Chapter 66: The Slaughter

“Is everyone ready? The match is about to begin.”

Although the bout between Zhang Wen’s group and Krull was not considered a real “contest” by anyone present, the arena referee still dutifully raised his right hand and asked the participants according to the rules.

“I’m ready to start anytime,” Krull replied with his usual honest smile.

Except for a few experienced bounty hunters, the audience was amused by Krull’s clumsy appearance and burst into laughter. Even Reyna and Jim, Krull’s opponents, couldn’t help but relax.

Zhang Wen, standing behind Rayna and Jim, remained silent as well.

With Zhang Wen’s sharp eyes, he could easily tell Krull’s approximate level. With his current strength, defeating an opponent at the peak of eighth-stage elite would be effortless. However, Zhang Wen had no intention of confronting Krull directly.

Zhang Wen’s purpose in coming to the Babylon Arena was to investigate the current composition and overall strength of the arena fighters. Most of this intelligence had already been obtained from Reyna and Jim. The only remaining task was to determine the true capabilities of the “Five Heavenly Kings,” who stood at the pinnacle of the Babylon Arena’s fighting power.

Naturally, Zhang Wen couldn’t expect to learn anything about the Five Heavenly Kings from small-timers like Rayna and Jim, who scraped by at the bottom of the arena. To understand the Five Heavenly Kings’ strength, he needed to watch their matches. This was precisely why Mara had specifically assigned Zhang Wen to the Babylon Arena.

If Zhang Wen were to disregard everything and easily defeat Krull now, even the most foolish bounty fighters at the Babylon Arena would figure out his connection to the Cassares bounty fighters once they put two and two together regarding his identity as a Cassares native.

Therefore, if possible, Zhang Wen was more than willing to simply display the strength of an ordinary fourth or fifth-stage fighter, assist Reyna and Jim in enduring for ten minutes, and quietly bring this farcical match to an end.

“We’re ready too! We can start anytime!” Reina confidently raised his head and said to the referee, seeing the audience grow impatient.

In fact, just before Sandro brought Rayner’s group to the stage, Rayner had already sneaked to the entrance of the arena and borrowed a psi-gun from Burton, whom he had some leverage over.

A psi-gun capable of firing psi-bullets comparable to the full-strength attack of a sixth-stage psionicist was still a quite powerful weapon for most fighters scrapping in the first-floor hall. Even against ordinary honor fighters, while it might not be very effective in defeating them, it could still be quite useful for stalling time.

In regular arena matches, a near-cheating weapon such as a psi-gun would naturally be strictly prohibited. However, in this match that was just “for fun,” there were naturally no such regulations. Sandro himself had cheerfully said before the match that Rayna and his group could use any means they wished.

Therefore, Reina, who had “borrowed” two psi-guns from Burton, felt extremely confident. As for whether using psi-guns in arena matches might provoke Sandro and lead to retaliation later, that wasn’t something Reina concerned himself with. After all, Reina had already made up his mind that, out of consideration for his reputation, Sandro definitely wouldn’t take any action against him within the next day or two.

As long as he successfully sells the information and completes this matter, he will immediately leave the planet Fira with the “information fee” he earned from the five major organizations and escape to another planet. By then, no matter how powerful Sandaro is, he will only be able to watch helplessly.

Haha! That fool Sandaro wants an honor fighter to kill me. His plans are quite ambitious. But you didn’t expect that I could borrow two psi-guns, did you?

As he mocked Sandaro’s foolishness in his heart, Rayna casually waved his left hand at the audience below.

“Then, the match between Reina’s group and Krull begins!” The referee immediately announced the start of the match by vigorously waving his hand.

“Haha! Reyna, go for it! Don’t get defeated too quickly!” The audience below laughed heartily and mockingly shouted at Reyna and Jim.

Reyna looked at Krull on the opposite side and noticed that, after the referee announced the start of the match, Krull was staring straight at them, as if in a daze. Thus, Reyna became even more confident. Having scraped by in the arena for three or four years, this was the first time he had ever received so much attention from everyone! Thinking about how everyone would look at him with admiration after defeating Krull, Reyna couldn’t help but feel a bit elated.

However, Rayner had no idea that both Krull standing on the stage and Sandro standing offstage were fully aware of the two psi-guns in Rayner and Jim’s hands.

Yet, after the referee announced the start of the match, Sandor merely smirked indifferently and left the first-floor hall. When Rainer and the two fools beside him stood on the stage with Krull, they were already three dead men. Sandor never doubted his own judgment and didn’t even bother to watch this match any further.

However, Sandaro, who thought he had everything under control, also failed to notice that just as he turned around, Krull, who had been standing in front of Rayna and Jim, suddenly raised his head and stared directly at Zhang Wen behind Rayna and Jim.

Perhaps only Krull, who had stepped onto the stage as Zhang Wen’s opponent, could sense the strange aura emanating from this low-key stranger. And at the moment his gaze met Zhang Wen’s, Krull’s honest smile instantly turned stiff. Krull himself couldn’t explain why, but when he looked at Zhang Wen, even though the stranger stood there motionless, Krull always felt an extremely peculiar sense of irritation and unease.

Krull seemed to have experienced this feeling once before. He remembered that it was when he was still serving time in Pleson High-Security Prison. A girl with beautiful silver hair that inspired admiration walked past him, accompanied by a squad of high-ranking soldiers. At that time, her gaze seemed to casually sweep over Krull, and he was so overwhelmed by intense fear and unease that he nearly went insane on the spot!

Although the sense of unease that this strange stranger gave Krull was not as strong as that terrifying silver-haired girl, the familiar feeling made Krull very unhappy! Extremely unhappy!

However, Krull’s expression was only stiff for a moment. He quickly regained his honest smile, yet still stared fixedly at Zhang Wen, as if he were laughing too happily, his eyes slightly narrowing.

Zhang Wen could feel that at the moment Krull’s eyelids lowered, a surge of brutality, as if it had emerged from the depths of his soul, flashed in his eyes. That kind of tangible killing intent made Zhang Wen’s skin almost feel a prickling pain like needles.

“You guys had better be careful,” Zhang Wen said indifferently, casting a brief warning glance at Reyna and Jim as he made eye contact with Krull.

Frankly speaking, Zhang Wen was quite puzzled. He had done his utmost to suppress his battle energy. Even Sandel, who had attained the level of a Galaxy Warrior, noticed nothing when he saw Zhang Wen. However, Zhang Wen could sense that Krull seemed to have detected something from him. Moreover, this guy’s reaction was far more intense than Zhang Wen had expected.

From the last glance Krull cast at Zhang Wen, Zhang Wen could feel that this killer, who somehow got out of high-security prison, seemed to have already lost control of himself and was about to go crazy!

“Of course. How could we not be careful with someone sent by Sandaro? I’ve already prepared my secret weapon,” Rayna nodded mysteriously at Zhang Wen.

However, although Rayna claimed to be cautious, judging from the uncontrollable smugness on his face, it was clear he didn’t take Zhang Wen’s warning too seriously.

Zhang Wen was too lazy to say anything else to Reyna. Finally, he lifted his head and fixed his gaze carefully on Krull, rapidly circulating the Spring Water Technique battle energy within his body.

The standoff between the two sides on the stage lasted for a few more seconds. Just as the audience began to grow impatient, Krull suddenly shook his head hard and let out a loud roar to the sky.

In just a short moment, the honest and cute Krull, like a little bear, had completely vanished from everyone’s sight. Whether it was the audience below or Renner and Jim, who had been confident earlier, they were all stunned by Krull’s sudden burst of brutality.

“Disgusting! Annoying!” Krull’s throat emitted a piercing scream, like two grinding wheels rubbing against each other.

In the next moment, Krull had already raised his arms, veins bulging. With a dull sound that shattered the air, the demon-like Krull charged toward Reyna, who was closest to him. Seeing Krull’s twisted and hideous expression, no one doubted that if Reyna and the other two on the stage were caught by Krull, they would certainly be torn to pieces.

“Damn… damn it!” Renner’s legs had already turned to jelly from facing Krull’s attack head-on. After all, he was merely an insignificant small-time thug, who had never encountered a genuine killer like Krull before.

Under Krull’s frenzied killing intent, Rayna no longer retained any of his earlier composure. He clumsily pulled out the borrowed psi-gun from behind his back, closed his eyes, and fearfully began firing randomly in Krull’s direction.

Nearby, Jim was already so nervous that he nearly cried. Only when he heard the sound of the psi-gun firing did he suddenly remember Rena’s earlier instructions. He also closed his eyes, pulled out his psi-gun, and fired randomly at Krull.

The psi-bullets fired from the psi-guns flew wildly across the stage, with many even flying off the stage, causing the audience below to shout and scatter in chaos.

After firing the two psi-guns for a while, Rayna and Jim regained some of their courage. In their minds, under such intense psi-bullet fire, even an elite warrior would have no choice but to retreat, let alone someone like Krull, an honor warrior.

However, Zhang Wen, who was standing beside Rayner and Jim, could clearly see that the psi-bullets fired by the two had absolutely no effect on Krull. The mere sixth-stage level psi-bullets couldn’t even slow Krull down.

In the blink of an eye, Krull had already reached Renner’s面前.

Facing Krull’s bloodshot eyes, nearly swollen to a deep red, and his terrifying arms bulging with veins, Reyna nearly screamed in fear. Instinctively, he raised his hand, fired the psi-gun at Krull again, then threw the weapon away in terror and screamed as he turned to run.

Unfortunately, the psi-bullet fired by Reyna had no effect at all. When the attack reached him, the enraged Krull didn’t even bother to raise his hand to block. He simply let the psi-bullet hit his face, causing a loud buzzing sound and a burst of blinding blue light.

Then, Krull laughed hideously, lunged forward, grabbed Reinhard’s legs with both hands, and lifted him upside down. Feeling that he would probably be torn in half the next moment, Reinhard couldn’t help but wet his pants in fear.

At that moment, one of the psi-bullets fired by Jim happened to hit Krull. Krull, who was about to tear Rena apart, paused for a moment, turned his hideous face to look at Jim, and suddenly hurled Rena aside like a sandbag.

Reina screamed as he crashed heavily into Jim, who was also too terrified to move. Under the tremendous impact, the two minor thugs collided and simultaneously spat out a large mouthful of blood before passing out in pain.

After throwing Reyna, Krull did not continue attacking the people on the stage. Instead, he suddenly roared at the sky again and then crazily leapt into the crowd below.

Under the astonished gaze of the stunned crowd, Krull grabbed one of the bounty fighters who had come downstairs to watch the fun. Holding that person’s legs, he exerted force and smashed the person’s body onto the sea urchin stone stage like a hammer.

The bounty fighter didn’t even have time to scream. His upper body was smashed into a pile of shattered flesh on the stage. This terrifying scene, combined with Krull’s maniacal laughter, stunned every spectator in the first-floor hall. The sheer shock even made them forget to flee.

“Ahh!” Finally, it was an unknown female spectator’s scream that broke the crowd’s trance, causing everyone to start crying and running in all directions. Meanwhile, the frenzied Krull laughed and reached his hand toward another nearby bounty fighter.

“Damn… damn it! Krull, have you gone mad?” The second bounty fighter attacked by Krull was from the TK group. Seeing that Krull, who also belonged to the TK group, was attacking him, the bounty fighter couldn’t help but scream furiously out of anger and fear.

As the bounty fighter shouted, Krull’s movements paused for a moment. However, it was only for a moment.

“Do you guys still want to watch the show? This guy has gone mad! If he kills me, none of you will be able to escape!” The TK group bounty fighter, terrified and seeing Krull reaching out to him again, screamed in fear, unleashed his full battle energy, and desperately retreated backward. The other two bounty fighters exchanged glances and simultaneously launched attacks against Krull.

With the combined efforts of two sixth-stage honor fighters and one eighth-stage elite fighter, they finally managed to temporarily halt Krull’s疯狂 killing spree.

Amidst the piercing alarm echoing throughout the arena, the bounty fighters in the higher-level lounges of the arena center finally noticed the chaos happening in the first-floor hall.

“Hey hey… look at you guys, what’s going on with that guy Krull?”

“Damn it! That monster seems to have gone mad!”

Looking at the screen where Krull’s face had already twisted to the point of being almost unrecognizable, even these cold-blooded bounty fighters couldn’t help but be shocked and stunned.

“What’s going on? Why are you all shouting?” Just as the bounty fighters were in chaos, Sandaro happened to arrive at the fourth floor of the arena center and pushed open the door to the lounge reserved for planetary warriors.

It was none other than Sandro from the TK Group who had pulled Kruel out of the maximum-security prison, a secret already well-known within the Babylon Arena. As soon as Sandro walked through the door with his usual nonchalant expression, several bounty fighters in the locker room could no longer contain themselves and finally jumped up.

“Sandaro, what exactly is your TK team trying to do? We won’t even mention bringing back such a dangerous monster; now this creature is running amok on the first floor! Are you deliberately trying to ruin our livelihoods?”

The several bounty fighters who were speaking were among the very few remaining “neutral gladiators” in the Babylon Arena. These were lone wolves who had no ties to any of the five major organizations.

To the bounty fighters and mercenaries who belong to the Five Great Organizations and are nurtured by them, the chaos Krull caused in the arena of the first level was merely a bloody spectacle. When witnessing those scenes, they might feel horror, but that’s only because they’re concerned about Krull’s monstrous strength. As for how many people die in the first-level hall, it’s utterly irrelevant to them.

Therefore, they certainly wouldn’t get angry with Sandaro. In fact, quite a few of these bounty warriors secretly hoped for the worst, wishing that Krull would cause even more trouble and bring a major embarrassment to the TK team.

However, for these lone wolves who lack organizational backing, Krull’s approach is nothing short of ruining their livelihoods! After all, as a bounty warrior in the Babylon Colosseum, a significant portion of their income comes from the annual ticket sales revenue shared by the Babylon Colosseum.

One can imagine what impact it would have on the Babylon Colosseum, which was already excessively bloody, if Krull the bloodthirsty killer were to go on a rampage in the first-level arena.

Noble families of the empire all enjoyed watching gladiatorial combats, and occasionally even fancied stepping into the arena themselves for a bit of fun. However, not a single imperial noble would ever risk their precious lives merely for leisure and amusement! Once this incident spreads, the Babylon Arena will immediately become the most notoriously infamous arena throughout all of Southern Territory. If the arena’s revenue still manages to reach half of what it was in previous years, the bounty fighters could already consider themselves extremely fortunate.

Faced with the angry gazes of several lone fighters, Sandaro’s expression quickly turned grim. He forcefully pushed aside the two people blocking his path and directed his gaze toward the large screen hanging in the center of the lounge. When he saw the frenzied Krull on the screen, Sandaro couldn’t help but be greatly startled.

However, what surprised Sandor was not how much chaos Krul had caused in the grand hall on the first floor, nor how many people he had killed. It was a question that puzzled him—how could Krul have gone mad?

Sandro, who had personally brought Krul back from the maximum-security prison, naturally knew his capable subordinate extremely well. Sandro was very clear about exactly what kinds of situations could provoke Krul into losing control and ruthlessly killing without restraint. What surprised Sandro, however, was that when he left the first-floor hallway, he hadn’t noticed any factors that could possibly trigger Krul’s fury!

Of course, no matter how surprised he felt inside, Sandro would never lose face in front of other bounty fighters. “Hmph! I’ll handle this matter naturally,” he said coldly, then turned and walked out of the lounge, closing the door behind him.

I knew it! I knew that madman couldn’t be trusted! He loses his mind at the slightest provocation! Damn it! Who the hell is working against me? Filled with rage and confusion, Sandor clenched his teeth and rushed with all his might toward the first-floor hall.

Meanwhile, just as Sandaro was sprinting up the long stairway of the Colosseum Center, the situation in the first-floor hall had once again changed.

The three bounty fighters targeted by Kruel barely managed to resist for a moment before one of them was seized by Brouwer. Amidst the panicked scream of that bounty fighter, Brouwer grabbed his right leg with one hand and swung him around in a full circle.

The other two bounty fighters didn’t have time to dodge and were effortlessly swept off their feet. Then, Krull hurled the bounty fighter in his hand violently against the opposite wall, and with a roar, he lunged at the others. He leaped high into the air and then landed with a狞笑 before another screaming tour guide.

After a brief observation, Zhang Wen had already determined that Krull’s sudden frenzied actions were not a trap deliberately set by Sandaru. Having confirmed this, Zhang Wen immediately made a clear judgment.

A brawl among several bounty fighters in the arena was nothing out of the ordinary. Even if it caused some chaos among the audience, no one would seriously pursue the matter. However, if the situation escalated to a high-ranking fighter going on a killing spree in the lower hall and taking down a few spectators from the martial arts school, the incident would become a major affair!

If Krull is allowed to run rampant and slaughter people in the first-floor lobby, Babylon Colosseum will certainly bear most of the responsibility. Regardless of whether the security bureau of the planet Phira will use this as an excuse to shut them down for ten to fifteen days, the plan for Zhang Wen to watch the “Five Kings” match today is undoubtedly ruined. The intercollegiate match between Almestus Academy and Themis Academy is just around the corner, and Zhang Wen definitely doesn’t have time to visit the Babylon Colosseum every single day.

Furthermore, Zhang Wen is not a pervert. He truly has no interest in watching a madman perform a horror movie scene like *The Texas Chain Saw Massacre* right in front of him, turning a perfectly good arena into a bloody mess.

Whether for the sake of justice or personal interest, Zhang Wen could not simply ignore the raging Krull.

As a result, Zhang Wen, who had been standing in the center of the arena all along, suddenly shifted his body at the very moment Krull lunged toward the female tour guide. In the blink of an eye, Zhang Wen was gone, as if he had vanished into thin air!

Zhang Wen’s calculation was spot-on. In a moment when both the audience and the fighters were frantically screaming and fleeing for their lives, no one paid attention to any slight anomalies occurring on the arena. Likewise, among the terrified crowd, few dared to turn back and look toward Krull’s side.

When Zhang Wen suddenly appeared beside Krull, the only person who saw him was probably the female tour guide, who had already been scared out of her wits.

Kruhl, who was about to smash the female tour guide into pulp with a single strike, seemed to sense the danger quietly emerging beside him from the woman’s gaze. He abruptly halted his massive hand descending toward the guide, his eyes flashing with an even more frenzied murderous intent.

“Agh!” Kruhl roared furiously, his bear-like body violently twisting around as he lunged in the direction from which he had just sensed the danger, embracing it with full force.

There was no doubt that if someone were caught in Kruel’s full-power bear hug, even a human-shaped iron block would be crushed in half at the waist. However, Kruel, who had just unleashed his ultimate move, felt excited for only an instant. As he tightly squeezed his arms together, hoping to completely eliminate the “dangerous threat” trapped within his embrace, he suddenly realized with shock that there was absolutely nothing between his arms!

“Huh?” Kruhl’s movement came to an involuntary halt, his expression one of surprise.

Just as Krul came to a stop, Zhang Wen, who had been waiting beside him for an opening, suddenly swung his right hand. “Snap!” Zhang Wen’s right hand lightly struck Krul’s waist, and a flash of pale blue battle-energy light instantly disappeared.

At first glance, Zhang Wen’s strike seemed to have caused no damage to Krull at all. Krull still glared at Zhang Wen with a ferocious expression and even turned around to lunge at him.

Seeing Krull lunging elsewhere, the female tour guide, who had narrowly escaped death, looked at Zhang Wen with a mix of despair and gratitude before dropping Zhang Wen, who was attacked by Krull, and screaming as she fled into the distance. At the same time, as Krull lunged toward him, Zhang Wen quickly pushed backward, causing Krull to miss again.

Then, Krull, who had failed to hit his target, stumbled as if tripped by something underfoot and fell to the ground. Zhang Wen took the opportunity to dart into the chaotic crowd.

At this moment, several bounty fighters who had come charging down from upstairs also reached Krull. Seeing him fall, they naturally did not intend to miss such a rare opportunity. Before the fallen Krull could struggle to get back on his feet, the bounty fighters’ fists and kicks had already come crashing down upon him with astonishing force.

Kruel’s massive body was instantly blasted away by the几名 bounty fighters. His waist slammed violently into the arena behind him, producing a sharp cracking sound of breaking bones.

“Wha-what the hell?! Wait a second!” When Sandaro rushed out from the stairway on the first floor at top speed, the leader of the TK clan just happened to witness Krull仰天喷出一大口鲜血，身体贴着擂台，倒折出了一个诡异的角度.

(Note: The sentence seems to be cut off and lacks the second half. Please provide the full text for an accurate translation.)

Hurrying over to Krull in a few quick steps, Sandro checked Krull’s breath and, to his shock and fury, discovered that this capable warrior who had just joined the TK squad was already dead.