What is fairness? (Seeking votes and follow-ups)

"Of course, there was also a guy wearing a mage robe he picked up from who knows where who used that kind of mushroom to fight the boss, but unfortunately."

Li Hang gave a disdainful laugh at this survivor who shared his surname and was named Li Chou, speaking as if he had personally crushed the man himself, "He died a miserable death."

"That was my shortsightedness. I met that person yesterday and worked with him briefly. His strength was indeed decent, but he wasn't a good person. After killing that Aberration, he tried to make a move on me, but luckily I ran away. It's a good thing he was killed."

Li Chou spoke as if relieved: "It's fortunate that I have you, Brother Li Hang. I surrendered early, so I didn't commit any grave mistakes. Well, being able to kill that guy, it seems the boss is very strong."

If he remembered correctly, that person did indeed use a "minion-spam" style of play, which was extremely troublesome.

He hadn't expected him to be killed.

Beside him, Li Hang recalled that "mage" and nodded in agreement, "Indeed, daring to harbor ulterior motives toward the woman by the boss's side—he deserved to die."

"However, the boss, well, the boss didn't even need to make a move, and the matter was already resolved. It was only then that I realized there's a future in following the boss."

Li Hang "brainwashed" him: "Look, there were a thousand people in one area, and after yesterday, there were only five hundred left. By now, it's probably down to four hundred."

"Every area will have a lord who becomes the regional hegemon. We have no hope for that, but it's better to live a wretched life than to die, right?"

The Hurricane Lamp, Parchment, Synthesis Table, and all the "dangerous items" in his backpack had been confiscated.

Li Hang no longer felt that this little brother Li Chou had any possibility of turning the tables. Having just dealt with four survivors and now capturing three more, he was full of confidence and spoke a bit more freely.

Besides, this information wasn't exactly a secret.

"Yes, yes."

Li Chou nodded, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

"From now on, no talking!" Number Two sensed something, though he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong, and could only bark a command.

"Brother Number Two, understood, understood," Li Hang laughed.

If this guy could turn the tables in this situation, he, Li Hang, would swallow this watermelon-sized Synthesis Table on the spot.

Turning the tables in a desperate situation requires conditions; without conditions, a desperate situation only leads to death.

Otherwise, so many survivors wouldn't have died all at once.

Not long after, they returned to the stronghold. He didn't know if it was his imagination, but Li Hang always felt that the tables and large pots here seemed to have been moved by someone.

And the expressions of those people looking at them also seemed a bit... strange?

It must be his imagination.

Just as Li Hang was preparing to hand the people over as he had just done, and then listen to Colin spout some lines to set up an ambush.

An accident occurred.

He saw Li Chou, who was beside him, suddenly flick a metal triangle from his long sleeve into his palm and aim it at Colin, who was chatting with Shana.

"Under the witness of the Shield of the Just Knight, I request a fair and just duel to the death with the man before me."

He spoke quickly and with a solemn tone.

The next second, Colin suddenly felt the distance between himself and Shana and the others grow, as if he had been pulled into a space covering a hundred square meters.

However, the surrounding environment hadn't changed; Colin was still in the same place, but the space had been distorted.

This strange change happened very quickly, but Shana noticed it just as fast. She reacted immediately, using the "Sun Bible" in her hand to activate the skill "Meteor Hammer" and smashed it over.

But it seemed everything was already too late.

When Li Chou held the "Shield of the Just Knight" aimed at his target, he could not be attacked by anyone outside the arena.

With a flash of white light and a clang, the Bible seemed to strike an invisible barrier and was sent flying.

"Lord Colin, watch out!"

Shana and the others discovered that even though they hadn't made any moves, the distance between them and Colin had been stretched.

Reality had undergone some kind of distortion.

"I'm fine."

Colin nodded to reassure everyone before looking ahead. He recalled what the other party had just said—requesting a fair and just duel?

After saying those words, that person didn't immediately take the next step.

But Colin clearly felt that he seemed to have been locked onto by something and was restricted within this "space" of about a hundred square meters.

It was as if this were a... dueling arena?

But...

It also seemed to have no effect at all.

[You realize that the opponent is using a mysterious item, and it possesses a high level of status.]

Colin held his axe and sized up the opponent, discovering that the object was an equilateral triangular shield covered in copper rust.

This shield was very, very small, like a shoulder emblem from a suit of armor, with two corners curved and about the size of a palm. Although it was covered in rust, one could still see many regular lines and textures.

Li Chou glanced at the axe in Colin's hand, a strange smile appearing on his face. He didn't feel any threat from the man.

He slowly looked at everything around him, admitting that he had taken a gamble.

However, he was certain he had bet correctly.

This man with the striking appearance was the leader here, the very same "boss" that the incessantly yapping Li Hang kept mentioning.

"Heh, your haul is not bad at all, but from here on out, it belongs to me."

Li Chou held his Triangular Shield and let out a scoff. Ignoring Colin's gaze, he continued with a solemn expression:

"In this fair and just duel, we shall abide by three principles.

"I pledge that in this battle, I will forgo the use of weapons; for the sake of fairness, the opponent shall also be unable to use weapons.

"I pledge that in this battle, I will forgo the use of blocking; for the sake of fairness, the opponent shall also be unable to block.

"I pledge that in this battle, I will forgo the use of mystical items; for the sake of fairness, the opponent shall also be unable to use mystical items."

As his voice fell, a certain invisible rule was immediately set in place; should the rules be violated, there would be a very severe penalty.

The battle would officially begin in three minutes.

But that was not the point.

The thing that truly left Colin dumbfounded was what happened next.

He watched as the guy before him pulled piece after piece of rusted metal armor from his backpack and began strapping it onto his body.

It was not hard to imagine that in three minutes, Colin would be facing a guy encased in a full suit of steel armor.

No blocking, no running away, no using weapons.

This is what he calls a "fair and just" duel?

"To think there's such a shameless thing."

Colin stared in bewilderment as the guy continued to layer equipment onto himself.

Just then, with a "snap," he felt his back get lashed by a whip. The searing pain and impact forced him to stumble forward two steps.

He turned his head to look behind him and discovered that the strike had broken his skin, with blood seeping out to form a mark on his clothes like that of a whip lash.

This sudden strike was a punishment brought on by the fact that he hadn't put down the weapon in his hand.

He had violated the rule against using weapons.

Furthermore, this was real damage!

"Next time, decapitation."

An invisible voice lingered in Colin's ear, informing him of the consequences for the next time he broke the rules.

ps:

Seeking all kinds of extras, mystical items, etc., also in the book circle.