The God of Nuceria

Apart from a small number of Gladiators, most of the others gathered around Qin Xa.

The two hundred or so people packed tightly around Qin Xa, Angron, and Oeno.

A lighthearted remark could not earn these people's trust and goodwill, much less make them cooperate.

But Oeno was a very kind man. Clearly, many of the Gladiators who had arrived after him had received his care to some extent. He carried weight here.

Combined with the physiques of Qin Xa and Angron, the fighting prowess they had displayed, and the fact that they seemed educated, most people saw hope of escaping this living hell.

Though it was only the faintest sliver of hope, for people who had sunk into the abyss, even a single thread was enough to make them want to reach for it.

"The Arena is guarded by Iron Men." Angron was the first to mention what had impressed him most.

"I know." Qin Xa nodded and swept his gaze over the others. "I know there are Iron Men here. I know there are all kinds of technological artifacts here that we can see, cannot see, or cannot even imagine. I just need to know the details."

"The Iron Man patrols operate without pause for thirty-one hours. Their patrol routes have no blind spots and no gaps to exploit."

The handsome Gladiator who had previously been resting with his eyes closed stepped forward.

Thirty-one hours—more precisely, thirty-one solar hours.

That was an entire day on Nuceria.

As for why Nucerians used solar hours to measure time... Qin Xa thought that perhaps it was because Nuceria itself had been founded by human colonists. To commemorate their cradle system, their ancestors had used solar hours.

After stating that obvious fact, the handsome Gladiator looked around and added something else.

"Of course, under normal circumstances, there are no gaps to exploit. But I'm different. I can use sorcery to make all of us invisible."

At the mention of sorcery—the local term for psychic power—the expressions of the Gladiators present turned rather ugly.

Clearly, Nucerians despised Psykers.

Yet from their expressions and eyes, Qin Xa also saw sympathy.

Angron felt those complicated emotions more deeply. He realized it was a sympathy born from traditional revulsion, tempered by pity for the miserable fate of "sorcerers."

"What's your name, friend?" Qin Xa asked the handsome Gladiator.

The Gladiator placed a hand over his heart and bowed slightly. Pride and self-assurance seemed written across his beautiful face. "Caesar."

"Good name." Qin Xa nodded.

The Gladiator named Caesar stepped back into the crowd.

Then someone else stepped forward to speak. "Every one of us gets assigned to fight in the Arena at least once a week. The day before we enter the Arena, we are given a lavish meal."

"And we don't necessarily have to pay with our lives in every fight," someone added.

"Once we are assigned to a match, Maggot Eye comes in to notify us, and then Intelligent Machines escort us to the Arena," another person said.

Qin Xa listened carefully to every word and committed them all to memory, even though the information did not seem especially important.

Once everyone had shared what they knew, no one spoke again.

"That's all?" Qin Xa asked, somewhat surprised.

The people looked at one another.

Caesar stepped forward again, brushed back his golden hair, and said airily, "We Slaves either fight in the Arena or squat in this cave. What else do you expect to hear from us?"

"The Arena's security measures," Qin Xa said. "You've escaped several times. You should know something about them."

Caesar's cheeks reddened slightly. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "I can't lie in a situation like this... Every time, I was discovered before I had even taken twenty steps out of the cave. The Intelligent Machines that had ignored me before would suddenly activate and escort me back inside."

"That means they have a way to monitor you, even after you use psychic power... sorcery." Qin Xa nodded in satisfaction. "That is important too. I've remembered it."

At that, Caesar raised his brows and looked around, seeming proud that he had provided more useful information than anyone else.

After committing all the information to memory, Qin Xa lifted his head and examined the ceiling of the cave. "There doesn't seem to be any surveillance equipment here. I wonder why..."

"The High-Riders' arrogance." Oeno, who had remained silent until now, spoke. "They do not monitor us because we cannot escape anyway. But there is one exception."

"What exception?" Qin Xa asked.

"Uh..." Oeno grunted, rubbing the back of his head as he spoke somewhat awkwardly. "On the night before the lavish meal day, before a fight, the Arena sends some ladies in. Then Maggot Eye comes in to broadcast the Gladiators' night. The program gets fairly high ratings outside."

Meaningful smiles appeared on the Gladiators' faces.

Including some of the female Gladiators.

"They broadcast it?" A newly arrived Gladiator suddenly cut in. "Then when the lavish meal day comes, I'd better put on a good show. I was dragged in here by a slum sheriff because I was exceptionally gifted and seduced someone else's wife."

"You should be grateful that when that warrior of pure love arrested you, he didn't castrate you while he was at it." Qin Xa shot him a look.

His gaze settled on Angron.

Qin Xa intended to start dropping hints about preparing to escape the Arena. He hoped Angron could use his inborn talent to help, spreading his desire for freedom to the others.

Then Qin Xa would devise a false plan and announce it at the appropriate time.

There would be informants among the Gladiators.

But clearly, plenty of people wanted to escape, and this was not the first escape attempt. The lack of surveillance equipment in the cave showed that escapes and captures were themselves a game for the slave masters. Even if an informant leaked an escape plan, it would not result in a death sentence.

Once the plan was leaked, Qin Xa would scan everyone's minds, find the informant, and kill him. That would be the first step toward escape.

But judging by Angron's expression, he still could not share his emotions with others.

"What are High-Riders?" Angron, in whom Qin Xa had secretly placed great hopes, suddenly asked.

When the words "High-Riders" came clearly from Angron's mouth and entered everyone's ears—

Whether they were the Gladiators gathered together, those watching coldly from the corners, or the other Gladiators displeased by this group's unity... all of them seemed to suffocate, holding their breath for a moment.

Until a Gladiator standing in the corner of the cave, who had glared angrily at everyone from beginning to end, spoke.

"High-Riders."

"They are the gods of Nuceria."