Big Shot

Maggot Eye circled above the Arena and began the introductions.

In a private VIP box overlooking the stands, Tark sat by the railing, sipping wine and toying with a gemstone, his gaze fixed fervently on the fighting grounds below.

As the Arena gates slowly opened, the guards opened the room's door as well, and the Arena Manager entered, trembling.

"What did he ask for?" Tark asked.

"He said he wanted to bring ten people into the match." The manager did his best to sound calm.

The head of the Tark Family was deeply puzzled by this. "The Praetorian Guard squad the swordsman belongs to has only six men. Why does he want to bring ten people in?"

"Perhaps he does not know how many people he will be facing," the manager hurriedly replied. "After all, I only informed him at the last minute, under your orders."

"So he asked for ten people..." Tark turned to stare at the manager, his expression vicious and cold. "And you agreed? You let a slave Gladiator make demands of you, a servant of the Tark Family?"

The manager had initially wanted to apologize, but he quickly caught himself and answered calmly, "Because your order, Master, was for me to grant him one condition, I agreed. Even if he had asked me to die, I would have died."

Tark's expression instantly turned into a smile. "That is why I let you manage the Arena."

The manager forced out an honored smile. "It is my greatest glory to be favored by a god."

"Do not be nervous." Tark noticed the manager trembling. "Come sit beside me. We will drink and watch the Gladiators together."

"Yes, Master." The manager immediately walked over and sat beside Tark.

The cushion beneath his filthy trousers, still stained from his visit to the Arena caves, was expensive enough to feed and entertain an entire city for a month. Only High-Riders were permitted to sit on such things.

But the manager did not dare refuse, because he knew Tark's temperament too well.

Tark did not care about cleanliness or the etiquette of rank. He only cared whether someone obeyed him. If a slave was favored by his fickle mercy and ordered to crawl out of a filthy mud pit to sleep in one of his bedrooms, that slave had better comply rather than refuse on the grounds that he might dirty something.

"Why do you think I am so interested in a Gladiator?" Tark suddenly asked after savoring the wine in his mouth.

"I do not know."

Such an honest answer would have gotten him punished for stupidity by any other High-Rider, but with Tark, dishonesty was what angered him.

"Because I am assessing him," Tark said. "A sane wizard who is not insane is useful in himself, so I want him to do something for me."

"If you want him to do anything, I will immediately convey your will. Today's matches in the Arena will be halted, and everyone in the stands will crawl back home." The manager said, "Naturally, my nephew who wants revenge will have to crawl back home too."

Tark grew even happier. Smiling as he drank, he even poured the manager a cup himself.

The Gladiators had already entered the field.

The swordsman from the Praetorian Guard and his squad had entered as well.

The two sides faced each other.

At that moment, Tark suddenly turned toward the manager and asked softly, "By the way, during the last Carnival Day, did you obey my order and send your wife and daughter to the caves?"

"Of course. They looked very happy when they came back," the manager replied with a smile.

Tark smiled as well. "Actually, I only said that in anger at the time. You really did not have to... Never mind. Since they have already gone, why say any of this? In any case, I regretted it afterward. I am sorry."

"Please forgive my foolishness in following your angry words at the time... But your orders are everything," the manager replied.

After hearing that, Tark stared at the manager.

A moment later, he looked away, took a drink, and turned toward the Arena. "I prepared an apology gift for you: a manor in an artificial oasis."

Qin Xa studied the people before him.

Including the Praetorian Guard member wielding two swords, who was obviously the swordsman, every one of them wore gorgeous golden armor, while their arms were wrapped in some kind of silver substance.

Qin Xa knew that the Praetorian Guard were the human troops of the High-Riders. Every one of them was a noble, though their status was lower than that of the High-Riders.

The Praetorian Guard had one distinctive trait: they used something called Silver Vine.

It was the substance wrapped around their arms.

Silver Vine was a universal tool. It could become the Praetorian Guard's armor, blades, vehicles, or even beds and bridges...

This damn thing could transform into anything. It was practically omnipotent.

And every member of the Praetorian Guard possessed one of these universal tools.

Qin Xa turned around and looked over the ten people he had brought with him.

They were all Gladiators who opposed the principle of not killing.

"We must work together." The Gladiator who had loudly refuted Oeno in the caves swept his gaze over everyone. "Just as we did when we faced the Slaughterers two days ago."

The Gladiators exchanged glances before finally settling their eyes on Qin Xa.

Qin Xa returned their looks with a gaze that made them feel chilled.

At that moment, he did not look like someone who joked and smiled when he was not meditating.

He looked cold and ruthless, as though he were a different person.

"Hey, slave." The swordsman facing Qin Xa suddenly spoke, obvious amusement in his voice. "Looks like you have been sucking up to my uncle quite a bit. Otherwise, why would he let you bring ten people onto the field to face me and my comrades? How did you suck up to him? Like one of his male servants..."

"You are wrong about that." Qin Xa raised one finger and explained very seriously, "I did not suck up to your uncle. Your uncle owed me a favor because it would save him trouble if you and your father were buried together. The people behind me are how he repaid that favor."

The smile beneath the swordsman's helmet instantly vanished. "Fuck you!"

"Are those four words your last words?" Qin Xa asked with a smile. "After your funeral, when your father's widow and your own widow go to the caves on Carnival Day, I will tell them your last words. Then I will hang your picture on the wall so you can feel like you are still involved."

"Hiss... Wait."

Ignoring the swordsman's expression of shock and murderous fury, Qin Xa asked with a worried look on his face.

"By the way, were you born when your parents were already old? Otherwise, I will have to consider keeping my distance from your mother on Carnival Day. But she will not be neglected, since there are older, muscular men among the Gladiators too."

"I will chop you to pieces and feed you to the dogs!" the swordsman roared as he attacked.

Maggot Eye continued hosting the match. Just as the host was about to announce the start, the Silver Vine on the swordsman's arm had already shot toward Qin Xa.

Qin Xa sidestepped the attack. A Gladiator behind him had his head wrapped in Silver Vine, which then tightened like flowing water.

The sound of a head bursting rang out.

One Gladiator dropped to his knees.

When another Praetorian Guard member's Silver Vine lunged at him, Qin Xa dodged again. The Gladiator standing in its path was pierced through the body.

As the Silver Vine flowed out through the Gladiator's seven orifices like water, the other Praetorian Guard members attacked as well.

Qin Xa dodged another attack, then suddenly raised his right arm. "Stop!"

Seeing him raise his hand, the Praetorian Guard thought he was about to unleash psychic power. Upon hearing the word stop, they all halted and prepared to use their defensive wizardry equipment to block the attack.

As a result, they truly looked as though Qin Xa had called a halt to the battle.

Qin Xa looked worried. "Your parents did not have you late in life, did they? Otherwise, I will have to consider keeping my distance from your mother on Carnival Day. But she will not be neglected, since there are older, muscular men among the Gladiators too."

The swordsman froze for half a second, then lunged at Qin Xa like a madman.