Page 463
Page 463
"Hehe, just kidding~"
Geeta drew her longsword and began sharpening the blade as she spoke:
"After all, you said that according to the progress of the Dream Nail, the underground journey will be over soon. It's only natural to think about taking a vacation! Snyder, you agree, right? Tell me your plans?"
"Ah I?"
Snyder, who always stood quietly behind the crowd, nervously pointed to himself, then rubbed the hem of his clothes, pinched his mask to cover the lower half of his face, hesitated for a moment, and whispered:
"I also want to see the official opening of Titania."
"This is nothing!" Geeta released the whetstone from her hand, grabbed Snyder's arm, pulled him in front of the crowd, and said with a smile:
"We can't just let you go back to that dilapidated village and struggle to make ends meet, can we? Take this opportunity to have Lord Latis find you a job, and pull some strings with him!"
"?"
Latis opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words to retort to Geeta, this precocious young lady. He could only glare at her fiercely, sigh helplessly, and say to the bewildered Snyder:
"Indeed, although you initially only wanted to exchange for the Holy City's chance to rescue your brother, you've definitely become one of our own along the way. When we get back, we'll definitely make sure you live a good life."
"what……"
Snyder blinked, clutching his mask, thought for a moment, and asked:
"Sir, are we doing what heroes should do?"
Latis paused for a moment upon hearing this, glanced at the group of people who were all deep in thought, rubbed his chin for a moment, and began to recall his experiences along the way.
It seems that even though he is called a hero, he is not entirely righteous. Even now, he is still considered an evil human in Zote's eyes. However, the places he passed through did indeed have good results. It can only be said that, just as initially thought, he has become a more powerful tram, crushing all the problems that needed to be solved.
Perhaps this is the difference between traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes... the difference between a traditional hero and Taratius.
"Probably?" He hesitated for a moment before answering. "Although it was initially just to solve the problems that the Church of Light might encounter in the future, it has helped many people along the way."
"Then I'm satisfied."
Snyder removed his mask, smiled slightly, and said:
"After I go back, all I need to do is stay somewhere where I can see the master often."
……
……
"These brats are really hard to deal with..."
Latis returned to the audience seats, shook his head, took out the bone fragment from his pocket, and examined it again.
There's a theory he didn't mention it to his teammates earlier because it seemed too far-fetched, and he himself thought it was unlikely.
That is, he vaguely felt that this thing was a kind of item exchanged from the magic network. Such a product with an extremely high level of magical research is almost impossible to exist naturally, and the underground monsters do not have the economic basis to conduct magical research.
Of course, it's not impossible that there might be monster scientists like Doctor Octopus among the underground monsters, but he still felt that this thing came from the magic network, which was more in line with his understanding of this world.
However, there is no time to explore this further at the moment.
Latis put the conjecture back in his mind, stroked his chin, looked at the next game that was about to begin, and placed his bet into the coin slot.
……
The afternoon matches proceeded smoothly. The girls narrowly defeated the 52nd ranked fourth-ring monster, the Mantis Blademan, in the fifth match. Due to insufficient strength, they decided to stop there and not force themselves to continue in the next match.
Latis agreed with this, after all, being on a winning streak, if they weren't careful, their next opponent would be a whole level higher, which would be too risky for them.
After conveying his request to the Rat Manager to end the match, the Rat Manager naturally agreed very quickly. Latis knew that the Colosseum had already gained enough audience enthusiasm from the girls' matches and was satisfied with what they had brought them.
As for the Rat Manager's somewhat absent-minded behavior, Latis knew that he was naturally fantasizing about Zote. However, after asking around, Latis still couldn't find out anything about tonight's special championship match.
As for the information about Radiance and Moth Warriors, Manager Rat didn't deliberately hide anything, but it seemed that the Colosseum officials didn't know much either. After listening, Latis felt that further investigation was needed.
It turns out that before Radiance emerged from the deep underground, it had competed in the Fools' Arena. At that time, Radiance was far less powerful than it would become later, but it still managed to win the championship.
As champion, Radiance acquired several greatswords from the Colosseum, which were far stronger than ordinary weapons. These greatswords were one of the reasons why Radiance was able to become invincible and famous.
The Rat Manager then boasted smugly about the secret deal that the Colosseum and Radiance had made, but no matter how much Latis pressed him for details, he refused to reveal a single word, so the matter was dropped.
In the days that followed, Radiance trained in the Moth Tribe in the shallow underground and erected a huge arena in the chaotic shallow underground at that time. Under its leadership, the various races began to replace their endless battles with arena matches, which can be regarded as a temporary opportunity for the monsters to achieve peace and development. However, after it went to the surface, such appearances gradually disappeared.
Latis immediately recalled the huge arena near the Naga tribe. He had been wondering what the arena was used for, but he never expected it to be used for something similar to the Olympic Games.
The information about the Fool's Arena also mentions traces of Radiance after its return from the underground, but it is only described in a simple sentence: "Someone once saw Radiance at the 'Lake of Oblivion'."
After remembering this information, Latis began to inquire about the Moth Warriors. He didn't particularly value any clues about the Moth Warriors, but after experiencing the story of the Moth Tribe, he heard that there were still moths alive, so he was curious and wanted to find out more.
The information about the Moth Warrior is quite clear, probably because it is not a god, but an ordinary monster.
According to Manager Rat, the Moth Warriors only began operating in the shallow underground decades after the Radiance returned to the earth. Their aim was likely to save the declining moth tribe, or perhaps to save the shallow underground after the Olympic Games were abandoned.
In short, the Moth Warrior began his journey, and after passing through the Mossy Land, he followed the Radiance all the way to the deep underground.
In the Colosseum of Fools, the Moth Warrior lived up to expectations and won the championship. As a reward for winning the championship, it hoped to gain power comparable to the Radiance. Of course, this request could not be fulfilled, so it only asked for some travel expenses and set off again.
As for its final destination, it was following the direction of the radiance, so it naturally appeared at the "Lake of Oblivion".
After processing these two pieces of information, Latis left the manager's office and led his teammates to the stands.
Actually, he originally wanted to explore other areas of the upper levels of the arena to verify whether the magic net he had guessed existed. Unfortunately, the higher he went, the more monsters there were, and the guards were too strict. Even with the "invisibility spell" applied, he would probably still be touched by these monsters of various sizes.
If I could use the Holy Grail to gain the disguise ability from Silver Shul later, I could sneak in under the watchful eyes of others, but right now there aren't many ways to do so without alerting anyone.
After returning to the stands, Latis watched as Zote played four more matches in a row, all of which were "expectedly" consecutive victories. His ranking on the ladder jumped from 65th to 9th, with almost no setbacks.
No, rather, it was almost all twists and turns. Several times, Zote looked like he was about to be killed, but his opponent was instantly taken down by the "Life Terminator," thus turning defeat into victory.
"That's enough... It's always the same old story. Give the audience some satisfaction! Just throw in the ending!"
Latis couldn't help but complain speechlessly. He could naturally see that after he taught him some combat techniques, Zote was consciously engaging in serious duels. However, the difference in strength was too great to be resolved by one or two bursts of power.
The difference in skill level is like night and day. Even if a hundred Zotes were combined, they could probably only give the current enemy a foot massage. It's only because Zote has a hard head that he can still stand up and curse after being beaten several times. Maybe that's a kind of talent.
However, while Latis had seen enough of this Hollywood blockbuster comeback, the atmosphere among the other audience members grew increasingly heated. More and more viewers had realized that the Colosseum was planning a big upset at the end, and while mockingly applauding Zote, they were also secretly looking forward to the final outcome.
The girls didn't seem to feel much about it, perhaps because being a spectator wasn't as thrilling or exciting as being in actual combat, so they all leaned on each other and started to doze off.
Aside from Jennifer, this guy took all of Latis's Big Coins and started intently analyzing the various battle situations to place bets or go all in. By the time night fell on the simulation panel, she already had more than 50,000 Big Coins in her hand.
Latis was quite troubled by this. The monster's currency was useless, and it was inconvenient to carry so much of it. However, seeing that Jennifer was having fun, he had no choice but to let her have her way.
With another victory, Zote has climbed to third place on the ladder, and is now very close to the championship.
However, Latis noticed from afar the somber expression on Zote's triangular head. Although he still looked arrogant when welcoming the cheers of the audience, he did not seem excited or happy about the championship that was about to be won.
Latis stroked his chin, and after a moment of thought, stood up from the audience, intending to take one last look at Zote.
He had a feeling that he might be able to learn something from Zote this time.
Chapter 449 Championship
crunch--
Zuo Te lay on the rocking chair with his hands behind his head, watching the battle through the intersecting fences of the waiting area. His dark eyes were unblinking, seemingly focused, but in reality, he had been walking for quite a while.
From the moment it was born, it has always had a dream.
In dreams, it is the supreme arena champion, bringing light to the world amidst the cheers and shouts of the audience.
However, upon returning to reality, it reverted to being a dwarf holding a wooden spike.
Zote remembers that before embarking on his journey, he would always catch the villagers passing by and boast about his strength and future achievements, only to be met with impatient eye rolls and complaints from them. Over time, he became a lone wolf.
However, at the time, Zote did indeed hold the mindset that "a lion does not need to associate with sheep." Even when ridiculed and criticized, it simply believed that mortals had no chance to see its true face, and instead looked at others with sympathy.
"All the people under heaven are but mud, I am the only king in the world!"
After it embarked on its journey with these words, it did indeed hear fewer and fewer complaints. Although this was due to leaving civilized society, it generally became more and more confident.
Of course, the main reason is that recurring dream.
Zote rocked back and forth in the rocking chair, lost in thought.
Ever since it won a few matches in the arena, that dream has appeared from time to time when it's daydreaming. Although it doesn't affect its daydreaming state, sometimes it wonders why it always has to be this dream, and what this dream symbolizes.
"Wait... why did I suddenly think of all this?"
Zuo Te straightened up and scratched his head, suddenly feeling like he was starting to grow a brain. It seemed that after a series of victories, his state was also quietly changing. Things he wouldn't think about before, he was now subconsciously starting to think about. But he hadn't gotten used to this state yet, and sometimes he didn't even realize that he was thinking about problems.
Although I don't know exactly what happened, it seems like a good thing.
Zote lay back in the rocking chair, watching the battle between the fourth and second ranked players on the ladder outside, and couldn't help but yawn.
Since rising to third place, the conditions in its waiting area have improved. It now has rocking chairs and sofas, wooden dummies and sandbags for practicing combat skills, and even a dedicated chef to prepare dishes.
Speaking of the cook, a shadow suddenly flashed through its mind, as if it had been cheated by the cook at some point in the past.
Zuo Te couldn't help but shiver. He quickly shook his head to shake off the ominous feeling, then jumped off the rocking chair and looked at the still-raging battle, shaking his head disdainfully.
Although this arena has a ladder ranking system, championship matches are not held every day. The strength of the top players on the ladder is always dynamically balanced, and no one can consistently suppress the other challengers, so the battles are always very close.
Challengers want to win the match but don't want to expend too much energy and be taken advantage of by later competitors, so they can only dawdle and look for their opponent's weaknesses, and in the end, they always fail to win.
However, since Zote has come, there will definitely be a championship match tonight, whether for its victory and glory or for the arena's own arrangement, the championship match will inevitably take place.
Thinking of this, Zuo Te snorted coldly and gripped his sword.
Yes, as its thinking ability grew stronger, it had already discovered the problem from the repeated oddities in those battles. Even though it was confident that its strength would one day be unmatched, the "Life Terminator" made of just an ordinary wooden spike could not possibly possess such magical abilities. Moreover, Latis had also said that there was a conspiracy behind it, which confirmed its own thoughts.
It is not that it cannot win, nor is it that it cannot admit defeat. The hardships along the way are the mark of a great person, and for the great Zote, they should also be accepted.
Unfortunately, it no longer had a chance to lose.
Zote shook his head regretfully, and was about to walk to the door to hurl insults at the two monsters still dawdling in the arena, when he suddenly noticed a human slowly walking out of the corridor next to him.
With a powerful stride and an imposing presence, he exudes an aura of steroids that could grant longevity with just a whiff.
It's Latis.
Zote scratched his chin and muttered something, recalling the combat skills that Latis had taught him. He immediately pouted and plopped back down in the rocking chair.
……
……
"Hey, Zote!"
Latis entered Zote's room, glanced at Zote who was lying in a rocking chair lost in thought, raised an eyebrow and said:
dmims