amid the commotion caused by the knockout, in the spectator stands himself, Leon grinned. 'That's my boy'. He thought mischievously then he remembered that he and Daren had never fought before.

Just like most Ascended, to Daren, Mechanists have always been associated with weakness, geeks and tech nerds.

'I wonder how he'll react to seeing me in the octagon'. Leon suddenly felt an itch to enter the octagon. 'You better not lose before me'.

And just like that, Daren ended Iron Fist's streak.

Daren's next opponent was a female who carried a sleek-looking bow and arrow. As the fight started, Leon looked at his promoter, Mr. Paul.

"Do you know how much Spitfire earns per fight?" He asked casually.

"Let me check". Mr. Paul said and quickly grabbed his tablet, scrolling till he found what he wanted and then he projected it as a hologram.

[Ring Name: Spitfire]

[Ring Status: Fan Favorite]

[Current Pay per Fight: 58 Neo Credits]

Leon's eyelids twitched in a subtle manner. 'This brother earns 58 Neo Credits per fight while I toiled all night the other day for just 170 Neo Credits?'

Thinking of this, Leon remembered the 128 Neo Credits that Talia hacked and stole from the Zmer gang's account. He once again realized the big difference between living in the city and living in the Wastes.

'In the Wastes, 128 Neo Credits is an amount of money that can change any person's life but here, it's just money that can be earned in 2 fights'.

Daren's battle against the bow and arrow-wielding female took longer because she was always running, but Daren eventually dismantled her without suffering a single injury.

As an F Rank Gene Augur, she didn't have any ability to truly threaten Daren.

After that, Daren fought against 3 other opponents, all Cyber Gladiators and he went on a crazy streak, securing 3 consecutive knockouts in less than 2 minutes.

Leon grinned, even more hyped up for his clash against his friend but he was also taken aback as he calculated. 'That's 5 wins now… 5 times 58 is 290…' he hissed. '290 Neo Credits!'

He rubbed his chin in thought. 'I need a lot of money, should I think of borrowing from Daren?'

'He should have a lot of money already, I don't believe this is the first time he's fighting in this arena'.

Leon's eyes sparkled as he shamelessly entertained the thought.

Daren's 6th fight was against a NetRunner. This guy was quiet and cold, but his martial art skills posed a big problem.

He fought a good fight, showcasing his skills and versatility but like Leon once said, NetRunners were the 2nd most useless Class after Mechanists at F Rank.

Despite Daren being his friend, Leon recognized the fact that this guy was better than him on pure combat skills. The Class difference was why Daren won. This fight lasted almost 15 minutes, 15 minutes of pure action and excitement.

In his 7th fight, Daren fought against a Gene Augur and after over 4 minutes of an intense clash, he secured his 7th win.

But in his 8th fight, he finally met an immovable wall.

Daren stumbled upon an E Rank Gene Augur!

This was the first E Rank Ascended who made an appearance in the octagon today, Daren was just unlucky to meet him.

Despite struggling for 3 minutes, Daren lost after a devastating knockdown that left him scrambling. Daren eventually stood back up but the referee ended the fight; Daren already suffered too much damage.

He was left bleeding heavily from the clash while his opponent was virtually unscathed due to the ridiculous recovery powers of an E Rank Gene Augur.

In the end, despite being a Cyber Gladiator, the athleticism difference between an F Rank and E Rank Ascended was just too much.

In the spectator stands, Leon's face instantly turned solemn. 'Why did it have to be an E Rank Gene Augur of all Classes?'

Seeing this, Mr. Paul also revealed concern. Though he knew that Thomas Riley his client was strong, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive.

As for Leon, his brain already became active as he began cooking up a plan. 'How do I bring this guy down?'

'With guns banned, that takes away half of my power'. Despite his thoughts, Leon believed that he could still take down an E Rank Gene Augur.

Afterall, this was a battle with rules, he didn't need to kill the cockroach. He just needed to find a way to exploit the rules to defeat him.

'The only way I can think of beating this guy is by knockout,' his eyes gleamed. 'Or by submission'. He recalled Umar Nurmagomedov's lessons.

One favor that Daren did for him was that by fighting against this bully for 3 minutes, he managed to force him to reveal his true combat style, including his battle inclinations and preferences.

'He's very confident in his ability'.

Leon smirked having come up with a plan already, then he thought. 'Which of my weapons can I use without breaking the rules?'

'Obviously, all my guns are out, my bombs too. Using a bomb here would be equivalent to destroying their property'.

'But not all bombs,' he grinned.

Leon reckoned that since his smoke bomb could not deal any real physical damage, he could use it. He also believed that it didn't break the no advanced technology gadget rule.

The interpretation of advanced technology gadget was left to the fight promoters, but Leon believed that a mere smoke bomb did not fit in that category.

To him, an example of an advanced technology weapon was his Terra Nova 71 and his robot, not a mere smoke bomb.

'I can use my smoke bomb'. He concluded. 'I can use my Flux Crystal Spear, but I'll stick to Octavious's machetes just for style'.

'Most importantly, I can also use the ADE Nullification Shackles'. Leon's plan to take down Boogeyman, the E Rank Gene Augur revolved around this weapon.

But he felt that this was still not enough, he didn't want to underestimate his opponent. And knowing that after the next fight, he was up next he knew that he didn't have any time to waste.

"I'm going to prepare for my fight". Leon stood up. "I want to go to the fighter's area".

Immediately, Mr. Paul, the pilot, and the 2 thugs stood up, still recording him with the camera but Leon sternly looked at Mr. Paul and shook his head.

"I'm going alone". He said coldly.

Mr. Paul was disappointed but he didn't want to antagonize his biggest fighter, so he nodded and allowed him.

Leon walked towards the octagon's western side then he found the door that led underground to the fighter's area.

He entered inside and saw a large hall with a standard gym on one side and a standard hospital on the other side.

At this moment, over a dozen fighters warmed up in the gym, getting ready for another go on the arena.

Leon walked past them without saying a single word and walked straight to the hospital, he already recognized where Daren was receiving treatment.

He gently knocked on the ward door, then he punched it open.

Click!

Inside, the beautiful female nurse and Daren who looked far too chummy with each other were stunned as they both looked at the door.

Leon looked at Daren, then at the nurse who was just too close to him and clicked his tongue. 'This guy… you just lost and yet still have the strength to flirt?'

"Mr. Thomas Riley!" The nurse in a blue attire quickly recognized him and blurted out in a flustered manner as she blushed.

Leon calmly looked at her. "Leave, I want to speak with him alone".

She looked at him, then at Daren. Seeing Daren shrug, she nodded and then left the hospital ward.

Daren whose body was currently bandaged looked him up and down, then he chuckled. "I thought you became beast food".

'Is that the first thing you say when you meet a friend that almost died?'

In front of a familiar face, Leon instinctively wanted to retort. 'Haha, that beast is 2 Ranks too weak to eat me, it should be worried about being my food instead'. But then remembering something, he looked to the corner of the room and confirmed that there was a CCTV camera there.

Tracing his gaze, Daren quickly understood his concern. He relaxed on the hospital bed and said.

"When I saw you on the internet yesterday, I thought it was just a look-alike. I didn't really believe that it was you".

"But really? Thomas Riley? Is that the best you could come up with?"

Exasperated, Leon glared at him then subtly gestured at the camera.

Daren shrugged nonchalantly. "It's lame for a fak, ahem…" he coughed. "If it was me, I would have choose something like Maximilliano or Doflamingo, you feel me? Now that's badass".

During this time, Boogeyman, the E Rank Gene Augur already blitzed his next opponent to death in less than a minute.

"Next fighter, Ring Man".

Daren looked at him. "That's you right?" He chuckled. "Instead of embarrassing yourself, you can just quit now".

Leon finally broke character and openly grinned. "I want to borrow your gauntlets. Just give them to me for a few minutes and watch me prove you wrong".

Daren looked at him skeptically. "Really? You want to fight that guy?"

"Just give them to me".

Daren shrugged, then he passed the gauntlets to him after removing the neural security code to enable any Ascended to use it.

"Don't injure yourself". He reminded as Leon left.

As soon as Leon left the hospital, walking back towards the octagon cage, grayish white ADE flared around his body.

Deconstruct!

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