The job was far from simple cleaning. The entire morning, Ceres and Halyon felt like they were being thrown around into various activities far beyond the original job scope mentioned on the flyer.
“I know they said this was dangerous, but it’s more disgusting rather than anything else.” Halyon almost belched as he tried to use a flimsy broom to shove a large dung pile out of an animal cage.
“Stop complaining and get to work - you’re holding up the others!” The foreman, Cain, yelled from across the room, in which there were hundreds of animal cages holding multiple exotic beasts and alien lifeforms both Ceres and Halyon had never seen before in their lives.
Surprisingly, the cages were much more well-designed, seemingly moulded to fit the beast’s natural habitat quite well. Some of the cages even had specialized temperature control to provide the optimum environment.
“I don’t recall being taught about any of these beasts here in Athen. I’ve barely seen any of them underground either.” Ceres whispered to Halyon as they continued shovelling a pile of gravy-like excrement out of the cage.
The inhabitant of the cage, a large vulture-like bird with four limbs clasped around a large fake wooden branch, cackled at them cleaning up its shit as though in mockery while it relaxed and sipped from a water tube hanging from the ceiling.
“They are illegal, idiot! Part of the exotic wildlife trade. Everything comes from off-world, maybe even the Beyond. And this fucking bird is living a better life than us!” Halyon whispered back angrily before Cain yelled again. “Alright, time’s up. Rotate cages!”
They continued cleaning up the cages and double-checking the food supply and water pump to each cage while Halyon continuously grumbled. Ceres could tell that the beasts were truly enjoying their stay in the cages, apart from a minority who kept clashing against the wall, trying to break free. “Hopefully we don’t get assigned to them.”
“ARGGGHHHH!” Another cleaner yelled in pain as his hand was burnt by a laser.
Cain immediately rushed over, dragging the cleaner out as the beast inside continued firing laser beams at the two of them. Cain quickly took out a gel spray from his pocket, coating the burnt hand and soothing it immediately.
“Damn it, Fei, I told you not to take your eyes off it when cleaning! Why the hell were you using your multi?” Cain exasperatedly said.
The cleaner, Fei, weakly groaned. “Sorry, boss. My ex-wife actually replied to one of my video messages after 5 years… she said she was hot and bothered and looking to mingle with me tonight…”
“That’s a scam call for sure. HEY, YOU TWO! YEA YOU TWO FIRST-TIMERS. Get this man to the doctor now!” Cain ordered.
The two supported Fei towards the doctor, though Fei had to guide them since it was their first day on the job. Halyon had become even more incensed at seeing how dangerous it was for the cleaners, and it had only been the first hour! “Shit, is that what Saul meant when the last team died?”
“Tim’s team? Oh no, they got ripped apart by a psychotic fighter off his meds. Took a while to take the fighter down. The beasts are usually pretty docile, apart from the ones who can eat humans or blast rocks for fun. Oh, and the slovesa.” Fei answered with friendliness, as though nothing significant had happened to him.
Entering the medical room, Ceres and Halyon were shocked to see that the doctor was a real slovesa. However, its body structure looked nothing like a humanoid rock golem, but rather like a floating orb the size of a chair, with a large embedded crystal that glowed purple and served as its eye. It had a mechanical translator attached to its surface, converting its speech into audio waves for human communication.
“What you two cunts looking at? Never seen a slovesa before huh? Well, aren’t you glad we have a ceasefire now, so I can’t rip your stupid looks off. Stop gaping there and put him on the bed.” The slovesa orb swore at them, hovering over the body of Fei once they laid him on the bed.
“Damn, this is the fifth time since Saul brought that bastard beast in. No one even knows which planet or even the system it came from, but it’s really making my work schedule miserable. I was supposed to mediate to a podcast on ‘Brownies for silicon-based life forms’.” The slovesa orb muttered as it unveil twenty minuscule arms with sharp tips of a dizzying assortment, observing the hand and scanning it.
“You’re lucky it didn’t damage the main mechanical shaft of the arm, it will only increase your debt by approximately another six months to repair this hand. Adding human skin again might cost a lot more though, not enough cloning skin circulating in Rockhold.” The orb continued.
“C’mon Doctor, there’s a chance my ex-wife might return. She left me because I didn’t have the money to cover up my hand in the first place. Please, help me cover it up with skin!” Fei pleaded with the doctor orb, who just sighed in response.
Suddenly it violently turned around, glaring at the two who carried Fei.
“What are you two numbskulls still doing here? GET TO WORK! If your incompetence makes my schedule hell, I’ll be sure to choose the worst prosthetic available for your missing limbs!” The orb yelled, making Ceres and Halyon run out of the room.
“What the hell is wrong with this place? It’s like it’s utter chaos in here.” Halyon grumbled as they walked back to the cages. Ceres instead heaved a sigh of relief, happy that the orb did not detect anything weird about him. He would have imagined that the slovesa would be able to recognize the core that he absorbed into his body and subsequently be exposed.
Despite the terrible working conditions, they stuck to the schedule, following Cain’s orders and working hard. Soon, it was break time, allowing Ceres and Halyon to return to the dorm. It was only a fifteen minutes break until the matches in the arena began, though Ceres had no idea who was fighting who. Were humans supposed to fight the beasts or each other?
Above the dorm, they could hear thunderous stomping feet as more than a few thousand people attended the arena matches. It was almost like a cultural thing in Rockhold to attend a few arena matches before drinking out at a nearby pub, just like how people used to watch popular riots in New Saint.
The arena was packed to the brim, with Saul overlooking the crowded audience with a smile from his VIP seats high above. Two other individuals sat next to him, staring down into the crowd as well.
“What a pleasure to have you here today, White Fang. I must say it is quite a surprise that you decide to send your fighters here today to the arena. I hope our betting system does not offend you.” Saul smiled generously.
The ‘White Fang’ wore a similarly plain white exosuit that was marked with the logo of the rebellion – a burning bonfire – and a mask that had no features at all, a simple white dome. Saul looked greedily at the mask, knowing it was probably packed full of sensors and countermeasures, allowing the ‘White Fang’ to see everything.
“No need to worry, they are here for training. If they die here, they would have died for certain against our enemies.” The ‘White Fang’ said stoically.
“Saul, so my sending of rule-breakers is not worthy of your… pleasure?” A tanned skin woman folded her arms in mock anger, staring at Saul. She wore simple combat armour that covered her entire body, though Saul could already tell she probably had hidden weapons his guards could not detect.
The emblem of a queen chess piece was marked obviously on the chest plate. She was Julia, the right-hand woman of the Queen herself.
The second highest authority in Rockhold, she was the more public and diplomatic face of the organization, though she too packed a mean punch.
She had a similar bulky build to a bodybuilder, reminiscent of the Gladius bodybuilder club. If she and Braton were to meet, it might very well be a match made in heaven, except for the fact that Julia was ‘estimated’ to be close to sixty or seventy years old.
It’s been known that any mention or attempt at guessing her age will cause the said person to immediately cease existing in Rockhold.
“Of course not, Madam Julia. I always am extremely grateful to the Queen for providing my arena with a lifeline. I only hope the rulebreakers are more charismatic and forgiving this time. The last time they ripped up a few of my cleaners, it puts a burden on my business.”
“I’m sure the Queen has already renumerated you for their losses.”
“Yes, monetarily, but emotionally, my heart is torn at the loss of my beloved employees…”
“Know your place, Saul. You will get your benefit today. Do not think your arena can survive without our support.”
The arena lights suddenly dimmed down, before blasting a brilliant sequence of show lights that would give seizures to almost anyone.
[WELCOME TO ROCKHOLD ARENA! For all those who recently escaped here or just arrived, this arena runs daily, but big events like this specific one are held monthly! Betting, fighting, excitation! What more could you want from the arena!?]
The crowd cheered in excitement, causing the arena to vibrate. [Now the first match will be between a rulebreaker and a rare fighter with a bonfire logo? Big hint? But who cares who they are? We’re only here to bet! SO GET BETTING!]
A simple terminal was attached to every audience seat, allowing them to bet on either side and how much. [Betting closes in five seconds, get in or miss out!]
“This is a very interesting way of training your resistance fighters, ‘White Fang’,” Saul mentioned casually.
“We’re fighting an entire planet. Only real life and death situations can train them properly.”
[BETTING CLOSED! WHO NEED INTRODUCTIONS, LETS’S FIGHT!]
Two opposing arena gates immediately swung open, with the rulebreaker being flung out while the other fighter walked out normally. Both had been equipped with identical exosuits, which were an extremely generic basic design. They were armed with an energy rifle and metal sword each, while the arena had a simple rugged terrain with ditches and small mounds to serve as cover.
A remote unlocking procedure was sent to the rulebreaker, which immediately allowed him free movement. Instead of dashing towards the other fighter, he tried to jump onto the wall before leaping up above it.
Before he could reach the audience, the forcefield barrier activated and slammed him straight down into the ground, causing him to choke up blood.
None of the audience flinched even when he leapt, instead laughing at him. A few shook their heads as they betted on the rulebreaker.
[As ordained by the Queen, this particular rulebreaker is that he has been selling human organs… as a part of cup noodles!] The announcer began to tally the total number of different human organs he had been using to package cup noodles.
“FUCK YOU, THERE’S MORE HUMAN MEAT THAN GRODAWS IN ROCKHOLD TO USE!” The rulebreaker yelled while the audience boo-ed him, jeering at him.
“Idiot, if you sold it as a better food dish, I might just have eaten it myself!”
“Why the hell did you use a 50 L-credit kidney to package with cheap-ass cup noodles worth 0.2 L-credits? Are you dumb? The flavour is not even that good!”
[Hence, the crime is ‘wastage of valuable strategic resources’. The punishment is trial by combat duel. If he survives, he lives, but is no longer allowed to sell cup noodles!]
“DAMN YOU!” The rulebreaker yelled up at the ceiling. “I don’t want to die!” He angrily spun and took out his rifle, shooting at the other fighter with abandon.
Ducking behind cover, the other fighter did not shoot back, instead cowering behind a small mound [Oh my, the great bonfire fighter does not seem to be fighting back. Is he a coward? Or maybe he is a main character type? Will he evolve during this fight? Let’s cheer him on!]
Instead of cheering, the audience began to boo at the rebellion fighter too. “GET OUT THERE AND SHOOT, YOU SLIMY COWARD. I BET MY LIFE SAVINGS ON YOU!”
“Looks like your fighters need a lot more training.” The Queen’s representative, Julia, smirked while the ‘White Fang’ remained slient, not bothering to reply.
Ceres and Halyon were watching the fight too, albeit through a monitor. The cleaners were all stationed near the arena, and they were waiting in a room to move in the event one of the fighters died and they had to clean up the body and properly dispose of it.
“Wow, why the hell was the Keepers so uptight about catching rebels? This guy sucks! He’s basically a sitting duck” Halyon laughed, but Ceres did not laugh along.
Ceres could tell that the fighter was actually fairly young, about 16 years old. Not even he had been thrown into a life-or-death situation that young, and he had barely killed his first human only a few months ago at the age of 26.
However, the fact that the kid represented the rebellion was a bit shocking to Ceres.
Was the rebellion movements so blatant in Rockhold? He was fairly sure information was being collected on them by enforcer informants throughout the area, so why would they publicise such fights?
In the last few days, Ceres had not heard a single peep about any rebellion activities, but today they suddenly appear in full force. Ceres felt a certain scheme happening.
In the midst of the audience, a young lady was sitting quietly, unlike the rest of the rowdy men around her who were already on the verge of spluttering their drinks.
“Really, this can’t be the rebellion at all! It’s probably a fake used to lure us out.” Kitana muttered to herself, scoffing at the obvious fake information that the rebellion was trying to utilize. Based on her sources, she knew for a fact an important rebellion officer was here, but she could not spot anything.
She glanced at the VIP seats, but it was blocked off by a protective barrier, rendering it impossible for anyone in the audience to spot or even detect who was in the VIP section. The arena owner, Saul, had already had his fair share of assassinations to put up such a defence. “Most likely, the prize is in the VIP section…”
The rebellion fighter who cowered behind the ditch suddenly looked up at the White Fang, who just nodded in return. Suddenly, the rebellion fighter jumped out of his cover and walked towards the rulebreaker bravely, dropping his rifle to the ground and taking out his sword.
“HAHA, YOU DUMB KID. I LIVE TODAY!” The rule-breaker yelled, firing as fast and as long as he could on the energy rifle till it burned his palm. However, the rebellion fighter was unharmed, with the energy beams suddenly deflecting before they even reached him. It was as though there was a weird space around him that refracted everything that enter, causing the energy beam to go wide.
The crowd went wild, cheering loudly while Saul’s eyes bulged in surprise. “Transcendent? Or exotics? No, impossible, he’s only sixteen years old…”
Kitana too was in shock, watching the rebellion fighter effortlessly reach the rulebreaker. The rulebreaker threw his rifle at him, which suddenly warped and twisted into an unrecognizable hunk of metal as it approached the fighter.
The sight scared the rulebreaker, trying to run away when the rebellion fighter suddenly leapt forward and slashed downwards in an instant, decapitating the head of the rulebreaker.
[Oh my goodness - The trump card of the rebellion fighter! Was that transcendent? A superpower? Exotics? A modified forcefield module on the exosuit?]
Kitana immediately ran through all the possibilities. If the rebellion had such a fighter, it would be increasingly dangerous for the enforcers. It would be even worse if such an effect could be mass-produced on scale.
“I have to get this information out. Module or not, the rebellion has a new trump card.” Kitana gave up on the VIP section, knowing she had something much more important. She hastily left the arena, but she was not alone.
Four people with the Queen’s Guards emblem got up at the same time as her, trailing her out of the arena.
In the VIP section, Julia smiled as she stared at the ‘White Fang’. “It seems like your hunch was right. The enforcers did send a few spies into Rockhold.”
“As I said, the enforcers don’t respect any boundaries. The negotiation with your Queen is a sham, they are just trying to buy time to make your eyes look away.”
“Well, I thank you for exposing them. We will handle it immediately.” Julia bowed.
“Don’t corner them too much, we want this information to reach them. The more leaks the better.” The ‘White Fang’ did not show any expression, but Julia could hear a tinge of vengeful happiness in his voice.
The job was far from simple cleaning. The entire morning, Ceres and Halyon felt like they were being thrown around into various activities far beyond the original job scope mentioned on the flyer.
“I know they said this was dangerous, but it’s more disgusting rather than anything else.” Halyon almost belched as he tried to use a flimsy broom to shove a large dung pile out of an animal cage.
“Stop complaining and get to work - you’re holding up the others!” The foreman, Cain, yelled from across the room, in which there were hundreds of animal cages holding multiple exotic beasts and alien lifeforms both Ceres and Halyon had never seen before in their lives.
Surprisingly, the cages were much more well-designed, seemingly moulded to fit the beast’s natural habitat quite well. Some of the cages even had specialized temperature control to provide the optimum environment.
“I don’t recall being taught about any of these beasts here in Athen. I’ve barely seen any of them underground either.” Ceres whispered to Halyon as they continued shovelling a pile of gravy-like excrement out of the cage.
The inhabitant of the cage, a large vulture-like bird with four limbs clasped around a large fake wooden branch, cackled at them cleaning up its shit as though in mockery while it relaxed and sipped from a water tube hanging from the ceiling.
“They are illegal, idiot! Part of the exotic wildlife trade. Everything comes from off-world, maybe even the Beyond. And this fucking bird is living a better life than us!” Halyon whispered back angrily before Cain yelled again. “Alright, time’s up. Rotate cages!”
They continued cleaning up the cages and double-checking the food supply and water pump to each cage while Halyon continuously grumbled. Ceres could tell that the beasts were truly enjoying their stay in the cages, apart from a minority who kept clashing against the wall, trying to break free. “Hopefully we don’t get assigned to them.”
“ARGGGHHHH!” Another cleaner yelled in pain as his hand was burnt by a laser.
Cain immediately rushed over, dragging the cleaner out as the beast inside continued firing laser beams at the two of them. Cain quickly took out a gel spray from his pocket, coating the burnt hand and soothing it immediately.
“Damn it, Fei, I told you not to take your eyes off it when cleaning! Why the hell were you using your multi?” Cain exasperatedly said.
The cleaner, Fei, weakly groaned. “Sorry, boss. My ex-wife actually replied to one of my video messages after 5 years… she said she was hot and bothered and looking to mingle with me tonight…”
“That’s a scam call for sure. HEY, YOU TWO! YEA YOU TWO FIRST-TIMERS. Get this man to the doctor now!” Cain ordered.
The two supported Fei towards the doctor, though Fei had to guide them since it was their first day on the job. Halyon had become even more incensed at seeing how dangerous it was for the cleaners, and it had only been the first hour! “Shit, is that what Saul meant when the last team died?”
“Tim’s team? Oh no, they got ripped apart by a psychotic fighter off his meds. Took a while to take the fighter down. The beasts are usually pretty docile, apart from the ones who can eat humans or blast rocks for fun. Oh, and the slovesa.” Fei answered with friendliness, as though nothing significant had happened to him.
Entering the medical room, Ceres and Halyon were shocked to see that the doctor was a real slovesa. However, its body structure looked nothing like a humanoid rock golem, but rather like a floating orb the size of a chair, with a large embedded crystal that glowed purple and served as its eye. It had a mechanical translator attached to its surface, converting its speech into audio waves for human communication.
“What you two cunts looking at? Never seen a slovesa before huh? Well, aren’t you glad we have a ceasefire now, so I can’t rip your stupid looks off. Stop gaping there and put him on the bed.” The slovesa orb swore at them, hovering over the body of Fei once they laid him on the bed.
“Damn, this is the fifth time since Saul brought that bastard beast in. No one even knows which planet or even the system it came from, but it’s really making my work schedule miserable. I was supposed to mediate to a podcast on ‘Brownies for silicon-based life forms’.” The slovesa orb muttered as it unveil twenty minuscule arms with sharp tips of a dizzying assortment, observing the hand and scanning it.
“You’re lucky it didn’t damage the main mechanical shaft of the arm, it will only increase your debt by approximately another six months to repair this hand. Adding human skin again might cost a lot more though, not enough cloning skin circulating in Rockhold.” The orb continued.
“C’mon Doctor, there’s a chance my ex-wife might return. She left me because I didn’t have the money to cover up my hand in the first place. Please, help me cover it up with skin!” Fei pleaded with the doctor orb, who just sighed in response.
Suddenly it violently turned around, glaring at the two who carried Fei.
“What are you two numbskulls still doing here? GET TO WORK! If your incompetence makes my schedule hell, I’ll be sure to choose the worst prosthetic available for your missing limbs!” The orb yelled, making Ceres and Halyon run out of the room.
“What the hell is wrong with this place? It’s like it’s utter chaos in here.” Halyon grumbled as they walked back to the cages. Ceres instead heaved a sigh of relief, happy that the orb did not detect anything weird about him. He would have imagined that the slovesa would be able to recognize the core that he absorbed into his body and subsequently be exposed.
Despite the terrible working conditions, they stuck to the schedule, following Cain’s orders and working hard. Soon, it was break time, allowing Ceres and Halyon to return to the dorm. It was only a fifteen minutes break until the matches in the arena began, though Ceres had no idea who was fighting who. Were humans supposed to fight the beasts or each other?
Above the dorm, they could hear thunderous stomping feet as more than a few thousand people attended the arena matches. It was almost like a cultural thing in Rockhold to attend a few arena matches before drinking out at a nearby pub, just like how people used to watch popular riots in New Saint.
The arena was packed to the brim, with Saul overlooking the crowded audience with a smile from his VIP seats high above. Two other individuals sat next to him, staring down into the crowd as well.
“What a pleasure to have you here today, White Fang. I must say it is quite a surprise that you decide to send your fighters here today to the arena. I hope our betting system does not offend you.” Saul smiled generously.
The ‘White Fang’ wore a similarly plain white exosuit that was marked with the logo of the rebellion – a burning bonfire – and a mask that had no features at all, a simple white dome. Saul looked greedily at the mask, knowing it was probably packed full of sensors and countermeasures, allowing the ‘White Fang’ to see everything.
“No need to worry, they are here for training. If they die here, they would have died for certain against our enemies.” The ‘White Fang’ said stoically.
“Saul, so my sending of rule-breakers is not worthy of your… pleasure?” A tanned skin woman folded her arms in mock anger, staring at Saul. She wore simple combat armour that covered her entire body, though Saul could already tell she probably had hidden weapons his guards could not detect.
The emblem of a queen chess piece was marked obviously on the chest plate. She was Julia, the right-hand woman of the Queen herself.
The second highest authority in Rockhold, she was the more public and diplomatic face of the organization, though she too packed a mean punch.
She had a similar bulky build to a bodybuilder, reminiscent of the Gladius bodybuilder club. If she and Braton were to meet, it might very well be a match made in heaven, except for the fact that Julia was ‘estimated’ to be close to sixty or seventy years old.
It’s been known that any mention or attempt at guessing her age will cause the said person to immediately cease existing in Rockhold.
“Of course not, Madam Julia. I always am extremely grateful to the Queen for providing my arena with a lifeline. I only hope the rulebreakers are more charismatic and forgiving this time. The last time they ripped up a few of my cleaners, it puts a burden on my business.”
“I’m sure the Queen has already renumerated you for their losses.”
“Yes, monetarily, but emotionally, my heart is torn at the loss of my beloved employees…”
“Know your place, Saul. You will get your benefit today. Do not think your arena can survive without our support.”
The arena lights suddenly dimmed down, before blasting a brilliant sequence of show lights that would give seizures to almost anyone.
[WELCOME TO ROCKHOLD ARENA! For all those who recently escaped here or just arrived, this arena runs daily, but big events like this specific one are held monthly! Betting, fighting, excitation! What more could you want from the arena!?]
The crowd cheered in excitement, causing the arena to vibrate. [Now the first match will be between a rulebreaker and a rare fighter with a bonfire logo? Big hint? But who cares who they are? We’re only here to bet! SO GET BETTING!]
A simple terminal was attached to every audience seat, allowing them to bet on either side and how much. [Betting closes in five seconds, get in or miss out!]
“This is a very interesting way of training your resistance fighters, ‘White Fang’,” Saul mentioned casually.
“We’re fighting an entire planet. Only real life and death situations can train them properly.”
[BETTING CLOSED! WHO NEED INTRODUCTIONS, LETS’S FIGHT!]
Two opposing arena gates immediately swung open, with the rulebreaker being flung out while the other fighter walked out normally. Both had been equipped with identical exosuits, which were an extremely generic basic design. They were armed with an energy rifle and metal sword each, while the arena had a simple rugged terrain with ditches and small mounds to serve as cover.
A remote unlocking procedure was sent to the rulebreaker, which immediately allowed him free movement. Instead of dashing towards the other fighter, he tried to jump onto the wall before leaping up above it.
Before he could reach the audience, the forcefield barrier activated and slammed him straight down into the ground, causing him to choke up blood.
None of the audience flinched even when he leapt, instead laughing at him. A few shook their heads as they betted on the rulebreaker.
[As ordained by the Queen, this particular rulebreaker is that he has been selling human organs… as a part of cup noodles!] The announcer began to tally the total number of different human organs he had been using to package cup noodles.
“FUCK YOU, THERE’S MORE HUMAN MEAT THAN GRODAWS IN ROCKHOLD TO USE!” The rulebreaker yelled while the audience boo-ed him, jeering at him.
“Idiot, if you sold it as a better food dish, I might just have eaten it myself!”
“Why the hell did you use a 50 L-credit kidney to package with cheap-ass cup noodles worth 0.2 L-credits? Are you dumb? The flavour is not even that good!”
[Hence, the crime is ‘wastage of valuable strategic resources’. The punishment is trial by combat duel. If he survives, he lives, but is no longer allowed to sell cup noodles!]
“DAMN YOU!” The rulebreaker yelled up at the ceiling. “I don’t want to die!” He angrily spun and took out his rifle, shooting at the other fighter with abandon.
Ducking behind cover, the other fighter did not shoot back, instead cowering behind a small mound [Oh my, the great bonfire fighter does not seem to be fighting back. Is he a coward? Or maybe he is a main character type? Will he evolve during this fight? Let’s cheer him on!]
Instead of cheering, the audience began to boo at the rebellion fighter too. “GET OUT THERE AND SHOOT, YOU SLIMY COWARD. I BET MY LIFE SAVINGS ON YOU!”
“Looks like your fighters need a lot more training.” The Queen’s representative, Julia, smirked while the ‘White Fang’ remained slient, not bothering to reply.
Ceres and Halyon were watching the fight too, albeit through a monitor. The cleaners were all stationed near the arena, and they were waiting in a room to move in the event one of the fighters died and they had to clean up the body and properly dispose of it.
“Wow, why the hell was the Keepers so uptight about catching rebels? This guy sucks! He’s basically a sitting duck” Halyon laughed, but Ceres did not laugh along.
Ceres could tell that the fighter was actually fairly young, about 16 years old. Not even he had been thrown into a life-or-death situation that young, and he had barely killed his first human only a few months ago at the age of 26.
However, the fact that the kid represented the rebellion was a bit shocking to Ceres.
Was the rebellion movements so blatant in Rockhold? He was fairly sure information was being collected on them by enforcer informants throughout the area, so why would they publicise such fights?
In the last few days, Ceres had not heard a single peep about any rebellion activities, but today they suddenly appear in full force. Ceres felt a certain scheme happening.
In the midst of the audience, a young lady was sitting quietly, unlike the rest of the rowdy men around her who were already on the verge of spluttering their drinks.
“Really, this can’t be the rebellion at all! It’s probably a fake used to lure us out.” Kitana muttered to herself, scoffing at the obvious fake information that the rebellion was trying to utilize. Based on her sources, she knew for a fact an important rebellion officer was here, but she could not spot anything.
She glanced at the VIP seats, but it was blocked off by a protective barrier, rendering it impossible for anyone in the audience to spot or even detect who was in the VIP section. The arena owner, Saul, had already had his fair share of assassinations to put up such a defence. “Most likely, the prize is in the VIP section…”
The rebellion fighter who cowered behind the ditch suddenly looked up at the White Fang, who just nodded in return. Suddenly, the rebellion fighter jumped out of his cover and walked towards the rulebreaker bravely, dropping his rifle to the ground and taking out his sword.
“HAHA, YOU DUMB KID. I LIVE TODAY!” The rule-breaker yelled, firing as fast and as long as he could on the energy rifle till it burned his palm. However, the rebellion fighter was unharmed, with the energy beams suddenly deflecting before they even reached him. It was as though there was a weird space around him that refracted everything that enter, causing the energy beam to go wide.
The crowd went wild, cheering loudly while Saul’s eyes bulged in surprise. “Transcendent? Or exotics? No, impossible, he’s only sixteen years old…”
Kitana too was in shock, watching the rebellion fighter effortlessly reach the rulebreaker. The rulebreaker threw his rifle at him, which suddenly warped and twisted into an unrecognizable hunk of metal as it approached the fighter.
The sight scared the rulebreaker, trying to run away when the rebellion fighter suddenly leapt forward and slashed downwards in an instant, decapitating the head of the rulebreaker.
[Oh my goodness - The trump card of the rebellion fighter! Was that transcendent? A superpower? Exotics? A modified forcefield module on the exosuit?]
Kitana immediately ran through all the possibilities. If the rebellion had such a fighter, it would be increasingly dangerous for the enforcers. It would be even worse if such an effect could be mass-produced on scale.
“I have to get this information out. Module or not, the rebellion has a new trump card.” Kitana gave up on the VIP section, knowing she had something much more important. She hastily left the arena, but she was not alone.
Four people with the Queen’s Guards emblem got up at the same time as her, trailing her out of the arena.
In the VIP section, Julia smiled as she stared at the ‘White Fang’. “It seems like your hunch was right. The enforcers did send a few spies into Rockhold.”
“As I said, the enforcers don’t respect any boundaries. The negotiation with your Queen is a sham, they are just trying to buy time to make your eyes look away.”
“Well, I thank you for exposing them. We will handle it immediately.” Julia bowed.
“Don’t corner them too much, we want this information to reach them. The more leaks the better.” The ‘White Fang’ did not show any expression, but Julia could hear a tinge of vengeful happiness in his voice.
