Chapter 11: The Arena

Chapter 11: The Arena

Xu Qingran suddenly stopped eating his bread.

He certainly didn't recognize the man.

But he still looked down to hide his expression, calmly making an excuse: "Sorry, there have been too many things happening recently, and I've forgotten a lot of the past."

The man didn't look too disappointed, perhaps this was the answer he had expected.

He said: "A lot has indeed happened, and we haven't seen each other since your mother passed away, so it's normal that you don't remember."

The man looked only slightly older than him now, but smiled at him with a sense of relief: "Before you know it, you've grown up, and you really do look a lot like your mother."

"Let me introduce myself again, I am Qi Heqian."

Seeing that Xu Qingran still looked somewhat hesitant, the man added: "I'm the orphan you and your mother saved during a heavy rain when you were a child. Later, I was adopted by your second uncle, so technically, I'm your cousin now."

After Qi Heqian was done talking, a few images suddenly popped into Xu Qingran's mind.

On a rainy night, a woman holding a child about four or five years old encountered a homeless boy, soaked and crouching at the entrance of an alley. He was so skinny he was practically skin and bones, with bruises and wounds all over his body.

Even though he was shivering with cold, he still clutched a kitten-like creature tightly in his arms.

Xu Qingran pretended to remember all of a sudden and offhandedly asked: "I remember now, how is the cat we saved doing?"

Sure enough, Qi Heqian didn't suspect him and chuckled: "It's doing great, full of life. It even went on a few missions with me to clean up 'devils' before I came to the Tower of Evil."

Xu Qingran: ?

Have cats in this world evolved enough to fight alien creatures?

"...I heard about what's been going on lately," Qi Heqian suddenly mentioned. "I told you a long time ago that Lu Cheng was no good, but you still clung to him."

At the mention of Lu Cheng, his smile faded, and his eyes even held a hint of mockery.

Xu Qingran nodded in agreement: "You're right, so I've wised up."

But considering the original owner's history of being deeply in love, Qi Heqian obviously didn't take it seriously and switched to a serious expression: "Actually, I applied to be transferred to the Tower of Evil under the guise of learning and observation mainly to investigate something."

After a pause, he added: "It's related to the truth about your mother's death."

Xu Qingran's biological mother was Qi Shengxue, the only daughter of the Qi family head. She grew up pampered and loved, kind and polite, and even earned her doctorate at a young age, becoming a member of the Empire's soul research team.

She passed away when Xu Qingran was about seven years old, said to have suffered from severe depression and ultimately committed suicide at home. But Qi Heqian had met her when he was young, and although they didn't spend much time together, he could tell from her demeanor and attitude towards life that she was an optimistic and driven woman.

Even in the face of severe setbacks, she knew how to balance her mental state and prioritized her career and child.

She loved Xu Qingran so much, how could she abandon him to face life alone at such a young age, especially when she already knew her husband was unfaithful?

Qi Shengxue was an important lifesaver to him, and he suspected something was amiss, so he had been secretly investigating over the years.

"Later, during my investigation, I found a mentally ill patient who had been admitted to the Tower of Evil. He used to work for one of your father's subsidiary companies. A few days ago, I confronted him with your mother's photo, and he finally admitted that he had been instigated by your stepmother and father back then."

Xu Qingran remembered something and hesitantly asked: "The mentally ill patient you mentioned, is he a man?"

"Yes."

He then asked: "...with a receding hairline?"

Qi Heqian was taken aback: "You've met him?"

Xu Qingran stayed quiet.

No wonder the other guy got so worked up when he saw him.

This kind of coincidence is pretty spooky, in a way.

Suddenly, Qi Heqian's communicator buzzed. He silenced it and said apologetically, "I gotta go."

"Anyway, watch out for your family, especially that stepmom. Your poor aptitude is because she had her sister drug your mom while she was pregnant, messing up your spiritual pool before you were even born. That's why you can't develop like other kids."

"It also left your mom so weak she kept getting sick and eventually lost her job."

Xu Qingran chewed on his bread, deep in thought.

Who knew the nicest, most easygoing stepmom in the family was actually the most ruthless?

Nice.

Since she's the enemy, I can go all out when I deal with her later.

After thanking Qi Heqian, Xu Qingran watched him jog off.

As he finished his bread, the old man next door, always searching for his wife, suddenly crouched by the bars and called out to him.

Then he asked cautiously, "Kid, you seen my wife?"

Before Xu Qingran arrived, he'd checked out the neighbors' info and remembered this old guy was a Type E user. But the sharpness of a Type E user was gone. His eyes were cloudy, except when he talked about his wife—then they'd light up a bit.

"My wife's so beautiful. I love her blue eyes—they're like the sea!"

Hearing this, Xu Qingran thought of his examiner and chuckled.

"I must've seen her. He's the one who tossed me in this dump."

The old man snorted, "You're lying. My wife's been gone for ages."

Tears welled up in his eyes as he said, "My wife's dead... she's gone..."

He shuffled off, crouched in a corner, muttering with his thin lips.

"If only I'd listened back then... sob... wife, what am I gonna do without you..."

Xu Qingran stood by the cell door, quietly finishing the bread Qi Heqian gave him.

Then he added, "Keep it up, and you'll be dead soon too."

The old man: ...

He lifted his wrinkled hand and covered his mouth.

It was oddly quiet today.

·

While in the single cell, Xu Qingran was taken out daily to join the Tower 5 group for psychologists' sessions, interactive activities, and tasks meant to build patience and endurance. These physical tasks were also required for those in Tower 5, but his workload and difficulty were double theirs.

At first, he was a bit resentful, but once he started, he found it to be a great opportunity to exercise.

Thanks to the Tower of Evil for providing free special training.

These days, he hasn’t seen the boy who caused trouble in the cafeteria.

Rumor has it he was lashed again for wasting food and is still bedridden.

After more than ten days in the Tower of Evil, they underwent their first evaluation.

The test categories included extremism, danger, empathy, pessimism, self-harm, violent tendencies, emotional instability, and irritability, among others. If someone scored well in all areas and behaved properly, they’d be deemed non-dangerous and allowed to leave soon.

In the office, the amiable Tower Master beamed at the person sitting across from him on the sofa.

“Tingyu, are you heading out today?” His smile widened, his good mood unmistakable.

Shen Tingyu, fiddling with his communicator, nodded. “Yes, Tower Master. Are you worried because you want me to stick around and help?”

The Tower Master waved his chubby hand dismissively. “Oh no, no, we’ve got plenty of staff. I wouldn’t want to waste your time.”

Shen Tingyu chuckled softly, stood, and placed a small observation device from his pocket on the tea table. “Your stuff,” he said.

“Oh, isn’t this your lucky student?” The Tower Master raised an eyebrow. “Speaking of him, he’s quite the extraordinary individual.”

“Today’s his first evaluation since entering the tower. His results are fascinating—care to take a look before you go?”

Without waiting for a reply, he walked to his desk and pulled up some data on the computer.

The Tower Master turned the screen toward Shen Tingyu, then grabbed the top document from a stack of files. “Here’s his written test. Lots of typos, but the score… it’s impressive.”

As Shen Tingyu accepted the test paper, his eyes shifted to the screen.

His attention was immediately drawn to Xu Qingran’s re-tested spiritual pool level.

“I recall the Xu family’s young master is infamous for having the worst physique in the Silver Dragon faction—his spiritual pool was an F.”

“How’d it jump to a B?”

The Tower Master chuckled. “Right? We were baffled too.”

“But looking at your case, it all makes sense.”

Before his soul was finalized, Shen Tingyu had already been identified as having an exceptionally high 3S-level talent.

By the time his soul was classified as E-type, he wasn’t even 10.

Before that, his spiritual pool had surged, so the empire has kept a close eye on him ever since.

After all, he’s a walking disaster—one misstep, and the entire empire could crumble.

Shen Tingyu smiled silently and kept reading.

Xu Qingran’s data was remarkable, with evaluations from the Tower’s cutting-edge AI, lie detectors, and more.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was close. Moreover, this was not the final exam after officially entering the Tower of Evil, just the initial evaluation. Given some more time, he could indeed achieve a perfect ‘moral standard’ score.

Interestingly, this Xu student was sent to Tower 4 on his first day for violent behavior.

And his handwritten test had just one minor error.

Shen Tingyu raised an eyebrow slightly and flipped directly to the last question on the last page. It was the only one Xu Qingran got wrong.

The question is as follows:

If the world cannot love you, fate cannot treat you fairly, the pain you endure cannot be answered, the efforts you make cannot be rewarded, everyone despises, scolds, misunderstands, abandons, and hurts you, what would you do?

Xu Qingran's answer is very brief.

— Annihilate the entire world.

— And the overly sentimental person who came up with this question.

A faint smile flickered across his blue eyes.

When Shen Tingyu left the Tower of Evil, the Tower Master thought his outstanding evaluation was very memorable, so he asked him to add another question for future candidates.

This was the question he casually wrote at that time.

He was the overly sentimental person who crafted the question.

The Tower Master asked him, "What do you think? This might be your first and only student. Given his state, what kind of evaluation result should be given? Why don’t you make the call?"

"Should we release him, or should we keep him under observation?"

Shen Tingyu closed the test paper and put it back in its original place.

"No, I’m sending him to the arena in Tower 3."

The Tower Master paused, rarely hesitant: "Are you sure?"

"Tsk, if this goes south, it could be deadly."

Shen Tingyu, however, walked out while saying, "If he makes it through, he’ll thank me for this decision."

Of course, it would be just as well if he died.

If a similar E-type were to graduate and return to the Silver Dragon Battalion, he feared he might not resist the urge to act.

·

"The arena?"

Xu Qingran soon received the notification from the staff.

As soon as he heard the word, he knew it wasn’t a good place.

"The arena? The arena of the Tower of Evil?!"

"Oh my god, wait, I still don’t get it. It’s one thing to come to the Tower of Evil with my help, but why are you being sent to the arena?!"

The somewhat informed system was already freaking out.

"According to the script, you should use your natural looks to your advantage, out-white-lotus your stepmother, out-tea the little green tea, gradually clear your name, and rise in both power and reputation. Ultimately, you should become the empire’s heartthrob, making the scumbag fall for you but unable to have you, leaving him heartbroken and full of regret!"

"Why are you now brawling in the Tower of Evil?!"

As the system wailed, Xu Qingran sat in the Tower of Evil’s exclusive transport vehicle, slowly moving along the glowing path toward the entrance of Tower 3.

He asked, "Do you know what kind of place it is?"

The system listlessly replied, "Yes, I do!"

"Simply put, it means going in to fight, and it's against a whole group of people!"

The Tower of Evil also has a twisted setting.

Starting from the third tower inward, the lowest level houses a massive arena. Those thrown into it to fight and kill are all serious criminals who have already been sentenced to death. Only the last survivor is exempt from punishment.

Of course, besides death row inmates, another type of person thrown in are those with severe E-type tendencies or potential.

"This is a brutal fight for E-types," the system said.

E-types without punishment are given basic energy protection before entering, which can save their lives but won't prevent serious injuries. And if there happens to be an exceptionally twisted and powerful criminal inside, it's hard to guarantee that no accidents will occur.

The system continued, "But this also means the E-types or potential E-types thrown into the arena are among the Empire's favored talents. If they emerge as the last survivor, they can skip all entrance exams and basic tests, gaining direct admission to the Grandis Military Academy."

"Upon graduation, they'll start as a major in the faction's main camp."

Xu Qingran could easily guess whose arrangement this was.

On the way to the third tower, he didn't say a word.

The silence unnerved the system, as if it were back to the day he first arrived.

After a while, they arrived at the third tower's entrance in a small, round vehicle.

Xu Qingran was taken by the tense staff to the deepest part of the bottom floor, to the arena.

The square arena was ringed by multiple entry points. Each participant entered the arena through a separate channel.

The staff replaced his wristbands with new, silver-white ones, worn on both wrists.

Then they instructed, "These are for your protection—they shield your vital points and block mental energy attacks below S-level."

"The death row inmates in the third tower arena have mental energy levels ranging from C to A-level. If the wristband sends an alert, the third tower guards will rush in to rescue you, ensuring your survival."

The mechanical door in front of the channel slowly opened upwards.

He took the short knife from the staff, and as his mental energy activated, the blade glowed faintly.

Xu Qingran didn't enter right away. Instead, mimicking the staff's actions, he removed both wristbands and tossed them aside.

Then, shocking the staff and the system, he calmly said, "No need. I don't need these."

With that, he strode into the arena, and the mechanical door slammed shut behind him, leaving the staff no time to intervene.

Staring at the dark door, the trembling staff opened a communication line to the main office: "T-Tower Master, the potential E-type sent into the third tower arena removed the protective wristbands..."

Who was the last madman to do this?

Oh, it was that general from the Golden Wing's main camp.

·

SR-Sirius System, Fei Star, Golden Crow City.

Central District 1, Golden Wing Military Headquarters.

Shen Tingyu, having completed his inspection duties at the Tower of Evil, finally returned, dust-covered.

Before leaving, he had already assigned tasks to his team, so when he returned, there weren't many people in his building.

Not even the talkative Xie Nanjun was there.

Just as he returned to his office and hadn't even had time to sit down, someone knocked on the door with a letter.

"General, this is an urgent letter sent to you from the Empire's main star yesterday."