Chapter 958: No Martial Virtue
Once again, from Meng Chao’s black hair and black eyes, a deep, inky light blossomed, making the rat militia feel an unreasonable trust.
Leaf swallowed hard and could not help but ask, “Reaper, do you think we can really defeat a n.o.ble lord from the Ironhide Clan and his squad of servants?”
“This…”
Meng Chao looked hesitant.
Although he didn’t know the strength of his opponent…
Through the memory fragments from his previous life, he roughly knew the strength of the servants of the Turan civilization.
Considering that in his previous life, when he came into contact with the Turan people, the war between worlds was already in full swing. Even the shrimp soldiers and crab generals were veterans who had survived hundreds of battles.
The war between worlds had just begun, and the servants who had not yet gone through actual combat training, no matter how powerful they were, could not surpa.s.s the average standards of the military n.o.bles in his previous life.
Meng Chao closed his eyes and carefully compared and deduced. He slowly shook his head and said with a solemn expression, “It’s very difficult.”
“As expected!”
Even the mysterious Lord Reaper had said so. Leaf, Spider, and the wild rat soldiers who had been commoners half a month ago felt their hearts turn cold.
“Originally, I intended to finish off my opponent without any injuries.”
Meng Chao furrowed his brows and slowly said the second half of his sentence, “I didn’t expect the opponent to change. With this, it will be very difficult to achieve a complete victory without any injuries!”
Leaf, Spider, and the other rat soldiers were speechless.
“It seems like we need to find an opportunity to test the opponent’s strength before coming up with a targeted strategy.”
Meng Chao pondered for a moment before he turned around and found Ice Storm.
Ice Storm was still red-faced and furious.
This made Meng Chao once again curious about the ident.i.ty of this ace gladiator.
One had to know that the military aristocrats of the Turan civilization had received warrior education since they were young. It not only included the training of personal martial arts, the ability to control totem armors, but also included the art of marching and fighting.
The wealthy families of the five major clans all kept thousands of “House rats”. They let the descendants of the aristocrats learn the skills of arranging troops and commanding troops since they were young. They learned how to treat the lives of living people as chess pieces and cannon fodder in the most valuable way, they consumed them mercilessly.
If Ice Storm was really born in the Snow Leopard Clan that was part of the Gold Clan…
Then she could be considered as being in one of the distinguished families in the Turan civilization.
How could she have such overwhelming combat ability, yet she did not know how to command a battle team of more than a hundred people and even lacked the most basic ability to command her subordinates?
“She clearly lacks command ability. Judging from her performance over the past few days, she has no interest in training and commanding at all. Yet, she is unwilling to give up her dream of taking charge on her own. She is unwilling to join the very promising Blood Hoof Clan through the Blood Bestowing Ceremony. What exactly is this female leopard thinking?”
Meng Chao pondered and stood in front of Ice Storm. With a calm and sincere expression, he said, “Lady Ice Storm, I think you should protest to the adjudicator — protest against changing opponents at the last minute. This is unfair.”
Ice Storm was stunned.
Although she was very angry at Casanova’s little tricks, was it useful to protest?
Gladiators, especially the invincible ace gladiators, had to have the courage to face all challenges head-on.
Otherwise, what kind of ace could they be!
Such a protest would not be accepted at all.
She would even be ridiculed for nothing. She would be laughed at for being afraid of a n.o.body who had just undergone the Ironhide Clan’s coming of age ceremony.
“No, the purpose of the protest is not to cancel the fight or to change the original opponent back. I know it’s impossible, but you should still protest. It’s best if you can let the challenger hear your complaint in front of him.”
Meng Chao confidently said, “The advantages of doing so are, firstly, that your opponent will think that you are leading a motley crew. You are very afraid of fighting with his well-trained ‘House Mouse Soldiers’.
“It’s not bad for us to show our weakness.
“Secondly, although it’s impossible to cancel the duel or change the opponent, your protest may help us win more favorable conditions. For example, you can give us a few more spears and armor so that we can eat more before the battle starts. When Life and death is at stake, even one more spear or the strength of one more mandrake fruit is crucial.
“Third, you might anger the challenger from the Ironhide Clan and make an extra bet with you on the outcome of this battle.”
“Wait, what?”
Ice Storm understood the first two benefits.
The third benefit confused her.
The female snow leopard warrior stared at the annoying smile on Meng Chao’s face and asked hesitantly, “An extra bet?”
“That’s right. Although the winner of the team battle will receive a generous reward, after this victory, you will have to command a hundred servant soldiers for the next round. If you want to feed these servant soldiers, the reward from this victory is far from enough.”
Meng Chao spread his hands and said, “In the Blood Hoof Clan, the wild boar people are famous for their fiery personalities and their inability to withstand excitement.
“Since our opponent is from the most powerful Ironhide Clan among the wild boar people and is a new member of the clan who has just undergone the coming of age ceremony and is full of youthful vigor, I believe that he must be even more impulsive and irritable. As long as you provoke him a little, he will be willing to gamble his life to fight with you in the arena, right?
“Of course, there’s no need to really gamble all of his wealth to be so exaggerated. With the strong strength of the Ironhide Clan, hundreds of golden fruits, three to five thousand kilograms of totem beast flesh, and so on, shouldn’t he be able to take them out without even blinking?”
‘This way, I can get the resources needed to heal my injuries as soon as possible, and recover my battle strength above the heavenly state as soon as possible!’ Meng Chao thought to himself.
“You, you know who our opponent is, and you still think that we’ll win without a doubt?”
Ice Storm was stunned for a long time. Half embarra.s.sed, half angry, her face turned red as she said, “But, I can’t bet so much!”
Although she was the ace of the Blood Skull Arena and it sounded glorious…
Whether in Dragon City or Picturesque Orchid Lake, training was equivalent to burning money.
The daily cost of training alone was astronomical.
In the first three group battles, Ice Storm had to bear the cost of hundreds or even thousands of servants.
Although the gladiator arena would be responsible for the basic expenses of these servants, such as the mandrake fruit, the most basic weapons and armor.
However, if they wanted to win, how could the gladiators not spend their own money?
After three defeats, Ice Storm had spent all the savings that she had acc.u.mulated as an “ace.”
But she did not want to be completely dependent on the Blood Hoof Clan.
As a lone outsider, where else could she get additional resources?
If there was nothing she could do, she would not have made a desperate attempt. She had placed all her hopes on Meng Chao, the black-haired, black-eyed, and unknown guy.
“I know. That’s why you can’t bet on your complete victory in the official gambling match in the Blood Skull Arena. Because you don’t have enough capital, you can’t win much.”
Meng Chao calmly skimmed over Ice Storm’s financial situation and continued, “It’s different when compared with this hot-tempered new member of the Ironhide Clan.
“You can bid all over the sky. Just use… your own capital and say that if you lose, you’re willing to join the Ironhide Clan. I think the other party will definitely agree, right?”
“Join the Ironhide Clan?”
Ice Storm raised her eyebrows and was about to curse.
However, Meng Chao interrupted her anger and shrugged as if nothing had happened. “In any case, if you lose this round, you’ll have no other choice but to join the Blood Hoof clan. Is there any difference between the Ironhide Clan and the Blood Hoof Clan in your eyes, Lady Ice Storm?” he asked
Ice Storm’s fury was blocked in her throat.
That’s right. The reason why she turned a blind eye to Casanova’s overly enthusiastic invitation was not because she looked down on the Blood Hoof Clan.
Instead, she had a reason to absolutely not carry out the Blood Bestowing Ceremony.
On this point, both the Ironhide Clan and the Blood Hoof Clan were the same.
Once they lost, they would have to face the worst consequences.
Then, no matter what they bet, it would not matter, right?
“You…”
Ice Storm took a deep breath and once again forcefully restrained the urge to stretch out her claws and scratch Meng Chao. Feeling partially doubtful and partially expectant, she asked, “Can you really help me win?”
“As long as you absolutely trust me.”
Meng Chao calmly said, “Not just one victory, but—”
“But how many?” Ice Storm actually believed him a little.
“All of them.”
Meng Chao said, “All of them.”
Ice Storm really listened to him and obediently went to look for the adjudicators and challengers to protest.
Meng Chao called Leaf over.
“Leaf, are our opponents also in the Hall of Glory?” Meng Chao asked with a face full of ill intentions.
“They should be.”
The rat youth nodded. “There are still a few more rounds before it’s our turn. At this moment, all the gladiators and servant squads will rest, warm up, and choose their weapons in the Hall of Glory. Then, they will walk from the pathways around the Hall of Glory to the arena on the upper level.”
“Very good. Then, bring our soldiers and find this group of rat servants from the Ironhide Clan. If there’s no problem with Lady Ice Storm’s side, the master of this group of rat servants should have been called away by the adjudicators.”
Meng Chao lowered his voice and said, “Listen carefully. I want you to find a random reason to cause friction with the other party. It’s best to lure the other party to attack you. Remember, the other party must make the first move!”
Leaf’s eyes lit up. He rubbed his fists and said, “I understand. Are you going to show off your might and beat the other party to the ground in the Hall of Glory, Lord Reaper?”
“Who said that? How could I do something so immoral?”
Meng Chao said, “You are not allowed to make a move either. All of you, pretend to be weak and cowardly. Pretend to be as timid as mice. If you are not afraid of acting too exaggeratedly, you can cry and run away at the same time. Anyway, if you attract the other party to chase after you and run around the Hall of Glory, your mission will be completed!”