Chapter 127: Fighter Li

"That guy's really strong!"

"How is the first match already this difficult?"

"He's about to lose!"

Outside the ring, everyone was watching the ongoing battle, and they were astonished by how powerful Adam's opponent was.

Most of them had witnessed powerful adapters in action in the past. In reality, even in the context of the entire world, adapters like Sadou ranked near the top.

However, the power displayed by the likes of Sadou and Masao Yamamoto was suffocatingly dominant. In the psychic world, they were formidable one-man armies, and their power was extremely direct and awe-inspiring.

In contrast, Adam's opponent was nothing more than a mere ant compared with the top adapters in the world, but his technical proficiency was remarkable. No one had ever seen such precise and clinical technique from any adapter of the same level or even of a higher caliber.

Out of all of Adam's companions, Nie Yiyi was the most offensively adept fighter, but even she had to concede inferiority in this regard.

"It feels like every single move that he makes has already been rehearsed thousands upon thousands of times in his head. His movements flow so smoothly and seamlessly that it almost feels choreographed. Every single move he makes just so happens to counter his opponent to perfection, and what makes this even more impressive is that he's never fought Addy before."

Addy was the nickname that Adam had been assigned here. In order to avoid being exposed, everyone was using alternative nicknames.

There are many things that I can learn from him.

Nie Yiyi was watching the battle with an intense, unblinking gaze. She felt as if she were seeing her ideal path of future progression. In terms of growth in absolute power, she was making fast progress, but nowhere near as fast as Adam, and that was something that she had always felt extremely disgruntled by, but she was also powerless to do anything about it. However, the display that Adam's opponent was putting on showed her an alternative path.

"Is he going to lose?" In contrast with everyone else, Hailey was watching the match with a great deal of concern.

She was feeling a very complex mixture of joy and worry.

She was ecstatic that Adam was displaying far more power than last time, and she finally understood why he was so confident. Given his current level of power, as long as the right opponents were arranged for him, there really was hope for him to qualify for the battle royale.

However, what she was concerned about was that his opponent seemed to be even more powerful than he was.

"He's not going to lose," Shae said in a very calm and composed manner.

"How are you so sure?"

"Just keep watching."

……

In the psychic world, Adam felt as if he were being suffocated by the ferocious barrage of attacks being directed at him. Whenever he tried to open up some distance between himself and his opponent, his attempts were always thwarted. If things were to continue like this, he was definitely going to lose.

Having experienced so many close brushes with death, even though Adam's fighting technique was still rather rough around the edges, he had developed a great deal of mental fortitude, and despite the predicament that he was in, he was able to remain calm and collected as he let loose a shriek that was capable of scattering the mind of the listener.

Upon falling prey to this ability, Adam's opponent instantly stiffened, and Adam took advantage of this opportunity to unleash several claw strikes in succession, slicing through the arteries on his opponent's neck to cause heavy bleeding.

After a brief moment of disorientation, Adam's opponent immediately made a hand seal, and the ancient Chinese character for "peace" appeared on his forehead, instantly restoring clarity to his mind. Immediately thereafter, he opened up some distance between himself and Adam, then tapped the acupoints around his neck and shoulder a few times, and the bleeding was instantly stopped.

After the bleeding ceased, he immediately tried to close down the space between himself and Adam again, but he was surprised to find that Adam was taking the initiative to charge at him.

"Has he gone insane?" Hailey's hands balled up into tight fists upon seeing this. "He clearly can't win in a close-quarters fight! He finally managed to open up some space, he should've used that black water to spray his opponent!"

"Keep watching. He still has some cards that he hasn't shown yet."

In the psychic world, Adam's opponent found it rather strange that Adam was voluntarily approaching him, but he had absolute confidence in his own abilities, and after a brief hesitation, he charged toward Adam as well.

A brief moment later, the two of them clashed, and the entire scene suddenly fell into complete darkness.

"What happened? Has there been a power outage?" The referee immediately began to examine the machine after the image went dark. However, he discovered that the machine was running as normal, and right as he was perplexed about how to proceed, the image flickered back to life.

At this point, Adam's opponent had already collapsed onto a puddle of his own blood. His limbs were slightly mangled, and his injuries weren't very severe, but he was clearly unfit to continue.

Furthermore, Adam's claws were already resting on his throat, so he was clearly completely at Adam's mercy.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and announce the result!"

Hailey had no idea how Adam had made this stunning comeback, but she still immediately urged the referee to announce the outcome of the match.

"Ah, right... The winner is Lean Mean Killing Machine!"

After announcing the outcome of the match, the referee went about disconnecting the machine in a well-rehearsed manner.

After returning to the real world, Adam made his way over to his opponent, and he couldn't help but feel a little emotional at the sight of his opponent's feeble body. In the psychic world, he was such a formidable fighter, yet he was nothing more than an emaciated sack of skin and bones in the real world.

Adam's opponent awakened not long after he did, and he said, "There's no need to look at me like that. I chose this path for myself."

There was no resentment in his eyes, nor any disappointment from suffering a defeat. Instead, he seemed to be merely curious. "How did you defeat me at the end? Why do I feel like someone else suddenly appeared behind me?"

"You're right, that's exactly what happened, but I'm afraid I can't reveal anything more than that."

"Alright, I completely understand, seeing as you still have to deal with your upcoming matches. I hope we'll meet again in the future. This was a spectacular match, and it taught me many things. In the future, I have to be more alert to unexpected tactics from my opponents. Thank you."

"Likewise, I should also thank you."

As soon as Adam stepped out of the ring, he immediately felt something tighten around the back of his neck, and before he knew it, Hailey was already hanging off him like a sloth.

"You did it! You won your first match!"

"Can you get off me?"

"Alright, fine." Hailey released Adam's neck, but her excitement hadn't waned in the slightest. "This is my first official victory as a manager, and it was against such a powerful opponent. How many more trump cards do you have up your sleeve, Mr. Lean Mean Killing Machine? Also, how did you beat him at the end there?"

"I can't tell you for now. When can you arrange the next match? Make it as soon as possible?"

"I can arrange it today! It's still only morning right now. Let me go check if there are any matches available. It's pretty easy to find F tier opponents."

Hailey quickly skipped away in an elated manner, following which Adam was approached by Nie Yiyi.

"Did you use your invoked entity?" she asked in a voice that was audible only to the two of them.

"I did. I used my Lights Out ability plus my anomaly of distortion. His absolute power wasn't superior to mine, so there was no way that he could've held his own against two anomalies at once."

"Not necessarily. That kind of sneak attack will only work once. I'm sure he'll have countermeasures prepared next time you face him."

Nie Yiyi had a very high opinion of this technically polished fighter, and she even took the initiative to approach him for a chat, seemingly to exchange insights and experiences from fighter to fighter.

Watching them from afar, Adam could see that they were immediately hitting it off, and in the end, they even exchanged contact details.

Adam also rated his opponent very highly, and he picked up his file agin before taking a look so that he could remember his name.

"Fighter Li!"