"Fan, you have to be careful." On the way to the arena, Hua Hua was worried. "Barkley is the class monitor of Class 5, Grade 3 of Camp A. Although he is a transfer student, he had already obtained a professional boxer certificate before entering the school. There are not many people in the academy who can beat him in combat."
"It's okay, Hua Hua." Hua Hua's concern warmed Zhang Fan's heart. Based on this alone, he should stand on the side of Training Camp F.
Along the way, more and more students received the news and began flocking to the arena at the center of the academy.
"Hey, did you hear? Barkley from Camp A has a fight with someone."
"Barkley? Who's so unlucky to have messed with that guy?"
"I heard that the opponent is a transfer student from Camp F."
"Transfer students? Camp F? Shouldn't transfer students be in Camps A and B?"
"That's what's interesting. Apparently, this transfer student is an ordinary citizen. I wonder how he got in."
"Interesting! I definitely have to go check it out!"
Besides the students in Training Camps A and F, other training camps also expressed great interest after hearing the news.
The arena is located in the very center of the academy. It is a comprehensive arena with various specialized venues for shooting, combat, swordsmanship, archery, and more.
The fighting arena is located in the center of the arena. It is a building that looks like a giant egg. In the center is a square ring, and around the edge of the ring is a circular protective zone. Outside the protective zone are trapezoidal stands, which can accommodate up to three thousand spectators at the same time.
Zhang Fan stood at the edge of the ring, somewhat speechless, watching the hundreds of spectators pouring into the fighting arena. Among them were not only students from the six training camps, but also quite a few instructors from the academy.
Private fighting is strictly prohibited within the academy, but the academy does not prevent such open sparring between students, and even encourages such competitive behavior. After all, this is a military academy, and courage is an essential quality for soldiers.
The academy did not impose too many restrictions on this kind of free competition among students. As long as it was not done to the point of death, with the current medical technology, losing a hand or foot would just mean spending a few more months in the hospital.
In other words, as long as you follow the rules of the fight and don't kill anyone in the ring, you can fight however you want.
"Fan, why don't you just admit defeat? We don't need to get entangled with them." Hua Hua leaned on the edge of the ring, looking worried. "Or should I apologize to Barkley for you?"
"We didn't do anything wrong, why should we apologize?" Zhang Fan looked at Hua Hua below the stage with some confusion.
“Fan, you’re new to the academy and might not be familiar with the situation here.” Hua Hua looked troubled. “If we want to change our fate, we should at least graduate from the academy, right? But if we offend those nobles, we might not even have the chance to graduate.”
"Just a baron, yet he has such power?" Zhang Fan asked curiously.
The highest-ranking official in the Duchy of Lane is the Grand Duke of Lane, followed by marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons. Baron Buck is the lowest rank in the nobility, and also the most numerous. How could he possibly control the fate of the commoners?
“Fan, this isn’t just a problem between one or two people.” Hua Hua’s expression darkened. “If we commoners challenge nobles, we’ll offend the entire noble class within the academy…”
Good heavens!
Zhang Fan was speechless. Did they even have class distinctions? Did they mean offending one person meant offending a whole bunch? Earth hadn't done this for two hundred years. Was this really an interstellar civilization?
Zhang Fan looked at the stands again, and this time he clearly noticed something was wrong.
In less than half an hour, nearly a thousand spectators had gathered in the fighting arena, but without exception, they were all sitting in the opposite stands, while behind Zhang Fan, apart from Hua Hua, there were only a handful of people in the stands.
Upon closer inspection, these people were actually instructors from the academy and students from other training camps, sitting there with nonchalant expressions.
Zhang Fan's gaze swept across the opposite stands. He saw the commoner students standing next to the noble students, and even some of his classmates from Class 1, Grade 3 of the F Training Camp.
Several more students from Class 1, Grade 3 of the F Training Camp entered the venue, hesitated for a few moments, and finally headed to the opposite stands.
Zhang Fan saw all of this.
To these civilian trainees, it was unfamiliar and indifferent; they seemed to have become accustomed to this state.
However, their actions and emotions were noticeably slower than those of the excited and eager noble students, as if they were merely walking corpses subservient to the noble class.
Under the existing system, it is not wrong to actively or passively attach oneself to the nobility in order to successfully complete one's studies and thereby gain the opportunity to change one's own and one's family's fate.
Zhang Fan sighed.
Seeing these people, he seemed to see again the group that had been led away by five Phas soldiers six months ago, and how similar their eyes were back then.
This made Zhang Fan very uncomfortable. He just wanted it to end as soon as possible and leave this place quickly, instead of feeling like he was putting on a show for monkeys.
"Kid, who did you offend?" This fight attracted so many people that the fighting arena even sent out official instructors and referees.
“Hey,” Zhang Fan pointed to Barkley, who was still waving at the stands across from him, “I cursed at him and his mistress a few times today.”
“Him?” The referee understood from Zhang Fan’s tone that he was quite familiar with Barkley. “Then you’re out of luck. Although Barkley’s father is only a baron, he is notorious in the academy for being vengeful. If you offend him, you won’t have a good time in the academy.”
"So what should I do?" Zhang Fan glanced sideways at the instructor referee. "Kneel down and admit my mistake? Beg him to be magnanimous and let me off the hook? Or turn the other cheek and let them hit me?"
"Hiss—you bastard." The instructor, who had only asked casually, was taken aback by Zhang Fan's furious reply. "Do you even want to graduate?"
"Whatever." Zhang Fan cracked his knuckles. "I have to beat him up today."
Originally, he came here to be a teacher, and he still is a teacher now. However, the old man used tricks to get him into the students as an undercover agent. Zhang Fan doesn't care about graduating or anything like that.
"He is a nobleman," the instructor/referee reminded him.
Zhang Fan glanced at the referee with some disdain: "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?"
The instructors and referees were speechless.
"Kid, you've got guts!" The instructor referee finally stopped arguing, gave him a thumbs up, and said in a low voice, "But I still have to remind you, Barkley is a professional boxer, and his right hook has a striking force of 300 kilograms. You need to be careful."
Zhang Fan raised an eyebrow and nodded. It seemed that not everyone in the academy was biased towards the nobles. Most of this year's instructors came from the front lines, where nobles were not in the majority, and in fact, nobles would try their best to prevent their children from going to the front lines.
Barkley stepped into the ring, threw a few punches into the air, shook off his cloak, revealing a muscular physique, and immediately won a standing ovation from the noble lads in the stands!
"Barkley! Kill him!"
"Beat that civilian to a pulp!"
"Don't kill him, just cripple him!"
"Barkley, go easy on him! Don't end it too quickly and leave us wanting more!"
"I bet 10 gold coins that this guy won't last a single round against Barkley."
"I bet 100 gold coins that this guy won't last a single round against Barkley."
"What's the use of betting 1000 gold coins? Nobody in the arena will take the bet, hahaha—"
A burst of laughter erupted from the aristocratic students.
Barkley waved to the students in the stands with a big smile, and even blew a kiss to the female students, which immediately drew screams from the female students around him. Annie, on the other hand, accepted the cheers and compliments and envy from her female classmates with a blissful expression.
"Is that even possible?" Zhang Fan looked up at the screen above, utterly astonished!
The screen even displayed the odds and betting amounts offered by the betting company for this duel. Such betting arrangements between students are legal within the academy and are a way to increase the competitiveness of the matches.
Zhang Fan immediately threw his card at Hua Hua in the audience.
"What's this?" Hua Hua stared blankly at the card that flew into her hand.
"Buy all and I win! I'll give you half!"
"ah?"
"Hurry up! The betting is about to close!"
Hua Hua stared blankly, completely bewildered, but still obediently took the money from Zhang Fan's card to place a bet.
"Wow! Someone actually bet on the second party to win?" Some trainees noticed the unusual activity on the big screen.
"More than 10,000 gold coins! That's really generous, almost my monthly allowance."
"Then let's hurry up and place our bets to earn some pocket money!"
"It's too late. The odds of 1 to 10, which is only a few hundred thousand gold coins, have already been taken."
Barkley was unaffected by the commotion outside the court. Amid the cheers, he bounced around and walked straight to Zhang Fan, stopping in front of him.
Zhang Fan frowned as he looked at the other person.
Is this some kind of rabbit cosplay?
Zhang Fan grew increasingly disgusted with the feeling of standing on stage with these kinds of people, being watched like monkeys.
Are you ready?
The instructor and referee stood between the two and loudly signaled that the fight was ready to begin.
3!
2!
1!
The duel begins!
"Barkley!"
"Barkley!"
"Barkley!"
The entire stadium erupted in wild cheers from the aristocratic youths, and Anne in the stands was beaming with excitement.
Barkley grinned maliciously and said, "Now you'll beg for mercy—"
Snap!
Zhang Fan suddenly jumped up and spun 360 degrees like a windmill, delivering a powerful whip kick to Barkley's neck.
boom!
Barkley flew out of the ring like a tattered sack, crashing to the ground unconscious.
"Pah, so much nonsense!"
Zhang Fan spat at Barkley.
Is this what you call a boxer? His ability to withstand blows is nowhere near Bob's.
The fighting arena was completely silent.
The excited cheers from a moment ago were still on their faces when this kick felt like a slap in the face. The noblemen were speechless, their eyes glazed over, and their faces turned ashen.
"Referee, does being thrown out of the ring not count as a loss? Do we have to count to ten?"
"Referee? Referee?"
Reminded by Zhang Fan, the instructors and referees who had been standing there in a daze finally reacted and quickly went down to the ring to check on Barkley's condition.
There was still air.
Zhang Fan's whip kick was intentionally moved a few inches higher, failing to break Barkley's neck; he was merely rendered unconscious.
"The contest is won by Party B!"
The instructors and referees raised Zhang Fan's hand.
The fighting arena was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com