The tall gladiator didn't directly attack the two-headed tiger. Instead, taking advantage of the distance, he jogged along the edge of the arena.
He kept facing the two-headed tiger, always holding his shield in front.
There was, after all, a considerable difference in speed, agility, and reaction between un-genetically modified humans and large felines. In less than a minute, the two-headed tiger had closed the gap and pounced, bringing with it a gust of foul wind.
The audience, having grown impatient with the earlier maneuvering, became excited, banging on the specially made armrests, creating a continuous booming sound.
Jiang Baimian appeared to be enjoying the gladiatorial contest, but in reality, she was lost in thought, pondering a certain question:
What was the price paid by that "Mind Corridor"-level powerhouse who created the virtual world, if he truly belonged to the "Shattered Mirror" domain?
Afraid of light? Afraid of water? Face blindness? Getting lost easily? Afraid of looking in the mirror? One idea after another flashed through Jiang Baimian's mind.
Subconsciously, she looked around the arena again, noticing the huge mirrors erected in different sections of the audience.
She immediately ruled out one potential price.
Aside from that, she didn't think that powerhouse suffered from face blindness or got lost easily. These two "attributes" were simply unsuitable for a bodyguard.
The former would misidentify the person they were supposed to protect, and the latter would easily lose track of their target.
By the time Jiang Baimian's attention returned to the center of the arena, the first collision between the tall gladiator and the two-headed tiger was already over.
Relying on the shield to block, the spear to threaten with stabs, and a practiced somersault, he had managed to create some distance again.
But within two or three steps, the two-headed tiger was closing in again.
The two bloodthirsty maws opened simultaneously, and the massive body lunged at the tall gladiator once more.
The gladiator repeated his tactic, holding the shield forward to block the beast while thrusting out with his spear.
He expected the two-headed tiger to dodge and pull back in mid-air, while he used the pressure on the shield to roll to the side.
But this time, the two-headed tiger didn't change its posture, its bloodthirsty and savage eyes locked onto its target.
With a *噗* sound, the spear pierced its side, and it slammed fully into the shield.
The immense force was too much for the gladiator to withstand.
Seeing his arm about to bend backward, causing the shield and the beast to crash into his chest, he decisively abandoned the spear and the shield, throwing himself to the other side.
This change was unexpected; the mutated creature was far more ferocious than ordinary beasts.
Without armor or weapons, a human had no chance against a tiger, even if they were skilled in sliding tackles—it would only be like delivering themselves to the doorstep.
Moreover, this wasn't an ordinary tiger, but a mutated, even more savage two-headed black tiger.
The audience watched with bated breath. Some couldn't bear to witness the gladiator being torn into pieces, while others excitedly anticipated the gory spectacle.
Aure's grandson, Marcus, was among the latter.
The tall gladiator, having landed on his side, pushed off the ground with his hands and sprang back up.
Instead of fleeing, he even made a small arc, rushing back to the area where he had almost been pinned by the two-headed tiger.
This allowed him to successfully evade the two-headed tiger's pursuit.
Then, with a roll, he retrieved the shield and spear he had dropped.
This series of movements perfectly demonstrated the gladiator's experience, skill, decisiveness, and physique, earning cheers from the audience.
By now, the steel shield had a slight dent, and blood was dripping from the two-headed tiger's side.
The two sides then repeated the previous sequence, with repeated lunges and swipes resulting in *乓乓乓* sounds, as well as repeated thrusts, rolls, drops, and retrievals.
Sweat gradually beaded on the tall gladiator's forehead as his stamina rapidly waned, while the two-headed tiger accumulated more and more wounds, constantly dripping blood.
Before long, it came down to a battle of endurance.
Just when the tall gladiator was tottering on the verge of defeat, the two-headed tiger, due to excessive blood loss, failed to rise after a lunge.
The tall gladiator seized the opportunity, stepped forward, and thrust his spear into the prey's vitals.
The two-headed tiger struggled for a while before finally becoming still.
Seeing this, the audience once again banged on the armrests, shouting the gladiator's name:
"Joey! Joey!"
The gladiator then raised his hands high and slowly circled the arena.
He was both accepting the cheers and showcasing his worth, hoping to be noticed by a noble and become his guard.
Otherwise, Joey would have to endure at least four or five more gladiatorial contests of this magnitude to regain his freedom.
And with each contest, he felt like he was teetering on the edge of death.
Amidst the "Joey! Joey!" chants, Shang Jianyao watched the tall gladiator and sighed:
"So pitiful."
Jiang Baimian and Long Yuehong felt a similar empathy.
During the break after this gladiatorial contest, a noble who was late entered the box.
As soon as he arrived, many people stood up to greet him.
Jiang Baimian and the others also recognized him, as he was someone who was invariably mentioned in many intelligence reports:
Asus Julius.
The son of Beulis, the governor and commander-in-chief of "First City."
Asus was tall and straight, with black hair and blue eyes, and a handsome face with sharp features.
In Long Yuehong's eyes, this guy had probably undergone genetic modification, a "Chosen One," otherwise how could he be so much taller than himself, almost as tall as Shang Jianyao, and also good-looking?
The most attractive thing about Asus's face was his eyes, deep, charming, and seemingly capable of emitting electricity when he looked around.
At this moment, he was wearing a black shirt and matching riding breeches, leading his personal bodyguard and family guards into his own section with one hand in his pocket.
He greeted every noble who came to say hello with a smile and polite responses, showing no arrogance on the surface.
Jiang Baimian noticed that this guy's gaze always lingered on the female companions and maids of those nobles, but he quickly looked away.
The next moment, she saw Asus looking in their direction.
She tugged at Shang Jianyao, smiled, and nodded in greeting.
During this process, Jiang Baimian had the feeling that Asus had scanned her from head to toe. It wasn't exactly lewd, but it was still unsettling.
Asus, as before, quickly averted his gaze and greeted other nobles.
The noise in the box subsided a few minutes later, and a new gladiatorial contest was about to begin.
...
After leaving the arena, Shang Jianyao, Jiang Baimian, and Long Yuehong got into their car and shook off any imagined pursuers.
In the car, none of them spoke, lest they still be within the "Virtual Machine."
After completing all the planned procedures and returning to the rented house, where they successfully reunited with Bai Chen and Genava, Jiang Baimian roughly described the gains from this operation.
Finally, she looked at Shang Jianyao with a smile and said:
"When that gladiator was killed, I was quite worried you would rush down to save him."
In the subsequent gladiatorial contests, two gladiators had died.
Shang Jianyao replied with a serious expression:
"I had considered it.
"But if such customs and such order are not changed, similar things will happen again and again.
"Even if I sacrificed myself back then, using eighteen punches to fight against all the Awakened and security personnel in the arena, I could only save one."
Long Yuehong had initially felt that Shang Jianyao made a lot of sense, but when he heard "eighteen punches," he silently retracted that view.
"That's a good idea." Jiang Baimian avoided the details and praised him.
Shang Jianyao immediately nodded:
"That's why we must strive to save all of humanity."
Genava applauded him with *乓乓乓*.
Bai Chen thought for a while and then said:
"I roughly understand what you mean by 'Virtual Machine.' The current focus is, how do we break this protection and truly establish contact with Marcus and Avia?"
Jiang Baimian didn't answer and looked at Genava:
"Old Ge, do you have any suggestions?"
"Without enough Awakened data, I can't analyze a feasible method," Genava honestly replied.
Jiang Baimian smiled:
"That's also the difficulty I'm facing."
She pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Shang Jianyao:
"Hey, contact Terence from the 'Blackshirts' and see if they know of any religious organizations in First City that worship the Fate 'Shattered Mirror.' If so, ask them to provide some information."
"Okay!" Shang Jianyao said excitedly.
He seemed to still be thinking about that drink from Terence's family.
After discussing the serious matters, Jiang Baimian said with a smile:
"That Asus feels very horny..."
This wasn't a vague conclusion based on female intuition, but an answer she had personally felt and experienced.
"Is that so?" Shang Jianyao touched his chin. "At least he's not into men; he didn't look at me much."
Long Yuehong skipped over this guy's opinion and echoed the team leader's words:
"Yes, yes, yes, he looked at every woman with particular focus, except for those who weren't very good-looking."
"Yes, he's not polite at all, with no equal respect," Shang Jianyao didn't know if he was criticizing Asus for not focusing on the women who were less attractive or if he thought he was promoting gender inequality.
Jiang Baimian ignored Shang Jianyao's words and raised her own doubts:
"But the problem is, as the son of the number one figure in First City, what kind of beauties can't he get his hands on? Why would he still be like this?"
This was also a question she had when reading certain historical books from the Old World.
Shang Jianyao replied sincerely:
"Perhaps their family's creed is abstinence."
"It could also be a habit, or perhaps..." Genava quickly analyzed the reasons, "a price."
A price... Jiang Baimian subconsciously repeated the word in her heart.
She subconsciously glanced at Bai Chen, wanting to hear what this female teammate thought, only to find that this team member hadn't joined the conversation from the beginning and had remained silent.
Uh... Jiang Baimian withdrew her gaze.