Empire Building With Infinite Warehouse-Chapter 63: Livestreaming the Duel[1]

Julien turned away from his friend and strolled over to where Mira was adjusting Toby’s camera rig.

"Hey," Julien said, tapping her sleeve.

"Since my product is the star of this show, I want to talk directly to the audience to introduce the brand before the fight starts. Is that okay?"

Mira shrugged, checking her makeup in the reflection of a floating chat screen.

"I don’t care who talks as long as it gets clicks and keeps my viewers engaged. Just make sure you keep your end of the deal about the Shadow Man interview when your boy gets flattened."

"Excellent," Julien beamed.

He spun around and marched back to his team.

"Let’s warm up," he said, grabbing Chris by the arm and dragging him into a quiet corner of the massive training hall.

Chris was shaking so hard that his polished armour rattled like a bag of loose coins.

"Julien, he is going to turn me into meat," Chris said, his eyes darting back to the seven-foot-tall monster stretching in the centre of the arena.

"I am so done. Write my will and leave my sword to someone who actually knows how to swing it."

"Relax, Chris," Julien said smoothly, pulling a series of small glass bottles from his inventory and lining them up in his hands.

"We are going to market five different potions today to showcase our full range of inventory. I have to make you use them one by one."

Chris blinked, tearing his gaze away from the giant to look at the colourful vials.

He swallowed hard.

"Okay. Okay, fine. What are the ones I have to use?"

Julien reached out and patted Chris’s chest piece.

"Well, to really show off the defensive products to the high-end market, you are going to fight him barehanded."

The silence in the corner was suffocating.

Kiara stopped typing on her datapad.

Alice drifted to a complete halt, her glowing eyes blinking slowly.

Chris looked like he was about to faint right there on the expensive floorboards.

"Julien," Chris said, his voice dropping in disbelief.

"I know we are close. We have survived the slums, a monster wave, and insane debt collectors together. But I will not kill myself just because you tell me to."

"Relax, man," Julien insisted, waving a dismissive hand.

"I know he looks strong-"

"Well, he is strong," Kiara interrupted.

She tapped the screen of her borrowed device, pulling up the Association’s public database.

"I just pulled his registered Hunter profile. His core technique relies on Strength Enhancement and Mass Control. That means he can actively change the weight of the objects he touches using his mana."

Kiara pushed her glasses up her nose, pointing a stern finger at the massive blade resting on Kyle’s shoulder.

"So, you see that sword? It probably weighs around five kilograms in his hands right now, allowing him to swing it as fast as a feather. But the millisecond before it hits you, he will shift the mass. It will bring the blunt force of over a hundred kilograms right into your ribs."

"Holy shit, that is perfect!" Julien shouted, clapping his hands together in pure joy.

Chris let out a sound that was half-whimper, half-sob.

"Julien, please. I am begging you. Just tell me the plan."

"Okay, first, you drink this," Julien said, shoving a swirling, neon-pink vial into Chris’s massive hands.

"Our signature Iron Skin potion."

Chris stared at the liquid as if it were poison.

"You have got to be joking. We used that back in the ruined shop. It barely stopped a wave’s rubble! You want me to take a hundred-kilogram sword hit with an E-Rank potion?"

"No, Chris, this isn’t our Tier 1 stock," Julien corrected, his merchant smile returning in full force.

"The system levelled up my inventory after the first wave. The Iron Skin potion level has been increased. This is a solid C-Rank consumable now. Imagine the defensive boost."

Chris stared at his friend for a long, agonising moment.

He looked back at Kyle, who was currently doing one-handed pushups to warm up.

With a deep, resigned sigh, Chris gulped the entire potion in one go.

He grimaced at the bitter taste, tossing the empty glass aside.

A strange sensation immediately washed over him. His skin felt incredibly tight, and his muscles grew heavy, as if his flesh was turning into dense stone. It was uncomfortable, but undeniably reassuring. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Okay," Chris breathed heavily.

"Let’s start before I lose my nerve."

Julien nodded approvingly.

He spun around, adjusted his jacket, and walked right up to Toby’s camera.

He flashed a brilliant, highly confident smile to the hundreds of thousands of people watching live.

"We very much welcome all the viewers to the grand debut of the J.A.C.K Market!" Julien announced, projecting his voice so it echoed across the arena.

"Your new premier destination for high-end survival goods."

Alice drifted behind Kiara, tilting her head.

"’Jack’?" she murmured.

Kiara rolled her eyes, pointing at the team one by one.

"Julien, Alice, Chris, Kiara. Like a jack-of-all-trades. He branded us without even asking."

Alice offered a slow nod, oddly touched by the inclusion.

"Today," Julien continued to the camera, ignoring his team’s whispering, "we are going to demonstrate the Tier 2 Iron Skin potion. To prove its unmatched quality, our brave volunteer, Chris, will take a direct strike from the famous A-Rank hunter, Kyle!"

Julien paused for dramatic effect, leaning closer to the lens.

"And to prove there are no tricks... Chris will not even block."

The chat feed exploded into a blur of text.

[Mana_Addict]: Bro is literally committing suicide on stream.

[xX_Hunter_Xx]: Not blocking an A-rank hit?? FAKE!

[Healer_Girl_01]: omg someone call the medics right now.

[Sword_Saint_Fan]: RIP J.A.C.K Market. Shortest business ever.

[Slime_Killer]: I bet 500 coins the blonde guy cries.

Mira lowered her microphone, staring at Julien with wide eyes.

"Are you sure about this? Do you hate him that much? Kyle doesn’t pull his punches just because the camera is rolling."

"It’s perfectly fine," Julien reassured her, stepping back toward the edge of the arena to get out of the blast zone.

"The product speaks for itself."

Kyle stood up, his massive frame casting a long shadow across the room.

He rolled his neck, cracking his knuckles with a sound like snapping branches and lifted his monstrous sword, resting the flat side of the blade against his shoulder.

He looked at Chris with a mix of pity and annoyance.

Chris walked to the centre of the ring. He left his broadsword leaning against the wall, leaving his hands empty.

"Ready?" Mira yelled into her microphone, hyping up the crowd one last time.

"Start the duel!"

The viewer count skyrocketed as the fight began.

Kyle didn’t waste a single second.

The giant hunter moved with a terrifying, unnatural speed, closing the distance between them in two massive steps.

He swung the greatsword in a wide, horizontal arc.

Because he had lowered the blade’s weight to a mere five kilograms, the swing was impossibly fast. It was just a blur of steel curving through the air, aimed directly at Chris’s chest.

Chris gritted his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, and planted his heavy boots firmly against the polished floor.

A fraction of a second before the flat surface of the blade made contact with Chris’s ribs, the massive hunter activated his Mass Control skill.

The sword’s weight spiked to two hundred kilograms.

BAM!