"When I'm Sad, Someone Dies."

After a bout of dizzying disorientation, Zhou Zhe appeared inside a three-meter-long, three-meter-wide, three-meter-high dark-blue cube brimming with futuristic sci-fi atmosphere.

All six walls shimmered with fluorescence. Beyond serving as ordinary walls, they also possessed the intelligence of display screens, except...

Zhou Zhe could not control them.

Advertisements of every kind played on an endless loop across the walls.

The flood of information bombarding him made Zhou Zhe somewhat irritated.

"Dao" did not appear, but Its voice suddenly exploded beside his ears. "This gladiatorial match has officially begun."

"There is no time limit. Gladiators may act freely."

Zhou Zhe looked around, one brow lifting slightly.

His preliminary judgment was that this should be a relatively futuristic sci-fi world.

So-called free action probably meant borrowing the momentum of local powers.

Gathering intelligence, integrating into society, reaching cooperation with the ruling elite...

A whole series of operational steps instantly surfaced in Zhou Zhe's mind.

"Plans shouldn't be too rigid. Adapt to circumstances and overcome them!"

"Still... intelligence gathering is essential!"

With that thought, Zhou Zhe walked toward what appeared to be the door.

The door panel automatically slid into the wall.

Beyond it was not an open world. There was not even a corridor—only a cold, pitch-black elevator packed full of people.

The elevator contained men and women, young and old alike, whose appearances were also very similar to Earth Humans.

However, their skin all bore a dim gray hue, and there was not a trace of hair anywhere on their bodies. Every one of them was bald.

Their heights were remarkably uniform, all around one and a half meters.

Each of them held something resembling a tablet computer, doing who knew what. Their expressions were cold and detached, as though they did not care in the slightest about anything outside.

"What a world of brilliant baldness..."

For some reason, the instant Zhou Zhe saw these people, a passage from some absurd novel he had read years ago surfaced in his mind—"The protagonist furiously grabbed the bald man's hair and hurled him out with all his strength."

He shook his head, clearing the chaotic thoughts from his mind.

Ever since Zhou Zhe activated the Self-Configuration of Triple Focus, his thoughts slipping beyond his control had been happening for quite some time.

Using his brain at overload for prolonged periods did indeed benefit the growth of Mental Strength when nutrition and energy were sufficient, but it also came with certain side effects.

His thoughts easily going off the rails was the most obvious one.

There was no helping it.

At present, Zhou Zhe lacked a genuine method for cultivating Mental Strength.

More precisely...

The entire Earth currently possessed only two extraordinary secret arts of the mind—the Secret Master Association of the European Union's "Mystic Meditation Method" and America's Holy Hall's "Pure White Prayer."

"After I return this time, I need to find a way to get my hands on the Mystic Meditation Method."

Zhou Zhe had no interest in Pure White Prayer, so his target naturally settled on the Mystic Meditation Method.

While he was outside collecting his thoughts, a male native in the elevator became enraged. "Damn it! Get in already! You're wasting our time!"

"Wait! This person... he doesn't belong to Kindling!"

Terror gradually appeared on the native's face. "He's an alien!"

Zhou Zhe stepped forward into the elevator and smiled gently. "That's right. I am indeed not from your world."

"I am a Cosmic Gladiator."

As he spoke, Zhou Zhe extended his right hand. Wind, lightning, light, and flames coiled endlessly within his palm, crackling and popping. "Next, I will obtain some information from you."

"Please do not try to deceive me."

"If I feel that I have been deceived, I will be very sad."

At that, Zhou Zhe unleashed his Aura Field. Beneath his originally gentle smile seeped traces of bloody malice. "When I'm sad, someone dies."

Inside the elevator, the group of tiny bald natives trembled like leaves. Several had even wet their pants in fright.

No one doubted the truth of his words.

Three points of Majesty paired with the Aura Field directly shattered all their courage and thoughts of resistance!

One after another, they turned into quails, desperately curling up in the elevator's corners, wishing they could hide somewhere Zhou Zhe's gaze could not reach.

"Then let's start with you."

Zhou Zhe casually pointed at the first native to speak—the man who had gotten angry because Zhou Zhe had wasted two seconds of his time.

Grumpy Old Man bowed and scraped, smiling ingratiatingly like the finest sort of lackey. "Great Cosmic Gladiator, sir! What would you like to know? I will tell you everything I know and hold nothing back! My name is..."

Zhou Zhe interrupted him. "No need to know your name. I'll call you Little Old Man."

It was obvious that Grumpy Old Man was not particularly old, but perhaps because he lost his temper so often, his face was covered in wrinkles. Zhou Zhe therefore simply gave him a nickname.

Grumpy Old Man did not dare to get angry or speak out. He merely plastered on a fawning smile.

"First, tell me some basic information about this world. What does 'Kindling' mean? About how many people live here in total?"

Zhou Zhe asked three questions in succession. "Also, judging by your reactions, you seem quite familiar with Cosmic Gladiators?"

Upon hearing this question, Grumpy Old Man, now labeled "Little Old Man," immediately replied, "Respected sir! 'Kindling' refers to the world we live in!"

"Our original planet was completely destroyed by environmental pollution and natural disasters. This place is a world constructed from countless artificial cubes!"

"The external meteorite-capture department collects supplies every year, adding more habitable cubes to Kindling. The population here has also been continuously reproducing. A Level 2 citizen like me is not qualified to know Kindling's total population."

"But! I'm useful! Don't kill me! I can show you the way!"

"Cosmic Gladiators... right! People from Kindling World are occasionally selected to become Cosmic Gladiators."

"And gladiator lords from other worlds often descend upon Kindling World as well."

He looked so anxious, as though he feared that answering half a beat too slowly would result in his body being immediately destroyed.

Most of the other natives were similarly cowering in fear.

Cosmic Gladiators often descended here...

That meant that from the day Kindling World's first Cosmic Gladiator had been selected, it had failed to produce a Silver Gladiator within three years. It had therefore been directly turned into a gladiatorial arena.

What would Cosmic Gladiators, who did not know how long they could live and possessed immense destructive power, do?

That was not a question requiring deep thought.

In Dao's eyes, Kindling World's residents had already shifted from "potential players" into the role of "NPCs."

No matter how many NPCs died, It did not care.

Seeing Zhou Zhe fall silent, Grumpy Old Man was drenched in sweat. His heart pounded wildly, and his breathing grew heavy.

He immediately dropped to his knees, tears and snot streaming down his face as he hurriedly cried, "Sir, I can help you find your opponent at the fastest speed! I can save you a great deal of time!"

"I beg you, don't kill me!"

Please vote with recommendation tickets!

One-on-one matches generally will not exceed five chapters, so I'll only sketch out the worldbuilding briefly to keep everyone from thinking I'm padding the word count. In matches where "the situation is more complicated," I'll write in a little more detail~

See you tomorrow at 12:20 noon! Hehehehe