Chapter 1996 A Game of Life or Death!
Xin Xiaoqi turned on the standard crystal processor that she had received from the ‘Godly Fist Union’ just now and logged into a local area network. Very soon, a list of quests and their conditions were displayed in the green, glittering light beam like a waterfall.
According to Xin Xiaoqi, the Fist King and the leader of Liberty City were still recruiting warriors and making preparations for the final battle. Both parties had sent countless invitation cards across the entire Land of Sins, hiring gangs and thugs to join their own camp with appealing rewards.
The Fist King had risen unstoppably in recent years, and his reputation was at its peak. Most of the gangs and thugs had more hope in him and were joining him incessantly from everywhere. Therefore, the Fist King’s force was growing stronger after each day, and he was not in a hurry to attack the city immediately, instead simply blocking the main road between Liberty City and the Bloody Plateau with Great Iron City, his mobile fortress, while deploying an army to lay siege to Liberty City.
Ever since the day he started to make preparations to attack the city, the asset supplies from the Heavenly Rails to Liberty City had been cut off. Suspicions had obviously been raised about Xiahou Wuxin’s qualification as the leader of Liberty City, and the asset supplies from the Heavenly Rails to this Elysian World would not be restored until the collision of the two giants was over.
Xiahou Wuxin had been strictly restrained to Liberty City. He had attempted to break the siege and reclaim the main road between Liberty City and the outside world many times, only to be stopped by the Fist King every time.
However, the Fist King could not wait indefinitely.
The resources consumed by the disobedient thugs and bandits every day because of daily needs and training were astronomical.
Besides, a lot of tough bandits had their own turf from which they earned a lot of money every day. It was impossible for them to besiege Liberty City with the Fist King for long.
Furthermore, the tough bandits often had unpleasant histories with each other. The more gangs were there, the fiercer their conflicts would be. They were unorganized in the first place, and once their number surpassed the limits of the commander, they would very likely become a tray of loose sand and collapse on their own before they attacked the city.
Therefore, Xin Xiaoqi estimated that the Fist King would definitely launch an attack on Liberty City after recruiting soldiers for one month at most.
During the one month, the conflicts between the two parties both openly and in secret naturally occurred every day. As a result, a myriad of different quests had been generated.
They could choose to become the guards of the Fist King’s camp to resist the assaults from Liberty City.
Naturally, they could also participate in the scout squads or the assault squads to sneak into Liberty City for reconnaissance or sabotage.
They could also go to every part of the Bloody Plateau to search for the wavering gangs and coerce them into joining the Fist King’s side.
They could even locate the gangs who were loyal to the leader of Liberty City and assassinate them as a warning for everybody else, exactly as Li Yao pretended to do in Double Dragons City.
All in all, the ‘game’ that the Immortal Cultivators had carefully designed was free of the restrictions of any rule. One could do whatever they wanted as long as they were strong enough.
As they accomplished their missions, their ratings would become higher and higher. After they had earned their reputation, they would be qualified from carrying out missions of a higher level. In the end, they might be picked by the Fist King to charge into Liberty City together with him!
After hearing Xin Xiaoqi’s introduction, Red Viper scrolled down the list of quests on the light beam causally before she asked with a smile, “What about the weapons, ammunition, and other gear?”
“The Fist King will provide the most basic chainswords, storm bolters, and ancillary power armor,” Xin Xiaoqi said. “However, the magical equipment of a higher level or tailor-made weapons must be purchased by ourselves. It is always a major event in the Land of Sins when an expert intends to attack an Elysian World. All the gangs everywhere will come to trade with their most exquisite equipment and rarest treasures. So, there is a very large black market here, where you can buy whatever you want as long as you have the money!
“It is alright even if you do not have the money. You can buy it in exchange for your own magical equipment, loot the logistical teams of Liberty City after taking pillage and assault quests, or participate in the games in the arena.
“Do not underestimate the arenas here. Although they are only temporary, their level is very high because the experts on the entire Land of Sins have gathered here. The competition is fierce. Many experts who are not known now want to gain their fame with this place as a start.
“In short, the rivalry between the Fist King and the leader of Liberty City is a great stage, on which every ambitious person can distinguish themself and leave their name on the boundless Land of Sins. As long as you are strong enough, everything will flow into your pocket!”
“Interesting.” Red Viper smiled and nodded at the two little fellows, “Hey, hurry up and set up our tent. Then, we will visit the arenas. My teammates here are starving!”
“Hehehe.” ‘Black Spear’, the muscular man who had a dark skin tone, rubbed his fists and grinned hideously. “I cannot wait to examine the quality of the so-called experts of the Land of Sins.”
“It is indeed interesting.” The mental devil also chuckled lazily next to Li Yao’s soul, “What kind of ‘war’ is this? It is just a ‘game’ that is carefully planned for the players, who are Immortal Cultivators. It is rather hilarious that ‘Fist King’ Lei Zonglie and Xiahou Wuxin, the leader of Liberty City, cannot avoid their fate of being manipulated by the Immortal Cultivators, however ambitious and smart they may be. They are nothing more than a few ‘props’ in this large survival game. Tsk, tsk, tsk. How pathetic!”
“An interesting thought has just occurred to me,” Li Yao said. “Do you think Lei Zonglie and Xiahou Wuxin are aware of the truth?”
The mental devil was slightly dazed. Then it said, “Since Xiahou Wuxin controls an Elysian World and allegedly has a lot of allies in the City in the Sky, it is possible that he knows part of the truth, isn’t it? But ‘Fist King’ Lei Zonglie must know none of it. He is still dwelling in the fantasy that he is the hero of the ‘war game’!”
“That’s right,” Li Yao said. “If we can find an opportunity to inform ‘Fist King’ Lei Zonglie and Xiahou Wuxin of all the truths, what will happen?”
The mental devil snorted and said, “Don’t act rashly. Both the Fist King and the leader of Liberty City must be closely monitored by the Immortal Cultivators. Since the Immortal Cultivators are bold enough to arrange such a game, they must be very confident that everything is under their control. For them, everybody in the Land of Sins, including the experts in the Nascent Soul Stage, are nothing more than carefully-refined test subjects, no different from cockroaches and mice.
“Even if you can instigate the Fist King and leader of Liberty City to rebel, there will be little they can do about Manjusaka. You will only expose yourself.”
“It does make sense.”
After pondering for a moment, Li Yao said, “However, I don’t think that we are fighting alone. Don’t forget that there is still the mysterious Starlight. If a secret resistance organization of Cultivators has indeed been active in the darkness of the Land of Sins for hundreds of years, I don’t believe that they will not show up in an event as great as the Battle of Liberty City.”
Li Yao smiled and looked at the three cocky and ignorant ‘players’. He said casually, “Perhaps we will have a chance to present a great ‘surprise’ to those Immortal Cultivators.
“Since you have turned a land of milk and money into one of sins and transformed living human beings into test subjects and chess pieces in a game, just let me play the game of life or death with you!”
…
In the Fist King’s camp, the enormous tents had been filled with the stink of blood and sweat. They were almost like hot-air balloons that were about to soar into the sky.
The iron chains with sharp thorns were bent into tiny sphere cages and hung in midair before they were connected to high-voltage electric arcs. Dazzling sparks were raised in the collision of chains now and then, turning into the most splendid waterfall that splashed onto the audience below. The stinging feeling further activated their most primitive, animalistic intuitions.
“Kill them all!”
“Go now, you loser!”
“Stand up. Stand up now, or I will kill you!”
Countless brawny, hideous men were waving their furry fists and roaring at the gladiators in the cage.
“Ohhh. ‘Mad Ox’ from the Black Flag Gang has killed his ninth opponent. His ninth! Is anybody here bold enough to challenge ‘Mad Ox’? The prize pool has accumulated a hundred and twenty standard boxes of spiritual energy! Come on, you pussies! Come now! Great! At last, somebody with balls! What’s your name? Black Spear? Black Spear of the Red Viper Squad!”
In the middle of boos, ‘Black Spear’, the dark, muscular Immortal Cultivators, slowly took off his shirt and grabbed the electrified chains with a face of mockery, not caring about them at all, before he crawled into the bloodstained cage.
“You’re screwed.”
Outside of the arena, Xin Xiaoqi covered her face and said to Han Te and Liu Li lethargically, “To tell you the truth, the three of them have been hired at a great fortune to take part in the Battle of Liberty City. Since you have gotten involved in this and heard them introducing themselves, there is no way that you can get out of this!
“Now, you can only listen to them obediently and carry out quests together with them. But their quests are all life-threatening. I estimate that you two little brats will kick the bucket in a day or two!
“However, don’t think about running. You cannot escape the assassins from the Valley of Thorns. When they catch you, you will die an even more miserable death!
“All in all, you should start praying now. I really don’t know how you two sillies grew up to this day without being killed.”
Han Te and Liu Li looked at each other and declared, “We are not scared. ‘Fiend Star’ will protect us!”
“You mean this trash can?” Xin Xiaoqi rolled her eyes at Li Yao and sighed while covering her cheeks. “How unfortunate I am! What did I do to deserve the punishment of running into such ignorant freaks in the Land of Sins?”
Hardly had she concluded her sentence when roars came over from the center of the arena. “Nine seconds! In only nine seconds, ‘Mad Ox’ was blown up by ‘Black Spear’! Amazing and unbelievable! Black Spear! Black Spear! Black Spear from the Red Viper Squad!”