I want to fight a hundred matches!

As the waiting countdown ended, the Waiting Room trembled once more.

The rules on the wall shattered and reassembled, transforming into a door drawn in simple lines.

The next second, the click of a lock turning rang out.

The crudely drawn door slowly opened.

Beyond it lay a long corridor.

Standing at the doorway was a strange robot dressed in blue-and-white stripes, wearing an exaggerated inverted-triangle mask over its face.

It greeted them in an excited, peculiar tone:

"Hello, fresh arena rookies! I am the referee for this match, the embodiment of absolute fairness—Dio Blast!"

"Next, I shall lead you both into this thrilling duel. Please follow me!"

Having said that, Referee Dio made a welcoming gesture.

But the Palu was still dumbfounded, while Lu Li remained seated atop that pile of gold without moving.

The robot cupped its hands around its mouth and emitted several electronic coughing sounds, speaking awkwardly:

"Ahem... you two, dawdling is useless. Once you use an [Arena Ticket], you must fight and determine a winner. Those are the rules."

"A winner must be decided..." the Palu murmured softly. She sounded like a girl. "Can I just surrender?!"

The moment those words came out, Lu Li was so startled that he fell off the pile of gold.

Referee Dio straightened up and drawled in reply:

"Are you sure you want to surrender immediately?"

"No, no, no, we want to compete!"

Lu Li hurriedly answered first.

If they really surrendered outright, the consequences would be severe.

The Hub Arena regarded duels as paramount. If contestants who had used a ticket chose to surrender before the match even began, the referee would get angry.

And the consequence of anger was having both contestants erased on the spot!

"Oh? It seems you two did not discuss this before making your decision. How about this? I'll give you thirty seconds to discuss it. Decide whether you'll participate in the match or surrender directly."

Referee Dio folded his arms across his chest, leaning against the doorway with an expression of impatient anticipation.

Lu Li quickly walked over to the Palu, grabbed her, and pulled her up from the floor. He lowered his voice.

"You have to participate! If you surrender outright, the referee will erase us on the spot!"

"B-but if we participate, we'll lose anyway..."

The Palu lowered her head, the beast ears atop it drooping as she did not dare meet Lu Li's eyes.

"If I lose the duel, I won't get any rewards. I'll still die after I go back."

It was no wonder she was so timid. The planet where the Palu lived was among the most remote, and whether in talent or strength, they were at the very bottom.

"If you can't do it, isn't there still me? Give it a try. What if we win?"

Lu Li patiently tried to persuade her.

Upon hearing that, the Palu quickly glanced at Lu Li before lowering her head again. She seemed even more despairing than before.

"You're only a 'Monkey Man.' Maybe you're smarter than me, but when it comes to fighting, you can't possibly be a match for those higher beings..."

"M-Monkey Man..." Lu Li's eye twitched.

So she had mistaken him for a Palu as well, directly treating him as one of her own weak kind.

"Either way, surrendering means death, and competing means death. So why not compete? One more second alive is still one more second!"

Lu Li could not be bothered to explain and simply force-fed her the idea.

As long as the Palu agreed to participate, the rest could proceed according to plan.

"Whatever..."

The Palu muttered hopelessly, finally allowing Lu Li to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Referee, we'll participate!"

Hearing that, Referee Dio shed his earlier impatient appearance and once again spoke in an excited tone:

"That is simply wonderful! Please follow me, and let us step together into this thrilling—"

"Wait a moment, Referee!"

Before Dio could finish, Lu Li interrupted him again.

He turned around, picked up a gold brick from the floor, and held it out to the referee.

"Referee, before the match begins, I'd like to ask you for a favor."

"Oh?" Referee Dio dramatically leaned back, looking from Lu Li to the gold brick in his hand.

"Bribing the referee in public!? Didn't you read the rules, kid!?"

Lu Li wore a broad smile.

"What are you talking about? The rules clearly state, 'No bribing the referee during a match.' The match hasn't even started yet!"

"And this doesn't count as bribery! I'm just asking you, Referee, to do me a favor!"

Dior froze for a moment, then straightened up again.

Taking the opportunity, Lu Li handed over the gold brick in his hand.

Dior accepted the gold brick. After inspecting it carefully, he whispered in a voice only Lu Li could hear:

"Adamantine, 99% pure. Rare stuff!"

"I'll let it slide this time. Don't do it again!"

"Do you want me to favor you in the upcoming matches, or switch you to a weaker opponent?"

Lu Li shook his head. "How could I ask the referee to do something so difficult? I only want you to grant me eligibility—eligibility to become a challenger."

"Eligibility to become a challenger?!"

Dior leaned back again, looking Lu Li up and down.

Then, from who knew where, he pulled out a thermometer gun and went beep beside Lu Li's ear.

"36.8°C. Normal body temperature."

"No fever either. Why are you talking nonsense..."

"Do you know what you'll be facing after becoming a challenger?"

Lu Li nodded.

"I do. After becoming a challenger, [Gladiator Mode] will be activated, and I'll have to fight three consecutive matches. Otherwise, I won't be able to leave Hub Arena."

Dior tossed the gold brick in his hand, his tone mocking.

"Then do you know that you can't surrender in Gladiator Mode? Only death can end a match?"

"I understand."

"Are you sure you want this eligibility?"

"I'm sure!"

"Then you don't need to pay this much Adamantine!"

Dior clasped his hands behind his back. When he brought them out again, both the gold brick and the thermometer gun had vanished.

Instead, he held a contract with a black background and red lettering.

"No, I do." Lu Li's tone was solemn.

"Because I don't just want to fight three matches. I want to fight a hundred."

The moment he said it, the entire Waiting Room fell completely silent.

At that moment, Lu Li even heard the faint sound of gears catching inside Dior's body.

"What the hell is wrong with you, kid! A hundred consecutive matches?! What's the difference between that and courting death?!!"

Dior's head suddenly shot outward, connected to his body only by a spring as thick as an arm.

"One last small request: before the gladiator battles are over, please don't dispose of the corpses in the arena."

Lu Li took half a step back and pointed to the pile of gold in the center of the Waiting Room.

"Seven hundred kilograms of Adamantine in total. I'll leave it to you, Head Referee Dior!"

Dior hurriedly stuffed his head back onto his neck and shuffled over to the gold.

"And don't dispose of the corpses... Never thought I'd run into a freak with such twisted tastes on my first day at work... But for Adamantine's sake, if you want to fight a hundred matches, then fight a hundred matches..."

As he spoke, the gold vanished into thin air.

Dior pulled out a contract with a black background and gold lettering, then handed it to Lu Li.

After Lu Li signed it, Dior announced in a booming voice:

"Waiting Room No. 666, match mode changed!"

"Gladiator [Lu Li] and Gladiator [Elisa Bucky] are ready to challenge!"

"A hundred battles to the death will begin shortly!"