Winning Streak

"Arena Competition?"

Jiang Yue frowned slightly at the news.

Weighted squats on the Thousand-Jin Stake or tests of endurance could leave hidden injuries, but there was a limit to how far they could go. At worst, someone might break a leg.

A real Arena Competition was different. Fists and feet showed no mercy. One mistake could mean ruptured organs or even death on the spot!

This was nothing like the sparring matches held under an instructor's eye during Recruits training.

In an underground boxing match with private bets riding on it, who cared whether the other fighter lived or died once things got heated?

"If someone ends up dead or crippled, I doubt the instructors will allow it."

Jiang Yue's voice was grave. "Who's the recruit? He actually dared to accept a fight with his life on the line?"

The very fact that they had set up such a match showed both sides were furious. This was no joke.

Xu Bo shook his head and curled his lip. "Who knows... They're doing it in secret, away from the Supervision Team's patrol routes."

"Besides, Jiang, don't put those veterans on a pedestal. Most of the ones still in the Veteran Barracks Area on Floating Land No. 17 were weeded out or assigned to manual labor in logistics."

"You could count the elite veterans who've fought on the interstellar front lines and crawled out of piles of corpses on one hand."

"Those old logistics hands aren't exactly disciplined. All they think about is getting enough Points for liquor and tobacco. As long as a private brawl doesn't become camp-wide news, the instructors usually look the other way."

Xu Bo paused, then gave Jiang Yue a complicated look. "As for the recruit making a name for himself... you definitely remember him."

"It's Shen Qing."

At the name, Jiang Yue instantly pictured the martial arts fanatic in the Gravity Chamber: capillaries bursting across his body, eyes red as a beast's, refusing to budge even with broken bones.

Jiang Yue recalled that Shen Qing had also been called over on the day Instructor One-Eye summoned him.

Clearly, that madman had received some special "attention" or a push of his own.

"That lunatic has a foundation in Ancient Martial Arts, and he fights like he doesn't care if he lives. Accepting an Arena Competition does sound like him," Jiang Yue said.

"Whatever."

Xu Bo shrugged, looking ready to enjoy the show. "Shen Qing may be fierce, but if the veterans dared to set up the match, they must be prepared."

"We don't need to wade into a fight between monsters. Let's just watch tonight and see what it's like."

"Just watch?" Jiang Yue asked noncommittally.

"Yeah! Come on, Jiang! If we're late, there won't even be room to stand!" Xu Bo hurried ahead, brimming with excitement.

Jiang Yue stayed where he was and silently touched the Military Merit Terminal on his wrist. Its display showed a single-digit balance.

Just watch? Stay out of it?

A genuine Arena Competition was bound to have betting odds to match.

Perhaps there was a way to profit from them.

"Let's go."

Jiang Yue hid the sharp glint in his eyes, pulled his coat tighter, and followed Xu Bo at a steady pace into the dim Grey Zone deep within the Floating Land.

They passed through a maze of underground Armored Passageways. A wave of heat struck them, thick with the sour stench of sweat, cheap tobacco, and blood.

Beneath dim, flickering holographic floodlights, hundreds of veterans and Recruits drawn by the news packed around the central Alloy Fighting Platform. Their frenzied roars and curses seemed ready to lift the heavy ceiling.

Jiang Yue tugged at the collar of his Training Uniform and slipped to the back of the crowd, quietly taking in his surroundings.

Most of the logistics veterans here had been injured during Recruits marches or in frontline cannon-fodder units, then eliminated from selection.

In martial talent and genetic potential, they would never match the "Seed" among this batch of Recruits.

But anyone who took them for useless was badly mistaken.

In raw strength, these veterans had spent years longer than the Recruits tempering their bodies under the Floating Land's 1.5-times gravity!

Years of relentless training had built their bodies up, leaving the average veteran comfortably stronger than an ordinary recruit.

That was why they dared to set up matches and take the Recruits' Points.

Of course, against a monster like Chu Lin or one of the Recruits willing to risk his life, the outcome was much harder to predict.

"Well, Old Li, you've got a big match on your hands tonight!"

The moment Xu Bo entered the crowd, he was like a fish back in water. He greeted several thick-faced veteran bookmakers with practiced ease.

Known as a shrewd operator in the Recruit Camp, he had used precise calculations to win most of his bets over the past few days. By now, he was a familiar face in this seedy underground Black Boxing Arena.

Jiang Yue ignored Xu Bo's socializing. His gaze passed over the crowd and soon found a familiar face at the front of the veterans' section.

It was Old Cripple, the veteran who had challenged him on the Thousand-Jin Stake a few days earlier and ended up wearing out his Mechanical Prosthetic trying to outlast him.

The man now had a noticeably cheap spare metal prosthetic on his right leg. He stared at the platform through gritted teeth.

Plenty of rowdy Recruits had also come to watch, like Xu Bo. Their faces were flushed with excitement.

Bang!

With a sickening thud, a brawny veteran whose muscles looked hard as rock took a vicious Mountain-Crushing Lean square in the chest.

Bones cracked. The veteran spat a mouthful of blood, rolled his eyes back, and passed out. A logistics Crawler Robot that had been waiting nearby promptly dragged him off the platform without ceremony.

The onlookers erupted in a deafening roar. The entire Black Boxing Arena boiled over.

"Three matches! Damn it, that recruit's about to win his third in a row!"

A veteran who had lost Points hurled his cheap cigarette butt to the floor and cursed.

"Old Cripple! You're up next! If you lose too, that kid will grind the Veteran Camp's reputation into the dirt!"

On the Recruits' side, voices rang out in amazement. "What did that lunatic up there eat growing up? How is he so strong?"

Jiang Yue looked up. A somewhat lean figure stood alone in the center of the platform, like a lone wolf.

It was Shen Qing.

He looked to be in terrible shape. Blood had seeped through the Special-Grade Bandages wrapped around his body, and his once-black Training Uniform had turned dark red.

He gulped down air, his chest heaving. Yet beneath his tousled hair, his eyes burned with a bloodthirsty fervor that sent chills down the spine. He kept them fixed on the veterans below.

After all the progress he's made, his strength must have passed eight hundred kilograms by now, right?

This is a good chance to watch how he fights and learn a thing or two.

Jiang Yue had no interest in placing a bet. He decided to watch for a while before making any move.