Chapter 44. Please begin placing your bets in the Colosseum...
The night was cool as water, the wind was gentle and the moon was bright.
It was dark and gloomy at the foot of the mountain, but brightly lit at the top.
The manor was bustling with people, and on a balcony, a handsome couple was embracing intimately.
The man's tall frame made the girl appear even more petite. The interplay of her wheat-colored and fair skin created a more enchanting scene. From afar, the European-style antique manor, the romantic balcony reminiscent of a movie, and the ambiguous, intertwined atmosphere made the two look exceptionally well-matched.
——
The banquet began, and the first floor, which was quiet in the afternoon, was now crowded with people.
Everyone was dressed to the nines, and amidst the clinking of glasses, they all looked expectantly down from the second floor.
The two teams changed into their formal attire and went downstairs one by one.
This was the first time Kunwu Yecheng had seen Shanran wearing a skirt.
She wore a fitted fishtail dress that revealed her prominent collarbones. The dress was nude-colored and adorned with hand-set rhinestones, making her look exceptionally radiant and dazzling.
She wasn't wearing high heels or combat boots, but rather a pair of ordinary sneakers. She explained that she couldn't wear high heels because she was afraid of tripping and falling.
Even without wearing high heels, Shan Ran is quite tall, especially after becoming a superhuman, she has grown even taller, now she is about 172 cm.
She walked slowly down the stairs, the soft light shining on her beautiful face. Most eyes were focused on Shan Ran, who simply wore a polite smile. Apart from her sneakers, she looked flawless.
Kunwu Yecheng stood behind Shanran, looking at her slender neck with deep eyes.
He rarely wears suits, and even after alterations, today's suit is still a little small, especially around the chest and thighs, where it feels a bit tight.
The buttons were barely fastened together, and they would pop open with the slightest movement, revealing a muscular chest.
Seemingly aware of this, the man wore a black long-sleeved shirt underneath.
The group found a relatively empty spot downstairs, and soon a waiter brought them champagne.
Each of them took a cup, but they just held it in their hands and didn't taste it.
A middle-aged man came down from upstairs to the sound of music.
He was not tall, wore glasses, had a kind smile, and looked very refined.
The middle-aged man looked down at Sophia and the others, nodded in greeting, and then said, "Distinguished guests, I am Sam, a good friend of Douglas and the owner of this estate. It is a pleasure to have you all here. Let us enjoy the night to the fullest!"
After that, the music changed to a waltz, the surroundings darkened, and the lights focused on the dance floor in the middle.
As couples entered the dance floor, Shanran watched with great interest when a hand suddenly reached out from the side.
She turned to look at Lin Mo, who was looking at the girl with a slightly shy but expectant expression. "Respected Captain Shanran, may I have the honor of asking you to dance the first dance?"
When Shan Ran's parents were still alive, she learned waltz. Her family had been wealthy for three generations and was striving to become a prominent family. The younger generation in the family would learn these social etiquettes from a young age.
However, having not danced for so long, her memory was hazy, and Shanran had no confidence in her dancing skills at all.
But she still placed her hand in Lin Mo's, and the two entered the dance floor.
Sure enough, her dancing skills are really bad now; she unknowingly stepped on Lin Mo's feet several times.
Shan Ran didn't say anything, but Lin Mo kept comforting her, "It's okay, it's alright. It's an honor to dance with Captain Shan Ran. After all, more than half the people on the field have their eyes on Captain Shan Ran."
As Lin Mo spoke, he leaned down, trying to get even closer to the other person.
However, before he could make a move, a hand suddenly darted in, blocking Lin Mo's movement, while the other hand easily pushed Lin Mo aside and snatched Shan Ran away.
Kunwu Yecheng lowered his eyelids and stared intently at Shanran, looking somewhat displeased.
Shan Ran chuckled softly, "Captain Kunwu, why are you wearing a mask while dancing? I've never seen you without it. Do you look good?"
Kunwu Yecheng's long eyelashes trembled slightly. He felt a little uncomfortable and wanted to look away, but he couldn't bear to take his gaze off the girl.
He held Shanran's hand, and the two of them completely ignored the waltz steps, instead snuggling together and moving around the dance floor at will.
"If you want to see it, I'll show it to you when we get back."
Shan Ran raised an eyebrow but remained silent.
As the song ended, the dance floor lights dimmed, and the two returned to their previous positions. Kunwu Yecheng held the girl's hand and never let go.
Lin Mo, however, went to a corner far from everyone else, standing alone with his head down, looking dejected.
It seems he doesn't want to come back and see the intimate scene between Shan Ran and the other person.
The sound of clinking glasses came from the second-floor steps, attracting everyone's attention.
Everyone looked up and saw the man named Sam standing there.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what follows is the most important part of our evening," he said, pausing for a moment, "Let's turn off the lights and wait for the surprise to come!"
As soon as he finished speaking, all the lights went out at the same time, plunging the entire manor into darkness.
Strangely, no one made a sound.
The sudden transition from light to darkness would inevitably cause some noise, but apart from Sophia and the others, there was only silence everywhere else.
Unless, of course, everyone else knew what was going to happen.
Only they and their group didn't know.
The next second, several beams of white light shone above everyone's heads. Unlike the ambient lights on the dance floor before, the lights now were bright and dazzling, carrying a hint of blatant malice.
“Next,” Sam’s cheerful and excited voice rang out from the darkness, “let’s start placing bets. Please check the people under the lights against the information in your hands so that we can proceed with the next steps.”
Place a bet?
material?
Sofia and the others looked at each other in shock.
They reacted quickly; they were all people on missions, and they never left their communication devices, portable pistols, or daggers behind them.
Several people drew their weapons instantly, either from holsters on their thighs under their skirts or from knife sheaths on their chests outside their shirts. They stood back to back, forming a battle formation.
Surrounded by enemies, Tong Lu's eyes were filled with panic, but her hands moved steadily. She immediately used her luck ability on Sophia to enhance her captain's luck value.
As for the next person to choose, she looked at Zhan Hongbo, who was tightly protecting her side. She really wanted to give him the luck points, to this boy who had been protecting her since the beginning of the apocalypse.
However, her rationality told her that Zhan Hongbo was not the optimal solution for the current situation.
She glanced back and forth between Shan Ran and Kunwu Yecheng beside her a few times, and finally made up her mind to give it to Shan Ran.
The tall and strong Captain Kunwu was indeed very powerful, but at the last moment Tong Lu decided to trust her intuition.
Sofia took out her phone to contact her boss immediately, only to find that the signal was full, but she couldn't make any calls.
What's going on? Is it blocked? Then why is there still a signal?
Sofia felt like her mind was going blank.
With their path of seeking help from outside cut off, they have no choice but to rely on themselves.
“I’m curious,” the brightest girl in the spotlight looked in Sam’s direction, “what’s on the front of my bet?”
"Oh?" Sam replied with interest. "It seems our number 02—Miss Shanran—is very curious about our arena!"
Sofia and the others repeated in confusion, "The Colosseum?"
"Yes! It's the Colosseum!" Sam's voice grew increasingly excited. "Next, please look at the big screen!"
A screen had been lowered at the location of the stairs at some point, and a projection from afar was shown on it.
A trailer-like video was played in front of everyone.
Similar to the Colosseum in ancient Rome, the stands were very high, with a small number of spectators, but surrounded by a dense ring of surveillance cameras. Below was a huge square, illuminated by bright lights, making it as bright as day.
There are people in the square.
—And the nightmare beast.
Some were alone, some were in groups of two or more, and they were pushed out through a dark passage at the bottom of the square.
There is another passage on the other side, from which emerges the monsters.
Humans versus ferocious beasts—this is the so-called "colosseum."
The number of monsters gradually increased. At first, it was easy to deal with them, but it became increasingly difficult until they exhausted all their strength and finally became food for the monsters.
Teamwork can sustain a team for longer, but while some teams collaborate, others use others as stepping stones, just to buy themselves a little more time to survive.
As for the humans inside, their betting methods are incredibly varied.
After the weapons and number of participants are selected based on the most votes, some people will bet on their survival time, and others will bet on the range of the number of monsters to be slaughtered.
Some of the teams are family members, and some people are betting that they might sacrifice themselves to save their loved ones.
Some teams are strangers, and people bet on when they will resort to dirty tricks to survive.
The short three-minute video reveals the cruelty of human nature, like a scene from hell.
However, this is a man-made hell, a hell that should never have existed.
Shan Ran remained expressionless throughout. In her previous life, she had learned about the dark web and knew that it was full of inhuman beasts and people who took pleasure in horrific grotesque things.
Every world has people like this; when the apocalypse comes, those inhuman beings will only have more fun.
However, the way these monsters appeared was rather strange, and in just a few breaths, many hypotheses flashed through Shanran's mind.
"Where did so many monsters come from? Does anyone in your base have supernatural abilities that can affect these monsters?"
The projection from the screen reflected a little light onto Sam's face. He still had that kind smile, but he couldn't hide the surprise on his face.
"Miss Shanran, as expected of a captain who has gained some fame in the apocalypse in such a short time, your observation skills are truly amazing. My target this time was only Zack's team, I never expected them to bring me such a surprise, it's really exciting!"
That's tantamount to admitting it in disguise.
A very unique and terrifying superpower, which, if used properly, could change the course of a battle, yet it was used to harm one's own people.
"But what I'm curious about is, Miss Shanran and Captain Kunwu, you two don't seem surprised at all?"
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