The large gladiatorial tournaments in Larvega, which take place every year at the beginning of October and last for a week. Gladiatorial matches are not broadcast publicly, and only those with tickets to the Colosseum are allowed to enter, commonly known as "black tickets". This small piece of paper is expensive, and you have to pay again every time you enter the market.

If you want to feast your eyes on the spot, there are some hidden ways that will allow you to get your hands on a black ticket. The fastest way is to find a person with a black ticket to referral. The audience only has to enjoy the game, as for whether the gladiatorial match will be discovered by the outside world, it is a false proposition that the mayor himself is the leader of the underworld.

Located in the north of the city, the Colosseum is a huge circular building that has been converted from the remains of the Colosseum left over from ancient times, divided into a competition area, an entertainment area, and a gladiator rest area. There are three arenas in the competition area, each of which can accommodate 20,000 or 30,000 spectators, and there are more than 40,000 seats outside the stadium, which can be watched by people through the big screen.

Without mentioning the bloody nature of the gladiatorial fights themselves, the gladiatorial tournaments are quite lively enough to rival the world-class games. During the game, more than half of the city's police and the mayor's personal forces will go to the arena to help maintain order. Outside the arena hung all kinds of slogans and posters, all posted by the coaches to show the spectators the fighters they had trained. At around 6 o'clock in the morning, three hours before the start of the competition, the bustling crowd crowded outside the two-person high gate of the gladiatorial arena, waiting to enter the arena for the first time.

In the northwest corner of the Colosseum, there is a small door that has been opened in advance. This is the entertainment area, where all sorts^ of businessmen set up stalls and sell their wares diligently. The entertainment area is constantly in and out of spectators, because in addition to selling food and drink, it also provides an important service - gambling.

The hall used for gambling is located in the center of the entertainment area, and people are used to calling it the "red room", which is a place for spectators to guess and place bets. The name of each gladiator is listed on the screen in the Red Room and shows information such as the time they trained, the weapons they used, and who their instructor was. People need to place bets here before the game and check back on the game at halftime.

At that time, you will see that many gladiators' names have changed from white to black or red, which means that the gladiator has been defeated or killed. This area is the most guarded area except for the gladiators' rest area, and gamblers who lose large bets can do anything.

As an important place for Larvega to attract distinguished guests, the gladiatorial arena is naturally indispensable for VIP rooms. Each arena has 10 VIP rooms, located above the spectator seats. Here, you can not only enjoy the whole view of the stadium from a high vantage point, but also enjoy the details of the game through the indoor screen, and enjoy the meticulous service in the room.

Each room is equipped with three prostitutes. These young women, specially trained to serve, are able to meet any need of the guests. In Fryce, prostitutes are a legitimate profession, and in Larvega, prostitutes are known throughout the country. While watching the blood-pumping gladiatorial fight, while using a woman's body to vent this impulse, it can be called the supreme pleasure of men. As for the audience below, it is usually done with drugs, which can be bought from some merchants.

As the most popular and spectatorial competition, Deathmatch is scheduled to be played on the first day every time, and the official start is 9 o'clock. With less than two hours left, Mayor Sharan Cruzot, dressed in his gray and white suit and accompanied by five bodyguards, stood outside the dedicated entrance to the VIP room to greet every guest.

Shalan, who is in his fifties, is quite famous in the Chinese world. He did not create the modern Larvega gladiatorial tournament, but it was he who prospered. In order to cater to the tastes of his guests, he extended the duration of the tournament from four days to one week, promoted it vigorously, made friends from all walks of life, and added many new rules to the gladiatorial tournament.

Those who can enter the VIP room are all people who can call Shalan brothers. Even so, to compete for the total of 30 seats, it is necessary to make reservations two or three months in advance, and often it is not possible. If you invest a lot of money in a match, you can increase your success rate. Of course, the more important thing is to see how Shalan arranges. Accepting who rejects whom is a job that cannot be sloppy for Shalan.

This time, for example, he turned down a request from a defense minister last month to set aside a room for a guest who had made an appointment only last week. It was almost 8 o'clock when the guest appeared.

Stopped in front of Sharan was a military Lima SUV, and under the co-driver was a man, dressed in a summer pale green military uniform, wearing sunglasses, and his right hand was wrapped in a bandage, almost enclosing his forearm without revealing a trace of skin. As soon as the man got out of the car, he walked towards Shalan, and the two smiled and shook hands.

"Hello, Mayor Shalan, long time no see."

"Welcome, Brother Schubelez, you haven't been here for two years, have you?"

The man, Schubeltz Kalchi, was in his early thirties and had only met Sharan a few times, but the two talked very well. After chatting with each other about the recent situation, Sharan thought that the other guests would not come right away, so he planned to send Schubeluz himself.

"Wait a minute, I'm bringing someone with me today." Schubertz shouted into the car, "Tarini, get down." ”

Two men in military uniforms had already fallen from the back of the SUV, and one of them held the slender hand that stretched out from the car, allowing a girl to jump safely.

The girl was also fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a large sunhat, two aqua blue pigtails flowing from underneath, with a light blue dress, and white legs under the skirt, which looked particularly cool in the hot sun. As soon as she stood firm, the girl's big watery eyes looked left and right, and everything around her was new to her.

"Tarini, come and say hello." Schubelez said.

Tarini trotted up to Sharan, pulled up the hem of her skirt, and bowed.

"Hello Mr. Clouzot, my name is Tarina."

"Hello, little girl." Sharan replied, and said to Schubertz with a smile, "I can't see it, brother, you still like this." What's the matter, I can't get enough for my main meal, can I bring some dessert? ”

Schubertz also replied with a smile: "Where, where, not what you think, Mr. Mayor." ”

"Oh, that's your daughter? I remember the last time we met, you said you didn't have a partner. ”

"It's not a daughter," Schuberuz continued, "and if I had to say it, my carload of people are her bodyguards, and I'm the bodyguard captain." ”

Schubelaz's words made Sharan look at the girl in front of him again. This kid is indeed beautiful and temperamental, but he really doesn't see that he is a person with a background, and he can actually let Schubeluz, the captain of the second independent operation team of the Thunder Legion, personally lead people to protect him. Tarini, Sharan secretly wrote down the name.

"Looks like I'm in for a VIP today. Not much to say, two upstairs please. ”

*****

The court of the deathmatch is oval in shape and is about the size of a basketball court. The field was three meters lower than the stands, creating a large crater with barbed wire at the edge to prevent the gladiators from escaping. Unlike other venues, the inner walls of the pit are covered with cone-shaped iron spikes, which are also facilities that increase the ornamental value.

In the middle of the sand-paved field, there are two circular metal plates. It was the elevator, and when you descended to the bottom, it was the gladiator's rest area. All gladiators were placed in cell-like rooms, waiting for roll call. The named people walked out of the room under the watchful eye of the police, went to the weapon rack in the corridor to get their weapons, and then went up the field through the elevator.

According to the rules of ancient gladiatorial matches, in addition to traditional weapons such as swords and spears provided in the arena, gladiators could also bring their own weapons. If possible, it is also possible to make homemade weapons. As long as it is checked before the game and confirmed that it is a cold weapon, it can be brought into the arena. This is to encourage gladiators to innovate and bring more unique weapons to the game, bringing more exciting matches.

There were less than 100 gladiators participating in the deathmatch this time, which is considered to be the smallest number in the previous competitions. They were kept in several separate cells. The big game is approaching, and many people are moving their bodies to prepare for the game. There are also people who keep sighing, as if they have seen their own death, these people are not voluntarily participating, but are forced to come to the arena to be cannon fodder. They babble gibberish, and they make whimpering sounds.

In the messy room, Kane sat silently against the corner, his head drooping. He hadn't slept much last night, and as soon as he closed his eyes, Mark's face at the time of death appeared. The blood splattered, the knife stuck in the neck, all clear. Kane felt his neck tighten and had to open his eyes.

In this way, he slept half-awake until the morning, and in a daze followed the other gladiators into the car, in which his thoughts were fragmented. When I came back to my senses, I was already in a prison cell.

*****

At 8:45 a.m., the doors of the arena opened, and spectators flocked to the stadium to find seats. Taleni and Schubelez were seated early, and Schubelez asked his two men to get the prostitutes out of the house, not wanting to instill anything strange in her.

At 9 o'clock, the opening ceremony of the competition began in the venue. The opening ceremony was based on the ancient ritual of worshipping the gods before gladiatorial matches. First of all, the dancers in the classical costumes of Viva danced, the so-called classical costumes, from a modern point of view, are not much like bikinis. After a few glamorous dances, a ritual is performed to worship the gods.

Due to the lack of information, the details of the ritual are no longer verifiable, and Sharan tries to restore the main part, the sacrifice, as much as possible. A dozen shirtless butchers, two leading a live sheep, others carrying a humanoid stone statue holding a long sword aloft placed in the center of the field. It is said that the prototype of this stone statue is the legendary gladiator Atlas in ancient times. Sha Lan said that this is a cultural relic dug up from the ruins of the gladiatorial arena, but the actual situation is still not to be asked.

The butchers raised their butcher knives, surrounded the stone statues, danced a dance of sacrifice to the gods, and then killed the sheep and removed the sheep's head. The blood of the sheep was sprinkled around the statue, and the head of the sheep was stuck in the tip of the sword. After that, the butchers knelt down in unison and said something in their mouths. It is said to be a prayer to Atlas that his bravery would favor every gladiator who stood here.

Seeing the stabbed sheep alive, Tarini shivered and covered her eyes, but fortunately she didn't see the decapitation in the back.

"That's not going to work, is it?" "Don't look at it and go outside and rest," Schubeltz said. ”

"Who, who said no!" Tarini retorted stubbornly, her hands still on her eyes, "Just a little, a little...... I'm just not used to it. ”

"Okay, let me know if I can't hold on."

After the worship of the gods, Sharan gave a speech. A viewing platform was set up above the east auditorium, where he gave a short speech to welcome the audience and dignitaries. At the same time, it was specifically mentioned that there will be a special person present today, and then the game will be announced.

Deathmatch does not play in groups, but rather through a simple random matchmaking to determine the opposing teams. If you are lucky, you will avoid many strong enemies, and if you are unlucky, you may have to fight several times in a row, even if this gladiator has strength, it will inevitably be dragged down and let others have a chance.

This matching method is one of Shalan's creativity. You must know that there are brutal fights in the arena, and the gambling games outside the arena are also ruthless, and there are a lot of benefits to be grabbed. Coaches have their own ideas on how to make the rules of the game. Shalan's principle is: win or lose, equal chance. So a random matching pattern was designed.

In this way, every battle is full of variables, and any gladiator who is favored can miss and avoid letting a large group of people's money fit into one person's pocket. If you can't do it, you can secretly adjust the matching object and control the situation.

Of course, in order to stir up the atmosphere, the first match was arranged by Shalan himself. As soon as the opening remarks ended, an elevator in the venue slowly rose, bringing in a nobody, holding a big sword. The narrator casually said the name of the gladiator, and did not forget to add the name of "rookie".

But then, his tone changed, and his voice was loud.

"Next, please give your warmest cheers to the special person invited by Mr. Sharan. Someone may have seen his name in the Red Room. Invite the return of our three-time champion, God of War, A-Rui-Si——!! ”

Suddenly, the audience erupted like a bomb, and the deafening cheers frightened the gladiator to the ground. Another elevator rose, and on it stood a big man, the muscles of the whole body were like pieces of rocks, piling up this two-meter-high peak, with leather shorts on the lower body, two leather straps on the upper body, a helmet with two horns, a shield in his left hand, and a sword in his right hand, tall and mighty. Ares raised his sword aloft and echoed the voices of the audience.

"Me, Ares! God of War is back!! ”

Among gladiators, no one did not know the name of Ares, as well as his nickname "God of War". This man has won three consecutive Deathmatch and Traditional titles, and has overwhelming power that can easily defeat his opponents without fighting back. However, the game with him is generally longer, because he likes to play with his opponent, like a cat catching a mouse, not in a hurry to eat, but slowly tortured, and then killed when he is tired of playing. Therefore, his game is very "spectacle", and it is much more interesting to watch a person's spirit be destroyed than to see his body torn apart.

The gladiator who was slumped on the ground peed his pants, he had the courage to fight for his life when he heard that Ares was no longer competing, why did he come back?

Actually, God of War only took a break for a few years. He was secretly trained by a coach in order to keep the outside game. After dominating three tournaments in a row, he was outraged by other coaches who plotted to assassinate Ares' coach. After that, Ares was taken in by Shalan, and in order to maintain the balance of power outside the arena, he asked Ares to temporarily withdraw. This time I felt that the time was right, and brought him back again.

The audience's cries were almost frenzied, and Ares was back to be seen. Seeing that his opponent had no fighting spirit, Ares paced unhurriedly in front of the gladiator. The poor fellow forgot to run away and simply knelt on the ground and kowtowed incessantly begging for mercy.

Ares raised his greatsword and shouted to the audience.

"What do you want to see!?"

"Paste the wall! Paste the wall! Paste the wall! ”

Hearing the audience's response, Ares roared, like the roar of a wild beast. He kicked the gladiator over.

"Run! Come on!! ”

The gladiator was startled again by Ares' roar, and even got up and ran. Ares jogged along, making funny and vulgar gestures from time to time, drawing laughter from the audience.

After chasing like this for a while, the opponent was forced to the wall. On one side is the spikes of the wall, and on the other side is the pursuit of the god of war. He cried and had a nervous breakdown. When Ares stood in front of him again, his eyes were blank, his soul was scattered, and he couldn't run.

Cries of "kill him" began to appear in the stadium. Respecting the demands of the spectators, Ares stuck his sword in the ground and grabbed the gladiator's neck with his free hand, flicking it around in the air effortlessly. After a show of strength, Ares roared and threw the gladiator against the wall, spikes piercing him into a sieve in an instant, and his flesh was blurred.

"Wonderful show! The victor is our god of war, Ares!! ”

Ares raised his arms and shouted in victory, and the crowd chanted along, the name of the god of war echoing across the arena.

In the VIP room, Schubertz watched quietly. He knew this Ares, and he saw it the last time he watched the game, and this person is still the same as before, so fond of playing. With a sigh, Schuberuz realized that at some point, Tarine was trembling in his arms.

"Alright, it's over," Schubelaz touched her head, "I'll just say you can't see this." ”

At the beginning of the game, Tarini, who was still thinking about sacrificing to the gods and killing, was calmed by the abnormal enthusiasm in the field. At first she tried to stay calm. When she saw Ares grab her opponent, Tarini couldn't hold on any longer, and hid in Schubeluz's arms with her eyes closed, covering her ears.

"Because, because it's rare to rest, I also want to come out and look outside......"

Taline's voice was still trembling, and Schubeluz shook his head with a wry smile. This time he came to Larvega to do something, and watching the gladiatorial match was just a show provided by Shalan. Hearing that he was on a business trip, Tarini had to come with him, and said that she wanted to watch the game. Although she disagreed, this girl was stubborn, and she had to do what she was sure of.

"I'm sure everyone will want to see more of the God of War's demeanor, so in the next two games, the God of War will continue to fight bloody battles - of course, the blood of his enemies! Find out who his next opponent is!! ”

The narrator's words resonated with the audience, and it seems that this one-sided torture will continue for some time. Seeing that Tarina was about to cry, it was better for her to avoid it for a while, Schuberaz thought.

On the large screen above the viewing platform, the names of the people next to Ares were constantly changing, and finally stopped.

"The next opponent, please Kane Ireda!!"

Schubelez, who had wanted to get up, sat down again, and he heard a familiar name.

"Idada?"