Chosen Evolution: I can load the protagonist template

Chapter 410 What is NESTS behavior?

Iori Yagami was incredibly devoted to Kyo Kusanagi, and wasn't Kyo Kusanagi just as devoted?

However, when persistence reaches the point of obsession, it may quietly evolve into a strange form of possessiveness.

When Iori Yagami is determined that only he can defeat Kyo Kusanagi, it means that he will not allow anyone else to defeat Kyo Kusanagi.

This logic is strange, but it is Iori Yagami's true thought. It seems that he did not consider at all that if someone could defeat Kyo Kusanagi, then theoretically they should also be able to defeat this formidable rival.

But the soaring ratings at this moment clearly indicate that the bloodthirsty viewers are also very knowledgeable and do not want to miss this exciting battle.

This ironically made Cheng Tian a minor supporting character.

"Don't rush, meow~ Your opponent is me~"

Just then, Nero the cat, who had been waiting quietly on Cheng Tian's shoulder like a doll, suddenly spoke, drawing Iori Yagami's attention and causing his eyes to widen involuntarily.

The one that was frozen in place was some kind of clone!?
What a cunning cat!
However, upon realizing this situation, Iori Yagami immediately had another idea pop into his mind.

"So... you're in cahoots with this talking cat, right?"

As Iori Yagami spoke, he hurled the Azure Flame in his hand at Cheng Tian.

Azure Flame extended outwards, moving close to the ground, transforming into a dark hook hand commonly known as Ground Wave, rapidly closing in!

Once he's made up his mind, he'll launch an attack immediately; Iori Yagami doesn't need any explanation.

Just as the azure dark hook hand was approaching, a crimson dark hook hand with the exact same ground-walking pattern forcefully intervened from the diagonal direction, directly colliding with the strange flame, and the two canceled each other out!
"Wait a minute! I'm the one who should be cutting ties with you, Yagami!"

Kyo Kusanagi, who unleashed the exact same style of Dark Hook Hand using the Kusanagi Fire, also directly issued a challenge to fight.

Although Kyo Kusanagi's projectile attacks were removed in King of Fighters '97 to create a more distinct contrast with Iori Yagami's fighting style, he still retains his projectile ability from a story perspective. Furthermore, if a special operation is used during character selection, "Reverse Kyo Kusanagi" can be selected, and his moves will fully revert to the styles from '94 and '95.

"...Then let your death end it all!"

How could he refuse a duel with his arch-rival? Almost instantly, Iori Yagami forgot about Cheng Tian and Nero's existence and decisively charged towards Kyo Kusanagi.

They only had eyes for each other, and no one else could be accommodated.

"Emmm~ it's not impossible~"

Upon realizing he was being ignored, Cheng also showed his tact.

Since his goal was Kusanagi's gloves anyway, this situation of the snipe and the clam fighting while the fisherman benefits was actually more advantageous to him.

By the way, it seems Eileen hasn't had time to collect the Kusanagi's blood yet, so...

Cheng Tian whispered something into Nero Cat's ears. The cat nodded, and its body began to silently secrete black slime that could transform into various beast king clones, which flowed down Cheng Tian's shoulders and trouser legs.

One bite is one bite, two bites are another. Since I've already sucked Yagami's blood, I have to take a sip of Kusanagi's blood to complete the pairing.

Cheng Tian became a live audience member, but the organizers were in a bit of a predicament.

Admittedly, the fact that these two rivals, who had been very active in previous competitions, chose to clash in the preliminary rounds, while boosting viewership, also prematurely eroded future ratings. They had originally planned to artificially guide the competition, minimizing the chances of Kusanagi and Yagami meeting during the preliminary rounds and then subtly intervening in the official match to postpone their decisive encounter as much as possible. This would maintain viewers' excitement and prevent the rising ratings from easily faltering.

But all I can say is that you're overthinking it.

The organizers can use the herd mentality to guide and manipulate the audience, but they can't truly treat each unique and powerful fighter as a puppet!
It's like they couldn't stop (not really) those high-ranking teams from targeting the female fighters' outfits...

Although the current King of Fighters '97 world has become an out-of-place scene due to the MUGEN tag, the main NPC characters in this world are undoubtedly Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami. Their battle is highly anticipated, so much so that many qualifying teams and seeded teams that can draw characters have chosen to rush to the location of their battle after learning about this situation.

It's getting more and more lively.

But it is precisely this ability to draw attention to others that creates excellent conditions for Cheng Tian to take advantage of the situation.

With the help of Nero the Cat, who is bound by his loyalty to his master, the small-sized Venomous-winged Bloodsucking Mosquitoes began to silently suck the blood of the fighters.

Nero's cat is based on the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostles, and few can surpass it in terms of "blood-sucking." It can use a powerful frontal attack to extract blood from others, or it can hide and collect blood without being detected.

With its hair-thin mouthparts, the anesthetic substances secreted when sucking blood, the infinite backup that can be summoned again even if discovered and killed, and Cheng Tian, ​​who is like a mobile base vehicle that can recycle resources with just a touch, the portable laboratory suddenly had many unexpected fighter blood samples.

With current laboratory technology and blood availability, it's clearly not usable yet, but if we could obtain the cloning technology for NESTS, that would be a different story.

"Ok?"

Nero's sudden straightening of its back made Cheng Tian turn his head, and its next words made Cheng Tian's eyes open slightly.

"There are fellow cats...and more than one."

Nero the cat paused after saying this, glancing almost imperceptibly at Cheng Tian.

When it first saw Cheng Tian, ​​it actually thought he was a vampire or something similar, which was actually due to the effect of loading the Dio Brando template.

However, Cheng Tian loaded an enhanced version, which was essentially a template specifically designed for fighting games, thus erasing Dio's negative traits such as fear of sunlight and Ripple Qi.

Cheng Tian, ​​who was maintaining the template loading, had indeed temporarily switched to vampire bloodline, but he was a vampire without any weaknesses or blood-sucking impulses.

"I'll try to pinpoint its location based on its appearance or approximate location."

With his sword finger pressed against his right temple, Cheng Tian began using the Overlord search.

Without much effort, Cheng Tian successfully identified the shapes and outlines of the two companions mentioned by Nero the cat.

A muscular man lurking in the shadows, his hair excessively coated with hair wax.

A tiny child sitting gracefully in a coffee shop, sipping tea.

"...Something bad is bound to happen tonight!"

This is the conclusion Cheng Tian reached after locking onto the target's outline.

(End of this chapter)