If someone else had made such a request, Dominika would never have agreed. He would have simply forced the other party to disclose the information they held. For the Fiore Royal Family to make this call already showed considerable respect.
But Ron was different.
The Zoldyck family... even the rulers at the V5 level had to tread carefully when dealing with them.
This wasn't about fear.
If a conflict between them truly became irreconcilable, the Fiore Royal Family wouldn't hesitate. A ruler of a major country couldn't allow themselves to fear an assassin family.
But caution? That was warranted.
Caution toward the personal strength of the Zoldyck family members.
Caution toward their identity as assassins.
If the Zoldyck family decided to retaliate, hiding in the shadows and launching relentless assassinations and attacks, it would become a very troublesome situation.
Not something that could be easily resolved.
That said, the Fiore Royal Family did have Nen users capable of countering Silva and Zeno.
The real concern, however, was only one individual: Maha Zoldyck.
But no matter how strong Maha was, he was just one person.
The Fiore Royal Family's Nen users could compensate for the lack of individual strength with sheer numbers, employing a wide array of Nen abilities to contain him. Combined with weapons like the "Rose," there were very few who could survive such an assault.
Still, achieving this would come at a tremendous cost.
As a result, even the Fiore Royal Family preferred not to provoke the Zoldyck family lightly.
Dominika also considered another point: the Fiore Royal Family was currently under external pressure. The V5 weren't entirely at peace and were often in conflict with one another.
In this situation, the Fiore Royal Family couldn't allocate too many resources to this matter.
Meanwhile, the Nen users of the Talis Nation were notoriously unpredictable and dangerous.
Involving a Zoldyck family member in this investigation wasn't necessarily a bad idea.
"Agreed," Dominika finally said. "However, we can't guarantee your safety. You must be capable of protecting yourself. If you die at the hands of a Nen user from the Talis Nation, I won't be responsible."
"That's fine."
"Tell me the location. I'll head over."
"The Sky Arena."
"I'll be there soon. I'll contact you once I arrive."
"Alright."
Dominika ended the call.
Ron contemplated.
"Investigating the Nen users of the Talis Nation won't be an easy task. It'll likely take a lot of time, and returning midway won't be ideal. Before I leave, I should schedule another match."
Ron went to the front desk and submitted his application.
A young man saw Ron at the counter and paled, retreating immediately.
In his hands was a completed application form.
"So close..."
The young man looked at Ron's back with a sense of relief.
"I almost got matched against Ron. I wouldn't have stood a chance, I almost wasted my opportunity. Better to let someone else deal with it!"
He sighed in relief, grateful for dodging the matchup.
At that moment, a middle-aged man approached, handing in his own application form. Noticing the young man's relieved expression, he frowned but didn't say anything.
Later that evening, the middle-aged man received his match confirmation.
Seeing Ron's name as his opponent, his face turned pale.
He nearly spat out blood.
By now, a consensus had formed among the competitors on the 200th floor of the Sky Arena: never get matched against Ron.
Ron had even defeated Juliana.
To most competitors, Ron already had the strength to challenge a Floor Master.
On the 200th floor and above, fighters were generally divided into four categories:
1. Complete newcomers who hadn't even opened their Aura Nodes.
2. Newcomer hunters.
3. Ordinary competitors.
4. High-level competitors capable of challenging Floor Masters, referred to as "elite fighters."
Two days later, the match began.
Facing Ron, the middle-aged man said, "Ron, I know I'm not your match. But I still want to try. Will you give me a chance to fight with all my strength?"
Ron sized him up briefly.
"One minute."
"What?"
"I'll give you one minute. Use that time to show me everything you've got. After a minute, I'll make my move."
The man froze for a moment, then nodded resolutely.
"Thank you!"
One minute later, the man lay on the ground, despair written all over his face.
The gap in strength was too vast.
So vast that he couldn't even comprehend it.
"Ron, may I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"How strong is a Floor Master?"
"I don't know," Ron replied.
His understanding of the Floor Masters' strength came from the martial arts tournaments he'd seen and Zeno's descriptions. But he'd never fought a Floor Master at full strength.
The man misunderstood Ron's response.
He believed Ron meant that Floor Masters were far stronger than they appeared.
Despair filled his eyes.
"With my abilities, I'll never become a Floor Master."
"In that case, there's no reason for me to stay at the Sky Arena."
"I should leave."
"Find another path."
The man left the arena, returned to his room, packed his belongings, and departed the Sky Arena. By nightfall, he had vanished from the city.
---
By this point, Ron had fought seven matches.
He had won six and one had been forfeited.
With four more victories, he would qualify to challenge a Floor Master.
Several Floor Masters had already taken notice of Ron.
They were gathering information and analyzing his abilities.
Some of the weaker Floor Masters were even sharing information among themselves.
They believed that once Ron qualified, he would undoubtedly challenge one of them.
After all, they had once been in his shoes.
"Ron. Male. Approximately ten years old. An Emitter-type Nen user," one Floor Master summarized.
"Good aura reserves."
"Has a pink Nen Beast specializing in close combat. Strong but slightly slow."
"Excellent close-combat skills."
"Mastered advanced Nen techniques systematically."
"He's a member of TST, so they likely have information on him."
Another Floor Master commented, "Ron is an Emitter, but his subsequent development leans heavily toward Enhancement. Could this be a weakness?"
"Perhaps he's worried about his physical vulnerability and trained to compensate. But abandoning his Nen Beast entirely is a mistake. He's neglecting that aspect of his ability, which is wasteful."
"Even so, Ron is very strong and easily crushed Juliana."
"If Juliana were still here, we could gather more specific data about Ron from her matches. Unfortunately, she left the Sky Arena."
---
"I've arrived," Dominika messaged.
"I'm coming down," Ron replied.
Turning to Nina and the others, he said, "I'm leaving for a while. It might be a long time. If you need anything, contact me via email, and I'll respond as soon as I can."
"Okay, Big Brother."
"Goodbye, Captain."
"See you, Captain."
Ron descended the stairs.
A breeze greeted him, carrying a slight chill that made him shiver.
A figure came into view.
Ron's eyebrows rose slightly.
-----------------------
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