Chapter 145: Crying

With that loud announcement from the host, Adam and Iron Man were connected through the machine, following which the venue for the fight was decided.

This time, the match was to take place in an ancient abandoned steel mill.

The main attraction of this setting was that there were many pieces of steel-making equipment littered throughout the area that could be used in battle, and there were also many steel furnaces that hadn't cooled down yet.

These steel furnaces were the only reason why Adam was receiving any bets at all.

In the eyes of most of the spectators and analysts, Adam had virtually no chance of beating Iron Man. There was simply far too vast a disparity in the powers that they had put on display during their recent matches leading up to this one, and everyone was of the opinion that Adam's fate was already sealed.

However, in his fused form with Nun, Adam had displayed many remarkable abilities, such as Lights Out, Fountain of Contamination, and Disconcerting Screech, which had allowed him to defeat opponents more powerful than himself on multiple occasions.

For this match, those who had placed their bets on Adam were more so placing their bets on the venue rather than on Adam himself.

As soon as the pair of combatants entered the ring, a pair of "professional gamblers" in the stands immediately began their analysis.

"That something killing machine guy is a pretty mediocre fighter. Even if he makes it to the A tier, he'll be ranked near the bottom. Even if Iron Man just stands still and lets him attack, I don't think he'll be able to break through Iron Man's defenses. His only chance at victory is to push Iron Man into one of those steel furnaces. This venue was only chosen to give him a slim chance."

"Exactly! The odds on him 1:6, it's well worth the gamble! These spectators are all idiots!"

"If everyone was a genius, then no one would be a genius!"

"That Lights Out ability and those steel furnaces make for the perfect combo!"

……

Indeed, that was also Adam's strategy going into this match.

After fusing with Nun, he began to search for his opponent, making sure to keep himself well concealed in the process.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

This was an old steel mill from over 100 years ago, so it wasn't very large, but it certainly wasn't a small area, either, and it wasn't that easy to find someone in here.

However, all of a sudden, Iron Man began yelling in a provocative voice, instantly exposing his location.

"Come on out, you little shit! Stop hiding! I'm right here, come and get me!"

After hearing Iron Man's provocation, Adam suddenly didn't want to hide anymore, either.

He was here to hone his battle techniques, and even though sneak attacks were also one of those techniques, he was also starting to get a little angry at his opponent's constant provocation.

"Fine, you want a fight, then a fight is what you'll get!"

With that, Adam also revealed his own location.

……

"Oh god, he's an idiot!" Hailey and all of the spectators who had placed their bets on Adam were in complete despair upon seeing this. "How could he challenge Iron Man to a direct confrontation?"

"What the fuck is he doing? Who the fuck does he think he is?"

"He's a match-fixer! He's throwing the match on purpose!"

"We want our money back!"

……

There were very few people in Shadow City who dared to dabble in match-fixing because the consequences were simply far too dire. Match-fixers could be beaten to death by angry spectators, and if they were to fall into the hands of the director, they would suffer an even worse fate, forced to endure the most horrific torture imaginable.

Hence, even though everyone was accusing Adam of match-fixing, no one was actually serious about those accusations.

In the psychic world, Adam casually swaggered over to Iron Man and caught his first glimpse of his opponent.

It was an imposing and menacing figure whose entire body was giving off a metallic sheen.

In fact, his entire body was made from metal.

"You've got some guts, I'll give you that. I'll grant you a quick and painless death."

Iron Man was a hulking figure who stood at over 3.5 meters in height, and bands of muscles of steel were bunched together all over his entire body, giving him the appearance of an impregnable fortress.

Adam paid no heed to any of this as he charged directly at his opponent. He wanted to see exactly how powerful Iron Man was.

As he rushed forward, sharp claws sprang out of his fingertips, and he used the momentum built up in his forward charge to slash at his opponent.

This was an all-out attack from a level two anomaly, and the average person would've definitely had their abdomen torn into ribbons, or even had their entire body sliced into shreds, but Adam's claws could only raise a few trails of sparks and leave several faint marks after slashing over Iron Man's body.

"Is that all you've got?" Iron Man didn't bother to take evasive measures, and he didn't even retaliate as he looked down at the faint marks scratched onto his body. "How did someone like you get assigned to be my opponent? Show me what else you've got!"

"Gladly!"

Adam was completely unfazed by his failed attack. Seeing as his opponent possessed outstanding physical defenses, he would just have to attack through alternative means.

He leaped up into the air before unleashing his Fountain of Contamination ability, releasing a torrent of sewage out of his mouth that rained down all over Iron Man's body.

This attack was far more effective, and Iron Man began to be eroded by the sewage as the metal on the surface of his body began to flake amid a string of loud sizzling, while plumes of dense smoke rose up from his body, giving the impression that Adam had truly gotten the better of his opponent.

However, Adam knew that the effects of the attack were far from ideal.

Sure enough, even before the smoke had completely faded, Iron Man's mocking voice rang out once again.

"That was a decent attack, but if you want to kill me with that attack, you'll have to shower me with it over and over again for years on end!"

At the same time, Iron Man finally lashed out with his huge fists of steel, and Adam was able to dodge the first wave of attacks, but the barrage of punches came thick and fast in a relentless assault.

Thankfully, Iron Man's speed was far inferior to its defensive prowess, and Adam was able to roll along the ground to dodge several more punches, while also luring in Iron Man until he was situated right beneath a steel furnace.

There, he immediately activated his Lights Out ability without any hesitation, and the entire area was instantly plunged into darkness.

Immediately thereafter, a loud crack rang out as Adam's claws pierced through the steel furnace beside him, releasing the red-hot molten steel inside, which came cascading down onto Iron Man like a waterfall.

Iron Man's head turned bright red from the scorching molten steel, and as he waved his arms to scatter the molten steel, countless specks of burning steel were also sprayed onto Adam, inflicting burns onto several parts of his body.

However, his injuries were nowhere near as severe as his opponent's.

……

"That's it! Keep doing that!"

The spectators who had placed their bets on Adam were finally beginning to find their voices again.

However, everyone quickly came to realize that the situation was no better than before.

Iron Man's defenses were far more formidable than everyone had imagined, and the molten steel had been unable to accomplish anything aside from scorch his skin bright red. After the scorching temperatures slowly subsided, it was revealed that he hadn't sustained much damage at all.

"It's over!"

At this point, Hailey was already crying out loud.

She wasn't crying when the host was mocking her just now, it no longer mattered to her whether she was embarrassing herself or not, all she wanted was for Adam to survive.

"We surrender! We're backing out of the match!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

However, the host paid no heed to her. This was the brutal nature of the matches in Shadow City. If anyone could just pull out midway through a match, then there wouldn't have been so many casualties.

"Don't cry, Hailey. It's alright, he's not going to lose."

"He's going to die!" Hailey was bawling her eyes out at this point. "Do you have no heart? How are you still so calm?"

"Because he still has more tricks up his sleeve. Don't cry, just keep watching," Shae consoled as she gently stroked Hailey's hair.

Sure enough, something was happening in the psychic world.