“Big brother, who exactly are those guys? …Why do we have to run the moment we see them?” The long-haired man, now also calmed down, leaned weakly against the wall, asking Renner with dissatisfaction.
“Hmph! What would you, Jim, the idiot, possibly understand?” Renner, exhausted after running a long way, still spoke with an unmistakable tone of pride.
“Brother Renner, what exactly is going on? You’re really confusing me.” Jim, frowning, kept complaining, “You’re not in debt to those guys for a high-interest loan, are you? Are they chasing you for repayment?”
“Nonsense! Would I, Renner, ever borrow a high-interest loan? Those guys are our money gods! Our money gods!” Renner slapped Jim’s head hard, his eyes shining as if he had already seen piles of Imperial Shields stacked in front of him.
“Money gods? More like gods of death, if you ask me. I nearly died running just now.” Jim hugged his aching head and continued to grumble.
“Hmph! What do you know, kid? If it weren’t for my extensive experience and broad knowledge, how could I recognize such a golden opportunity?”
“What golden opportunity are you talking about? Does it have something to do with those people just now?”
“Of course it does! The leader of those people just now—you know who he is? He’s Xiluo, one of the three monsters of Casares! In the arena of the Southern Territory, he’s a big shot who could trigger an earthquake with just a stomp!”
“The three monsters of Casares? What are they doing coming to the planet Fira with such a large group?”
“Idiot! Obviously to challenge the arena! Do you think they came here for a vacation?” Renner gave Jim another painful slap on the head, frustrated at his lack of understanding.
“Hey! Big brother Renner, stop hitting me. I’ll get even dumber!” Jim rubbed his head helplessly, his face filled with anxiety. “But listen, big brother Renner, are you really sure about getting involved with those arena guys? Things aren’t like they used to be! I heard that lately, our arena has been really chaotic! The Dragon-Tiger Gang and the Greenhead Society started fighting again last month over a position for a System Warrior! And I heard that some branch of that mysterious organization, Mithril, is also trying to get involved. Are you sure you want to get mixed up with them? Big brother Renner, it’s not that I’m a coward. But… I still have a little sister to take care of.”
“Enough! Do you think there’s anything you know that I don’t? Stop babbling! If you want to get rich, you have to risk your life! If you die, I’ll take care of your sister! Hurry up! We have to get there before others do, or else those Imperial Shields will fly away!” Renner slapped Jim once more, took a deep breath, and then sprinted off at full speed.
“No need for you to take care of her!” Jim muttered sarcastically, but ultimately followed Renner, running reluctantly behind.
Through the narrow escape routes they had long since memorized, Jim and Renner quickly reached their destination—the arena center of the Kemal Arena.
Just like the Kemal Arena of Casares, the Kemal Arena in Babylon City also had a magnificent and spectacular stadium. However, amidst the towering steel skyscrapers of Babylon City, the Kemal Arena still stood out as one of the city’s most eye-catching landmark buildings.
As they approached the entrance of this thousand-meter-tall steel skyscraper, Jim and Renner were stopped by the guards stationed at the arena’s gate.
“Hey! Hey! Renner, Jim, it’s you two again! Show me your tickets if you want to get in!” The guard extended his hand toward the two hooligans, smirking mockingly at them.
“This… tickets…” Jim and Renner exchanged glances. As penniless small-time crooks who lived off occasional day labor or by extorting passing “fat lambs,” where would they get the money to buy arena tickets?
“Hmph! I knew it. You two can’t even afford tickets, yet you still dare to sneak into the Kemal Arena to make money? I got scolded badly by the bosses the last two times you slipped in. I almost lost my job! Scram! Or I won’t be nice!” The guard waved his psychokinetic gun threateningly at them.
“This time is different from before, Bolton! I have a piece of valuable information to sell to the bosses of the arena. If you delay us, can you afford the consequences?” Driven by the temptation of making money, Renner stood his ground against the guard’s threat, shouting loudly, though it was obvious to everyone that he was all bark and no bite.
“Haha! You have information to sell to the arena bosses?” The guards burst into laughter upon hearing Renner’s words. “Renner, next time you make up a lie, at least practice it first. With a guy like you, what useful information could you possibly have for the arena bosses? Get lost! Don’t waste my time here. If you keep annoying me, I won’t mind giving you a few shots.” Bolton sneered, pointing his psychokinetic gun menacingly at the two small-time crooks.
Although the psychokinetic guns carried by the arena guards could only fire psychic bullets equivalent to the regular attack of a sixth-stage psychokineticist, which posed almost no threat to most skilled martial artists, for small-time crooks like Jim and Renner, they were terrifying weapons indeed. If hit by a sixth-stage psychic bullet, they might have to stay in bed for days recovering.
Seeing the gun’s muzzle flashing ominously with blue light, Jim immediately shrank back and tugged hard on Renner’s arm to retreat. “Tch!” Renner could only spit in frustration and reluctantly follow Jim away.
However, after leaving the arena entrance, Renner and Jim didn’t go far. Just after turning halfway down the street, Renner suddenly grabbed Jim and stopped.
“Big brother Renner, forget about the arena. We can’t make this money. You saw it yourself—Bolton and the others won’t let us in no matter what.” Jim, with a gloomy face, kept trying to persuade Renner to give up.
“Hmph! The nerve of those guys to look down on people!” Renner spat angrily in the guards’ direction. “The more they act like this, the more不甘心 I feel! Once we sell this information to the organizations inside the arena, I’ll make sure Bolton kneels down and apologizes to me!”
Translation:
“Hmph! How dare they look down on others like that!” Renner muttered furiously, glaring in the guards’ direction. “The more arrogant they become, the more不甘心 I feel! Once we sell this information to the factions inside the arena, I’ll make sure Bolton kneels and begs for my forgiveness!”
“Give it up, big brother Renner. If we force our way in, Bolton really will shoot.” Jim shook his head fearfully.
“Pah!” Renner irritably knocked Jim’s head again. “Do I look like the kind of guy who acts recklessly without a plan?”
“Then… what do you plan to do?” Jim looked at Renner, puzzled.
“We do this…” Renner whispered something into Jim’s ear.
“Oh! That might actually work!” Jim’s eyes lit up.
Soon, the two hooligans, now brimming with renewed confidence, returned to the street in front of the Kemal Arena.
“Sir, want to get rich? Just help us get inside the Kemal Arena, and we’ll give you five hundred… no, one thousand Imperial Shields!” The two hooligans kept stopping passersby, saying exactly that.
Frankly speaking, if the two hooligans had worn more professional-looking clothes and spoken with a bit more mystery in their tone, there might have been a few greedy pedestrians who would have been tempted. Unfortunately, Renner and Jim were dressed like typical street punks. It was quite a stretch to expect them to use sophisticated persuasive techniques.
When they tried to act mysterious, they looked less like people offering a chance to get rich and more like extortionists. And when they tried to smile ingratiatingly and act pitiful, people couldn’t help but feel they were being scammed… Thus, the entire morning passed, and the two hooligans were so hungry they felt dizzy, yet they hadn’t found a single person willing to help them.
“Darn it! Are people on Fira Planet all suddenly rich now? Such an easy way to make extra money, yet not a single person is interested!”
Repeated failures gradually wore down Renner’s fighting spirit. With Jim’s persuasion, Renner could only grumble in frustration, leaving the street in front of the Kemal Arena and planning to find something for lunch first.
Turning a corner, Renner suddenly stopped scanning the crowd aimlessly and yanked Jim hard.
“What’s wrong, big brother Renner?” Jim hurriedly looked up.
“Haha! Our lunch is sorted!” Renner whispered excitedly, pointing across the street. “See that guy over there? He’s a stranger from out of town!”
“Ahh!” Following Renner’s finger, Jim saw a young man wearing a blue-and-white coat, holding a slip of paper and looking around the street.
Standing on the most bustling Garden Street in Babylon City, Zhang Wen couldn’t help but bitterly smile inwardly.
After leaving the inn, he had carefully avoided the surveillance of both the Themis Academy and the Kaelena faction, finally managing to sneak to the place where he had agreed to meet Xiluo.
When Zhang Wen met Xiluo, he was in the middle of quietly discussing things with several bounty fighters. Naturally, what they were discussing was the next few tasks that the bounty fighters needed to carry out.
“Fighting without preparation is a waste.” This is a proverb from the Muso Empire. Although most of the bounty fighters present hadn’t received much education and had never heard of the origin of this proverb, years, even decades, of being bounty fighters had deeply taught them the truth behind it.
Even though Xiluo and his team were fully confident in their own strength and believed that they should give the fighters of Fira Planet sufficient time to prepare, that didn’t mean they would charge in blindly without knowing anything.
Giving the opponent enough time to prepare is a sign of confidence—confidence in being able to defeat the opponent’s strongest. However, charging into battle without knowing anything about the opponent isn’t confidence; it’s just foolishness.
Among the Casares bounty fighters led by Xiluo, the one most familiar with the Kemal Arena on Fira Planet was Xiluo himself. However, the last time Xiluo had fought in the Kemal Arena on Fira Planet was three years ago.
Three years might not seem like a long time, but for the bounty fighters in the Kemal Arena, it was enough time for a complete turnover. Now, Xiluo couldn’t even be sure if the four Emperor Fighters in the Babylon Arena were still the same ones he had met before.
Therefore, before heading to the Babylon Arena for a challenge, it had already become a consensus among all the bounty fighters that they must first conduct some reconnaissance.
However, before Zhang Wen arrived at the bounty fighters’ inn, Xiluo and the bounty fighters had been struggling with the question of who should go to the Babylon Arena.
The Casares fighters sent to Fira Planet this time were all the cream of the Casares bounty fighters. Even the least experienced among them were already rising stars in the world of bounty fighters. If any of them entered the Babylon Kemal Arena, they would undoubtedly be immediately recognized.
Although the Casares fighters present weren’t worried about the challenges they might face after being recognized, the problem was that once their identities were exposed in the Babylon Arena, the effectiveness of the reconnaissance would definitely be greatly reduced.
Just as the bounty fighters were at their wits’ end, Zhang Wen walked into the inn. Upon seeing Zhang Wen, the bounty fighters immediately stopped their discussion, their eager gazes all falling on him. Then, under Zhang Wen’s puzzled gaze, Xiluo briefly explained the situation and asked if he could help by going to the Babylon Arena.
As a member of Casares’ “Hunting Team,” it was naturally Zhang Wen’s duty to take on the task of reconnaissance for everyone. Thus, after receiving the note with the address of the Babylon Arena from Xiluo’s hand, Zhang Wen left the inn again.
However, Zhang Wen never expected that the note Xiluo gave him actually contained the address of the Babylon Arena from three years ago! In the past three years, the streets of Fira Planet had been renovated several times, and the street names had long been changed beyond recognition!
Zhang Wen wandered around Garden Street several times but still couldn’t find where number 1078 was. Just as Zhang Wen finally realized that there might be a problem with the address on the note, he suddenly noticed two young men dressed like hooligans, smiling toward him.
Undoubtedly, the two hooligans approaching Zhang Wen at this moment were none other than Renner and Jim, who had mistaken Zhang Wen for a “fat lamb from out of town.”
“Hehe! Sir, are you from Casares?” The short-haired young man in front greeted Zhang Wen with a clumsy Casares accent.
“Oh? How did you know I’m from Casares?” Zhang Wen raised his eyebrows in feigned surprise but carefully examined the two young men in front of him. He quickly realized they were just two ordinary hooligans, nothing special.
“Hehe! Because I’m from Casares too! It’s just that I’ve been on Fira Planet for several years, and even my hometown dialect has become a bit rusty. Sigh!” Renner, without batting an eye, told a bold-faced lie while pretending to sigh regretfully. Behind Renner, Jim smiled innocently.
“So you’re also from Casares. What a pleasure to meet a fellow countryman. Do you two need something from me?” Zhang Wen smiled as well, though he remained secretly alert inside.
Although Zhang Wen had confirmed that the two in front of him were just ordinary hooligans, he still didn’t relax his vigilance in the slightest. After all, there were too many people recently who had reasons to target him, or who wanted to target him even without any reason. In this unfamiliar place on Fira Planet, Zhang Wen didn’t want to accidentally fall into someone else’s trap.
“Of course we need something! Hehe! Sir, you must be here on Fira Planet to watch the arena fights, right?” Seeing that he had easily struck up a conversation with Zhang Wen, Renner was overjoyed as he continued to use his silver tongue, smiling and moving closer to Zhang Wen.
“You even know that?”
“Of course! Haha! Did you forget, I’m also from Casares. How could I not know that we Casares people love arena fights the most? Actually, meeting you here is just our good fortune! My name is Renner, and I’ve been working at the Kemal Arena in Babylon for several years. I know everything there is to know about the arena!”
“Oh? Is that true?”
“Of course it’s true!” Renner patted his chest, looking confident, while subtly exchanging a glance with Jim.
Jim, who had worked with Renner for years, was quite skilled at this. As soon as he saw Renner’s signal, he immediately stepped forward with a seemingly innocent smile.
“It’s true! Sir, if you want to watch the fights at the Babylon Arena, there’s no one better than my big brother Renner.”
“Exactly! Sir, I’m also from Casares, so I know us Casares people best. You must have flown here for three days just to watch the arena fights on Fira Planet. Surely you wouldn’t want to sit in the very last rows, where you can barely see the fighters even with the big screen, right? You don’t know how much the people here on Fira Planet look down on us Casares people. When they hear your accent and realize you’re from Casares, they’ll definitely sell you the worst seats. You can go try it if you don’t believe me.”
Renner waved his arms indignantly, pretending to be furious.
Although Renner outwardly said for Zhang Wen to “go try it,” he naturally wouldn’t really let Zhang Wen go to the Babylon Arena like that. No sooner had he finished speaking than he started using his silver tongue again.
“But then again, since we happened to meet by chance, I naturally can’t allow my fellow Casares to suffer such injustice. As long as I’m here, I guarantee you can purchase a seat that satisfies you. Even if you want one of the first two rows, as long as you’re willing to pay a bit extra, I’m not without influence. If you’re interested, why don’t we head to the restaurant first and discuss it over a meal? How does that sound?”
“Hmm… sounds a bit interesting.” Zhang Wen smiled and nodded, casually waving his hand to signal Renner to lead the way.
Yes! After so much effort, Renner’s face broke into a big smile as he finally hooked the “fat lamb.” He tightly clenched his fist, cheering for himself in his heart, and hurriedly led Jim forward, afraid that Zhang Wen might change his mind.
“Sure enough, big brother Renner, that guy really fell for it!” Jim, being pulled by Renner, was equally excited. He tried to lower his voice and secretly gave Renner a thumbs-up.
“Of course! Just look at who I am!” Renner proudly lifted his head.
“Right! But big brother Renner, if you could trick him into treating us to lunch, why not just trick him into buying tickets for us to get into the Kemal Arena?” After admiring Renner for a while, Jim suddenly had a question.
“Idiot! You can’t be too greedy! You’ve never been to Casares, so you don’t know the Casares people.” Renner stole a glance at Zhang Wen and then lowered his voice again, speaking only loud enough for Jim to hear, “Casares people are all a bunch of country bumpkins. Even the nobles are all stingy as hell! This time, using good arena seats as bait to trick him into treating us to lunch is already the limit. If we push further and ask him to spend money to buy arena tickets for us, he’ll definitely turn around and leave without even looking at us. Then, we won’t get the tickets, and we’ll still be hungry. Do you think that’s worth it? Besides, as long as we fill our stomachs, we can go back to the arena in the afternoon. With my Renner’s skills, I’m sure I can find another fat lamb willing to take us inside.”
“Oh! No wonder you’re big brother Renner!” Jim looked at Renner with admiration, completely won over.
“Of course! By the way, your acting today deserves praise too! Hahaha!” Renner quickly immersed himself in the joy of being admired.
However, neither Jim, who was “excellent at acting,” nor Renner, who was “exceptionally smart,” noticed that while they were whispering and conspiring, Zhang Wen, who was following behind them, had already subtly curved the corners of his mouth into a barely noticeable smile.
“Oh… so that’s how it is.” After listening to the pair of hooligans’ conversation, Zhang Wen was mostly reassured.
It seemed that these two weren’t a trap set by someone else for Zhang Wen but were simply trying to con him into treating them to lunch.
Perhaps because he agreed with Renner’s words about “not being too greedy,” or perhaps because the former occupant of Zhang Wen’s body, Jilie, had also been a street hooligan, Zhang Wen didn’t really dislike this pair of hooligans, Renner and Jim.
However… those who deceive others should expect to be deceived in return. Renner must have been prepared for the possibility of being used himself when he hoped to trick someone into buying him a meal. I just happen to need to figure out the situation at the Babylon Arena within half a day. Since this “fellow Casares” has come to me on his own, wouldn’t it be a waste of his generous hospitality if I didn’t take full advantage of him?
As Zhang Wen thought this, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but lift again.
Next, Zhang Wen pretended to know nothing and followed Renner and Jim into a quiet and elegant restaurant, treating the two to a hearty meal.
As Renner and Jim, satisfied and full, were once again racking their brains to think of an excuse to make a quick getaway, Zhang Wen’s words left the two completely stunned.
“Hey you two, since we’ve already eaten, let’s hurry off to the arena.”
“The… the arena?” Jim and Renner were almost scared out of their wits by Zhang Wen’s question.
“What? Any problem?” Zhang Wen was already laughing inside but still maintained a look of innocent confusion on the outside.
“No! No problem at all!” Seeing Zhang Wen’s suspicion, Renner hurriedly slapped his chest again, “It’s just that… my friends are all bounty fighters, and I just happen not to have any money on me right now. So… without finding my friends, I can’t get those good seats. But, if you’re in a hurry, we can go back to get the money now! Right, Jim?”
“Right! We can go back to get the money now!” Jim quickly joined in with a silly smile, supporting Renner’s lie.
“No need, no need! You two fellow Casares are helping me, right? Naturally, I can’t let you both pay for the arena tickets. As long as you can get me good front-row seats, I’ll buy your tickets as a thank-you gift.” Zhang Wen put on the air of a wealthy man with deep pockets and waved his right hand enthusiastically.
“What… what?” At the moment they heard Zhang Wen’s words, Renner and Jim felt as if they had been hit on the head by a falling pie from the sky.
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