Chapter 72 Arena 5

Chapter 72 Arena Part 5

An underground arena? Su Han felt a chill run down her spine.

The man in black announced loudly, "Everyone, please take a seat wherever you like. I’ll go set up the show."

As soon as he left, whispers erupted.

"Are they really going to make those who lost the gambling fight beasts? That’s just inhumane!"

"Fighting beasts? Sounds exactly like a fight for survival. But it’s way too lethal—no wonder they made us play gambling first. The longer you stay on the upper floors of the villa, all daily needs provided, the higher your chances of survival."

"Damn. Upstairs, there’s unlimited food and no need to worry about supplies. But down here in the basement, you immediately have to fight wild animals—what a brutal contrast!"

"Hmm... I just wonder, what would those players who thought losing in gambling meant disqualification and went berserk think if they knew losing just meant continuing the game down here?"

Everyone fell silent.

Soon, a burly man was placed on the left side of the octagon cage. He was shirtless, with several fresh-looking wounds on his arms and chest.

On the right side, a gray wolf with glowing green eyes, looking as if it hadn’t eaten in two days, was about to be released.

"Wei Dong!" Someone recognized the burly man and couldn’t help but shout his name.

"You know him?" someone nearby asked.

"He got busted cheating on the first day," the speaker said helplessly. "Told him to behave, but he insisted that using his Portable Storage to cheat wouldn’t be noticed by the NPCs. Got caught on the spot."

"Tch tch." The other person couldn’t help but marvel at how crazy this world is.

Before long, the man in black reappeared. Smiling, he said, "Tonight, there will be three matches. Feel free to watch. If you’re in the mood, you can also throw in some bets to add some excitement to the games."

With that, he snapped his fingers.

Attendants immediately brought out a white panel.

Su Han scanned it carefully and saw a long list of items written in black marker:

A roll of medical bandages for wound dressing—50K coins.

A dagger, extremely sharp—100K coins.

A muscle relaxant injection, capable of slowing the target’s reflexes—100K coins.

Release another gray wolf—100K coins.

Drop a smoke bomb into the octagon—50K coins.

Provide the contestant with a full meal—50K coins.

...

Su Han’s expression darkened, her heart filled with indignation. These sickos were treating people like toys!

"Everyone, I know this man. Please cut me some slack and don’t make things hard for him," the person who knew Wei Dong stood up and said solemnly. "My name is Jiang Cheng. I owe you one—"

Before he could finish, a blond-haired young man snickered. "Why should we give you special treatment? Who do you think you are?"

Jiang Cheng’s expression instantly darkened.

The yellow-haired youth wouldn’t let up, "Toss in another gray wolf. That’d spice things up."

As he spoke, a waiter approached with a tray. Without hesitation, the yellow-haired youth pulled out ten chips worth ten thousand each from his pocket and tossed them onto the tray.

"Two doses of muscle relaxant, injected into the gray wolves. One dagger, one roll of surgical bandages, and a full meal for the contestant," Jiang Cheng said casually.

Then, he casually threw out forty chips and gave the yellow-haired guy a challenging look. "Go on, add more wolves—I dare you. For every one you add, I’ll match it with another dose of muscle relaxant."

The yellow-haired youth opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing. Though he had survived by luck, his available funds weren't particularly abundant. Tossing out a hundred thousand for fun was still manageable, but going head-to-head with someone wasn’t worth it.

Thus, the yellow-haired youth chose to back down.

But it wasn’t over yet. Jiang Cheng turned to the black-clad man and asked, "Can the contestant inside be ransomed? Name your price."

The black-clad man hesitated, seemingly reluctant to let a promising fighter go. But soon, he replied, "The ransom price is five million. If the contestant has outstanding debts, those must be cleared first before the ransom can be paid."

"He doesn’t have any debts," Jiang Cheng said lazily.

The black-clad man nodded. "Indeed. Just pay five million, and he can be freed."

Without hesitation, Jiang Cheng pulled out five hundred chips from his pocket and shouted at the octagon cage, "Get your ass out here now!"

Wei Dong, mouth full of food, mumbled indistinctly, "Wait... let me have a few more bites."

"Screw that! Get out here now!" Jiang Cheng roared.

Wei Dong quickly wolfed down the rest of the food, wiped his lips, held the dagger reverse-grip, and bounced out, grinning, regaining his freedom.

Zhong Rui suddenly spoke up, "If you’re so rich, why didn’t you ask about the ransom first?" Blowing 400k like that? Not chump change.

Jiang Cheng smirked, unfazed. "Totally worth 400k to shut him up like that."

The yellow-haired youth gritted his back teeth.

But Jiang Cheng wasn’t done with him yet.

"I’ve got my eye on you," Jiang Cheng said, pointing casually, his tone indifferent.

"No fighting allowed here," the yellow-haired youth steadied himself, putting on a calm front.

"Just wait," Jiang Cheng muttered, saying no more.

The yellow-haired youth inwardly cursed, *Damn*... This guy had just been making empty threats—he didn’t actually care if anyone opposed him. And now, in a moment of stupidity, he had picked a fight with a big shot for nothing!

As rationality returned, the yellow-haired youth was kicking himself.

Su Han thought to herself, Although no winners have emerged so far, there are indeed players who aren’t short on money.

Take Zhong Rui, for example. He could beat the game anytime he wanted, with five million in cash alone. Not to mention the gold, jewelry, and that top-tier imperial jade in his Portable Storage.

Jiang Cheng seemed the same. Though he hadn’t met the quota, he couldn’t care less about dropping a few hundred grand.

The only thing Su Han found strange was—if they were so rich, why did their companion cheat in the first place?

With the first contestant ransomed, the black-clad man hurried off, probably to prep the next round.

"Thanks for bailing me out," Wei Dong said enthusiastically to his companion.

Jiang Cheng glanced at him but couldn’t even look at him.

So Wei Dong started blabbering on his own, "Ah, I really didn’t know their eyes were so eagle-eyed. Swapping a card at super speed and still getting caught! That was pure bad luck!"

Jiang Cheng thought to himself, *You could’ve just cleared the stage directly, but instead, you nearly got yourself disqualified. I don’t even want to talk to this fucking idiot teammate.*

"Just think of it as me sacrificing myself to scout the enemy, alright?" Wei Dong declared with zero shame. "I spent three days down there and got a full grasp of the situation!"

Jiang Cheng’s stern expression eased slightly, visibly intrigued. He was about to ask for details when the black-clad man returned, forcing him to hold his tongue—there would be plenty of chances to talk later; no need to rush now.

Zhong Rui’s eyes gleamed subtly as he stared intently at Wei Dong.

Su Han watched coldly from the sidelines, quietly observing the subtle power plays among the players.

The black-clad man announced, "The second match begins."

A middle-aged man appeared on the left side of the octagon cage, and the white panel materialized before the crowd once more.

Wei Dong put on a hushed tone (though his booming voice ensured everyone still heard him loud and clear) and whispered to his companion, "This guy blew through all his chips, accused someone of cheating, got into a fight, and was sent down here for breaking the rules."

"He usually fights with guns—long-range combat’s his thing. Too bad in this damn place, your usual weapons get confiscated. The casino just hands you a rusty dagger if you're lucky and calls it a day."

"Hey, let me tell you, down there, you have to fight starving, bloodthirsty beasts every day just to get a meal! And it’s not even good food—just plain rice with sad-looking greens, not even a speck of meat to be seen. The portions are pitiful too."

"Even worse, they only give you one meal a day, no daily necessities provided. If you get injured? Forget about medical treatment—they just leave you to rot."

"And if you’re picked for a match, it’s not over until you kill all your opponents."

Despite Wei Dong’s efforts to keep his voice down, his natural loudness meant everyone still heard him clearly.

Jiang Cheng stared at his teammate for a long moment, hoping he’d realize how inappropriate his behavior was. At the same time, he was internally exasperated—*Couldn’t this complete moron have waited for a private moment to share such crucial intel? What good does it do to blab it all out in front of everyone?*

But Wei Dong was clueless. He continued "whispering" to his companion, "Listen, once you lose in gambling, your Portable Storage gets frozen immediately. You can only take out three items, and none of them can be guns or explosives."

"So beast fighters are short on water, food, daily necessities, medicine—you name it. Under normal circumstances, surviving till the 10th day is extremely tough."

"Even if players team up in small groups, trigger their Innate Abilities, or get items as supplements, it’s still a struggle. Fighting beasts every day leaves you covered in wounds, not to mention when your Satiety and Cleanliness drop too low—debuffs start piling up, and your stamina drains even faster."

Just as Wei Dong was about to continue sharing his insights, his companion clamped a hand over his mouth. "Just shut the fuck up already!"

But the damage was done—everyone had already heard the crucial information.

After a pause, seeing no bets were placed, the black-clad man waved his hand and declared the match begun.

The gray wolf stalked out of its cage, eyes locked onto the middle-aged man, filled with ravenous bloodlust.

As for the middle-aged man—his stats were 66% Satiety, 64% Cleanliness, and 62% Stamina. Gripping his dagger, he looked visibly nervous—someone used to guns couldn’t adapt to close combat so quickly.

Holding his breath nervously, the man waited patiently, hoping the gray wolf would strike first.

The wolf crept closer, as if testing the waters. Once within range, it lunged suddenly, sinking its teeth into the man’s calf while its claws slashed at the artery in his thigh.

The man’s face paled, but he had no choice but to fight back. He drove his dagger into the wolf’s neck, summoning every ounce of strength to slit its throat.

A pained yelp pierced the air, but the wolf, now sent into a blood frenzy, bit down on the man’s neck.

The brutal grapple that followed was horrifying, the scent of blood slowly filling the air.

In the end, the gray wolf collapsed first, soon dissolving into white light. But the middle-aged man was also left sprawled on the ground, hovering at death's door, not much different from dead.

Wei Dong, feeling a pang of sympathy, sent the man a roll of medical bandages and a meal.

Jiang Cheng: "..."

He glared at his useless teammate several times, his expression screaming, *You've already drained me dry, and instead of paying me back, you're treating others?* But despite the glares, he ultimately said nothing.

Author’s Note: Just to clarify - the seventh instance was designed this way from the start: gambling phase first, then the arena battles.