Chapter 71: Duel

Early morning, Paradise Island was filled with a clamor.

All this was due to a piece of news: a man had arrived on Paradise Island.

Outside the Amazon tribe's holy temple, the crowd surged, all rushing to look inside the main hall, wanting to see the legendary man's demeanor with their own eyes.

Inside the hall, Amazon Queen Hippolyta stood on the high platform, while Female General Antiope and a squad of Amazon warriors escorted Su Qing to stand below; Diana, like a child who had done wrong, followed behind with her head lowered.

"Human, what's your name?" Hippolyta frowned, glanced at her daughter, and asked in an unfriendly tone.

Su Qing was bound by the Lasso of Truth; lying was impossible, and he had no intention to lie about his name, so he answered truthfully: "Su Qing."

"How did you come to Paradise Island?" Hippolyta's expression turned solemn; the barrier was extremely important to the Amazon tribe, and she could not be careless about it.

"I don't know either; I just ended up here in a daze."

"You don't know?"

"It's true; the ship I was on encountered a mutated giant octopus at sea, the ship and everyone aboard died, only I sat in a lifeboat, drifting aimlessly at sea until I spotted Paradise Island, and after that I met Diana."

Hearing this, Hippolyta glared at Diana and continued asking: "What kind of person are you?"

Su Qing's heart skipped a beat; he was about to reveal his time-traveler identity, but suddenly his mind felt a cool clarity, and the strong urge to confess vanished.

"The Lasso of Truth has failed!" He stared for a moment, then reacted and said: "I'm the boss of Mei Jian's Umbrella Company, a native of the Eastern Country."

"Mei Jian? Umbrella?"

"Mei Jian is an emerging nation; Umbrella is the company I founded, which is also a power."

"Do you harbor any thoughts of harming or enslaving us?" the Female General asked sternly, obviously still resentful of ancient times when humans enslaved them.

"No." Su Qing shook his head decisively.

Hearing this answer, the surrounding people's expressions softened considerably, and Diana smiled.

"What is your true purpose in approaching Diana?" Hippolyta stepped down from the platform, surveyed Su Qing, and suddenly asked.

"She is a kind and beautiful girl." Su Qing paused, then said: "I want to be friends with her."

"..."

Hippolyta remained silent for a few seconds, then was about to ask something else, but Diana interrupted: "Mother, Su Qing never intended to harm us; we cannot..."

She hadn't finished speaking when Su Qing interjected: "Your Majesty, I have a proposal!"

"What proposal?" Hippolyta glanced at him sideways and asked.

"Let's have a duel; I'll fight her. If I win, you must release me and allow me to stay on Paradise Island without restricting my personal freedom." Su Qing pointed at the Female General.

"What if you lose?"

"If I lose, life or death is up to you to decide!"

The Amazon tribe, as a brave and warlike people, greatly values warriors' honor; thus Hippolyta merely pondered briefly before nodding her agreement.

"I have one more condition." Seeing their agreement, Su Qing hurriedly said: "I've been drifting at sea for a long time; I need five days to recover my strength."

"Okay." Hippolyta agreed without further thought.

Thus the interrogation concluded smoothly, and Su Qing was taken away.

Perhaps out of confidence in his strength, or having resigned himself to being unable to escape, in the following days Su Qing's personal freedom was not restricted; he could move freely on the island.

This also suited his wishes.

Female General Antiope had lived many years, experienced countless battles, and her combat experience was extremely rich; Su Qing lacked full confidence in defeating her.

But as the old saying goes, if strength is lacking, cheats can make up for it.

Su Qing's reason for requesting five days of recovery time was actually to download cheats to boost his strength.

Needless to say, Paradise Island was practically a treasure trove for him.

Even a random Amazon passerby, upon closer inspection, would have several skills that were either mastered or at the Skilled Level.

During the following period, Su Qing would linger each day at the edge of the Amazon warriors' training ground, familiarizing himself with their fighting style; when the training dispersed at night, his skill downloads would just finish.

Now possessing two major source bloodlines, Su Qing's bodily energy greatly increased; aside from master-level skills, any proficient skill could be downloaded within a day's time, which was quite convenient.

Moreover, the golden finger had no limit on the number of targets; as long as his body could support it, he could link to multiple individuals and download multiple skills.

And so, five days passed in a flash.

On the morning of the duel, Su Qing had just arrived at the training field when he saw that the surroundings were already filled with spectators, the Amazon people.

Queen Hippolyta, Female General Antiope, and Diana had also arrived early.

Looks like I'm the only one missing!

Su Qing muttered to himself, glanced at the just-lightening sky, reacquainted himself with the Amazon people, and indeed, for the sake of battle, he didn't even sleep.

Since everyone was present, there was nothing more to say.

Su Qing and Antiope stepped out of the crowd to the center of the field and stood facing each other.

Afterward, all that was heard was Queen Hippolyta's voice: "Begin."

Almost the instant the sound fell, Su Qing lunged forward with a blade slash, while Antiope was not slow, swinging her sword to meet the attack.

The next second, blade and sword clashed in midair, emitting a tremendous metallic ring.

"Clang..."

After the blade and sword collided, it became a contest of strength.

But Su Qing, having fused the power of two major source bloodlines extraordinarily, managed to hold on for only a few seconds before Antiope's face flushed red; she flipped and retreated.

Afterward, there followed a flurry of blade and sword flashes.

It must be said that Antiope is indeed formidable; after exchanging dozens of moves, Su Qing still could not gain the upper hand.

But as the old saying goes, a flurry of punches can fell a veteran master.

Having downloaded five days' worth of skills, Su Qing's combat abilities surged, his strength greatly improved; finally, after ten minutes of combat, he placed a blade at Antiope's throat.

"You..." Antiope stood rooted, finding it hard to believe she had lost, but as a general she merely steadied herself after a moment's daze, looked seriously at Su Qing, and said: "You won!"

"Thank you, you're formidable." Su Qing sheathed his blade and gave a light laugh.

At this moment, Queen Hippolyta walked over with Diana.

"Su Qing, you're amazing," Diana said, somewhat excited.

"You'll become as strong as me in the future," Su Qing said, turning to look at the queen, "I won!"

"Yes, you won. We will keep our promise."

Queen Hippolyta's face darkened somewhat, her tone displeased, she glanced at her sister, having originally expected her own sister to win the match, but she never imagined that Su Qing would actually win.

Just thinking that there would be a man on the island in the future made her feel upset, and seeing her daughter surrounded by Su Qing with a happy face made her even more gloomy.

Thus, she said with a dark face, "Diana, I have something to tell you."

Having said that, she didn't give Diana a chance to respond, grabbed Diana's hand and dragged her away.

Although Su Qing said under the Lasso of Truth that he harbored no ill intent, Hippolyta, as an experienced woman, had reason to suspect that this man had designs on her daughter.