Inside the medical bay in the fighter's area, Daren watched the TV screen from his ward with a shocked then complicated look on his face.

When he confirmed a few minutes ago that Thomas Riley was really Leon, due to how brief the reunion was, he didn't get to ask but in the past few minutes, he'd been thinking.

There's no way an F Rank Mechanist could have done what Leon did yesterday. Besides, Leon was a comrade that he's fought battles with so he knew his abilities and his limit.

The Leon he knew could not do what he did yesterday.

'Is he an imposter?' He thought because the other idea in his mind was too outlandish for him to acknowledge.

Though he never really asked, he remembered overhearing Kain saying that Leon became an Ascended not too long ago.

Not too long ago may have a lot of interpretations but even if he interpreted it as less than a year or less than half a year, to become an Ascended and rise to E Rank within that short time, Daren was amazed.

Only some of the best and most famous Ascended in the world have ever been recorded in history to have Ascended at such speed.

Seeing Leon defeat the E Rank Gene Augur, he confirmed it. 'He's an E Rank Mechanist now'.

Before he knew it, a smile crept onto his face as he laughed. "Bastard, you actually became E Rank before me".

…

"Another victory for Ring Man!" The commentator said excitedly. "Thomas Riley has taken his win streak to 11 consecutive victories, can he be stopped?"

[Ring Name: Spitfire]

[Ring Status: (Hot) Fan Favorite]

[Current Pay per Fight: 121 Neo Credits]

For Leon's first fight against Boogeyman, his base pay was 42 Neo Credits but considering the caliber of opponent that he defeated, his rank instantly shot up in the tournament ranking by more than 2000 places to Rank 7,133 from his previous Rank 9,241.

Instantly, Leon became a top 5 fighter of Grand Prix Arena in terms of ranking. Boogeyman was also part of the top 5 fighters.

After the first fight, his fame directly exploded in the fighting scene.

Within the next hour, the spectator arena that was just 1/5th full previously instantly became 1/3rd full as more spectators came to see Thomas Riley fight.

For his second fight, his base pay rose to 65 Neo Credits. By his 4th fight, it increased again to 68 Neo Credits per fight and by his 7th fight, Leon shattered Grand Prix Arena's single fighter payment record.

The record was held by the no. 1 fighter of the arena, an E Rank Cyber Gladiator who currently earned 75 Neo Credits per fight whenever he was available but in Leon's 7th fight, he shattered the record as he earned a whopping 88 Neo Credits from just one fight.

By the 10th fight, Grand Prix Arena sold out for the first time since the preliminaries of the Gene Combat Sports Tournament began, and then Leon's pay per fight rose to a whopping 121 Neo Credits!

Leon felt like he was in wonderland.

After losing to him and waking up in the hospital, an enraged Boogeyman didn't leave as he believed that his defeat was a fluke.

He stayed, waiting for his turn again. He was determined to redeem his loss. Meanwhile, Leon's dominance continued as it attracted not just fans but more fighters to the arena.

By 2:00pm in the afternoon, there were already 45 fighters available, making it one of the most intense fighting days in the arena's history.

Daren also did not shy from entering the octagon to face Leon. They fought an intense battle which Leon ended up winning.

In that moment, Daren truly felt how much time can change people.

He still remembered more than 2 weeks ago back in the fringe of the Wastes during the siege of the cargo trailer. Just like Kain and Rex, all Leon could do was support them as he, Brick, and Ghostwire did most of the fighting.

Then, Leon was just like any other Mechanist, weak and nerdy but within just 2 weeks, the weak Mechanist he met then already blossomed into this.

With the prospect of earning 121 Neo Credits per fight now if he won, Leon made a vow not to lose a single fight.

According to the commentator, most fighters would have already quit after 2 hours of non-stop fighting to keep their streak intact but like they say, beggars are not choosers. Leon may not be a beggar but he was broke.

He didn't even contemplate stopping.

The more he fought, the more money he earned for Grand Prix Arena and the promoters took it upon themselves to provide what he needed to help replenish his ADE and continue fighting.

'Ah, I love Grand Prix'. Leon thought as he stood on the Arena to face his 37th opponent and by then it was already past 4:00pm.

When Leon eventually fought against Boogeyman again, the E Rank Gene Augur was even more aggressive this time as he didn't hold back.

But thankfully, Gene Augurs don't really have offensive abilities apart from Metabolic Overdrive to increase movement and regeneration, and Bio-Scan to enhance their perception.

Leon no longer tried to act weak this time too, he met Boogeyman band for band, showing that he was no pushover.

In the end, he didn't even use his smoke bomb again as Boogeyman was clearly on guard against it. Instead, the ADE Nullification Shackles did the job.

With Weight Modulation, Boogeyman felt like he was carrying tons of weight on his body as he collapsed to his knees again.

Then with ADE Nullification, Leon nullified his ability to use ADE. And without ADE to activate Cell Repair, an E Rank Gene Augur becomes ordinary, just an Ascended with stronger than normal defense.

This was exactly what they used to kill Parasite. Leon was experienced in killing E Rank Gene Augurs.

At first, Leon didn't want to use the ADE Nullification Shackles in front of a camera since it was one of his trump cards but in the end, to defeat Boogeyman for the second time and maintain his winning streak, he used it.

After rendering the E Rank Gene Augur immobile and after locking his ADE away, Leon saw fear in the Gene Augur's eyes for the first time.

He didn't hesitate as he completed the combo by attacking with the VX-09 Emberfist gauntlets.

Ember Burst!

Leon unleashed a flaming punch filled with shock power that overwhelmed the E Rank Gene Augur and unable to regenerate, Boogeyman was knocked unconscious again this time by the sheer pain.

By then, the spectators in the stands were having the day of their lives as they sang Thomas Riley and Ring Man at the top of their lungs.

The commentators were going hysterical.

When Boogeyman woke up in the hospital and healed himself with Cell Repair, he launched a complaint to Grand Prix Arena accusing Thomas Riley of using advanced technology but the promoters brushed his complaint off.

Like Leon thought, the interpretation for advanced technology was left to the discretion of the promoters.

Leon was earning a lot of money not just for himself but also for Grand Prix Arena. At the moment, Thomas Riley was like a gold mine to them, they had no intentions of forcing him out to not contest.

After the 30th fight, Leon's pay per fight rose again to 150 Neo Credits per fight.

He only stopped when it was 6:00pm.

By then, his whole body was aching from how much he exerted himself and he was also mentally exhausted.

He could tell that if he kept on going, he would lose and break his fighting streak so he smartly decided to stop.

Leon fought 43 fights by the end, and he won 43 times.

4th July, Year 714 A.G in Floating District G12 was a Thomas Riley masterpiece at the Grand Prix Arena.

At the end, this was how Leon's record looked like.

[Fighter: Ring Man]

[Fights: 95]

[Wins: 95/ Draw: 0/ Loss: 0]

[Win to Loss ratio: 100%]

[Current Rank: 5,241]

[Rank Change Price: 1,300 Neo Credits]

The fact that Leon changed fighting arenas to a bigger and more lucrative arena in the floating district didn't affect the fixed rank change prices.

To him of yesterday, 1,300 Neo Credits was a fortune that he could only dream of but after what happened today, 1,300 felt like the bonus.

After 43 fights today in Grand Prix Arena, his total accumulated payment for the day rose to a staggering 5,131 Neo Credits!

This was by far the most money that Leon had ever seen.

He earned 761 Neo Credits during his first 10 fights on the rise. For the next 20 fights, he earned a whopping 2,420 Neo Credits and an additional 1,500 Neo Credits for his next 10 after his pay rose to 150 Neo Credits per fight.

He earned 450 Neo Credits for his last 3 fights to complete the rout.

Add that to the 1300 that he earned for his new rank position and his total earnings for the day rose to a staggering 6,431 Neo Credits.

Mr. Paul looked like he was going crazy in joy as in front of the camera, he screamed like a mad man, hyping up Thomas Riley's fans.

"That's why he's the G.O.A.T, the f*cking G.O.A.T!"

"Thomas Riley is the Top G man, he is the OG! If you're not following this account yet, you're missing, follow it to keep up with all Thomas Riley fights!"

This man's ecstasy was easy to understand.

Afterall, out of the total 6,431 Neo Credits that Leon earned today, he would be directly earning 322 Neo Credits as the promoter.

The money was not Picasso Lifestyle's money, it was his personal money because he was the promoter. What Picasso Lifestyle stood to gain from the whole orchestra was the crazy publicity and fame that came with the name, Thomas Riley.

To Mr. Paul, even as the manager of the prominent nightclub, earning 322 Neo Credits in a single day was lucrative.

A few minutes after his last fight, as Leon and Daren joined the modified airbus to return to Compton District, his smartphone finally beeped with a notification.

DING!

[Credit Alert!]

[Your account has been credited with 6,109 Neo Credits!]

Sitting behind the thugs, the pilot, and Mr. Paul with only Daren directly seeing him, Leon freely let go of the Thomas Riley persona as he grinned.

Seeing his happiness, Daren also grinned. "We're going to have a blast tonight at the nightclub right?"

Leon looked at him in disdain. "If you know the numerical figure of my budgeted expenses in the next few days, you'll join me and cry a broke man's cry".

Daren immediately protested. "Come on man, that's over 6000 Neo Credits, do you know what you can afford with that?"

Leon laughed. "When we get to my workshop, you'll understand".

Daren shrugged.

As he finally gained a moment of reprieve for himself as the airbus descended towards Compton District, Leon finally looked at the System notifications that he shelved since.

He focused on the last one.

DING!

~----~

[You have gained +5 Ascended Essence!]

[Ascended Counter: 503/2000]

~----~

He leaned back on the comfortable chair of the airbus and closed his eyes as a big smile crept across his lips.

'Finally'. He thought in relief and excitement.

When they got to Compton District, Mr. Paul invited Leon to the nightclub but when Leon politely rejected, he ordered the pilot to directly take the duo of fighters to Thomas Riley's hotel.

They moment they arrived and Mr. Paul left, as Leon led the way into the hotel, he picked up his smartphone and dialed a number.

Click!

The moment Sergeant Tyla picked, he apologized to her, telling her to reschedule their meeting for tomorrow.

Sergeant Tyla readily agreed. Just like many people in Leviathan Quay today, she also watched his battles.

After that, Leon entered his room and went to the bathroom to quickly take his bath before plopping down on the bed tiredly.

He had no motivation to do any other thing, he was spent for the day.

Daren looked at him. "I don't want to admit it but I think you're the strongest Mechanist I've ever seen".

Leon laughed. "You think this is strong? Wait till you see what I have planned out for my ideal battle form".

With that, he slept.

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