Chapter 275 - 251: Rookie Contest (30)
Chapter 275: Chapter 251: Rookie Contest (30)
"Huh? That’s strange. I can’t reach them either." Zhao Jiao tried contacting others again, but she couldn’t get through to anyone.
Zhao Huai said, "Could the signal be blocked? Is there something wrong with this virtual training ground? Why would they block the signal?"
Zhao Jiao shook her head. "I don’t know. Maybe to prevent live recordings? After all, this kind of competition involves exposing the participants’ Abilities... but that doesn’t make sense either."
Lü Hong said, "That might be it. I’ll go outside and try. I’ll come back and let you know."
Zhao Huai nodded. "Okay. The awards ceremony is about to start. Hurry back."
"No problem."
Lü Hong squeezed through the cursing crowd and hurried toward the exit.
The audience was still roaring with anger, but the host remained elegant, pacing gracefully.
Facing the curses from the stands, he was completely unfazed, a smile perpetually on his face.
He said softly,
"Everyone here is an adult, and you all placed your bets voluntarily.
"Does it make any sense to cause a scene just because your bet didn’t pay off?
"The staff didn’t force you to bet. You all placed your bets yourselves within the system. What does that have to do with us?
"Can’t you think for yourselves?
"I see that at least 10% of the people here bet on Zhao Chi. How were they able to judge correctly?
"You all need to take responsibility for your own actions. If anyone wants to cause trouble, it’s not like we’re incapable of handling it!
"Surely you know who owns this virtual training ground, don’t you?"
After the host finished speaking, the venue fell silent once more.
Many in the audience were red-faced, gritting their teeth in anger.
Of course, they knew it was run by nobles.
Only nobles had the right and the resources to open such a virtual venue.
They didn’t dare to stand up to the nobles.
But their anger couldn’t be quelled.
The host smiled at the furious audience and said elegantly,
"Alright, the competition is over, the betting results are set, and all winnings have been distributed.
"Next up is the awards ceremony. I wonder if Yuan Zhao will show up. You can ask him for an explanation then.
"That’s enough. Stop making an unreasonable scene and quiet down.
"I’ll say it again: if you cause trouble, we’ll deal with every last one of you.
"Now, be quiet!"
With that, the host vanished.
The arena was completely silent.
Seated high above, Gongsun Ning watched the scene below with satisfaction.
’These commoners just need to be taught a lesson,’ she thought. ’No one forced them to bet. They should take responsibility for their own poor choices.’
She took a light sip of red wine, composed and elegant.
When she saw the amount of Gold Coins she had earned this time, her smile grew even wider.
Zhao Chi also received his Gold Coins.
[The result of your bet is in]
[You bet on "Zhao Chi of Stream Village @ 88x odds" for the amount of 20 Gold Coins. If the target wins the championship, you will receive 88 times your wager.]
["Zhao Chi of Stream Village @ 88x odds" has now won the championship. You have successfully received 1,760 Gold Coins. Please check your inventory.]
A crisp notification sound chimed.
A small, glittering pile of Gold Coins appeared in Zhao Chi’s System Space.
Adding the 22 Gold Coins he had left, Zhao Chi’s cash reserves broke the thousand-coin mark, reaching a total of 1,782 Gold Coins!
From an Ordinary person’s perspective, this was a fortune.
He had struck it rich.
If he lived a normal life, it would be more than he could spend in two lifetimes.
But if this were a peaceful world, Zhao Chi would definitely take his 1,782 Gold Coins and choose to live a quiet, easy life.
He didn’t have any grand ambitions.
Earning enough money to live comfortably was his greatest wish.
Unfortunately, this was not a peaceful world.
Gold Coins were just a burden in his hands.
The only right path was to convert these Gold Coins into strength, to ensure he could continue to survive.
Ordinary people could survive, but their mortality rate from all sorts of accidents was not low.
Moreover, they were oppressed at every turn, living in constant fear.
Even spoiled brats like Cao Feng and Xiao Rui could act like a great mountain, crushing the fates of commoners.
Zhao Chi would not choose such a life.
’Tomorrow, I’ll go to the county Exchange and spend all these Gold Coins.’
’I’ll convert all of them into items or Supplies to increase my strength.’
’If I see a cheap Racial Bloodline, I could buy that too.’
’But with 1,782 Gold Coins, I can probably only afford one Racial Bloodline, and a fairly average one at that.’
’I’ll think about it tomorrow.’
Zhao Chi didn’t have time to dwell on it.
Because a system notification arrived:
[Please teleport to Battlefield One immediately. The awards ceremony is about to begin.]
’It’s finally time.’
Zhao Chi pulled the cloth off his head and teleported into the arena.
Inside the arena, five people had already arrived.
Lang Hu and Jiang Die were there, along with some other top-ten contestants, but he didn’t see Yuan Zhao.
The battlefield had shrunk considerably.
The surrounding Terrain had vanished, and the ground had become hard-packed earth.
After all, it was a Virtual Space, so transformations were easy.
This way, the entire audience was seated more compactly and could see the situation in the arena directly.
Of course, Zhao Chi and the others could also see the audience.
The audience was silent.
It seemed they were waiting for Yuan Zhao to appear.
But even if Yuan Zhao appeared, they couldn’t possibly get their losses back.
Besides, this didn’t really have much to do with Yuan Zhao.
Even if he forfeited, it was his own choice.
And it wasn’t like Yuan Zhao had guided the audience to bet on him.
Lang Hu walked over.
"Zhao Chi, congratulations! You actually won!"
Zhao Chi nodded. "I didn’t expect this outcome either."
"Tch! If Yuan Zhao hadn’t forfeited, you’d be second place at best!" Jiang Die said, crossing her arms and eyeing Zhao Chi sideways.
Zhao Chi said, "You’re one to talk, loser. Stop spouting bullshit. Even second place is far better than you. You’re trash."
"What did you say?" Jiang Die raged.
Although Jiang Die had been defeated, she was far from convinced.
She felt that she had only lost because she hadn’t performed at her best, allowing Zhao Chi to seize an opportunity.
If they fought again, she was quite confident she could beat him.
And even if she lost the match, the Jiang Family’s foundation was something the Zhao Family couldn’t hope to compare to at present.
Zhao Chi said, "What did I say? Can’t you hear me? Did I knock your brain loose?"
"You bastard! Do you dare to duel? Sign a vassal agreement!" Jiang Die rushed over, roaring at Zhao Chi.
"Heh, a duel?" Zhao Chi chuckled lightly. "A duel is fine. But if you’re signing a duel agreement with me, it has to be a one-on-one life-and-death agreement. I don’t sign lowly vassal agreements."
Lang Hu tried to dissuade him, "Zhao Chi, a life-and-death agreement is no joke. For an Ordinary duel, a vassal agreement is enough."
Before a personal duel, an agreement had to be signed.
This was mainly to prove that both parties were willing participants, and that it wasn’t one party invading the other.
It was a kind of liability waiver, exempt from legal sanctions.
There were many Types of agreements.
Among them, compensation agreements and vassal agreements were very common.
A compensation agreement was the kind he had signed with Cao Feng before. If one person won, the other would compensate them with pre-agreed Supplies or items.
A vassal agreement was more severe.
If one side won, the losing side would become the winner’s vassal.
The term was usually one year.
But it could also be for longer, or even permanently.
Vassalage came with different terms. Some were practically like slavery, while others only required a regular tribute of money, personnel, or Supplies.
It all depended on the terms.
The life-and-death agreement, however, was one of the most severe.
Compensation and vassal agreements might also involve combat.
But you could not kill your opponent.
If you did kill the other party, it was considered murder, and you would be tried and punished.
A life-and-death agreement, however, had no such restrictions.
You could kill your opponent at will.
You could plunder everything in the opponent’s territory.
You could even choose not to kill the opposing Lord, but to enslave them instead.
You could say that signing a life-and-death agreement meant completely forfeiting the protection of the law.
Although the law was just for show when it came to nobles, it was still very binding for people of the same social class.
So when Lang Hu tried to talk Zhao Chi out of it, he was genuinely doing it out of goodwill.
Zhao Chi knew that.
But he had to sign a life-and-death agreement.
No other agreement would do.