CHAPTER 618: 233. FIRST LOVE

September 3rd, Imperial Arena.

The midsummer festival, sunlight swirling, the massive celestial bodies in the sky reflected in the azure.

In the underground space of the tiered circular arena.

Even Kai Deng was somewhat anxious.

In forty minutes, it’ll be No. 355 Kai Deng against No. 861 competitor Cunningham. This person is not an adventurer or mercenary, has some underworld background, sets up shop all over the Southern Continent but lacks business acumen, frighteningly powerful, yet fails to comprehend many things, relocates frequently; after causing turmoil for a long time, still fits best as a thug, known on the street as "Wolf Lord" and "Boundary Patrol."

With two nicknames, one could say he is a truly terrifying existence, especially in the preliminary elimination rounds. Those who have fought him have all ended up as bone broth with tomato and lean meat porridge.

The odds keep updating in real time with changes in the betting pool.

Even the sister who rides the waves can’t move him.

In the pool, there’s already a gender gap, and Cunningham being the alpha male type, was naturally heavily bet on; yesterday’s odds of 3.3 were already very high, today it reached 4.26.

It’s already one of the top ten betting matches in the first round of the combat tournament.

But Kai Deng wasn’t anxious about that.

His solid business abilities meant Kai Deng never used his acting skills in the assassination method involving Snake Kiss poisoning the target.

One has to admit that Liszt was quite outstanding among the eccentrics in the East Sea.

I’m sorry for blasting the first kiss recipient to smithereens...

Just hope that by then the Emperor rewards me with his head, like how the former Witch Hunting Secret Department Chief Ogne was made into a specimen, with inscriptions...

Achievement memorial.

Too bad I can’t get diamonds to draw cards.

Having impersonated Liszt for a while, Kai Deng became a bit strange, but still within a controllable range.

In her expectations.

Diaz will definitely send someone to find me.

But he wouldn’t dare kill me.

The first Continent Martial Arts Competition was the toughest, attracting all sorts of bizarre and vicious beings from around the world.

Many weren’t interested in the competition itself, simply having enemies who wanted them dead there.

In the first competition, many hadn’t even made it to the stage; after the schedule was announced, some were chopped down that very night. Those who were all the rage and had championship potential, were you pretending to be a big deal? Grandpa can’t wait for that, let’s face off on the streets, wait till tomorrow becomes a lingering debt, and get yourself killed outright.

In short, it was quite chaotic.

At that time, Aran was also in the early stages of the Military Government, without a Ministry of Culture, and management was quite abstract. The Military Master wasn’t very concerned; people were bound to die anyway, early death or late death was the same.

And the Emperor was certainly kept in the dark; the initial cabinet, they must have entered with the Emperor. Anyway, the Emperor was just looking for fun, claiming the martial arts competition was going very smoothly!

It wasn’t until the second year that last year’s competition was realized to be a complete mess, with contestants showing their faces and being killed by outside enemies, while spots were precious, earned through the preliminaries over sixteen months. No one could afford to wait, enemies brazenly wearing hoods and cloaks took the stage to compete instead.

For the Sword King to win the championship among this crowd of divine beings, he was beyond the realm of martial artists, he must have been a cultivator.

In short, the Emperor was furious.

A fair 1V1 for true men, this is a pure dueling sanctuary, not to be desecrated.

In the years following, the competitions became more regulated, and individual fights or scandals like spell and poison assassinations among competitors never happened again.

Those who entered the finals, those thousand people, were personally protected by the Emperor.

Time moves to the present.

Saleret just wanted to chop off Kai Deng, preventing her from bypassing the Aran Royal Court’s bureaucratic system to reach the higher-ups, but was forcefully stopped by the competition organizers, thus letting it go.

Kai Deng wasn’t anxious about the upcoming match, but about the Guild’s silence, as still as dead water, and this was truly terrifying.

Inside the waiting room before the match, each competitor had an independent space. Considering it was quite possible to die after the match, the elegantly restrained waiting room was equipped with some attendants, makeup artists, and snack buffets; the Aran Ministry of Culture provided basic humane care.

"Everyone, leave now."

A person wearing the frigid Royal City Army armor pushed open the door, instructing the many attendants inside the room.

Leaving only him and Kai Deng.

After experiencing the Saleret incident, no thief wasn’t alert. Kai Deng stated she had many enemies and could die in an accident, heard by the Royal City Army, wouldn’t that be a catastrophe to handle?

There hadn’t been an accident for four years; if something were to happen, it’d be a huge responsibility, rolling back would definitely result in penalties within the realm of collapsing fun.

Kai Deng was always closely monitored by the Royal City Army.

However...

The masters from the Thief Guild, they meant the world’s best thieves.

As the Stargazing Festival approached, the defensive forces strengthened, and even Ben and Swan dared not make reckless moves; Ben quietly enjoyed gambling with Meili, while Swan was a decent person, only having to bear certain risks for necessary contact with Saleret, not doing anything outrageous.

But the Netherworld Envoy was an exception.

"What exactly are you trying to do, Kai Deng? The Stele, Dragon, these are all in the report, but they wouldn’t make your behavior so strange. There are certainly hidden matters. You should understand that the shadows are omnipresent, Nocturne sees everything, even the dark side of the entire history."

The Royal City Army’s armor clanged with movement, and he raised his gauntlet to shade the lamp’s light, enveloping Kai Deng in the shadow of his hand.

Kai Deng’s expression was grim, his beast-like golden eyes contracted. Despite being very cautious, he still let the other take the initiative.

The art of the thief is always lever killing, the most despicable yet the most efficient, the invisible killing formation was already set, ether energy wires thinner than spider silk had already been laid in the shadows.

With just a light hook of his finger, Kai Deng would be torn apart.

But it doesn’t matter.

"You wouldn’t dare kill me, I’m the Emperor’s person now. After winning and becoming champion, I’ll be the Imperial Concubine."

The Hex Technology pad gave Kai Deng immense confidence.

Even if the match was about to begin, it hadn’t been brought out yet; the oversized cup not matching her tall, slender figure, appeared extremely seductive.

Netherworld Envoy: "..."

After a moment of silence, he said, "The Guild’s intelligence network in Mulong claims that Liszt has won the battle for the rebels, regained railroad sovereignty, and resolved the pursuing navy. The Aran Royal Court must have received the news but dared not dampen the festivities by announcing it. Now Liszt has Lostra as a backing, and getting things back won’t be easy in the future, and Liszt will certainly retaliate, this is a big deal, I can kill you."

In fact, after the death of Doringger, Iron Soul Island should have attracted a lot of foreign investment; Black Sail’s Q2 financial report for 2690 wouldn’t have been a loss.

However, Diaz was manipulating things behind the scenes, those daring to do business in the East Sea were considered enemies of the Guild.

This caused Black Sail to suffer a loss, failing to seize such a great opportunity, and after such a long time, the New Continent’s novelty also faded compared to the Western Continent’s endless other troublesome matters.

Kai Deng’s eyes sharpened, finally feeling a sense of crisis regarding her first kiss partner, who survived an assassination and became a powerful lord.

That means Liszt now, not only didn’t collapse the East Sea, but is even more impressive than Doringger.

She definitely confirmed the potent poison was fed into the target properly, even added a stab.

Junlin Sword Master, terrifying as such.

Diaz lost his mind and might really cause trouble at the Continent Martial Arts Competition.