Deep in the Living
Chapter 131 - 125 Fighting Hall

Chapter 131: Chapter 125 Fighting Hall

In the Duel Arena,

the physical appearances of the combatants are as follows:

[Pseudo-Person]: with huge deer antlers atop its head, the entire skull is nearly that of a deer’s, possessing a terrifying maw of sharp teeth that can easily bite through the neck of an ordinary human. About 60% of its naked body is covered with hair, and its feet are hoof-like.

The muscles on its arms are incredibly developed, and its thick nails are highly lethal.

Aside from its antlers, it stands about 1.9m tall and weighs up to 110kg.

[Human]: A middle-aged man dressed only in tight shorts, his upper body bare, standing at 182cm tall and weighing 90kg. The scars crisscrossing his muscular frame attest to his past combat experiences.

He also wears a pair of metal gauntlets on his arms, which bear a distinct aura of being accouterments from the Corner.

Luo Di was captivated by this pure physical brawl, realizing that more than ten minutes had passed without his notice.

The team leader next to him did not interrupt but simply waited quietly.

Finally, the contest approached its end,

just as the middle-aged man found the right moment to knock the Deer Antler Monster to the ground, ready to mount the creature and shatter its entire deer head.

A sudden kick came out of nowhere, shattering the man’s kneecap completely.

Before the man could fall into agony on one knee, the huge deer antlers impaled his body and hoisted it high.

The duel was over.

After tossing aside the corpse, the Deer Antler Monster then voluntarily deactivated "Fear Embodiment," transforming back into a bruised, brown-haired woman with her opponent’s blood still staining her crown.

Without resistance,

without expression,

she merely walked down from the arena to the sound of the audience’s cheers, returning to her rest room.

Meanwhile, at the top of the Duel Arena, a projection window of the victor popped up; this Deer Antler Monster had now achieved three victories.

Some of the audience also started discussing "pituitary quality," particularly some in the members’ area, who seemed decided on spending a high price to purchase the Deer Antler Monster’s pituitary gland.

Luo Di, on the other hand, was entirely fired up by the match and was about to say something to Wu Wen when—

Click!

His tongue instinctively clicked.

The click was muted by the mask and, coupled with the noisy Duel Arena, only Luo Di could hear it.

It seemed like some danger was approaching from behind.

A gender-neutral voice also came from behind at the same time:

"Isabella, it’s been a long time since you’ve been here."

"Shea! Long time no see."

As Luo Di turned around,

the team leader was gently embracing a woman of similar height, with her rubber clothes cheek pressed against the other’s cold helmet.

This woman, known as ’Shea,’ wore a knight’s armor (dark color) crafted with modern techniques.

Feminine, light, with simple lines yet not lacking in sturdiness.

The helmet might feature a visor structure, allowing a pair of completely white, pupil-less eyes to peer out through the slit, observing the outside world.

The chest armor had a special design to accommodate a woman’s curves. The shoulder and arm armors were not exaggerated, adopting a lightweight design that hugged the arms, which didn’t hinder agility.

Even though Luo Di had not clashed with her, nor seen the real body beneath that armor, he could be sure that this woman’s danger could well surpass that of Isabella.

"A core member of the Sisterhood?"

The team leader mimicked Isabella’s movements and speech effortlessly and quickly steered the conversation towards Luo Di.

"My final preparations are complete, ready to perform interstice screening at any time.

However, while preparing, I accidentally found a very suitable ’boyfriend’ for myself, whom I wish to cultivate as a ’partner.’"

The team leader’s hands gently rested on Luo Di’s left shoulder, and she leaned her head in close.

This gesture naturally drew Shea’s attention; the knight helmet’s pure white eyeballs turned towards him, scrutinizing Luo Di for the first time.

"Partner? Are you sure?"

"Absolutely certain! My nursing home was not taking in anyone, but then one day, while I was out strolling, I happened to see this guy in an alley who naturally loves to kill.

Just a human, yet he has already killed quite a few.

He possesses an extremely high fighting talent and can withstand the injections in my nursing home. He has now become my personal boyfriend."

So, I brought him over to the Fighting Hall to test out his real skills. If he’s good, I’d like to apply for a companion permit."

"A murderer?"

Shea directly stretched out her hand and pinched Luo Di’s other shoulder, her fingers continuously penetrating inward with force.

Luo Di instinctively tensed his muscles as well, with the opposing force growing steadily, seemingly intent on crushing his shoulder muscles completely.

"Quite a fine physique; you actually managed to find such a good ’boyfriend’."

Suddenly, the class monitor slapped Shea’s hand away, "Sister Shea, don’t exert too much force! If my boyfriend gets hurt by you, he can’t enter the arena later.

Why don’t we just sit in the private box later and watch his performance?

Oh, this is for you by the way."

Shea, who was a bit angry for having her hand slapped away, found herself holding two syringes filled with light pink meat paste injections.

Her mood changed for the better in an instant, "I’ll go reserve a private box and wait for you, looking forward to your boyfriend’s performance."

The class monitor waved goodbye while swiftly leaving with Luo Di’s arm in hers.

On the other end, Shea couldn’t wait to inject one of the syringes into her neck, her body convulsing slightly, and her eyes rapidly quivering.

...

The class monitor led Luo Di down a completely sealed staircase heading deep into the Combat Hall.

"Phew! Shea is really here.

With her as a ’witness’, as long as your performance is good enough, the Sisterhood will be notified, and they’ll prepare to welcome you in advance."

"A core member of the Sisterhood."

"That’s right, Shea is a very special Pseudo-Person, you could even say the most inspirational one. In our previous school, she would be like someone with no talent at all but climbing to the first place through sheer effort.

Of course, learning things, you can’t climb to the top just by hard work.

But it’s different for Pseudo-People, their ’talents’ are no longer completely locked under the influence of the Corner. Shea’s strength ranks in the top three among the Sisterhood’s core members.

She’s stronger than both Isabella and me.

She was the first to emerge from here, this underground city, this Fighting Hall is her ’home’, so she spends most of her free time here."

"Most Pseudo-People in this Fighting Hall come from psychiatric hospitals, right? They’re very ordinary, filtered out by psychological detection."

"Yeah, Shea is the most ordinary of them.

She was transferred directly from the Third Hospital, and when she first came to the Duel Arena, she hadn’t even reached half a year here.

According to the Investigation Bureau, her pituitary is of the ’ordinary type’ with shallow depth, and her Fear Embodiment is the most common ’Zombie’.

At first, she couldn’t even confront the whispers of the Corner, and once she expressed her Fear Embodiment morphing into a Zombie, she’d lose her self-consciousness.

But such an ordinary Pseudo-Person managed to keep winning. Even when they arranged much stronger opponents for her, she always managed to come out on top.

She was the first Pseudo-Person to reach a ’thirty consecutive wins’.

It’s through pure physical combat, again and again at the brink of life and death, that she gradually regained her self-consciousness, and her body as a Zombie kept becoming more powerful.

Even the ’Corner’ began to acknowledge her, support her, making her different from the others.

Of course, the continuous victories also attracted the Investigation Bureau’s attention, and since she had reached two years of being a Pseudo-Person, she was completely eligible for the interstice screening.

But since Shea as a star fighter brought huge profits to the Fighting Hall, and some of those profits also went to the Investigation Bureau, they decided to delay it a bit.

The eyes of our Sisterhood had been on her for ages, and taking advantage of a visit from our Grandmother, using the Corner’s feature to transfer and rescue her, Shea officially became a member of the Sisterhood.

It’s Shea’s escape that led the local Investigation Bureau to send more staff to Eden and significantly shorten the lifespan of these Pseudo-People.

Even if they keep winning, even if they’re star fighters, they can’t be allowed to last more than one and a half years before their pituitary is removed."

"Zombies..."

Luo Di also recalled the pallor of the eyes behind the other’s knightly face mask, indeed consistent with that of a Zombie.

"Shea, in some ways, is similar to you! She’s naturally combative, with a simple and pure goal, to constantly grow stronger through killing and fighting.

Even after being rescued by Grandmother, she would still disguise herself and come back here to watch the combat matches.

Alright~ Now it’s time to get you registered!

Luo Di, you must be fond of this, right? The purest, simplest form of one-on-one combat.

No need to waste time investigating anomalies, no need to face any consequences of killing, just stand up in the Duel Arena and fight till death with Pseudo-People.

Of course, there are conditions. You must not expose your Connector identity, not even the identity of Luo Di can be revealed too much!

Enjoy it under your current guise of a Murderer."