Threats of this caliber went in Zhou Zhe's left ear and out his right, like a spring breeze brushing his face, unable to stir even the slightest emotional ripple.
He replied evenly, "Hatred and rage have clearly clouded your mind."
"Even if I advance to Bronze, as a Silver Gladiator, you'll still have to wait at least a month before challenging me."
"That is a rule laid down by the 'Dao.' Don't tell me you didn't know."
"Besides, you know perfectly well yourself."
"That great being is the root of every tragedy."
"Because you don't dare throw a punch at someone stronger, you can only settle for second best and find someone you think can serve as an outlet for your fury?"
"Setting strength and character aside, from the standpoint of personal conviction alone..."
"Your son Roxstar was far stronger than you."
After that string of words, the scarlet light in Hansenelton's eyes grew ever more terrifying, as though he might cross the void and breach the boundary at any moment to bite Zhou Zhe to death.
Huff...
Huff...
Huff...
Hansenelton panted heavily, steam curling around his body as he struggled to suppress his fury—the projection vividly reproduced every detail.
A moment later, Hansenelton suddenly sneered.
"What do you think I've been doing all this time?"
"Why do you think I waited so long before coming to find you?"
As the silver medalist of the Sigma Civilization, second only to the "Absolute Ruler," and the father of the Super Horned Demon Roxstar, he naturally could not have been as simple as he had previously appeared.
Anyone with only brute force and no intelligence would have long since been toyed to death by the Absolute Ruler. How could they possibly be qualified to compete with him?
Having suppressed his anger and regained his rationality, Hansenelton smiled sinisterly, walked over to what looked like a bookcase, and began searching through it.
"You simply don't understand the privileges possessed by high-ranking Cosmic Gladiators!"
As Hansenelton spoke, a document appeared in his hand.
He looked at Zhou Zhe with amusement. "I spent Gladiator Points to inspect your spending records."
"You paid a huge price to erase the connection between yourself and someone named Zhou Yulin!"
"Hehehe..."
"Though I don't know what relationship you had before, I've already guessed your purpose!"
At that moment, Hansenelton seemed possessed by Detective Conan.
He transformed into an alien Sherlock Holmes, his eyes glinting with the sharp light of wisdom. "You wanted everyone else to think you and Zhou Yulin had a poor relationship, perhaps even a grudge between you!"
"In reality, you were desperately protecting him!"
"If a lowly human like him, someone who has not stepped into the extraordinary, were truly your enemy, you could kill him with a wave of your hand!"
"Would you need to spend thirty Gladiator Points?"
"This was the greatest flaw you left behind!"
With a cold snort, Hansenelton displayed document after document bearing photographs before Zhou Zhe.
Aside from Zhou Yulin, there were also his deceased mentor Lin Ye, Little Red Hair Dugu Xiu, Mobile Game Guy Jinuo, Zhang Miaoran, and her ordinary best friend Chang Hanshan.
When Zhou Zhe saw Zhang Miaoran's photo in the documents the other party had produced, his expression turned cold. Frigid light flashed in his eyes, while blue-gold arcs of electricity coiled endlessly around him, crackling and popping.
Noticing Zhou Zhe's emotional fluctuation, Hansenelton became even more certain of his guess.
"I used the authority of a Silver Gladiator and spent many Gladiator Points to investigate every Earth Human you have come into contact with during this period!"
"Those two female Earth Humans, Zhang Miaoran and Chang Hanshan, are merely shields you put forward!"
"You have no feelings for them whatsoever!"
"Otherwise, after that human called Chang Hanshan was chosen as a Cosmic Gladiator, you wouldn't have been unwilling to spend Gladiator Points to strengthen her!"
"Jinuo and Dugu Xiu are likewise nothing more than tools used to conceal your social connections!"
Hansenelton's analysis was as fierce as a tiger.
He wore the expression of someone holding the pearl of wisdom in his hand. "The only person you truly care about is Zhou Yulin!"
"His status in your heart even surpasses that of your mentor Lin Ye!"
"After all, you only used the search engine on the Myriad Heavens Forum to search for Lin Ye's whereabouts, pretending not to know he had already been killed. You did not even put on a show by checking how many points it would take to revive Lin Ye!"
Hearing this, Zhou Zhe's feelings became rather complicated.
Invisible assumptions were the deadliest.
Though his mentor had repeatedly stressed long ago that Zhou Zhe should not rush to revive him, Zhou Zhe truly did not want to believe that he was already dead.
However, since Hansenelton said this, it meant he had a definite source of intelligence.
He still needed to continue searching on the Myriad Heavens Forum.
At the very least, he needed to know the whereabouts of his mentor Lin Ye's body.
As his disciple, he had the responsibility and duty to collect Lin Ye's body, allowing fallen leaves to return to their roots and his soul to return to its native land.
Seeing Zhou Zhe's complicated expression, Hansenelton grew even more excited.
At that moment, inspiration gushed forth from him like a spring. His thoughts had never been clearer, and his tone became ever more cruel and mocking. "Let me guess—what exactly was the relationship between you and Zhou Yulin, the person you truly wanted to protect?"
"Brothers?"
"Grandfather and grandson?"
"Father and son?"
"Hm?!"
"Looks like... father and son was correct!"
As Hansenelton spoke, he observed Zhou Zhe's expression.
"Hahahaha!"
He suddenly burst into wild laughter. "Who are you trying to fool with this act of pretending you and Zhou Yulin have a bad relationship?"
"Cosmic Arena Combat is far more complicated than you imagine! No one who survives is a fool!"
"No matter how miserably Zhou Yulin lives, you never offer him a helping hand."
"You're guarding against retaliation from your enemies, aren't you?"
"Counting carefully, you have quite a lot of enemies!"
"Within the Sigma Civilization alone, there is the Golden Gladiator-level 'Absolute Ruler,' as well as me, a Silver Gladiator!"
"Perhaps you have other enemies on other planets as well?"
"Even if you didn't act personally, you could simply have your subordinates make a move and let Zhou Yulin live well!"
"Did you think I would be deceived by you?"
"Earth Human, you were too clever for your own good!"
"Don't even think of making up for your mistakes!"
"I previously borrowed a precious spatial artifact from Bashar, the 'Absolute Ruler,' and have already abducted Zhou Yulin to Sigma Star!"
Hansenelton's face twisted hideously, his words brimming with the stench of blood. "The feeling of losing a beloved relative—I will make you experience it tenfold, a hundredfold!"
"I will not kill him immediately!"
"I will torment him and abuse him bit by bit!"
"When he is on the brink of death, I will give him the finest healing medicine!"
"Only when he has fallen into complete despair and his personality has collapsed will I truly kill him!"
"You will regret this for the rest of your life!"
"Just wait... this is only the beginning! I..."
Hansenelton could not finish his words.
His projection directly dissipated.
Because Zhou Zhe had expressionlessly blocked him.
Though they were enemies, Zhou Zhe had to admit—Hansenelton truly was a good father, and he had shared a deep bond with that dead bastard Roxstar.
Perhaps because of this, Hansenelton naturally believed that fathers and sons throughout the world all shared a harmonious relationship and unbreakable bond like he and Roxstar did.
Therefore...
Hansenelton's chain of logic had contained a massive problem from the very beginning.
And that directly caused him to...
Find the wrong person.
Zhou Zhe glanced at the Elementary Planar Cryptography beside his hand.
He was almost done studying this book.
By then, once he had accumulated and comprehended some knowledge of space, it would not be so easy for anyone to abduct people from his side.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
Zhou Zhe, Zhang Miaoran, and the trainees from the Supernatural Affairs Department gathered together.
The Cosmic Arena Combat livestream began...
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