In hundreds of administrative planets controlled by the Empire, countless Kemal Arenas, large and small, could be found. However, including the headquarter located on the Empire’s birth planet, Noa, all Kemal Arenas were almost identical in architectural style. The branch located in the capital city of the planet Carares was also considered one of the more famous arenas in the nearby star systems. Its structure had a total of seven floors and, from the outside, looked like a massive conical pagoda. Within each level of the tower, arenas specially designed for gladiators were set up.
Gladiators of different ranks competed on different floors. Naturally, apprentice fighters like Zack’s group could only seek opponents at the lowest level of the arena. Following the beautiful female staff member, Zhang Wen and his group were soon led into the central arena at the bottom level of the Kemal Arena. Pushing open the massive wooden door nearly two men tall, Amelith couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment. Zack and Cloud also widened their eyes, clearly stunned.
The beautiful female staff member smiled slightly, seemingly well prepared for Amelith’s reaction. In fact, the majority of first-time visitors to the Kemal Arena reacted exactly the same way as Amelith and her companions when they first stepped into the central arena.
Before their eyes appeared a room so vast it was almost unimaginable. Compared to this room, even the largest classroom at Almishus Academy seemed as small as a candy box—perhaps it shouldn’t even be called a room, but rather an “indoor arena.”
In the center of this massive “indoor arena,” dozens of platforms made of adamantite bricks were neatly arranged. Each pair of platforms was separated by about tens of meters, with large red-carpeted spaces in between. These areas were equipped with tiered spectator stands similar to those in stadiums, allowing audiences to conveniently watch any match from any angle.
Additionally, four giant screens were suspended from the ceiling, more than ten meters above the ground, facing the four directions. At any time, the psychokineticists employed by the Kemal Arena would select the most exciting matches from the first floor and project the scenes onto the large screens using psychokinetic techniques for all the spectators to enjoy.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Just as Zack and others were still marveling at the luxurious interior, the hall suddenly echoed with three loud bell chimes. Then, an excited and pleasant female voice resounded throughout the entire hall: “Miss Heli, the No.14 challenger, has won ten consecutive matches and earned the right to challenge for the title of Honor Gladiator!”
Simultaneously with the pleasant female voice, the four large screens above immediately displayed the scene of Miss Heli knocking out her final opponent.
“Oh!” As the crowd watched the screen showing the agile female gladiator kicking a muscular man, as strong as a hill, off the platform with a side kick, the entire hall erupted into deafening cheers.
“Hey! No.7!” Amidst the cheers, the female staff member who had brought the group into the central arena waved energetically toward another girl in uniform.
The girl approached and was a guide for the Kemal Arena. On her chest, she wore a badge the size of a fist with the number “7” written on it.
“Welcome to the Kemal Arena! I am the guide for the first floor. If you have any requests, feel free to tell me.” After sending off the female staff member, who wore a look of regret, the newly arrived girl turned around. To be honest, Zhang Wen really liked the uniform designed by the Kemal Arena for their female guides—it looked very much like a flight attendant’s uniform on Earth. Whether it was the combination of sky blue and white or the graceful style, it was pleasing to the eye.
“When can we participate in the competition?” Hearing the cheers for the female gladiator moments ago and thinking about the prize money that came with becoming a bounty gladiator, Zack’s blood boiled with excitement. He couldn’t wait to ask the No.7 guide repeatedly. Even the usually gentle and refined Cloud was infected by the fiery atmosphere of the hall and became excited.
“Hehe, matches for apprentice gladiators can be arranged for you at any time. Are all of you going to participate?” No.7 guide smiled politely and took out a notebook.
“Only these three. I’m not an apprentice gladiator.” Zhang Wen chuckled and waved his hand.
“Oh! No problem. Please wait a moment. I will arrange it for you right away.” The No.7 guide nodded, noted down Zack’s group’s names, and smiled as she turned and left.
“Haha! Teacher Zhang, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have known there was such a great place on the planet Carares!” While rubbing his hands together in anticipation, Zack whispered excitedly.
While the guide was noting down the names, Zack had already carefully observed the skills of the other “apprentice gladiators.” He quickly discovered that among those fighting on the platforms, few were impressive. Looking around, even those who had reached the fourth level of physical techniques were extremely rare! This made Zack overjoyed. Against these weaklings who hadn’t even reached the fourth level of physical techniques, he wouldn’t have to exert much effort at all. The title of bounty gladiator was practically within his grasp!
Seeing Zack’s excited expression, Zhang Wen couldn’t help but smile slightly. “You three, do you really want to become bounty gladiators?” He walked up to the three apprentices and quietly asked them.
“Of course!” Zack, already fixated on the money, nodded his head vigorously without hesitation. Cloud quickly tapped him on the head, which made Zack grumble in dissatisfaction: “I do want to become a bounty gladiator. What’s the big deal? It’s a win-win situation—training and making money at the same time. It’s great!”
“Cloud, no need to be so tense. Zack is right. Since I brought you here, how could I not let you earn some pocket money? In fact, I hope that before the competition against the Temis Academy begins, all three of you can become members of the bounty gladiators. It all depends on whether you have the ability!” Zhang Wen laughed heartily, nodded at the three of them, and raised one finger. “From now on, you are all free to do as you please. I only have one requirement. In the upcoming matches, you cannot use the Federation’s martial arts techniques. You can only use what I have taught you!”
“No problem!” Upon hearing that they were free to move about, Zack immediately shouted excitedly, dragging Cloud joyfully after the No.7 girl.
“Haha! Teacher Zhang, bringing us here is against the school rules, you know!” After Zack and the others had left, Amelith smiled and cast a sidelong glance at Zhang Wen, whispering. As a member of the discipline committee, Amelith was obviously more familiar with the regulations of Almishus Academy than Zack and Cloud.
“I know. What? Are you going to report me?”
“How could I? Do I look like the kind of person who likes to tattle?” Amelith pouted her lips.
“Of course not.” Zhang Wen chuckled and shrugged.
“That’s better!” Amelith quickly changed from a frown to a smile, happily agreeing as she walked into the crowd with graceful steps.
“Hmm…” Watching Amelith’s alluring back as she walked away, Zhang Wen’s expression turned contemplative.
Although Zhang Wen wasn’t worried that his three apprentices would go to the academy to report him, Amelith’s words had reminded him of a very important issue.
The gladiators in the Kemal Arena were nothing like the students at Almishus Academy. To become bounty gladiators and earn the prize money sufficient to support a family for ordinary people, the gladiators here would go to any lengths in battle. In combat, they would never show mercy or restraint like the students did during training at the academy.
Zhang Wen had brought Zack and the others here to undergo his “special training,” precisely to use the pressure from such an environment to force them to quickly become familiar with the techniques of the Spring Water Method. However, although real combat was beneficial for Zack and the others’ growth, if they were actually injured during the training, it would be a loss rather than a gain.
After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Wen made up his mind. He lightly nodded and walked into the crowd in the first-floor hall as well. In the crowd, Zhang Wen didn’t have to worry about Amelith and the others discovering his presence. Conversely, having already broken through to the second level of the Spring Water Method and possessing senses several times more acute than ordinary people, Zhang Wen could easily locate the positions of Amelith and the three others.
Before long, Zhang Wen saw the “Miss No.7” helping Zack and the others arrange their respective matches and handing each of them a metal badge with different numbers written on it, which they then pinned to their chests.
“Mr. Zack, please proceed to Platform No.3 to challenge the reigning champion Mr. Bonny Pope. Mr. Cloud, please go to Platform No.5 to challenge the reigning champion Mr. Tefani. Miss Amelith, please head to Platform No.12 to face Mr. Hack Johnny.” Zhang Wen didn’t have to strain much to read each word from Miss No.7’s lips.
Then, Zhang Wen shifted his gaze to the three platforms mentioned by Miss No.7. By the sides of the platforms, the three opponents assigned to Zack and the others by Miss No.7 had already arrived at their respective platform entrances.
Looking at the three opponents of Zack and his companions, Zhang Wen couldn’t help but inwardly exclaim a word of miscalculation. Of course, this wasn’t because the three opponents were too strong and Zhang Wen was worried he couldn’t protect them all, but because their strength was far too weak! At a glance, Zhang Wen could tell that none of the three, including Amelith’s opponent, had even reached the fourth level of physical techniques!
Zack and Cloud’s strength, although not outstanding in a top physical techniques academy like Temis Academy, was still more than enough to handle the apprentice gladiators of the Kemal Arena. Against these guys who were only at the second or third level of physical techniques, Zack and the others wouldn’t even need to use any techniques; just using the force fields generated by their battle energy would be sufficient to crush them!
This wouldn’t achieve the purpose of training their technique skills at all! Zhang Wen couldn’t help but shake his head in frustration.
“Haha! Kirielle? Do you see that? Isn’t that Kirielle?” Just as Zhang Wen was still feeling resentful about the weak opponents of Zack and his companions, a female voice that sounded both familiar and unfamiliar to Zhang Wen suddenly rang out from behind him.
The strange feeling from this voice immediately made Zhang Wen curiously turn his head. Then, he saw a group of men and women walking toward him from the stairs of the arena, chatting and laughing. Leading the group was a muscular man with brown hair. In his arms, he was hugging a rather attractive blonde woman—the one who had just shouted. The “Kirielle” she had called out was precisely the name used by Zhang Wen’s current body in the past.
“Kirielle, I recognized you just now. I called out once, and sure enough, I was right,” the blonde woman said again in a sweet voice as she approached Zhang Wen.
As she faced Zhang Wen, the brown-haired man’s hand deliberately slipped into the neckline of the blonde woman’s thin silk dress, landing on her full bosom to fondle it. The blonde woman, unfazed, giggled and deliberately hugged the brown-haired man’s waist, leaning closer to him to make it more convenient for him to enjoy her body. The others following behind the brown-haired man and the blonde woman also looked at Zhang Wen with arrogant and interested eyes.
The group’s brazen behavior in front of him made Zhang Wen frown slightly. However, his slightly furrowed brows only made the blonde woman laugh even more joyfully. Her body seemed to have no bones at all, completely clinging to the brown-haired man.
“Hey! Kirielle, didn’t you save Governor Termis’s life? I remember seeing your name in the newspaper! Oh, right! You changed your name back then! If it weren’t for the photo published with the article, I wouldn’t have recognized you! Hey! Zhang Wen, what a strange name… By the way, have you already spent all the reward money from the governor? Why are you here at the arena again? Didn’t I tell you before? If you don’t have the ability, you shouldn’t come here. If you get injured, you might have to pay for medical expenses!” The blonde woman, still clinging to the brown-haired man’s waist, kept chatting with Zhang Wen with a giggle.
“Alright, stop embarrassing Zhang Wen. After all, we did know each other once.” Letting the blonde woman talk for a while, the brown-haired man finally lazily spoke, pulling his hand out from the nearly melting blonde woman’s chest.
“Oh, okay.” The blonde woman finally stopped chattering at Zhang Wen.
“That’s better!” The brown-haired man was satisfied as he gave the blonde woman’s ample bosom a hard squeeze and pushed her aside.
The blonde woman cast a seductive glance at the brown-haired man and then joined the other women who were in the arms of the other men. The women pointed at Zhang Wen and whispered among themselves, occasionally bursting into delighted laughter.
“Jenna, he’s the Zhang Wen you told us about—the one who once pursued you? You said he was a toad wanting to eat swan meat, and that’s really spot on!”
“Haha, actually, he’s not that bad, right? Why do you say he’s so terrible?”
“What? Has Jinnah fallen for him?”
“Get lost! Compared to our Tarel, he’s just dog crap in a muddy puddle!”
…
Lowering their voices, several women shamelessly mocked Zhang Wen as if he were a clown. However, they didn’t realize that at such a close distance, every word they said was clearly audible to Zhang Wen.
Zhang Wen couldn’t be bothered to take offense at the ridicule from those busty but brainless women. He merely cast a cold glance at them and shifted his thoughts to the name of the blonde woman. When he heard the name Jinnah, Zhang Wen finally managed to recall the identities of the man and woman before him.
Before Gille became a thug, he had once been a student at a noble academy, where he was classmates with Tarel and Jinnah. Honestly, back at the academy, Gille had always been a bit overly honest. Even after meeting a beauty like Jinnah, he never thought he had any chance. In fact, Gille never even dared to entertain the thought of pursuing her.
However, Jinnah was quite upset with Gille for being one of the few who didn’t fall at her feet. So, she deliberately set a trap for him. She went out of her way to make Gille believe that she was secretly in love with the guy who remained indifferent to her charms. As soon as Gille, having fallen for the ruse, confessed his feelings to her, he was immediately and mercilessly humiliated.
Amidst everyone’s laughter, Gille learned that, in reality, Jinnah had already been the girlfriend of his good friend Tarel. After that scandal, Gille could no longer continue at the academy and was forced to drop out in disgrace, becoming a street thug.
All of this had happened several years before Zhang Wen arrived in this world. Gille himself obviously tried hard to forget this unpleasant past, so when Zhang Wen saw Jinnah and Tarel, he couldn’t recall ever meeting the two before.
“Alright, Tarel. We know this guy is your old friend. If you want to catch up, do it quickly and don’t waste everyone’s time.” Two men behind Tarel glanced at Zhang Wen and soon impatiently urged them.
“Hey! Don’t be in such a hurry! At worst, I’ll treat everyone to lunch later.” Tarel waved at the two men and then turned back to Zhang Wen with obvious interest. “Oh right! Zhang Wen, let me introduce. These two are my friends from the arena. This one is Vinter, and this one is Boboka. Hehe, these two are actually honored fighters here! Their names are even engraved on the stone tablets outside!”
“Ha ha! Tarel, don’t flatter us so much! We’re not really big shots in the arena.” Although Boboka humbly spoke, his expression couldn’t help but reveal his pride. “When it comes to honored fighters, you yourself were practically there today, right? With your current strength, qualifying for the challenge is a given. Just a bit of luck, and you could become an honored fighter anytime.”
“Hmph! That… Zhang Wen, don’t worry, since you know Tarel, if you have any trouble in the future, feel free to come find me.” Vinter, casting a glance at Zhang Wen, arrogantly threw out the words.
“Zhang Wen, did you hear that? Hurry up and thank Mr. Vinter. With his words, you won’t have to worry about anyone causing you trouble here at the arena anymore.” Tarel happily waved at Zhang Wen, speaking as if giving an order.
“Oh? If that’s the case, then I really should thank Mr. Vinter.” Zhang Wen said, unable to stop the slight upturn of his lips. He hadn’t expected that bringing Zack and the others for special training at the Kemmel Arena would allow him to witness such a rare comedic performance.
Perhaps due to his own twisted sense of humor, watching Tarel’s “performance,” Zhang Wen didn’t feel angry at all, and almost couldn’t help laughing out loud.
“That’s right!” Tarel nodded in satisfaction, completely missing the mocking tone in Zhang Wen’s smile. Or perhaps, he simply didn’t think there could be any other meaning behind Zhang Wen’s smile.
After introducing Zhang Wen to Vinter and Boboka, Tarel pulled Jinnah from among the other women behind him to his side and wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Oh right! Zhang Wen, I heard that after you left the academy, things have been pretty rough for you, right? I know that before, what we did regarding Jinnah was a bit wrong.” Tarel said he was wrong to Zhang Wen, but his face showed no hint of apology. “Actually, why are you so stubborn? If you had come to find me earlier, I would have definitely helped you out, just because we used to know each other.” Tarel spoke as if he were being very generous.
“Zhang Wen, you’ve always been alone, haven’t you?” Jinnah, leaning against Tarel, spoke again, smiling condescendingly as she asked him, “Want me to introduce you to a girlfriend?”
“Oh, right! I almost forgot. Jinnah knows quite a few good women!” Tarel also laughed joyfully, then proceeded to advise Zhang Wen earnestly, “Of course, although they aren’t as young and beautiful as Jinnah, given your current situation, you can just settle for them. What do you think?”
“No, that won’t be necessary.” Zhang Wen said, his lips curling into a smile as he shook his head at Tarel.
“Aww! Zhang Wen, I’m really trying to help you this time…” Tarel loudly said to Zhang Wen, but suddenly stopped mid-sentence. At the same time, his mouth remained half-open, as if he were stunned. Moreover, it wasn’t just Tarel; the two honored fighters beside him—Vinter and Boboka—also wore expressions of stunned admiration. As for Jinnah and the other women beside her, their expressions were universally a mix of shock and jealousy.
Zhang Wen had just noticed the strange expressions of Tarel and the others and hadn’t had time to turn around when a very familiar, slightly lazy, and melodious female voice sounded from behind him: “Hey! Zhang Wen, who are these people? Your friends? Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
As soon as he heard that voice, Zhang Wen immediately understood why Tarel and the others had such expressions. In this world, there were probably very few men who could remain calm in the presence of Linoa, this peerless beauty.
“Linoa,” Zhang Wen smiled, calling out the name of the approaching person. As he spoke, he slowly turned around. However, when he saw Linoa’s outfit, he couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned himself.
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