They Needed a Victory

Beta Ray Bill.

Ben recognized the guy from Bill's facial features.

However, it was only at this moment that he learned that Beta Ray Bill was not a real horse. His race was the Korbinite, and the real Korbinite did not look like that.

Bill was transformed into a mechanical life form to protect his race; he is a cyborg.

Bill has yet to meet Thor, let alone lift the Hammer of Thor, but even so, in Ben's memory, he was once one of the many champions of Sakaar, and now he has actually lost.

"It seems the Red Wind Queen is quite powerful," he murmured.

At this moment, Ben already regarded the Red Wind Queen as the biggest obstacle to his conquest of Sakaar.

He walked up to Bill, whose eyes, those of the terrifying half-human creature, were filled with tears of resentment.

"Bill, you're lucky. At least you're still alive. The Red Wind Queen doesn't like killing people. The last champion would just snap the heads off those challengers," Margus comforted him.

But Bill shook his head silently.

He wasn't weeping because of his own failure, but because he was despairing over the fate of the people he had lost to protect.

Before he arrived on Sakaar, the massive fleet carrying the last remaining spark of the Korbin People was attacked. Left with no other choice, he froze all his people while he led a small squad to fight off the attackers.

In the end, he failed, his entire team was wiped out, and he himself drifted unconscious in space, becoming the Red King's slave.

Losing to the Red Wind Queen meant he would never regain his freedom, nor be able to fulfill his duties.

The remaining Korbin People, having lost their guardians, are nothing more than corpses in the face of the cruel universe, waiting to be devoured by wild beasts.

Ben noticed that although most of the gladiators were comforting Bill, their morale was low after witnessing Bill's defeat.

Clearly, Bill was the strongest of these gladiators, but even he was no match for the Red Wind Queen. They couldn't imagine who else could defeat the Queen.

Towering mountains stand before the road to freedom.

"It seems that if we want to leave here, we must overthrow the Red King's rule," Ben said calmly.

These words immediately silenced the noisy dungeon, and everyone looked at him with disbelief.

Korg quickly covered Ben's mouth and whispered, "Are you crazy? How could you say such a thing?"

He then quickly explained, "I'm not saying your idea is bad; in fact, I'd like to do it too. But don't say it so loudly; it wouldn't be good if the Death’s Crown people heard. And if we want to overthrow the Red King, we need to start our propaganda early, print some posters, and issue a mobilization order..."

Korg rattled off a string of words, his mouth practically chattering away even more than Peter's.

Ben freed himself from Bill's rocky arms, half-squatted in front of Bill, reached out and pressed the Little Broken Watch against his body. The watch blinked again, and then he said:

"Don't worry, the Korbin People will not perish."

Bill never expected this person to say such a thing. His heart felt as if it had been soothed by a pair of gentle hands, and his body trembled involuntarily.

Although Ben looked very small, his thighs were not even as thick as Bill's arm, for some reason, after hearing his words, Bill suddenly felt less sad; those words were like a tranquilizer stimulating his veins.

It's not that he directly believed Ben could definitely do it, but for Bill at this point, this was all he could hope for, and he had to pull himself together and find a way to leave this planet.

However, what he didn't know was that Ben wasn't referring to the fate of the surviving Korbin People, but rather that the seeds of Korbin civilization had now been enshrined in the real Noah's Ark.

Even if the existing Korbinite were to perish, he could still bring the race back to life.

Actually,

Most of the genes Ben collected here are of little practical use.

To be honest, if these alien races truly possessed great power, they wouldn't be hiding in this filthy place; they would have already completed the three challenges and regained their freedom.

He collects these genes primarily to gather data for his blank, Little Broken Watch, which will benefit him in building his own watch later.

After comforting Bill, the group quickly parted ways.

"Come on, I'll take you to pick out some weapons," Korg said calmly, pulling Ben, as if Bill's defeat had never happened.

It wasn't that they didn't sympathize with Bill's plight, but rather that their own experiences weren't much better than Bill's.

They had seen far too many newcomers arrive here, burning with anger and resentment, believing themselves capable of defeating the champion, only to be mercilessly killed like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, or left crippled for life, rotting away in their cages...

Compared to them, Bill was lucky.

He is still alive.

He will have another chance to challenge for the championship.

Although everyone knew that after repeated failures, the flame of his belief would inevitably be extinguished, and he would eventually become one with this quagmire, sinking completely into darkness.

Like Korg and Margus, they still talk about revolution, but they have long since given up on it in practice.

Ben said nothing about this.

Because he knew that for these gladiators, most of whom had already accepted their enslaved fate and lived their lives in a daze, day after day without a tomorrow, words would always be pale.

You tell them to persevere, to believe there is still hope, there is still tomorrow, to believe that the light of freedom will never be buried, to believe that the power gathered together is enough to overcome all difficulties...

But they have seen far more difficulties and harsher truths than you have.

They had witnessed those passionate warriors being twisted into pretzels on the arena, their intestines and spines ripped out alive...

They weren't born numb; they gradually became this way through repeated painful experiences.

All those words were nothing more than meaningless sarcasm from those in a superior position.

What they need is a victory.

We don't even need a real victory; we just need to let them see the hope of winning and what freedom looks like.

Like a timely rain.

Like those who have lost their way in the desert, only a clear spring can wash away their weariness.

Even if it's just a mirage.

Conquering this planet is not something he can do alone. All he can do is hold up the flames and lead everyone forward!

Ben had already realized this.

He needs a resounding victory to reignite the nearly extinguished flame in these people's hearts.

The stage and the enemy were already prepared.

So, to Korg's astonishment, he turned and walked toward the cell door, shouting:

"I challenge the Red Wind Queen!"