Chapter 404: Bluffing
Chapter 404: Chapter 404: Bluffing
It was only then that Nina Jacobs noticed another person was there.
It was a middle-aged man, who was currently using a Wind Ball to fend off a scalpel.
The scalpel was caught inside the Wind Ball, but it looked as if it was about to shatter it.
The man smiled at Nina and said politely,
"Hello, I’m Reinhard Caldwell, the head of Team 4."
"Nina Jacobs. Wayne Warner."
Nina remembered the guard, Wolfgang Stone, saying that the head of Team 4 was a smiling tiger.
So, after hearing his identity, she kept her distance from him.
Seeing this, Harlan retracted his Superpower with satisfaction.
"Team 1 is a tough place. You’re always welcome on my team."
Reinhard Caldwell said this with a smile and left.
"The one on the stage, is he your friend? Did you come in here for him?" Harlan asked.
"Is there a problem with that?"
Nina Jacobs neither confirmed nor denied it.
There were many things she was willing to do, as long as they didn’t conflict with her own objectives.
For example, rescuing Tobin.
Besides, the reason she came in couldn’t stand up to scrutiny. Anyone who bothered to investigate would find out she had entered under a false identity.
It was better to just own this motive.
"Oh, my. A loyal one. I like that.
How about I help your friend win this match?"
Harlan looked at the fighting arena, where the match had already begun. At that moment, Nina’s friend seemed to be at a disadvantage.
"No need. He can win," Nina Jacobs replied.
Tobin’s moves were just reserved, but that didn’t mean they weren’t lethal.
Besides, before Tobin went with Mirelle Keller to pick people up from Pyralia, she had given him a Diamond Sand Bracelet.
That bracelet could be controlled by Tobin’s Earth Element Superpower and could significantly increase his damage output.
And Tobin had kept that bracelet securely on his arm ever since.
While everyone around them was staring at the fighting arena, Nina Jacobs had already activated her Five Senses Enhancement.
Just as Jared Crawford had said, there was indeed an incongruous structure above the arena.
It looked like a separate room.
Several flights of stone stairs arched up to support the room, which presided over the clamor below, completely out of place.
Nina focused all her attention on it, but she couldn’t hear any sound coming from inside.
She couldn’t even be sure if anyone was in there.
Nina pointed to it and ventured, "What is that place?"
Harlan glanced at it just once before his gaze seemed to be drawn back to the arena. His tone, however, was filled with a chilling coldness:
"Don’t ask what you’re not supposed to ask.
Those who know too much have a way of becoming my specimens."
’Looks like he’s not going to talk.’
Nina wasn’t particularly bothered.
From not too far away came bursts of curses and insults from the crowd.
Nina wasn’t surprised, because Tobin was about to win.
Several rings of stone clamped tightly around his opponent, but Tobin withdrew the Stone Sword in his hand.
"Surrender, and I won’t kill you," Tobin said.
He wasn’t a bloodthirsty person by nature.
But the onlookers weren’t having it.
The air was filled with shouts of "Kill him!", which made Tobin’s brows furrow.
His opponent, Elias Lewis, was called Chuck because he had once killed three people in a row and skewered their bodies together.
That was how he got the nickname "Chuck."
Elias Lewis was no saint, but Tobin had no personal grudge against him.
Thinking this, Tobin still chose not to kill his opponent.
Nina noticed that even though there was a referee in the arena, he was hesitating to announce the winner, despite Chuck having already conceded defeat.
"Kill him, you coward! You don’t even have the guts to kill!" someone shouted.
"Yeah! I was finally about to win big on this round! Believe it or not, I’ll kill you later!"
"Kill Elias Lewis! Kill him!"
"..."
The onlookers’ eyes were bloodshot as every one of them vented their frustrations.
But Tobin stood at the front of the stage and said,
"Is killing the only reason you’re alive?
Don’t forget, we are all ’Survivors.’
Someone risked their life to save you. Is this really what you wanted to become?"
The shouting from the crowd gradually died down.
Just as Tobin was about to say more, the referee announced the result of the match.
He then urged the two of them to leave the stage quickly.
"The next match will begin in 20 minutes," the referee shouted loudly.
After leaving the stage, Tobin went to find Nina Jacobs, only to discover that she seemed to have already left the fighting arena.
She and Wayne had been taken to the so-called territory of Team 1.
They called it territory, but it was really just a gloomy corridor lined with cubicles enclosed by iron bars, offering no privacy whatsoever.
"Have fun."
Harlan waved at the two of them from a distance, looking as if he were settling in to watch a good show.
Nina Jacobs said nothing. She turned and walked deeper inside.
It was already afternoon, and she planned to find a quiet corner.
The entire correction bay was fenced off, and the dim light inside seemed perfect for letting the Little Zombie Rat out to scout.
As she walked, she scanned for any place the Little Zombie Rat could squeeze through.
As the two of them walked down the corridor, unfriendly gazes shot out from behind the iron bars.
Especially since Nina and her companion had been personally escorted by Harlan.
"We’ve got newbies. And one’s a chick."
A man leaning against the wall whistled at Nina.
In a corner, a man and a woman were kissing, oblivious to everyone around them. A few people exchanged glances and walked over to stand in front of Nina and Wayne.
The iron bar doors on both sides were open, and the pair were quickly surrounded by a group of people.
Just then, Nina noticed a door at the end of the corridor slowly opening.
A man covered in muscle stretched, yawned, and walked over.
"Boss."
The crowd in front of them parted to make way.
"So noisy," the man said impatiently.
"Boss, two newbies are here. Harlan himself brought them," a man sidled up and said.
"Harlan brought them? They must be important."
Although the man called "Boss" was tall, when he stood in front of Wayne Warner, he was actually a bit shorter and thinner.
He had small eyes, thick lips, and naturally downturned corners of his mouth that gave him a ferocious expression.
He frowned and leaned close to Nina. "Call me Boss, or you won’t see the sun tomorrow."
"Don’t you have a name? Or did your parents actually name you ’Boss’?" Nina shot back.
Inside the correction bay, only administrators like Harlan held any real authority; there were no other managers.
This so-called "Boss" was most likely self-proclaimed.
"My family name is York, and my given name is Theseus,"
Theseus York answered, only realizing a moment later that he’d been tricked.
He coughed awkwardly twice, and the person next to him immediately took the hint and cursed,
"Are you newbies looking to die?
This is the boss of our Team 1, the only one on our team who’s won three matches in the fighting arena.
Now that you’re here, you have to listen to our boss."
a man with his nose in the air said.
"And what if we don’t listen?" Nina asked curiously.
"You won’t listen?"
Theseus York knew that sooner or later he would run into a tough nut to crack.
But he never expected that tough nut to be a girl.
Still, as the boss of so many people, he felt he had to teach her a lesson.
So he threw a powerful punch at Wayne Warner, who was standing behind Nina.
But as a Wind Element Superpower User, he was no match for a Strength Element Superpower User. Theseus York’s body was sent flying, slamming into the iron bars with a loud CRASH.
The scene fell silent for a moment.
"Everyone, get them!" the man from before shouted.
Five minutes later, looking at the crowd of people lying on the ground, unable to get up, a hint of interest appeared in Nina’s eyes.
None of them had used lethal force; it seemed more like they were just posturing.