novelbin Chapter 918 914
Chapter 918 914
After a while, Ozen stopped.
"This is boring."
She looked toward Ron, seemingly dissatisfied with the battle.
"Your fighting style doesn't inspire much interest. Let's end it here."
Ron smiled.
"Ozen-senpai, your strength is overwhelming. I could only take a more restrictive approach."
After a brief pause, Ron asked,
"But I could tell—you strictly abided by our agreement to stop short. Just now, you didn't go all out, did you?"
"Can I ask… roughly how much of your strength did you use?"
Ozen replied plainly "Thirty to forty percent. What about you, Ron?"
"A bit more than you, Ozen-senpai."
In truth, Ron hadn't even used thirty or forty percent of his strength. Many of his techniques couldn't be brought into the inner world. Still, even with those limitations, he had plenty left in reserve—like his true body's abilities, and other Nen beasts he hadn't summoned.
Ozen paused for a moment.
"Ron, your strength is impressive. But in the Abyss, anything can happen. The danger goes far beyond human understanding—especially once you reach the deeper levels. Oftentimes, it doesn't matter how strong you are, you would still fail.
"And even if you make it to the seventh layer, you might still not find what you're looking for."
Ron nodded. "I know. But I have a reason I must go."
"Ozen-senpai, thank you."
Ozen departed. Ron didn't follow her to the surveillance base—his goal had only been to meet Ozen. Now that they'd spoken, and he'd obtained the information he needed, there was no point going further.
The trait absorption ability was tied to Ozen's connection to the base. Heading there now would only raise suspicion.
Ron continued deeper.
By now, he had descended over two thousand meters. Along the way, he encountered other explorers and made a few trades, but gained nothing substantial—none of them had sensed anything resembling the aura of an Acention Relic.
Still, it wasn't a wasted trip. His progress with the Observer's True Intent had increased significantly—almost reaching ten percent.
Suddenly, a cry rang out.
Ron looked over and saw a woman stumbling toward him in panic, her face pale with fear.
"It's a Ripperbird!"
"Run!"
She spotted Ron and shouted, "Get out of here!"
Ron glanced behind her but saw no trace of any monster. And her condition looked odd. On the surface, she seemed disheveled—but not nearly as bad as she was pretending. Her appearance felt staged.
She rushed past Ron. He didn't move.
A few meters ahead, she stopped, turned back, and ran up to grab his hand.
"I'm telling the truth! There's a Ripperbird back there! I saw another explorer get killed by them!"
"They're vicious and travel in packs—once they surround you, there's no way to escape. They'll eat you alive. This way's safer—come on!"
Ron hesitated but didn't shake her off.
His earlier bout with Ozen had given him a solid grasp of his current strength in the Abyss. Monsters on the second layer weren't a threat to him.
They ran fast and kept going for quite a while.
Only after reaching a clearing did the woman let go of his hand, panting heavily.
"Thank goodness—we're safe. Ripperbirds never come this far."
"We made it."
"Hey, what's your name?" she asked, glancing at him.
"I did save your life just now—how do you plan to thank me?"
Ron: "..."
So that was her game? Fake a monster attack, then "rescue" someone and demand repayment?
Honestly, in a place like the Abyss, it might actually work.
Among explorers, there was a tight-knit community. Someone who didn't return a favor would quickly find themselves ostracized—unless they had no intention of staying in the circle, or weren't a real explorer to begin with.
But those cases were rare.
So, what the woman had done was a low-risk move. She gave nothing and stood to gain something in return. A profit with no investment—fooling someone into rewarding her.
Even if only one out of ten fell for it, it was still worth it. And in the Abyss, the odds were much higher than one in ten.
"Ron."
"Ron? Nice name. I'm Bessie."
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