Chapter 265: Fear the

Du Hu, he was naturally all too familiar with him. A C-Class Awakened, and also a trusted aide to the Association President.

He had actually gotten involved in a Life-and-Death Arena? Could there be some hidden story behind this?

A layer of cold sweat gradually seeped out on Chen Yan's back; for the Awakened Association of a small city, every C-Class Awakened was a vital force, and losing even one would be a massive blow to the Association.

If two C-Class Awakened were to fight to the death in the Life-and-Death Arena, they would likely both suffer, and even if one were lucky enough to survive, their strength would likely be greatly diminished.

"No, I must go and stop this fight."

He thought to himself, yet, when his gaze landed on the opponent's name, he froze.

"Su Luo?"

He felt this name was somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before, but he couldn't recall it for the moment.

It wasn't until he saw the word "newcomer" mentioned in the mocking comments of the group chat that he suddenly realized.

That's right!

Wasn't that the name of the newcomer who passed the assessment today?

Su Luo, ability is speed, E-rank Awakened.

That's not right!

His expression changed instantly; a mere E-rank Awakened, what right did he have to challenge Du Hu, a C-Class Awakened, to a Life-and-Death Arena? Wasn't this purely looking for death?

He carefully read the messages in the group again, and after spending a minute or two, he finally understood the ins and outs of the matter.

"So that's how it is."

A cold sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.

As a high-level member of the Association, he naturally knew the inside story of the arena matches, as he himself was one of the beneficiaries.

It seemed this newcomer really did have some ability, enough for Du Hu to personally try to recruit him, only for the talks to break down later.

That was fine too.

For a "lone wolf" like this who thought he had some strength and wanted to act independently, refusing to follow the Association's arrangements, it was better to weed him out of the Association early.

But this Su Luo, was he truly stupid to the extreme, or just overly arrogant?

With something like this happening, if he wanted to leave the Association, he probably wouldn't be stopped, and even if he ran to another city, the Yanshi City Association wouldn't be bored enough to send people after him.

Yet he chose the path of the Life-and-Death Arena.

Isn't this like an old man eating arsenic—tired of living?

"Tsk tsk tsk."

He clicked his tongue, put away his phone, and thought to himself that since such a rare spectacle was happening, he might as well go over and take a look.

Besides, with the President away, these matters should be handled by him.

At this moment, the basement was already packed with people.

Even though the Yanshi City Awakened Association had fewer than two hundred Awakened, there were nearly three hundred people on the scene right now.

Clearly, many of them had rushed over from other places.

Everyone was staring intently at the screen above the Arena.

The screen displayed the avatars of Du Hu and Lu Yu, with the amount of points wagered on the two below.

There were still a full ten minutes left on the countdown.

There were many people betting on Du Hu; every second, the wagered points fluctuated by hundreds, and in less than two or three minutes, the cumulative points had exceeded fifty thousand.

There were also quite a few people betting on Lu Yu; at this moment, the points had already exceeded ten thousand and were still steadily rising by tens at a time.

Although everyone present knew clearly that Du Hu had a huge chance of winning this fight, what if? If Du Hu lost, their returns would multiply.

Using a small cost to gamble for a relatively generous return was still very attractive.

As a result, more people felt that betting on Du Hu was profitable and followed suit.

Just like that, the cycle continued, and after another three minutes, the point ratio on the board reached 150,000 to 30,000, giving those who bet on Lu Yu odds of over 4 to nearly 5 times.

And of those 30,000 points, more than half were wagered by Lu Yu himself.

He stood quietly in the Arena, letting the people around him mock and curse, just silently waiting for the final three-plus minutes to end.

As for Du Hu, he took advantage of this time to study the detailed process of Lu Yu's three previous battles carefully, and after finishing, he couldn't help but reveal a sneer of disdain at the corner of his mouth.

This newcomer was nothing more than this, wasting so much of his time for nothing.

"Creak—"

Accompanied by a slight sound, a figure slowly pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"President!"

"President!"

The man in sunglasses and the few people around him saw who it was and hurriedly greeted him respectfully, their tones full of awe.

The person who walked in was none other than Chen Yan.

"President."

Du Hu was slightly stunned at first, then quickly stepped forward to greet him respectfully.

"Hmm, you all go out first." Chen Yan's gaze was like a sharp blade, quickly sweeping over everyone present, and then he said in a flat but unquestionable tone.

"Yes."

The group looked at each other, understood, and quietly exited the room one after another; the last person to leave even thoughtfully closed the door.

In the blink of an eye, only Chen Yan and Du Hu remained in the room.

"President..." Du Hu was just about to speak, but Chen Yan raised his hand to stop him and said, "I already have an idea of the general situation, you don't need to say more. I ask you, once you get into the Arena later, do you have absolute certainty that you can finish him off?"

Hearing this, Du Hu couldn't help but chuckle and said confidently, "President, do you have so little confidence in me?"

"Not to mention whether that guy is actually a C-Class Awakened or not, even if he really is, so what? Don't you know my strength?"

"Of course I know your strength." A faint smile appeared on Chen Yan's face, "But one always fears the 'what if', doesn't one? I heard this Life-and-Death Arena was proposed by this newcomer himself. If he didn't have some real ability, how would he dare to act like this?"

The atmosphere in the room instantly quieted down, a hint of gravity quietly spreading.

"I say this not to boost others' morale and dampen our own, but simply to remind you that when you make your move in a moment, you must finish the fight quickly to avoid any complications," Chen Yan earnestly exhorted.

"Yes, President."

Du Hu hurriedly nodded repeatedly.

He understood in his heart that the President was acting out of good intentions, worried that he might underestimate the enemy and capsize in the gutter through a moment of carelessness.

However, he, Du Hu, was not the type of person to let his guard down.

He had always firmly believed that even when facing an opponent as weak as a rabbit, a lion would go all out when attacking; this was the principle he consistently upheld.

"Mm, as long as you understand, I will just wait to hear your good news."

As Chen Yan spoke, he reached out and lightly patted Du Hu on the shoulder, then turned and walked out of the room.

He did not go far, but stopped at the door of a private room on the left, reached out to push the door open, and walked inside.

"President, you have arrived."

"President, what exactly is going on here? How did things get so out of hand?"

"That's right, I heard this newcomer just joined the Association today? And you personally assessed him yourself, your judgment..."

Inside the private room, three people were sitting, two men and one woman.

Seeing Chen Yan enter, they were not as cautious as the people outside; instead, they were boisterous and completely unrestrained.

One of the men was even leisurely crossing his legs, shaking a wine glass in his hand, looking like a loafer.

They were all C-Class Awakened in the Association, and after learning of this news, they had all rushed over with the mindset of watching the spectacle.

Chen Yan walked into the private room, slowly sat down in an empty seat, and said with a calm expression: "The world is big, and there are all kinds of people; it's not as if similar things haven't happened before. It's just that this newcomer's strength truly surprised me a little."

"That is true."

That man who looked like a loafer tilted his head back to gulp down a mouthful of wine, then continued: "I watched his three battles; the strength he displayed is indeed not something an E-rank Awakened could possess; at the very least, it has reached the D-Rank level, and I even feel it is getting close to C-Class."

"Judging by the fact that he dared to challenge Du Hu, perhaps he really is a C-Class Awakened; otherwise, it really doesn't make sense, does it?"

The short-haired woman frowned slightly and said with a look of confusion.