Chapter 251: Entering the Arena

"That's right, three minutes before each Arena match begins, we can place bets on the two contestants on the stage.

If you bet correctly, your points can multiply several times over. Once, there was a huge upset, and someone in the Association used one hundred points to bet, and it ended up multiplying more than ten times!" Zhang Xin said excitedly.

"The most I've ever multiplied mine was ten times; one hundred points turned into one thousand in less than half a day! Brother Su, tell me, isn't this a fast way to get points?"

"It's much faster than doing missions." The two spoke one after another, coordinating with great tacit understanding.

"Isn't this just gambling?" Lu Yu frowned. "Does the Association allow this kind of thing to exist?"

Wu Xing and Zhang Xin exchanged a smile, their eyes carrying a hint of deeper meaning.

"On the surface, it's definitely not allowed, but everyone knows how it is."

"Anyway, rest assured, the Association won't give you any trouble because of this." The two continued to explain, one after the other.

In reality, the biggest beneficiary of this matter was the local Association.

Not only did they take a cut from the Arena, but for betting activities like this, they were also the biggest bookmakers, earning commissions by adjusting the odds.

The Headquarters had initially strictly forbidden such activities suspected of being gambling, but later discovered it couldn't be stopped at all.

Because the Awakened in the Association would gamble in private, and it even led to quite a few deaths.

Rather than that, it was better to let them do it within the Association Base.

If one wanted to truly eradicate this behavior, there was only one way: to prohibit the free circulation of points, but doing so would harm the interests of many Awakened.

So in the end, the Association just turned a blind eye.

Moreover, although this kind of sparring was mixed with factors of profit, it could also, to a certain extent, improve the combat power of the Awakened within the Association.

"Is that so?" Lu Yu suddenly had an idea in his heart.

Although the two had spoken in glowing terms, one didn't need to think hard to know that the vast majority of people participating in the bets would eventually lose everything; the only ones truly making a fortune were the Association controlling the odds and a very small number of lucky Awakened.

However, he could take advantage of the fact that others knew nothing about his strength to make a good profit!

Once he earned enough points to return to the Base, he could buy the True Qi Pill Prescription; wouldn't that be wonderful?

"If I want to fight in the Arena, what then?" Lu Yu suddenly said.

Instantly, the atmosphere fell silent. The two in front of him widened their eyes, looking at Lu Yu as if they had seen a ghost.

After a long while, Wu Xing opened his mouth wide and said, "Brother Su, you aren't joking with us, are you? A newcomer like you running off to fight in the Arena—isn't that just going to hand over points?"

"Yeah, the minimum bet to fight in the Arena is 50 points, with no upper limit. You only have one hundred points on you; you'll lose them all in the blink of an eye once you go up. Instead of that, you might as well bet all your points; you might even earn eight or ten times back."

"I just want to try," Lu Yu said with a smile.

"Fine then." Seeing that Lu Yu had made up his mind, the two stopped trying to persuade him.

Anyway, if Lu Yu was willing to go, they would get their referral fee. As for what happened afterward, they couldn't be bothered to care.

Thus, the three walked toward the elevator entrance. After the elevator doors opened, the three walked in.

Wu Xing pressed the button for the basement level, turned to look at Lu Yu, and said, "Brother Su, I still advise you to reconsider. It's not like there haven't been confident newcomers like you who went to fight in the Arena before, only to be beaten so badly that even their own parents wouldn't recognize them."

"The key is that you'd also waste fifty points for nothing. If you used them to bet, betting ten points at a time, you could bet five times."

Lu Yu smiled and asked, "You two, if I go up to fight in the Arena, can I bet on myself to win?"

Wu Xing and Zhang Xin looked at each other.

"Su, Brother Su, you wouldn't happen to..."

Lu Yu gave a hum. "That's right, I plan to bet all the remaining 50 points on myself to win."

Wu Xing and Zhang Xin fell into silence once again. They truly couldn't understand where this newcomer got such great confidence.

With a "Ding-dong," the elevator doors slowly opened, and a thick scent of alcohol rushed toward them.

They saw that outside the elevator, twenty or thirty meters away, there was an Arena.

The two on the stage were engaged in a fierce confrontation; one of them seemed to have awakened an Element Ability, and from time to time, a Stone Wall would rise from the Arena to block the opponent's attacks.

The other person had awakened a Wind Ability and was continuously firing palm-sized Wind Blades, violently bombarding the opponent's Earth Wall.

At this moment, at least a hundred people had already surrounded the Arena, and the crowd's shouting was deafening.

"Go for it! What's the point of always defending? I bet fifty points on you!"

"What are you panicking for? That guy Chang Erbiao looks like he's attacking fiercely, but one is attacking and one is defending; you can tell at a glance who is consuming more Mental Power. Once Chang Erbiao's Mental Power is exhausted, he's bound to lose!"

"You don't know a damn thing! Chang Erbiao clearly hasn't used his full strength yet; you'll see soon enough."

The vast majority of people had their attention focused on the battle in the Arena; only a very small number of people noticed Lu Yu's arrival, their faces showing meaningful expressions.

"Didn't expect a newcomer to come."

"Must have been tricked into coming by Wu Xing and the other one again, right?"

"I was the one who was tricked by them back then; lost all one hundred points."

"Then why are you still here?"

"Just feel like it's quite fun; doing missions isn't as interesting as this."

After the few finished speaking, they turned their gazes back to the Arena.

"Brother Su, you see it too, right? Those two on the stage are both D-rank Awakened; their strength is very high." Wu Xing glanced at Lu Yu. "It's not too late to back out now."

Lu Yu shook his head and said, "You haven't answered the question I asked in the elevator yet."

Zhang Xin, standing to the side, said helplessly, "It's not that you can't bet on yourself, it's just that you can only bet on yourself to win."

"Understood." Lu Yu nodded; such rules were perfect for him.

"You two, how do I get on stage to fight in the Arena?"

"Come with us; we were just about to take you over anyway."

The two led Lu Yu to find a man wearing sunglasses.

They walked up and whispered a few words into the man's ear.

The man in sunglasses looked at Lu Yu from time to time, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

Afterward, the man in sunglasses walked toward Lu Yu and asked with great interest, "You're a newcomer, right? Are you sure you want to go on stage to participate in a match?"

"Mm." Lu Yu nodded, "I heard that the minimum bet is 50 points?"

"That's correct."

"Then I will bet another 50 points on myself to win," Lu Yu said.

"You've got quite a lot of nerve." It was hard to tell if the tone of the man in sunglasses was one of praise or mockery.

It is always a good thing to have a newcomer join, even if it is just a newcomer who has just arrived.

"Follow me, and register your information."

Beside them, Wu Xing and Zhang Xin watched Lu Yu's departing back and could not help but shake their heads and sigh.

Things having reached this point, it was too late for this newcomer named Su Luo to regret it.

What a pity; reality would soon give him a harsh lesson.