Pulling Strings

Arriving at the entrance of the Underground Arena, the Butcher Girl stopped, looking up at the dark iron gate.

Fan Lang noticed and stopped as well, turning back to ask, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just wanted to see the gate here. I used to be locked inside, didn't come out for years," the Butcher Girl replied. She was still wearing the ogre mask, so her current expression couldn't be seen.

"You were a Gladiator before, but today you're a guest. Relax a little, forget the unpleasant things from the past."

"Some pain can make people stronger. I won't forget it, and I can't forget it at all."

"Then do as you please."

Fan Lang wasn't the type to be a life coach, so he wasn't interested in giving the Butcher Girl a pep talk. He turned around and stepped into the Underground Arena.

As soon as he entered, he heard the noisy sounds, which were the norm for the Underground Arena.

Fan Lang found Dou Bin and asked him to arrange a fight for him.

"The Big Boss gave the word yesterday that all your fights will be arranged by the Big Boss himself from now on. I can't make the decision. Go to the lounge and wait for a while. I'll let you know if there's any news," Dou Bin said, puffing out smoke from his big pipe.

"Alright, as long as there's a fight, it's the same no matter who arranges it for me," Fan Lang said nonchalantly.

Afterward, Fan Lang took the Butcher Girl to the lounge together.

On the way, the two of them ran into another Gladiator. This person had yellow hair and didn't look very good.

This Yellow Hair saw the Butcher Girl and grinned, "Butcher Girl, I heard you were won over by someone and became a free person. Why are you back here again? Don't tell me you're back to find me?"

"Shut your stinky mouth, Yellow Lightning. My coming and going is my business, it has nothing to do with you," the Butcher Girl said coldly.

"You still have that stinky temper, so lovable. Do you still remember when I touched you during our fight? That feeling was really good! Haha!" The Gladiator nicknamed Yellow Lightning grinned.

Fan Lang frowned upon hearing this. Yellow Lightning's face made him very unhappy!

He raised his hand, and Mystic Force wandered and gathered in his arm.

The Butcher Girl noticed Fan Lang's abnormality, raised her hand to hold Fan Lang's arm, and whispered, "The Underground Arena has rules, don't mess around. It's not worth making an enemy of the Underground Arena for him, let's go."

Rules!

Every place, every group, has rules, and some rules are ones that Fan Lang cannot break right now.

Fan Lang suppressed his anger, walked over with a sullen face, and the Butcher Girl followed behind him.

Yellow Lightning guessed that these two wouldn't dare to make a move, and said a few more presumptuous words before leaving with a smile.

Arriving in the lounge, Fan Lang sat down, adjusted his emotions, and forgot the unpleasantness just now.

The room was silent for a while, then the Butcher Girl suddenly said, "I am still a virgin."

"Huh?" Fan Lang was stunned. This topic started a bit suddenly.

"I had an agreement with the Underground Arena back then. As long as I was a good Gladiator, they wouldn't force me to lose my virginity, so I'm still a virgin."

"Why are you suddenly telling me this?"

"Just now Yellow Lightning said some improper things, and I'm afraid you'll misunderstand. As long as she's a woman, she won't like this kind of misunderstanding."

"I see." Fan Lang chuckled.

This topic was somewhat ambiguous. After the Butcher Girl finished explaining, she didn't say anything more, falling into a long silence.

After a while, Dou Bin sent someone over, claiming to have arranged an opponent for Fan Lang. The opponent was a Mystic Spirit, whose strength was slightly better than the Wind Fire Brothers.

Before the battle, Dou Bin told Fan Lang to try to hold back and not kill his opponent. Fan Lang agreed to this request.

In this gladiatorial match, Fan Lang's odds were very low. Even if you bet on him to win, there wouldn't be much profit. Despite this, the enthusiasm for betting on Fan Lang to win was still very high.

Fan Lang relied on his newly learned skills, coupled with various cheating gold fingers, and managed to win relatively easily. In the subsequent gladiatorial matches, the opponents arranged for Fan Lang were all Mystic Spirits, and he fought three matches in a row.

Three gladiatorial matches with cross-level challenges allowed Fan Lang to level up again, reaching Mystic General level five!

The fourth gladiatorial match.

Fan Lang encountered another Mystic Spirit opponent. He had just leveled up, and his strength had improved, making the fight even easier than before. He completely suppressed his opponent, simply beating him to a pulp.

Inside a luxurious private room.

The Big Boss of the Underground Arena squinted at Fan Lang's heroic posture during the battle, and suddenly said, "It's really strange. His performance in this match is obviously stronger than in the previous one. In less than half a day, his strength has improved so quickly."

"Could it be that he hid his true strength before and is only showing it now?" Dou Bin analyzed from the side.

"I watch people fight and kill each other all day long. My eyesight is very accurate. I won't be mistaken. His strength has indeed improved a lot in half a day."

"This is too abnormal."

"That's why I said this kid is strange."

This Big Boss once again used the word strange to describe Fan Lang.

Dou Bin looked at Fan Lang in the arena, and increasingly felt that this description was very appropriate. There must be a demon when things go wrong. Fan Lang, this Prodigy, can indeed be called strange!

"In the next gladiatorial match, let him fight Yellow Lightning. Before the fight, add some seasoning to his water, understand? These past two days, he has caused the Underground Arena to lose a lot of money. I have to win it back from him, and also let him lose a match. He's been winning too much," the Big Boss said lightly.

Although Fan Lang was special, he was ultimately a Gladiator, and every gladiatorial match was related to the interests of the Underground Arena.

"Add some seasoning to his water."

The meaning of this sentence was already very clear, a means for the Underground Arena to control the outcome.

Dou Bin grinned and nodded, "Leave these things to me. I'll go take care of it."

With that, he bowed and retreated.

At the same time, a wave of cheers, louder than the last, rang out in the arena, indicating that Fan Lang had already achieved victory.

"Invincible Wanderer!"

"Invincible Wanderer!"

"Invincible Wanderer!"

People shouted these four words hoarsely.

Fan Lang left the arena amidst the cheers and returned to the lounge, looked at his stats, and pondered how many more people he needed to fight to level up.

An Attendant knocked on the door and entered, bringing some water and food. The Underground Arena was never stingy in this regard.

Fan Lang grabbed the water glass and took a wild gulp.

Not long after the water entered his stomach, system notifications suddenly popped up.

[Player mistakenly consumes poison Weakening Powder, entering a weakened state. Mystic Force will be greatly reduced, with a maximum usage of half of one's own Mystic Force. Duration: 40 minutes.]

[Player mistakenly consumes poison Vision Obscuring Water. Double images will gradually appear before the eyes, leading to a decrease in hit rate. Duration: 60 minutes.]

Poisoned!

And it's two kinds of poison, for crying out loud!

Fan Lang's eyebrows immediately shot up when he saw the notifications. He could guess with his toes that the Underground Arena was definitely behind this!

Both poisons were the kind that weakened one's strength and were not easily detected. After being poisoned, being able to display half of one's strength would be considered good.

Previously, the Underground Arena had repeatedly asked Fan Lang to cheat and deliberately lose, but he refused every time. So they used such a dirty trick on him, tampering with the water he drank.

"Looks like the Underground Arena is forcing me to lose no matter what!"

A sneer appeared on Fan Lang's face. He would not let them get their way!