This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!
Chapter 514: The Bloody Arena

Chapter 514: Chapter 514: The Bloody Arena

Chen Ke didn’t like this kind of atmosphere.

The underground space of 600 square meters was only lit by eight big lamps above the cage ring in the center of the venue. There was a two-to-three-meter gap between the ring and the stands, which were surrounded by trapezoidal seats.

These trapezoidal seats were rudimentary, having six levels that could barely accommodate people sitting down, everyone was squeezed in tightly, which was quite uncomfortable.

Hall sat to the right of Chen Ke, with a dense black crowd surrounding them, and more people were still entering. Unlike in the movies, where underground boxing venues are noisy, there was no talking here.

This was the underground fighting venue the black person had mentioned, cleaner than Chen Ke had imagined, but it was still far from a proper fighting venue.

A closer look revealed barbs on the iron cage’s wire mesh, and the spectators all held a small red ticket in their hands. Under the glaring light, there were unwashable bloodstains on the white surface of the ring.

A white man wearing a duckbill cap was moving among the rows of spectators, jotting something down in a notepad, rapidly writing while taking paper money from the spectators. Obviously, this was betting.

Hall nudged Chen Ke’s shoulder and handed him a cellphone.

He took it and saw that Hall had written a text message, probably because they were too closely watched and the attendees were sitting too closely to speak openly.

"When you were searched entering, where did you hide your gun?"

Chen Ke smiled. With a Dimension Pocket, he could carry his gun anywhere he wanted.

"I hid it in my trouser pocket."

Chen Ke typed a line of text and passed the cellphone back to Hall.

"No matter where you hide it, don’t get excited later."

Hall typed out a line with a laugh.

"What do you mean?"

Chen Ke replied.

"You aren’t planning to kill everyone here, are you?"

Hall typed.

Holding the cellphone, Chen Ke’s eyes swept left and right across the ring. Using Spiritual Vision, he pierced through the walls and saw the outlines in the fighters’ resting rooms. Despite the not-insubstantial number of spectators causing overlapping shapes, he could barely make out one fighter sitting on a bench waiting in each of the corridors to the left and the right.

"That will depend on the situation,"

Chen Ke typed.

Hall was a bit tense. Though he wasn’t exactly a model citizen, committing murder on a public street was not something he could do. The place was full of underground boxing forces, and Hall was very afraid that Chen Ke couldn’t restrain himself and would offend the local snakehead.

"Lucina won’t be at a disadvantage here; she can handle those men," Hall whispered directly, ditching the text messaging approach.

"It’s not about whether she can win. I just don’t want anyone else touching her," Chen Ke shook his head.

Just then, the man in the duckbill cap moved slowly toward their area, maneuvering through the narrow pathway between seats. The spectators were all taking out paper money to place bets; the stakes weren’t high, just about a hundred to two hundred dollars.

"Are you betting?" The duckbill cap collected the money, asking Chen Ke while keeping records.

Hall shook his head.

"Who are the fighters for the next match?" Chen Ke asked.

"Hehe, it’s Locomotive and Hungry Shark," the duckbill cap said.

"What are those...?" Chen Ke was unfamiliar with such nicknames.

"Locomotive is a retired P.W.A.T team member, and Hungry Shark used to be a construction worker. Most people are betting against Hungry Shark. Wanna place a bet?" the man in the duckbill cap said.

"I’ll pass on this match. I heard there’s going to be a female fighter," Chen Ke said.

"Oh... so you’re waiting for that match," the duckbill cap admitted.

"Looking forward to it," Chen Ke said.

"I get you, buddy, who doesn’t like watching a sexy little thing. But that’s the third match. Wild Female Tiger will be facing Human Power Drill," the duckbill cap said with a smile.

"Are those nicknames self-chosen, or did you guys come up with them?" Chen Ke frowned.

"Of course, we came up with them. The fighters only care about the money. Besides, they’re not very good at self-promotion, so having a memorable nickname is important," the duckbill cap explained.

"Then I’ll just... quietly wait," Chen Ke said.

The man in the duckbill cap moved toward the distant seats, temporarily leaving Chen Ke and Hall.

What followed was a long wait. Before Lucina stepped onto the stage, he had no choice but to watch two bloody brawls to the end; honestly, had he seen this competition before his travels, he too might have found it thrilling and heart-pounding.

But now, he only found it boring.

The competition was as he had anticipated, not a regular technical fight; there was no protection for the fighters, and even the setup of the arena was deliberately designed to cause injury.

No rules, anything goes. The fighters didn’t wear gloves or protective gear, they just faced each other with bare chests and fists, and the sound of punches hitting muscle echoed in the room, accompanied by rough roars and gasps.

Locomotive, as a former P.W.A.T member, was somewhat superior in fighting technique, but he surely had been drained of water, no longer possessing Spiritual Power; facing Hungry Shark, who was more muscular, he was quickly defeated.

Chen Ke watched as Locomotive was pinned against the cage by Hungry Shark and pummeled with countless punches, his back muscles torn to shreds by the barbs in the wire, his head protected by his arms, his abs turned to purple pulp by Hungry Shark’s heavy fists, vomiting everything in his stomach onto the ring.

"Shit, that’s exhilarating... Chen Ke, do you like this sport?" Hall rubbed his hands, yelling along with the surrounding audience, seemingly forgetting the purpose of their visit.

"Did you say Lucina used to come here too?" Chen Ke asked.

"Not here, but somewhere similar. She came secretly behind Hainerd’s back," Hall said.

"Is she short of money?" Chen Ke asked again.

The postman made a fortune by stealing Holy Relics; flipping them quickly could net a tidy sum for each person, there was no need to earn money here, right?

"It’s not about money, as I said, Lucina is a very sensitive woman, she may be rough on the surface, but her heart is delicate," Hall said.

"You’re kidding me... Unless she’s undefeated, she must have suffered in the cage," Chen Ke shook his head.

"I don’t know, she always manages on her own," Hall said.

"Hmph..." Chen Ke sighed, his muscles tensed up, he was resolute, as soon as Lucina set foot on the stage, he’d take her away. Anyone who dared to stand in their way would be killed with moonlight.

"Chen Ke, don’t get worked up. She can handle herself this time too; all we have to do is wait for her to vent, then find her, and take her away. Rather than worrying about Lucina, spare a thought for that guy called the Human Drill..." Hall said.

Half an hour passed.

"Ahhhhh..." The white fighter’s face was pressed against the wire mesh, screaming in pain.

Behind him, the black fighter was holding his arm, pinning him against the wire mesh, the barbs embedding deeply into his flesh, his pectoral muscles ground to a bloody mess.

The previous match was decisively won by Hungry Shark, who fought Locomotive for four rounds, completely defeating him in the end. In fact, by the second round, Locomotive was already half-dead.

Chen Ke could see that the competition here was purely about reveling in the fighter’s suffering, the bloodthirsty citizens of the United Federation loved watching such things, the competitiveness of the match was irrelevant; even the betting was just an appetizer, the real meal was the bloodied state of the fighters and their wails.

"Hmm... a bunch of psychos," Chen Ke muttered to himself.

Hall had noticed that Chen Ke didn’t like this place and didn’t care for the competition, so he toned down his behavior, quietly watching.

The wait was excruciating. The fourth round finally ended when the black fighter stepped on the white fighter on the floor.

The two matches took just over an hour, and the disparity in strength between the opponents was too great, no, it should be said that the matches were fixed...

Because through Spiritual Vision, Chen Ke saw Locomotive dividing money with some people in the dressing room; although the fight was rigged, his injuries were real, even if he pocketed tens of thousands of dollars, a lot would end up in the hospital, or perhaps... He’d just have to tough it out?

This made Chen Ke helplessly think about what happens when public servants of the Administration Bureau retire. Do all retired P.W.A.T members have to fight in rigged matches to earn money? How miserable could that be?

"It’s starting... look, there’s Lucina," Hall nudged Chen Ke, as a reminder.

Chen Ke looked up and saw two fighters walking onto the stage from opposite sides; the woman on the left was indeed Lucina.

She wore a red cropped tank top and black shorts, her hair tied in a ponytail, her chocolate-colored skin and sharply defined muscular lines casting complex shadows under the light.

The fighter on the other side was a black bruiser, looking quite similar to the black fighter from the second match. Then again, who can tell Black People apart? This one must be the Human Drill...

Seeing Lucina, the audience erupted in excitement, all spewing out abusive and derogatory slurs.

"Tear that little bitch apart!"

"Give her a taste of pain!"

These voices irritated Chen Ke, his eyes fixed on the Human Drill, a murderous aura swirling behind him.

"Chen Ke... don’t get worked up, she can handle it," Hall said.

Chen Ke ignored Hall. As the event staff prepared to announce the start of the match, he suddenly stood up and walked toward the cage.