Chapter 44: A Hundred Consecutive Wins!

"Huh?"

Alissa slowly opened her eyes, gazing upon a scene she would never forget for the rest of her life.

Lu Li, with the better part of his body drenched and stained with fresh blood, was using a single arm to clamp down relentlessly on the vital spot of the giant python's neck!

Seeing Alissa open her eyes, he roared hoarsely, "I can't hold on much longer, hurry up and help!"

"H-Help?"

Alissa was utterly bewildered.

What was going on here?

Wasn't Lu Li just immobilized by the hellhound's bite a moment ago?

How had he broken free in the blink of an eye to deal with the serpent's tail?

When did those three dog heads become so easy to deal with?!

Stunned, Alissa turned her head and caught sight of the shattered dog heads not far away.

Oh...

So the three dog heads were already done for...

Judging by the looks of it, it seemed they had been blasted apart by a single punch?

"What are you spacing out for! Hurry up!"

Lu Li's shout rang out once more, snapping Alissa out of her rambling thoughts.

"Ah, sorry! I'm coming to help right now!!"

Alissa hurriedly responded, struggling with all her might.

Because the serpent's head was restrained, the young girl quickly wrriced herself free.

Under Lu Li's instruction, she found the insect-tooth dagger from inside one of the dog's maws.

Fumbling clumsily, she delivered several continuous follow-up strikes, finally managing to slay the python.

They had won.

Alissa slumped onto the ground, looking in disbelief at the massive corpse before her.

The cheers echoing in her ears were deafening, feeling entirely like a dream.

They had truly won.

The man named Lu Li had led her to victory through one hundred consecutive gladiatorial matches!

Dior stepped forward with excited, hurried little steps, announcing the match results in an exceptionally booming voice:

"Congratulations to [Lu Li] and [Alissa Bucky] on winning a hundred gladiatorial matches!"

"The match has concluded. Spectators are kindly requested to exit in an orderly fashion to the central lobby to enjoy complimentary drinks, beverages, pastries, and fine cuisine."

"The two gladiators are requested to follow me to the lounge for a brief rest."

"There will be talent scouting and contract negotiations afterward. If you are interested, you may..."

Before Dior could finish his sentence, he suddenly noticed that someone was missing from the arena.

Lu Li was nowhere to be found.

After searching around for a moment, he discovered that Lu Li was actually squatting beside the hellhound's corpse, busy with goodness knows what.

"Lu Li?"

Dior didn't approach immediately. Instead, after calling out, he exercised proper discretion and waited in place.

Lu Li had too many secrets.

Dior knew very well that if one wished to be on good terms with such a person, one had to rein in their own curiosity.

Once Lu Li finished whatever he was doing with his hands, Dior asked, "Lu Li, may I ask if you intend to participate in the upcoming talent scouting and contract negotiations?"

Lu Li casually tucked the insect-tooth dagger into his waistband and replied absent-mindedly, "Oh, I'll go take a look in a bit... By the way, the arena doesn't reclaim the corpse of this hellhound, right?"

Dior was slightly startled, but instantly understood:

"In theory, it should be reclaimed, but since the corpse was damaged during the match, as the referee, I suppose I can simply overlook it."

Lu Li caught his drift and raised a hand to activate [Corpse-to-Crystal Condensation].

The carcass rapidly shrank, transforming into two verdant, glowing Tier 6 primordial crystals.

Dior pretended not to see anything. Once Lu Li had safely stored the crystals, he asked with some hesitation, "Regarding the one ton of refined gold you previously promised..."

Lu Li assumed Dior was anxious to collect and frowned slightly, "I will pay you within three days."

"Ah no, no, no, that's not what I meant at all..." Dior waved his hands repeatedly, the expression on his mechanical face turning friendly to the extreme:

"What I mean is, you don't need to pay me that one ton of refined gold."

"What?" Lu Li was somewhat surprised.

Dior smiled and explained:

"Because I used the 700 kilograms of refined gold you gave me to place a bet, wagering on your hundred-match winning streak."

"Now that you've won, the arena will pay me out 350,000 tons of refined gold!"

Lu Li raised an eyebrow: "That truly is a thousandfold return on investment..."

Dior nodded: "That's right! To thank you for making me such a massive fortune, I've decided to split 200,000 tons of refined gold with you."

Faced with this sudden windfall, Lu Li was somewhat caught off guard.

He grew secretly vigilant in his heart:

"This was the bet you placed and it has nothing to do with me. Why should I accept your refined gold for nothing?"

Dior's tone was exceptionally sincere:

"Consider it a token of my goodwill. After all, without your victory, I might have even lost my original 700-kilogram stake."

Lu Li pondered for a moment. Sensing the other party's sincere attitude, he decided not to refuse.

The three of them left the arena and entered the lounge.

Before Lu Li and Alissa could even sit down to rest, a commotion erupted outside the lounge.

The service robot responsible for guidance and reception had been battered in two, flying through the air and crashing open the lounge doors with a loud bang.

Lu Li instantly grew alert, his right hand moving stealthily to rest upon the dagger at his waist.

"You bunch of scrap metal whose IQs are barely higher than a microwave oven, and you dare block my way? Scram!"

Following a stream of curses, two fair-faced, shirtless men appeared at the entrance of the lounge.

Working together, they carried a roll of red carpet, unrolling it all the way into the lounge.

Once that was done, the two men retreated to the side and knelt respectfully.

Not long after, a lavishly dressed woman appeared at the doorway of the lounge.

Her figure was remarkably tall, yet also exceedingly bloated.

With every step she took, a sticky, wet, slapping sound echoed continuously from beneath her gown.

Upon seeing Lu Li, an eerie smile surfaced on the woman's grotesque face.

Without a word, the woman handed a pure gold name card directly toward Lu Li.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lu Li. I am Madam Octopus."

Lu Li's vigilance did not wane in the slightest as he stared at the name card before him without making a move.

The Central Arena was filled with all sorts of characters, but true powerhouses were absolute realities!

Lu Li did not recognize the Madam Octopus before him.

Yet judging by her grand display, she was clearly no nameless nobody.

Therefore, until he figured out her intentions, he had to treat her with caution.

Seeing that Lu Li remained silent, Madam Octopus slightly reined in her wide grin.

She pushed the name card a bit closer toward Lu Li's chest and explained:

"Rest assured, I harbor no ill intentions."

"Although at first, I genuinely intended to purchase your body to acquire you, you have now proven my error with your sheer strength."

"So, please grant me a chance, an opportunity to express my apologies to you."

"If you ever encounter any difficulties, feel free to use this name card to reach out to me at any time."

Dior, standing off to the side, stretched out his neck and whispered a reminder into Lu Li's ear:

"She is the overlord of the Neptune Star Sector! You should definitely accept it!"

"The Neptune Star Sector?"

Lu Li was startled, and relevant information instantly surfaced in his mind.

This star sector guarded a massive demonic eye known as 'Partetic'.

In his previous life, when the realm-wide demonic tide erupted violently, the Neptune Star Sector bore the brunt of the disaster, becoming corrupted and utterly annihilated by the tide.

The Madam Octopus standing before him had presumably perished in that very demonic tide, which was why she was not someone Lu Li remembered well.

After all, in his past life, Lu Li's initial entry into the Central Arena occurred three years after the apocalypse had descended upon Earth.

"If I can enter the 'Partetic' demonic eye before the demonic tide erupts, perhaps it will be much easier to obtain that item..."

"That item capable of elevating [Soul Devourer] to the next level..."