The Gladiator Girl

As Lu Ye stepped into the passage, all he could hear was the tap of footsteps.

The designer seemed to have deliberately left the walls bare of candleholders, using the gloom to awaken the evil in people's hearts to the fullest.

Anyone visiting for the first time was surely both afraid and excited, but as the hollow echoes kept pounding against their hearts, the former would diminish while the latter built and built.

By the time they had walked those few hundred meters, they would have completed the transformation from human to beast.

Bloodshed! Violence! Death!

A great beast diving deep in the sea of desire opened its crimson eyes here and played a waltz of despair.

Lu Ye stepped into the light at the end and instinctively narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, a small, slippery hand grabbed his arm. "Come with me!" a voice cried, pulling him into an antechamber to one side of the passage.

"Sullivan..."

"Ah! Y-yes, I'm here..."

"Can you explain what you're doing?"

Sullivan swallowed, looked up at Hoffman's icy gaze, then looked at the arm he had held out in front of Hoffman. He wanted nothing more than to slap himself a few times.

"Perhaps I should use that to decide whether to kill you immediately."

"You... you saw her clearly, didn't you? That was just a little girl..."

Sullivan sheepishly withdrew his hand and gestured at his lower abdomen to show the girl's height.

"If Lord Saint Longinus didn't want to go, there's no way he could have been taken. You know how strong he is."

Hoffman looked thoughtful. "That's true. Lord Saint Garling did something similar when he was young."

"Really?" Sullivan gave a couple of awkward chuckles. "Lord Saint Garling could be kidnapped too?"

Hoffman nodded and said calmly, "Yes. Many years ago, a group had risen to power in the New World: the Dawn Horn Pirates, who called themselves a thousand-strong fleet with unsinkable warships. If you looked through the newspapers from back then, you'd know how arrogant they were."

What Hoffman didn't say was:

Garling had staged his own abduction because he had nothing better to do. Hoffman later received word from Garling and found him on a deserted island. The thousand-strong fleet, on the other hand, vanished without a trace after that.

Sullivan and the six killers stood in the dark for a while. Thoroughly uncomfortable, Sullivan scratched his head. "All right, let's go find Lord Saint Longinus and bring him back now..."

"Yare yare! Don't be so hasty..."

Flora held out a hand to stop him, gestured toward the antechamber with her chin, and giggled. "Lord Saint Longinus is having fun!"

Inside the antechamber, a great deal of clutter was piled up, leaving exceptionally little room to move.

After pulling Lu Ye inside, the little girl braced her back against the door and scolded him out of nowhere. "Hey! I say, are you an idiot?"

Lu Ye tilted his head and thought about it. In his previous life, he had been a top student at the police academy. In this life, he had learned to read before he could speak, while still wearing diapers... Bah! In any case, there was no question about his intelligence.

"I don't think I am. Why do you say that?"

In the sunlight streaming through the window lattice, Lu Ye could see that she was just a little girl of six or seven. Her brown pinafore dress had been washed until it faded...

The girl was a head shorter than Lu Ye. She had brown pigtails, tiny freckles on her face, and big eyes as bright as black gems. She looked lively and clever.

Judging by her clothes, she was neither a Celestial Dragon nor a World Government employee, which left only one possibility...

"I say, don't you know this is the Celestial Dragons' colosseum? You were just walking on the tongue path reserved for Celestial Dragons! You know, that long red carpet!"

Lu Ye recalled that there had indeed been a carpet down the middle of the passage, and Sullivan and the others seemed to have deliberately avoided walking on it.

"There are lots of rules here. If a Celestial Dragon catches you, you're dead!"

The girl folded her arms and looked at Lu Ye smugly. "I say, this isn't your first time here, is it?"

Lu Ye smiled without revealing his identity. "It is my first time. But it sounds like you come here often?"

No wonder that old bastard Qianlong made six trips south of the Yangtze. Pretending to be a pig to eat... bah! Traveling incognito is so much fun.

The girl opened the door a crack and carefully peered outside. Only then did she walk over and sit beside a pile of clutter, beckoning Lu Ye to join her.

"You got separated from your master on your first visit? I say, you're really stupid!"

The girl rocked back and forth with laughter, paying no attention to the dark lines covering Lu Ye's face.

Lu Ye roared inwardly, Eat the tiger! I can't stand another second of this. I'm eating the tiger right now!

When she had finished laughing, the girl said with concern, "Don't go running around now. If a Celestial Dragon catches you wandering around here, you could lose your life before you know it... I say, is your blond hair dyed?"

The girl reached out and tugged at Lu Ye's hair. In his mind, Lu Ye sent two big rockets to the dead rat hovering in midair, giggling as it watched the show.

"I was born with it. Our family is born lacking iron, preferably in 7.62-millimeter caliber!"

Lu Ye rolled his eyes.

"I say, don't be so impatient!"

The girl smiled. "The biggest gladiator show of the day will be held later. Most of the Celestial Dragons will leave when it's over.

"Just hide here and see if you can spot your master. If you can't, quietly follow behind the crowd. Remember, whatever you do, don't let anyone find out you came on your own.

"I say, you're such a dummy. You really make me worry."

Lu Ye automatically filtered out her last sentence and raised an eyebrow. "You're just a little girl. How come you seem so familiar with this place?"

"Of course I am! I'm a gladiator too, and I've been here for three months!"

The girl's eyes sparkled. "This is the North Star Colosseum of Saint Augustus, the gladiator king. It's a place of glory for gladiators, which is why it's called the Holy Land Mary Geoise.

"Only the luckiest gladiators get a chance to throw punches here. If you win a hundred matches in a row, not only do you get your freedom back, you can also take a huge bounty home with you!"

Lu Ye's head jerked up. Looking at the girl, he suddenly felt his throat tighten.

He didn't know much about the North Star Colosseum, but he knew nobles. Get close to the light those vermin pointed out, and the only thing you would see was a gun barrel.

The girl threw a few practiced-looking punches. "I say, if you come here often with your master, you must know my dad. His name is Hector, and he's a super strong gladiator who's already won nineteen matches in a row!"

Lu Ye smiled and exclaimed casually, "Nineteen wins in a row? That's amazing!"

As though she were the one being praised, the girl grabbed Lu Ye's arm and shook it hard.

"Right? Right? I always say my dad is amazing and that he'll definitely win the prize money and go home! But he always says he's useless, and he often sneaks off to wipe away his tears... If only you could meet him and tell him yourself.

"Let me tell you a secret. My dream is to become a gladiator as strong as him and punch my way out of here. It's a shame I'm still too little."

With that, the girl turned around and pulled down one strap of her dress, exposing the ugly Hoof of the Soaring Dragon on her back.

"See this?

"When we leave, the merciful gladiator king, Saint Augustus, will grant us a miracle medicine that erases scars.

"Until then, this brand is proof that we're allowed to compete as gladiators.

"It still hurts every night, but Dad says that's also special training everyone has to go through to become a gladiator..."

Bullshit!

Lu Ye's expression abruptly darkened. No matter how little attention he paid to the world around him, he knew what that brand meant.

It was the slave brand of the Celestial Dragons. For an ordinary person bearing that mark, there was no path to freedom except death.

Lu Ye looked into the girl's eyes and slowly asked, "Was your dad a pirate before?"

"Of course not! I say, you're so rude!"

The girl sprang to her feet as though insulted and glared fiercely at Lu Ye.

"My dad used to be the first mate of a transport fleet. Everyone liked him. He wasn't some stinking pirate!

"I say, besides, we only came here because we lost a fight with pirates. The great Saint Rosward overlooked our past offenses and took us in. He helped us atone for our sins and even gave us the chance to train in the colosseum.

"Dad says that if he wins ninety-nine matches in a row, he'll go home first and wait for me, and I have to grow up here and fight my own way home.

"Dad says we must be grateful to Saint Rosward's family for their kindness all our lives."

Rosward was Charlos's father, a piece of trash who loved collecting ship captains as slaves.

Over the past three years, Lu Ye had often heard Doffy mention that name.

"I'm sorry!"

Lu Ye let out a long breath and said calmly, "So your master is Rosward?"

The girl nodded, but immediately shook her head and said solemnly, "I say, you have to address him respectfully as Saint Rosward. You must remember that the Celestial Dragons are the noble masters of the Holy Land. Offending a Celestial Dragon is an unforgivable crime punishable by death!"

Offending them is punishable by death?

Then what does trash like that have to do with mercy and greatness?

Which one of us is the idiot here?

Lu Ye reached out and rubbed the top of her head. "Is there anything else you want to do besides winning your freedom as a gladiator?"

The girl sat down beside Lu Ye, swinging her little legs happily. Her eyes full of hope, she said:

"I've always wanted to watch Dad fight! But at the North Star Colosseum, you can only enter the stands with an invitation from the gladiator king.

"Dad says a true gladiator follows the voice in their heart and fights for honor. When sweat and blood flow freely, the rhythm of a beating heart is the most beautiful drumbeat in the world.

"That's right. I've always hoped I'd have the chance to see Dad's fight for honor with my own eyes."

The corners of Lu Ye's mouth rose. "I forgot to ask. What's your name?"

The girl grinned, her eyes narrowing, and punched forcefully forward. "I'm Jessica! I'm a gladiator who's going to win ninety-nine matches in a row someday!"

Lu Ye nodded gently. "Then... I say, Gladiator Jessica, you should know that an invitation doesn't have to be made of paper, and freedom might not be so expensive..."

As he spoke, Lu Ye's gaze fell on the antechamber's iron door. "Wouldn't you agree, my dear Butler Sullivan?"

Knock, knock, knock-

Three crisp knocks rang out, and Sullivan said in a calm, gentle voice:

"Lord Saint Longinus, sorry to disturb you. It's time for your meal."