Arena

Jay walked through a completely unfamiliar city on some unknown planet in a corner of the universe, unable to keep a faint sense of unease from rising within him. During this time, he had tried too many things he had never even imagined before: fighting mutated monsters, catching a burning airplane, and now following his missing dad to an alien city. He had never even left the country before—being reincarnated through time did not count—and now he had flown straight to another planet. That was quite a leap.

He casually glanced at a mushroom-shaped building across the street and discovered a green-skinned creature resembling a seahorse with arms smiling warmly at him for some reason and constantly waving—if that thing was its hand. That was at least the seventh alien species they had encountered along the way, and Jay could not help wondering just how many alien species made up this city. Perplexed by the alien's friendly gesture, he asked, "Is that guy waving at me? What does that mean?"

"It means maybe she likes you," Kara teased with a smile. "Maybe you could try dating her."

"Dating that seahorse-looking creature?" Jay's imagination wandered just a little, and a chill ran down his spine for no reason. "I'd better not. But how did you know that was a 'she'?"

Kara explained, "She's a Sandoshamian. Once you know their traits, they're easy to identify."

"You can tell?" Jay paused. "Can you identify all these alien guys here?"

"Most of them. There are some I haven't seen either."

Only then did Jay realize that the girl beside him was a true, native-born alien girl, fundamentally different from a country bumpkin like him who had been born on Earth in both lives. Krypton's civilization had once been highly advanced, so Kryptonians naturally were not as ignorant of worlds beyond their own as Earthlings were.

"So what kind of city is this?" Jay finally could not hold back after the eighth alien resident of a different species passed by them. "Shouldn't alien cities only have local residents? You know, like Krypton only having Kryptonians and Earth only having Earthlings?"

"That is usually the case. This is a composite city. There are many cities like this in the universe. People from every corner of the universe and every star system can settle in cities like this. There are no racial boundaries; all races are equal," Kara explained. After a pause, she added, "If you had paid attention in class on Krypton, your middle school teachers would have covered this."

"Uh, all right. I really don't remember."

Kara smiled faintly. "Actually, I wasn't paying attention either. When the teacher talked about it, I was probably chatting with my deskmate. But dad took me to a composite city like this once during a vacation. It looked a lot like this place."

No wonder she seemed so calm and composed, as though walking through an unfamiliar alien metropolis was no big deal. To her, it really was no big deal.

The two arrived before the building the Black man had pointed to before he died. It truly was probably the largest structure in the city. Its pale oval shell stretched more than four hundred meters long, and its highest point stood over seventy meters above the ground. Like an oval egg laid horizontally in the center of the city, it had eight entrances opening in every direction. Each entrance was clogged by a long line of the city's residents, every queue incomparably lengthy, every entrance packed solid by a sea of people.

Jay could not help recalling the crowds entering a baseball game in Metropolis, except these aliens were a hundred times more fanatical than Metropolis baseball fans, and the scale was on an entirely different level. In fact, compared to the admission crowds at this alien venue, even the Olympics looked like a small-time event.

The two were carried along in the packed crowd toward one of the entrances. Jay leaned close to Kara's ear and lowered his voice. "What is going on now? Do other alien cities often have events like this?"

In truth, he did not need to speak so quietly. The booming clamor of the crowd drowned out nearly everything; even if he shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice would have struggled to travel more than three meters.

"No." Kara shook her head. "Not that I remember. I don't know what this is either."

"Hey! What are you people in front doing? Move it! I don't want to miss the match!"

They glanced back and saw an impatient blue-skinned alien brute shouting behind them. He stood over two meters tall, his body wrapped in a coarse cloth-like robe. The muscles hidden beneath his broad sleeves looked ready to burst through.

When his irritated gaze fell on Kara's face and he discovered that the ones dawdling ahead were a beautiful, fiery girl, he let out a long whistle. The impatience vanished from his face at once. "Hey, sweetheart, you're tourists from out of town, right?"

Jay looked at the brute disdainfully, thinking that some things were apparently the same no matter what corner of the universe one went to. At the same time, Kara answered with a smile, "Yes. My friend and I are from Kuntal. We're here on vacation."

"Kuntal? That's quite a ways from Warworld." The big fellow rubbed his chin and nodded thoughtfully. "But you really came to the right place. If you want an exciting vacation destination, there isn't anywhere more suitable than Warworld."

"Warworld?"

Kara seemed utterly unfamiliar with the term, but Jay sharply drew in a breath.

Were they on that Warworld right now? There could not possibly be another planet in this universe that just happened to also be called Warworld, right?

In DC comics, Warworld was less a planet than a mobile fortress the size of a planet, armed with some of the universe's most formidable firepower, including weapons powerful enough to destroy a planet in a single strike. Yet the fortress was also a cosmic city, home to countless slaves and residents. The people living on Warworld never worked; their greatest pleasure in life was watching all kinds of creatures from across the universe get captured and thrown into gladiatorial arenas to fight to the death.

That answered at least one of his countless questions—Jay now knew what the building before them was for. It was the interstellar gladiatorial arena.

"This is absolutely the greatest gladiatorial arena in the universe, with the most thrilling matches! A place for real men to shed sweat and blood!" Their alien friend excitedly raised his massive fist. "This is a battlefield where glory reigns supreme, and so far Drago is the man standing at the pinnacle of glory! If he wins again today, he'll achieve ten consecutive victories! They say Drago's opponent today will be a Smirptian, and I've heard he's a true killer. But so what? I think Drago will still win—as always."

"Uh, so what happens to the losers?" Jay asked.

The alien shot him a strange look. "Losers? Who cares where losers go? Most of them die in the arena. That is their glory. As for the small number of losers who fail to receive that honor, they get thrown into the recycling station. But first, they have to get past Trako. No one survives Trako, so that's no different from dying."

Jay raised an eyebrow. "Trako?"

The alien laughed. "You really are outsiders. Everyone on Warworld knows Trako. It's a huge brute. It has a body as tall as a building and ten tough, immensely powerful tentacles. They use Trako as the cleaner for the garbage station. Losers are thrown into the dump as its feed. No creature can survive Trako."

Jay and Kara exchanged a look. He was clearly describing the octopus-jellyfish hybrid they had encountered in the garbage station. Jay felt a little smug for a moment, because the guy had said no creature could survive that monster, yet they had just frozen the thing into an ice sculpture.

"All right, we really need to get inside quickly this time." The large alien squeezed forward another two steps. "If we keep delaying, we'll really miss the match."

(Thanks to reader Wanshui Shuren for the 1,500 Qidian Coin tip, and reader Luodi EDO for the 200 Qidian Coin tip.)