Chapter 96: Internal Conflict
“Oh~”
Nai Luoyi responded absentmindedly, holding a high-tech communicator in her hand.
"Sister-in-law, what are you up to now?"
Huang Fen felt a sense of unease when he saw the communicator in his sister-in-law's hand.
"Do I need to report to you about what I do?"
Nai Luoyi looked up at Huang Fen. After a few seconds of eye contact, Huang Fen averted his gaze.
Nai Luoyi tossed the communicator onto the table, stood up, and left. The communicator displayed a holographic projection showing a file—Su Xiao's file.
"Shadow of Law Destruction, what kind of profession is this?"
Huang Fen flipped through the information and soon noticed a more important detail.
Within the Blood Gate Adventurers, Stan, Huang Fen, and Nai Luoyi were at the top of the pyramid. Stan was at the core, the heart of Blood Gate, holding all the team's crucial resources. Huang Fen managed the subordinate adventure groups under Blood Gate, which was why he remained at the third rank, paying a heavy price to suppress his rank for easier management of subordinate groups and recruitment of promising newcomers.
As for Nai Luoyi, she was Blood Gate's "eyes" and "hidden blade," handling intelligence and dealing with members who betrayed Blood Gate.
From the chain of interests, even if Nai Luoyi cuckolded Stan, he couldn't eliminate her. The Blood Gate Adventurers was founded by these three, so each had an inseparable connection to Blood Gate—a single move affecting the whole.
News of Huang Fen's upcoming battle with Su Xiao quickly spread within Blood Gate. As the second-in-command, Huang Fen naturally had many supporters.
After finishing Su Xiao's file, Huang Fen sent a message to Stan, but was surprised to find that Stan was already inside the arena.
Stan could only participate in fourth-rank arena matches, but that didn't mean he couldn't watch third-rank battles. This time, he went to the arena to find the Black Sail Merchant Guild.
Not just Stan, several key members of Blood Gate also approached the Black Sail Merchant Guild, and Nai Luoyi did the same.
The match would start in an hour. Huang Fen wasn't stalling for time; he wanted to bleed the black merchants dry. In his view, Su Xiao was undoubtedly strong, but most of his killing moves leaned toward close combat. By Huang Fen's estimation, he had a 70% chance of defeating Su Xiao.
The black merchants actually didn't favor Su Xiao either. After Stan, Nai Luoyi, and others approached them, they were forced to open the betting. The odds were set at: Huang Fen 1 to 0.7, Su Xiao 1 to 1.2.
These odds displeased Blood Gate's members, but since they had forced the Black Sail Merchant Guild to open the betting, they couldn't complain much. Even a cornered rabbit would bite, let alone the Black Sail Merchant Guild, which was no rabbit.
In the end, Stan bet 800,000 Paradise Coins on Huang Fen's victory, Nai Luoyi 400,000, Huang Fen bet 280,000 on himself, Tie Shu 170,000, plus bets from other Blood Gate members, totaling over 2,000,000 Paradise Coins.
If Huang Fen won, Blood Gate would make a profit; if he lost, the loss in Paradise Coins wasn't a big deal. Blood Gate's members weren't idiots—a single match wouldn't make them stake their team's critical resources.
Just as the black merchants finished accepting Blood Gate's bets, a "husky" approached them wanting to place a bet.
Initially, the black merchants refused. Being forced to open the betting already annoyed them, and now a husky wanted to bet?
But five minutes later, the Black Sail Merchant Guild agreed to accept a bet of 400,000 Paradise Coins + 10 Soul Crystals (Large).
The black merchants knew who placed this bet. 400,000 Paradise Coins meant little to them, but those 10 Soul Crystals (Large) made them uneasy.
If Su Xiao won, with the 1 to 1.2 odds, the black merchants would have to pay 480,000 Paradise Coins + 12 Soul Crystals (Large). The Paradise Coins were acceptable, but the Soul Crystals (Large) were unbearable.
Initially, the black merchants didn't want to accept this bet, but the 10 Soul Crystals (Large) were too tempting. These people weren't saints—they were a group that would stop at nothing for profit.
Arena, Rest Room. Su Xiao had already adjusted his state. The match would start in 17 minutes. Just then, he received a notification from the arena.
The notification was simple: Huang Fen requested that the upcoming match be set to semi-public mode, with the venue being the Blazing Sun Hall.
Semi-public mode meant it wasn't open to the public; only those invited by Su Xiao and Huang Fen could watch.
Huang Fen's arena rank was higher than Su Xiao's, so he could prioritize choosing the venue and mode, while Su Xiao could modify one of them.
Huang Fen chose the Blazing Sun Hall as the venue and semi-public mode. Su Xiao could only change one of these.
After a moment's hesitation, Su Xiao chose to change the venue to the Death Swamp.
The match mode and venue were finalized. In Huang Fen's rest room, when he saw the Death Swamp venue, his expression turned unpleasant.
The swamp was heavy with moisture and full of mud. He would rather fight on an icefield than here.
But the mode and venue were his choices, and Su Xiao had the right to modify one—this was the arena's rule.
Time slowly passed. When only ten minutes remained before the match, the Death Swamp venue was simulated.
This was a swamp half a kilometer in diameter, flat terrain mostly covered with dry land, occasionally dotted with a few mud pits. Compared to these visible pits, the hidden quagmires were more troublesome.
After the venue was generated, a ring of energy shields appeared around the area, enveloping the Death Swamp. Outside the shields was a ring of spectator seats.
Dozens of figures appeared in the spectator seats, taking their places one by one. At the center sat Stan, of course.
Iron-blooded, ruthless, and strong—that was the first impression Stan gave. The scar on his face was extremely conspicuous. For some reason, Stan had never removed this scar since entering Reincarnation Paradise.
Beside Stan sat his wife, Nai Luoyi, with Tie Shu, Hui Yanqiang, and other key members nearby.
Tie Shu and Hui Yanqiang were both core members of Blood Gate, ranking below Huang Fen. One was a fourth-rank explosive tank (Tie Shu), and the other was a long-range gunner (Hui Yanqiang). It was said that Hui Yanqiang once took down a fourth-rank sub-tank with two shots from his rifle, displaying immense firepower.
"Boss, that kid is really tenacious. Our people couldn't even eliminate him in the Holy Grail World last time."
Hui Yanqiang leaned back in his seat, looking lazy.
"Don't underestimate him. Developing four attributes simultaneously might be weak early on, but once he survives past the third rank, he's no easy opponent."
Nai Luoyi spoke. Hui Yanqiang opened his mouth to respond but hesitated, and the spectator seats fell silent.
"When are you going to stop throwing your tantrum?"
Stan, who had been silent all along, broke the stillness.
"Throwing a tantrum?"
Nai Luoyi glanced sideways at Stan.
"After causing such an embarrassing mess, don't you feel any guilt?"
"Heh."
Nai Luoyi let out a cold laugh.
"Then tell me, when you killed my brother, what were you thinking? Where was your guilt?"