Led by the cockroach-head, Xiao Cheng entered the arena.
As Fang He brushed past her, he paused slightly and whispered a reminder: "Be careful."
Xiao Cheng knew that his next opponent was likely to be formidable, and he looked warily at the locked iron gate on the other side.
Behind the iron gate, heavy footsteps could be faintly heard. After a while, a mantis-headed man ran over and unlocked the gate. Then, a huge figure slowly crawled out from inside.
It was a monster with thick, muscular limbs and a thick layer of grayish-brown feathers covering its back. Even when it was lying on the ground, it was as tall as a building.
A heavy copper chain hung around its neck, the other end of which was embedded in the feathers on its back. It took Xiao Cheng a long time to notice that a tiny rat head was sitting on the monster's back.
As the monster appeared, the audience erupted in a frenzy of roars, chanting wildly, "Eagle! Hundred Victories! Hundred Victories!"
As the eagle drew closer, its foul breath assaulted Xiao Cheng. It grinned slightly, revealing two rows of sharp, yellowed teeth.
Thick saliva dripped down.
"Hah...hah..." It panted heavily, raised its paw high, and slammed it down heavily towards Xiao Cheng's position.
A whooshing sound filled the air as Xiao Cheng nimbly dodged the attack. The monster's claw missed its mark, its sharp nails digging deep into the ground, leaving several claw marks.
Immediately afterward, Xiao Cheng saw a dark shadow flash before her eyes and instinctively reached out to block, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in her palm.
Looking closely, one could see the rat-headed man cunningly hiding in the shadows, holding a blood-stained needle in his hand.
"Damn it, a group fight is one thing, but to launch a sneak attack is another?!"
Xiao Cheng casually wiped away the blood seeping from his palm. Fortunately, the rat-headed man hadn't gone so far as to apply poison; otherwise, a few more blows would have really caused him to capsize in the ditch and fall here.
She dared not be careless any longer. She leaped forward, firmly grasped the eagle's claws that had not yet fully retracted, and with a few more leaps, landed steadily on its back.
The rat-man noticed her actions and let out an angry scream, but due to the size difference, the scream didn't sound very intimidating.
As it sprinted towards her using both its hands and feet, the eagle beneath it began to thrash about restlessly, trying to shake her off.
Xiao Cheng grabbed a feather from the eagle's back, trying to steady himself, and then groped his way along the copper chain to its end.
She initially thought the copper chain was under the control of the ratmen, but since the ratmen were no longer there, the chain was still firmly fixed in place, which meant...
Xiao Cheng brushed aside the bottom layer of fuzz and looked at the red switch connected by the copper chain.
As the eagle moved violently, she could hear the sound of gears turning near the switch.
On the other side, the rat-man hastily climbed onto the eagle's back, forcibly calmed it down, and then, clutching the needle in his hand, slowly approached Xiao Cheng.
"Get away from there!" it warned in a shrill voice.
"Where are you referring to? Do you mean this red switch?" Xiao Cheng feigned confusion and moved closer to the switch, her finger hovering over it as if ready to press it at any moment.
The rat-man was too small for the monsters in the audience to see. From their perspective, it was just that Xiao Cheng rode on the eagle's back, and then there was no further movement.
Some people started booing, and bursts of hisses could be heard.
"Who wants to watch this boring show!"
"A cover-up! A cover-up!"
The cockroach didn't know what had happened; its two antennae on its head were twisted together.
Inside the arena, Xiao Cheng and Rat Head were still locked in a stalemate.
"So... it looks like hand-to-hand combat on the surface, but you were actually piloting a large mech?" Xiao Cheng raised an eyebrow slightly. "That's a bit unreasonable, Mr. Rathead."
"What do you know?! It's all for survival!" Rat Head gestured excitedly. "A hundred wins! As long as I achieve a hundred wins, I'll qualify for a free ticket! Absolutely, absolutely not, can I be ruined by a monster like you!"
Xiao Cheng: "..." Someone like you has the nerve to call others monsters.
But Rat Head's words clearly conveyed new information to her.
"Getting a yum here qualifies you for a free cruise ticket? Is there really such a good deal?"
"Hmph, what do you think they have the right to run such a large underground hunting ground here?" Rat Head chuckled twice. "Of course, it's because they were instructed to do so from the ship!"
"So that's how it is..." Xiao Cheng nodded thoughtfully.
Thinking he had successfully persuaded her, Rathead urged excitedly, "I can spare your life! Let me win a hundred victories! As long as I get on the ship..."
Xiao Cheng interrupted him quietly: "Actually, I hate making empty promises the most. Whether we win a hundred times or not is not important, but something like a ship ticket... happens to be something I really want."
As soon as she finished speaking, she gently pressed the red button under the terrified gaze of the rat-headed man.
There was a click.
Suddenly, the eagle began spinning wildly in place, its feathers falling to the ground and cracks spreading across its body.
Immediately following were several rapid beeping sounds. Before Xiao Cheng could react, a huge heat wave erupted, and the eagle exploded, the raging sea of fire instantly engulfing the area.
Xiao Cheng: "..." Why didn't you say earlier that this was a self-destruct button?!
The sudden turn of events stunned everyone present. A group of cockroach-headed monsters, unaware of what had happened, hurriedly evacuated the monsters from the stands, while another group carried buckets of water and poured them into the sea of fire, but to no avail.
Even Fang He was stunned for a while before he reacted. He was just about to go down to rescue the person when he heard a low cough coming from below.
Looking down, I saw Xiao Cheng covered in soot, clinging to the wall, his clothes burned through in several places, looking utterly disheveled.
"Excuse me, lend me a hand." She looked up at me pitifully, "Give me a hand, I'm completely exhausted."
They couldn't stay there any longer, so Fang He and Xiao Cheng took advantage of the chaos and slipped out of the underground arena, hiding among the monsters.
It feels great to see the light of day again; even the air seems much fresher.
"So what exactly happened?" Fang He frowned, looking at Xiao Cheng, who was panting heavily. Her right arm was covered in cuts, with blood and dirt stuck together, a mixture of red and black, which looked quite shocking.
Xiao Cheng felt slightly guilty under his gaze, but she had indeed pressed the self-destruct button herself, and the mess she had made was entirely her own doing.
“They probably won’t allow anything like bombs to be used,” Fang He continued, clearly determined to get to the bottom of it.
"It's nothing, just destroyed a mere large mech." Xiao Cheng adopted an air of keeping his achievements hidden.
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