Chapter 804: Conspiration
After the battle, Commodus felt more relaxed physically and mentally. After he changed into a new set of clothes, the emperor hurriedly left the gladiator school in the dark. After Zhang Heng watched his back disappear, he turned around and walked back to his house. He then saw his slave girl peeking at them through the door’s crack.
Since the slave girl had gotten used to Zhang Heng’s company, she was now more relaxed around him, no longer reserved like when she met him for the first time. When she realized that Zhang Heng had caught her, she did not blush. Instead, she asked curiously.
“Wow! Is that man really the Roman emperor?”
“Don’t you have the copper coins he gave you?” Zhang Heng asked.
“Hmm, I looked at it again, and the person in the coin looks very similar to him.” The slave girl nodded, “I can’t believe it. Even the emperor has come to see you. How famous are you now? Ah, have you caught up with Sethnets?”
“Not yet,” Zhang Heng said, “Sethnets’s reputation is one acc.u.mulated over the years.”
The slave girl heaved a sigh of relief. She knew that Mark Reuss valued his trump card very much. If Zhang Heng became even more famous, Mark Reuss might send him more female slaves. By that time, she might have been already sent off to serve other gladiators.
Before she got to enjoy the happiness, Zhang Heng added, “I should be able to surpa.s.s Sethnets’s popularity by winning the champions.h.i.+p of this gladiatorial show.”
“Huh?” The little slave girl almost jumped up, “So fast?!”
“Well, it’s the grand gladiatorial show held at the Amphitheatrum Flavium after all. Many spectators will attend it, and they will help spread around news about my victories,” Zhang Heng said. “What’s the matter? What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing… Nothing…” the girl slave shook her head quickly and denied. She did not dare to speak out her thoughts.
And after that, Zhang Heng did not ask her any more questions. He then reminded her, “I’m fine that you are now more relaxed around me, but the next time someone visits me, you shouldn’t peek at us again. Some people’s ident.i.ties are very sensitive, especially the powerful ones. They might kill you even if you only hear a few words from them.”
“Is it really that bad?” The slave girl didn’t know why and she felt a little frustrated in her heart. Clearly, she did not want Zhang Heng to know what she was thinking but was very disappointed when she saw that Zhang Heng did not care much about her.
Perhaps she was no different from the other slave girls. Even if she were to be replaced one day, Zhang Heng might not even notice it. As she dwelled deep in her thoughts, Zhang Heng had already gone to fetch water by himself. He took a quick cold shower to wash off all the sweat and went to bed early in antic.i.p.ation of the gladiatorial show the next day.
…
Compared with the first day, the atmosphere of the arena on the second day was obviously different.
Even Sartonilos, the giant Teruelos, and the Thracian Danaos, who were in the limelight on the first day, could feel that the audience’s enthusiasm for them had reduced by a lot. After last night, they knew what Zhang Heng had done to his opponents in both of his earth-shattering battles.
They all knew that they would not be able to do what Zhang Heng did yesterday. Other than the speedy victory hr achieved in the first round, he also defeated a bison with his bare hands. In the spectators’ opinion, those were some incredible feats. As a matter of fact, even the most arrogant Sartonilos could feel a strong sense of crisis.
Zhang Heng had now become their biggest obstacle to winning the champions.h.i.+p. Judging from the fact that he had topped the leaderboard and his odds for betting had changed, it was enough to prove that he was everyone’s biggest threat now.
He used his strength to siphon all the attention that other famous gladiators should receive onto himself. And he turned it into his one-man show. That was why it was hard for all the other gladiators to like him.
Bach was probably the only exception since he was the first gladiator that witnessed Zhang Heng’s true strength.
Maybe it was because he had accepted the fact that he was never going to be strong enough to defeat Zhang Heng. He did not feel upset that he was never going to win the champions.h.i.+p. He came out of the training room and yelled at Zhang Heng, “I heard that some guys want to join forces to deal with you. You’d better be careful.”
“Really?” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows and glanced at Habitus and others on the other side. If something terrible would happen to Zhang Heng, the gladiators from the Victor Arena should have sided with him. However, that did not seem to be the case. Zhang Heng had seen Habitus being summoned by another gladiator. And he returned to his seat after that. Habitus obviously knew that other gladiators were conspiring against him. However, since he did not remind Zhang Heng about it as he did for Bach, he was very likely involved in it.
Zhang Heng was not too bothered by it.
Sometimes, it was hard to make everything go his way. Since he wanted to capture Commodus’s attention with his strength, he would naturally become other gladiators’ threat. Fortunately, Zhang Heng was confident enough that he could beat all the other gladiators with his strength. As compared to when he first entered this dungeon, he was now a completely different person.
At that time, he might have to consider the measures he should take to reduce other gladiators’ hostility towards him. But now, even if Zhang Heng knew that Sartonilos and others wanted to join forces to go against him, he was not going to do anything about it for now.
The reason was straightforward. He was strong enough now.
Due to the extra 24 hours that he had, Zhang Heng’s growth rate had already surpa.s.sed the dungeon’s difficulty level, thanks to the time flow rate’s amplification. In fact, the ordinary dungeon after the Whistleblower’s dungeon was no longer dangerous to Zhang Heng. In this dungeon, he could focus on learning new skills. That was why he chose to join the Balance Blade.
Zhang Heng certainly knew the risks of becoming an a.s.sa.s.sin. But after weighing the risks, he decided to take this risk. This was due to his confidence in his own strength. The final mixed-fight was limited by the rules that the gladiators could only do one-on-one battle. However, it did not affect Zhang Heng. With his lv4 swordsmans.h.i.+p and the newly learned a.s.sa.s.sin’s footsteps, Zhang Heng did not think anyone was strong enough to defeat him.
This was evident in the gladiatorial performance on the second day.
Zhang Heng won both of the battles fast and clean. No matter what strategy his opponent adopted, Zhang Heng still could bring despair to his opponents with his two Persian swords. The moment he stepped foot on the arena, every single audience would shout his name rhythmically. And the pressure that he brought to his opponent was immense.
The gladiators who earned the right to fight in this arena were star gladiators from their respective gladiator schools. They were used to the audience cheered for them. It was rare for them to see themselves as villains. And the worst part was there was nothing they could do about it.