Chapter 302: Colosseum (10) “Who’s on the Chessboard?”

In the room with the wolf head, Chang Xu wielded the black 【Life Severer】 almost to the point of leaving afterimages, his sharp scythe harvesting swathes of snakes that surged towards him and Liu Yuhan.

Cold light and blood intertwined; with every swing, a dozen snake heads fell, their cuts clean. The exposed muscle tissue writhed in defiance of death, then helplessly stiffened.

Icy snake blood splattered on Chang Xu’s cheek, making his pale face appear grim and terrifying. More blood seeped into his black clothes, not showing its color, but making the fabric feel sticky.

Liu Yuhan sat behind him, pen in hand, scribbling furiously in the 【Strange Tale Notebook】. Ink lines chased her pen, converging and diverging on their own, finally leaving two words—

【Desire】 and 【Divine Blood】.

She seemed to understand something, drawing a dagger and slashing her arm. Fresh blood flowed down, connecting with her wrist like the veins of the earth.

As if drawn by the scent of blood, all the snakes and rats instantly turned, rushing madly towards the bloodlines covering the ground.

Liu Yuhan held her breath, her eyes fixed on the movements on the ground.

She watched as the snakes and rats petrified at a visible speed, turning into stone statues just as they were about to touch the pool of blood, frozen in their previous postures.

It worked, as expected… Liu Yuhan exhaled, speaking rapidly: “I understand. In this instance, Desire is like Medusa’s eyes; it petrifies living beings.

“Each of us has had our Desires stimulated by the Sphinx. The countdown has begun, and as time passes, we will all turn into stone statues under the influence of Desire.”

“We don’t have much time.” Chang Xu put away his scythe, lowering his eyes to look at his and Liu Yuhan’s ankles.

A strange grayish-white color spread at the joints, slowly creeping upwards, like a silver band clamped around their ankles.

Chang Xu thought for a moment and said, “I remember The Goat and the animals watching as spectators didn’t show any signs of petrification. They should know how to suppress Desire.”

“It could also be because they are gods, and gods have no Desires.” Liu Yuhan shook her head, paused for two seconds, her gaze narrowing. “No, there’s a discrepancy.

“Those Ratmen consider us gods, which means we have similarities to gods. Why don’t the other animals think so?”

…“Perhaps they already knew that someone would become a god in the Colosseum Game, but they no longer revere gods.”

Qi Si lay on the straw bed, smiling, “That Evil God who elevated them to godhood seems to have been absent for a long time. If they were true fanatics, they would be searching the world for their god by now, not in the mood to play games with a bunch of humans here.”

Nian Fu raised an objection: “The epic says that they hold the Colosseum Game at the gods’ behest.”

“Who believes epics, really?” Qi Si clicked his tongue lightly. “Suppose I control a church that worships a long-lost god, and one day I suddenly want to torture a few people for fun, then I would tell the congregation:

“‘Our god has bestowed a divine oracle upon me, saying that He is about to fall into slumber, and only sufficient pain and death can awaken Him.’

“Then the congregants can go and capture people for me to play with.”

Nian Fu: “…” Why are you so skilled at this!

It was already two in the morning, and there was another tough battle to fight tomorrow. Idly speculating with such meager clues wouldn’t yield any insights.

Qi Si turned off his flashlight, and the room was once again filled with dense darkness.

Dampness and a putrid smell permeated the air, and consciousness quickly grew hazy in this humid, oppressive sensation.

He slept dreamlessly, and when he opened his eyes again, the surroundings were bright. He didn’t know where the light was penetrating this airtight room from.

Qi Si woke up, raised his hand, and checked his Pocket Watch of Fate. It was exactly eight in the morning.

The daily routine arranged for players in this instance was also very regular; there was no possibility of sleeping in.

Qi Si sat up from the straw bed, bent down, and silently tucked the legs of his suit trousers into his shoes, covering the flesh around his ankles.

He pondered for a moment, then put the fox mask into his backpack.

“Time’s up, you may enter!”

The stone door was opened from the outside, and The Goat stood at the entrance, urging them on in a loud voice.

Perhaps due to the instance mechanism, this voice was exceptionally invigorating. Even the most sluggish person, upon hearing it, would have their hesitation and rationality replaced by a festive mood, giving rise to an urge to step onto the center stage.

Nian Fu slowly stood up and walked to the door, with Qi Si following half a step behind her.

The Goat didn’t seem to intend to supervise them leaving. Seeing them move, he turned and walked to the next door.

Nian Fu stopped at the doorway and looked back at Qi Si: “The Colosseum Game officially begins today, and the prohibition against ‘players harming each other’ is about to be lifted.

“I bet the moment the ban is lifted, Chang Xu will definitely raise his scythe and chop off your head, then conveniently kill me too for being an accomplice.”

Qi Si said calmly, “If direct action were truly feasible, wouldn’t it be simpler to throw everyone into a cage and have them kill each other until only one remains?

“Under such a game mechanism, combat-oriented players would have an absolute advantage, so why arrange for nearly half of the players to be intelligence-oriented in this game?

“Those animals treat the Colosseum Game as entertainment; it only becomes interesting if there’s a back-and-forth struggle with an uncertain outcome. And…”

Qi Si paused very noticeably.

Nian Fu thought he had some profound insight and perked up her ears, only to see the young man smile sincerely: “I suddenly feel that, not considering the disposal of the corpse, being cut down with one stroke shouldn’t be too painful.”

Nian Fu said expressionlessly: “…I can strangle you with a whip first, then cut you into small pieces tonight to feed to the rats. You’re welcome.”

She knew that Qi Si hadn’t intended to say that, but for some reason, he had changed his mind at the last minute and fobbed her off with a lie.

She didn’t care about these details; as long as the goal could be achieved, the process didn’t matter.

As for not achieving the goal… well, they would discuss it later. Anyway, killing Qi Si was quite convenient.

Qi Si glanced at Nian Fu, smiled without speaking, and walked out of the room, stepping up the marble stairs one by one to stand on the high platform in the center of the Colosseum.

Nian Fu also followed along boldly.

Players arrived one after another, each with faint or dense gray-white marks wrapped around their ankles.

The number of people was one less than when they separated yesterday.

The middle-aged man named “Zhang Mo” was nowhere to be seen; only his teammate, Qin Mu, stood alone, holding a cat-face mask.

Qin Mu lowered her head slightly and said hoarsely to the players, “Last night, many Ratmen with snake hair entered our room, wanting to eat me and Uncle Zhang.

“Uncle Zhang gave me the mask at the last moment. Those Ratmen seemed afraid of the mask; when they saw the mask in my hand, they ignored me and turned to bite Uncle Zhang instead.

“Uncle Zhang… was eaten by them, bite by bite.”

After Qin Mu finished speaking, she pursed her lips.

Her game currency, points, and food columns displayed the numbers 【6】, 【1100】, and 【0】 respectively.

Evidently, after Zhang Mo’s death, all his assets were transferred to her as his teammate.

Fan Zhanwei watched Qin Mu for two seconds and said, “Point of doubt one: Why did Zhang Mo save you? Point of doubt two: How did you determine that the mask could repel Ratmen?”

“Uncle Zhang said… I look like his deceased daughter.” Qin Mu said softly, slowly putting the cat-face mask on her face. “That the Ratmen were afraid of the mask was also Uncle Zhang’s guess; he said rats are afraid of cats.”

Qin Mu raised her head, the fluffy cat face seemingly growing on her neck, without any sense of incongruity.

Her figure also shortened before the players’ eyes. Her originally slender limbs gradually shortened, becoming rounded and small, covered with a layer of soft black fur.

Her fingers curled into claws, her back slightly arched, and a black tail Upturn from behind, clearly turning into a black cat!

The black cat squatted on the ground for ten seconds before Qin Mu took off the mask, transforming back into human form, head bowed and silent.

Wearing the mask makes one transform into the corresponding animal? Or does it just appear as that animal to others?

Chu Xun looked down at the scratches on his arm and mused, “Last night, we discovered that those Ratmen would quickly petrify upon seeing blood.

“If they really bit a player, they would definitely draw blood, then turn into stone statues, unable to harm the player further.

“So, how did they manage to literally devour a person?”

“I don’t know.” Qin Mu gently shook her head. “I don’t know what happened, but they still ate Uncle Zhang…”

Her bewilderment did not seem feigned; no person of normal intelligence would come up with such an illogical explanation. This was likely not fabricated, but true.

The players stopped asking questions, and many of them became convinced of one judgment—

This instance is closely related to animal chess, and humans are at the bottom of the food chain.

The Goat walked onto the high platform at the opportune moment and said in an excited tone, “Another person has been eliminated today. Congratulations, each of you has received a portion of food. You all tasted the food yesterday, and I trust you found it satisfactory.

“However, I’m afraid I must announce urgent news: from today onwards, you will each need at least two portions of food daily to maintain basic survival.”

His tone was full of schadenfreude, openly displaying his malice towards the players, seemingly eager to see them driven to mutual slaughter for survival.

The atmosphere became stagnant for a moment. After two seconds of silence, Dong Xiwen raised his hand and asked, “May I ask if there’s a way to obtain food? It won’t necessarily require someone to die, will it?”

The Goat glanced at Dong Xiwen and snapped his fingers.

The circular platform rapidly expanded in all directions. The players standing at the edge moved with the ground, dispersing according to their teams, with six teams positioned at the six equal divisions of the circular platform.

Golden lines crisscrossed the blank surface, carving out one-square-meter chessboard grids.

“Next, I will announce the rules of the Colosseum Game!” The Goat stood in the center of the chessboard and declared loudly, “Each team must select one person to wear a mask, transform into the corresponding animal, and be randomly placed on the chessboard.

“Animals, from strongest to weakest, are Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Wolf, Fox, Cat. Each turn, they can move one square forward, backward, left, or right. When two animals encounter each other, the stronger one can eat the weaker one.

“As for how to obtain movement turns…”

The Goat looked up at the sky.

A transparent tall tower floated above the chessboard. Each level was visibly a different scene, swirling with vibrant, flowing colors and darting with various creatures of indistinguishable races. At first glance, it seemed only bizarre and noisy.

The Goat pointed at the tall tower and said, “The other person in the team can spend game currency to randomly enter various mini-games within the tower. After clearing them, they can choose to receive movement turns, points, or food.

“If there’s only one person left in a team, then it might be a bit tougher. They’ll need to enter mini-games to get movement turns and also return to the chessboard to decide their next move.”

A massive marble slab appeared out of nowhere, suspended overhead, recording the points of each player and ranking the teams based on their total points.

For some reason, the slab did not directly display the animals corresponding to each team but instead used the name of the highest-scoring surviving player in the team to designate the team name.

Such as Chu Xun, Fan Zhanwei, Qin Mu, Qi Si, Lena Ann, Liu Yuhan.

Fan Zhanwei asked, “Can game currency be transferred?”

“No,” The Goat said. “Game currency, points, and food are unique resources for each person and can only be automatically transferred to a teammate after one’s death.”

Fan Zhanwei asked again, “When two animals encounter each other, does the entire team of the eaten animal get wiped out?”

The Goat replied, “Only the person on the chessboard will die.”

“What happens to that person’s points and game currency?”

“I said, they are transferred to their teammate.” The Goat waved his hand impatiently. “A small tip for everyone: today’s Colosseum Game only lasts for eight hours. You need to clear more mini-games quickly to obtain more resources accordingly.

“Alright, that’s enough. You now have five minutes to discuss your strategy. Under the gaze of the gods, your communication will not be heard by other teams.”

As soon as he finished speaking, six black cubes appeared out of thin air above them, descending without warning to cover each team separately.

The world instantly plunged into silence and darkness. It seemed this so-called “gaze of the gods” was not only soundproof but also light-proof.

A five-minute countdown appeared on the system interface; time was not abundant.

Nian Fu struck a match, and by its light, looked at Qi Si: “What are your thoughts on the game rules? Who goes on the chessboard, and who enters the game?”

“You go on the chessboard, I’ll enter the game.” Qi Si lifted his eyelids to look at the black overhead. “If nothing unexpected happens, the Colosseum Game will officially begin the moment this black box disappears.

“You know, once the game starts and the killing restriction is lifted, Chang Xu will definitely chop me down with his scythe immediately. I think it’s safer for me to hide in the game.”

“Didn’t you say you weren’t afraid of death?” Nian Fu mocked. “You hide in the game while leaving me outside to bear the risk of death. What a well-thought-out plan.”

“Before I die, Chang Xu won’t kill you; instead, he’ll try his best to keep you alive.” Qi Si’s voice was calm. “After all, if I inherit your assets and stay in the game with six game coins, it would be very troublesome for him to kill me.

“Conversely, if I stay outside, he can easily kill me, and once you come out of the game, killing you would be a simple matter. The outcome would inevitably be both of us dying.

“Compared to that, my entering the game has a higher overall benefit.”

That makes sense.

Nian Fu’s eyes were full of resentment: “But have you ever thought that we are ‘Foxes’? On the chessboard, unless we encounter a Cat, encountering anyone else is a dead end…”

“Well…” Qi Si stroked his chin. “Do you have any stealth-type items or skills? Shrinking ones would also work… None? Hmm, you must have something that reduces presence, right?”

…On the other side, Chang Xu had been staring intently in Qi Si’s direction the entire time, his right hand tightly gripping the long handle of his black scythe.

【The Colosseum Game officially begins!】

An infectious announcement echoed throughout the arena, signaling the end of the five-minute countdown.

The moment the black cube disappeared, Chang Xu immediately activated the effect of 【Life Severer】.

With two blinks, he transformed into a black afterimage, and when he solidified again, he was already ten meters away, in front of Qi Si.

He raised the scythe in his hand high and brought it down towards Qi Si’s neck.

However, Qi Si was prepared. The Cursed Pendulum shot out from his sleeve, deflecting the blade by two centimeters.

With that delay, the blade fell, grazing past a physical body.

A crimson beam of light flew towards the tall tower, lingering on the ninth floor, where it clearly condensed into a red figure, vaguely resembling Qi Si’s appearance.

And on the spot outside the tower, Qi Si’s figure was long gone.

At the same time, everyone heard and saw the system prompt:

【Player Qi Si has consumed 1 game currency and entered Test Site No. 9】

【Other players, please enter the arena as soon as possible】