My health recovery is incredibly fast.

“Yes, Andrew. You’re right.” Ross glanced at the VIP seating area on the second floor and sighed. “I need to recognize my place and status.”

"Hmm. Very good awareness." Andrew nodded, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.

Rose suffers from a common problem among young people—relying on his youth and energy, he acts recklessly and is driven by his emotions.

But he also has his shining point—he can wake up and reflect on his mistakes as soon as someone points it out.

Andrew probably went to great lengths to persuade him because of this...

Xia Zuo took a notebook from the drawer and wrote down Andrew and Ross's personalities and other details for future reference.

The host with the goatee demonstrated the weapons and introduced the challengers who would be appearing that night. After receiving instructions from the dark-skinned fat man, DeShawn, he invited the first challenger to take the stage.

The Yuan Energy Longsword is quite powerful when used; flames flow along its blade, and the Blazing Slash shoots out with each strike.

The arena was ablaze with flames, but they posed no threat to the Python V-Type. This alchemical armor set boasted a fire and earth resistance of up to 30%, making it so powerful that even a pig could defeat the Flame Longsword.

Moreover, this round-robin tournament was more like a performance and a display of skills than a free-for-all competition.

Neither side fought to the death, and Jack's snake whip wasn't aimed at the opponent's vitals.

Xia Zuo glanced at the fiery energy sword and the whistling whip, and suddenly felt that tonight's duel was a bit boring. He opened the spellbook and continued to memorize the Crimson Poison Curse.

...

It was midnight.

Xia Zuo made an elemental bottle and planned to go meditate.

The perspective of Servant #1 is always displayed in the upper left corner of the field of view.

After five rounds of competition with no injuries, the final challenger arrived at Arena 1.

Jack removed his alchemical suit and sat down on the field to rest, panting.

When Jack saw his opponent wearing a mask that covered his entire face, he immediately became suspicious.

Upon seeing the other party's intact right hand and the weaponry filled with multiple layers of kinetic energy absorption pads, Jack immediately rushed towards the iron net as if he had seen a ghost, slapping the wires and shouting loudly at the host.

But strangely, no sound came out.

Andrew's gaze deepened, and he asked in a low voice:

"Did you anticipate the adverse effects of continuous use of the alchemical bio-suit, Ross?"

Ross swallowed hard. "I had an idea... but I didn't expect Jack's reaction to be losing his voice... Judging from his reaction, this sixth challenger might not be..."

"Ahem." Andrew interrupted him with a light cough.

Ross swallowed the rest of his words and said with lingering fear, "Thank goodness I didn't place a bet."

yes..

Fortunately, he didn't place a bet.

Who would have thought that the Beast Arena would choose to take action against Jack tonight?

Xia Zuo had previously thought it would take at least three days...

It now seems that the sixth challenger has likely been temporarily replaced, and the masked man appearing on the field now is very likely not the opponent that Jack and the Beast Arena had agreed upon.

This place is truly unpredictable...

The host with the goatee raised his arms and shouted:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the final match of this gauntlet battle is about to begin! Jack the Rockbreaker will use the Python V-Type Alchemy Armor to face Sid the Greatsword Master! Sid will use his own weapon to fight Jack."

"Before the start of this competition, you will have one last chance to increase your bet or resell your tickets!"

The goatee-bearded host walked around the arena several times, repeating his words repeatedly, completely ignoring Jack, who was pounding on the iron fence with a look of despair in his eyes.

Jack looked up at the VIP seating area on the second floor.

DeShawn, sitting behind the glass window, and the goatee-bearded host standing nearby, both showed no reaction to his actions.

Jack realized he had to rely on himself.

He took out a sausage and a bottle of water from his waist bag, sat down on the ground to take a break, scanned his opponent, and pondered his countermeasures.

Now, he has two paths before him.

Surrender directly, accept the punishment for defeat, and spare your own life.

The unspoken rule of not killing those who surrender still holds sway in this area.

Moreover, no one brings all their possessions to the arena; when surrendering, they only hand over a portion of their wealth.

Jack had hidden some cash, weapons, and medicine—things that could save his life in a critical moment—in a corner of Stillwater.

If we can get our hands on these things, it will be enough to live in other places far away from Jing Shui Town.

But this is a poor choice.

Because the arena's thugs won't let him get these things; they'll hunt him down relentlessly, like a cat chasing a mouse.

and so.

There is only one path left to choose from.

Unmask your opponent, reveal his true colors, and let the audience know that they have been deceived; the man who appears is not the greatsword wielder Sid at all.

At that point, the match will have to be stopped.

Because the illegal boosting violated the rules set by the Mishima Group, the Yizhu Group, and the Golden Merchant's Sword, Mishima will be subject to joint enforcement by the other two companies, and the Beast Arena will change hands.

Jack stared coldly at the "substitute player".

His opponent stood in the center of the arena, his massive arms crossed, his figure tall and straight, completely unmoved, the elemental heavy sword on his back pointing straight to the ground.

Chapter 6 "Sid" in the Light, Scarface in the Dark

"Ladies and gentlemen! The competition is about to begin!" The host looked towards the VIP seats on the second floor.

The dark-skinned, chubby DeShawn was positioned above the betting odds sign.

He glanced at the current odds and the amount of money in the prize pool, exchanged glances with his men who bought lottery tickets, a smile appeared on his face, revealing his big gold teeth, and he made a few gestures towards the host.

Upon receiving the command, the host opened his arms and shouted, "The competition begins!"

Jack, clad in red and black snake scale armor, circled his opponent in the center of the arena like a python, his scarlet whip lashing out at the opponent's back.

Sid picked up his greatsword and used it as a shield, holding it vertically in front of him.

"Bang!" The snake whip collided with the broad blade. With a crisp sound, Sid's right hand seemed to lose strength, and the heavy sword visibly trembled.

Jack looked at Sid suspiciously... Could the other person really be Sid with the injured right hand? Then why was he wearing a mask?

Jack used the length of his whip to move around at mid-range, launching attacks close to the iron fence at the edge of the court, repeatedly probing his opponent's strengths and weaknesses, and increasing the force of his blows time and time again.

Sid gripped the heavy sword with both hands, taking heavy steps as he approached the agile Jack, enduring the whipping. Like a silent stone, he remained utterly silent even when the whip struck his neck, not even uttering a cry of pain.

Jack retracted the whip into the snake's head on his left arm, then suddenly swung his arm and flicked it, unleashing a whip radiating a dark red light.

Xia Zuo knew that Jack was getting serious.

In previous performance-style competitions, Xia Zuo had witnessed the power of the dark red glowing snake whip. It was not only sharper, capable of tearing through metal armor plates, but it could also leave behind a poison with a strong stun effect.

The cost of using it is a huge physical exertion.

Xia Zuo predicted that, given Jack's current condition, five lashes would be his limit.

In the first five matches, all of his opponents conceded defeat when they saw Dark Red Whip.

But Sid took a different approach.

He took several quick steps, bracing himself against the whip that was lashing at his head, and raised his heavy sword to protect his mask as he charged toward his opponent.

The armor plates on his body shattered under the whipping, and fragments of armor scattered all over the ground.

Dark red viscous fluid seeped into the cracks in the armor, but the toxins didn't take effect—there might be some kind of highly protective lining underneath the armor.

Jack lashed out with his whip at his opponent's ankle again, the whip wrapping around Sid's right foot.

Just as he was about to pull the whip to trip the other man, he saw Sid step on the long whip with his other foot, using his size and weight to firmly hold the whip in place and prevent Jack from pulling it back.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Sid raised his greatsword, and golden flames burst forth from the blade.

Jack's snake tail, which hadn't been used today, suddenly transformed into a black shadow and darted out from behind him.

Sid reacted quickly, tilting his head back to barely avoid the barb aimed at the bird's nest, but the barb still managed to knock off his mask.

To Jack's surprise, he discovered that the mask did indeed reveal Sid's expressionless face.

The next second, Jack's neck was cleaved by the golden blade, and flames engulfed his entire body.

Sid drew his greatsword, raised it high, and slashed vertically, the thick blade repeatedly cleaving across Jack's head.

The violent impact left Jack stunned, and the whip in his left hand was pinned down by the opponent's body, leaving him completely vulnerable to attack.

Seeing that the opponent's helmet was about to shatter, Sid showed no intention of stopping. Instead, he increased his strength, took a deep breath, raised his heavy sword high, and smashed the helmet with a loud crash, using the broad blade to shred the opponent's forehead.

Jack's corpse collapsed to the ground, his red and black alchemical suit decomposing into black dust, which then turned into black smoke before dissipating into the air, revealing his mangled head.

Sid sheathed his greatsword, picked up the mask from the ground, put it back on, and raised his hands to celebrate his victory.

The audience then realized that they had just witnessed the first blood of the night.

Amid the noise, Andrew stared intently at Sid on the field for a few seconds, then called to Ross, who was yelling, "Thank goodness I didn't bet," and headed towards the spectator tunnel.

Ross pushed through the crowd in front of the prize redemption table and walked beside his companion, saying:

“Andrew, so tomorrow Sid will use the Python V-type alchemical suit? The Beast Arena has a good plan. They've made money off the tickets and let their own people experience the alchemical suit. Then they'll peel the suit off Sid and give us the bone sac, and this mission will be over.”

Andrew stopped and looked at Sid, who was digging out a bone sac on the field. Sid was skillfully dissecting the corpse with a short dagger. He groped around below the liver, tearing apart the spiderweb-like white things, and found the bone sac—a white cocoon-shaped object the size of a finger—from a clump of cotton-like stuff.

“They concocted a secret potion from the bone sac to attach the alchemical bio-armor to Jack, instead of using a coupling ritual to couple the bio-armor to Jack.” Andrew asked, “Do you know what that means?”

“Hmm...does that mean...Jack doesn’t have enough money to buy the materials needed for the coupling ritual?” Ross said uncertainly.

"Yes... Jack really didn't have that much money, so he had no choice but to drink the secret medicine to attach the alchemical implant. Moreover, after coupling with the implant, the connection between the implant and the user is deeper, the performance is more powerful, and it is also more likely to...accidents."

Andrew emphasized the last two words, paused, and said, "Let's go. We'll talk about it back at the tavern."

Ross pondered the implications of the other person's words for a while, sensing that things had taken an unexpected turn, and quickened his pace to catch up with Andrew.