Chapter 39: Wrestling is an explosion! This is too much martial arts!
「 Most of the houses in Boulder Town are dilapidated, with peeling walls. From afar, Stelle can see that many roofs have even collapsed, revealing rusted building materials inside.
It's perpetually dark here, the only light source coming from the ubiquitous hanging lamps and the mountains of yellow ore piled on the streets.
Compared to the easygoing and cheerful faces of the people in the upper district, everyone here is shrouded in a shadow, the mark of long-term toil and struggle.
The miners, visible everywhere in the streets and alleys, have bloodshot eyes, their faces gaunt, revealing an unspeakable weariness in their silence. 」
「 .....」
~Runeterra World~
"Heh heh, isn't this just a replica of Zaun in another world? Look at the expressions on their faces..."
As if confirming his thoughts, a smile appeared on Silco's face, and he declared confidently,
"Even if these people don't rebel today, or tomorrow, they will surely rebel the day after! As long as just one person stands up and shouts, it will ignite a war between the lower district and the upper city!"
"They're not like you, they don't have 'Jinx'."
Jinx said with an indifferent expression,
"Even if they start a war, they won't have a chance of winning, right?"
"Force is certainly important, but the most important thing is those golden yellow ores... If I'm not mistaken, that's the [Geomarrow] that the upper district relies on for survival. Cutting off this energy channel is equivalent to cutting off the lifeline of the upper district."
"If our Zaun also had such a good thing, I wouldn't have to worry."
As he spoke, he looked up at the "sky" of Zaun - a gigantic iron wall obscured by black smoke, interwoven and woven from countless dense pipes and circuits, with various large and small indicator lights embedded within, like stars illuminating the night sky of Zaun.
This is the watershed between Piltover and Zaun. For countless years, few people from Zaun have ever seen the real sky.
"After cutting off the supply of Geomarrow, a cold wave will sweep through the entire upper district. By then... the Iron Guard of the upper district will be exhausted from dealing with the war in the lower district and resisting the cold wave, and chaos will surely ensue. Even the Supreme Guardian, what can they change?"
"Maybe they can summon the protection of the Aeons?"
Jinx blinked mischievously.
"...Heh heh."
As if he had heard an interesting joke, a smile curled up at the corner of Silco's mouth.
"If the power of the Aeons is truly as they say... then perhaps Qlipoth has never cast her gaze upon these insignificant humans from the beginning. If there were even a hint of divine power, how could there be a cold snap and a Stellaron crisis?"
—
「 Outside the clinic, March 7th, was about to play hide-and-seek with a few children. These children called themselves the [Mole Party], and their leader was a cute girl named Hook with twin pigtails and a thick fuzzy hat.
Since these children knew a lot about the underground, Stelle and March 7th played with them for a while before getting information about Dan Heng's whereabouts from them.
Dan Heng had been taken to the Fight Club by Sampo, and since they were unfamiliar with the place, March 7th had to ask Hook for help with directions.
"Fighting... so the underground likes such rough entertainment." March 7th was signed all the way, but she could also understand. It was pitch-black underground, and the residents of the town spent their days mining.
They really needed some excitement.
"Uh-huh, it's very interesting!" Hook ran and laughed.
"You've participated too?! This club is too unethical!" March 7th's eyes widened in surprise, and she gritted her teeth indignantly, "…No, my sense of justice is starting to sound the alarm."
"...March, let's just watch first, okay?"
The three quickly arrived at the entrance of the Fight Club, but as soon as they stopped, the host's impassioned voice from inside the club passed through the door and reached Stelle's ears.
"—Brothers and sisters! The next match will be the most exciting, most thrilling, and most shocking showdown of the day!"
"The taciturn, incredibly skilled super newcomer—[Cool-Faced Little Azure Dragon]! Recommended by the handsome, deep blue!"
"His opponent is—the emotionless, highly explosive robot squad! Praise the great Svarog!"
Cool-Faced Little Azure Dragon?
March 7th and Stelle immediately exchanged glances.
The two quickly rushed in, only to see Dan Heng standing alone in the octagon cage, wearing a poker face and looking coldly at the two robot models with fist-shaped hands in front of him.
"Since no other contestants are willing to fight against the robot squad, this match will have to be fought by the Cool-Faced Little Azure Dragon alone... Wait! Two spectators have entered the octagon cage and seem to be fighting alongside the Cool-Faced Little Azure Dragon!"
That's right, these two contestants were March 7th and Stelle, who had rushed in. 」
「 .....」
~Genshin Impact World~
"Oh~ This feeling, it's truly nostalgic."
Wriothesley, who had returned to the Fortress of Meropide from the Palais Mermonia, was watching with excitement. This primitive boxing match brought back memories of him dominating the underground fighting ring in the Fortress a few years ago.
Back then, when he came to the Fortress of Meropide to serve his sentence, he was just an unknown nobody. It was through one victory after another that he established his current position.
Fighting in the octagon cage was both what he was best at and what he enjoyed the most.
Wriothesley immediately felt an itch in his hands, eager to fight.
"No, Duke, if you personally enter the arena, my infirmary will be overflowing again."
As if seeing through the Duke's little thoughts, Sigewinne handed a steaming cup of black tea to Wriothesley,
"If the Duke truly wants to show off his skills, he can ask Lord Neuvillette to arrange a few Clockwork Meka for you."
"Clockwork Meka... I've already defeated countless of them. Forget it, Head Nurse, I won't trouble you."
Wriothesley stared at the light screen with envy,
"Robots from another world... Sigh, if only I could personally try it out, if possible, I want to fight ten of them by myself."
—
「 In the light screen, a few robots were naturally no match for the three of them, but when they were about to be defeated, the small robots actually self-destructed collectively.
With a loud "boom" of a huge explosion, the entire venue seemed to experience a small earthquake, enveloping the entire octagon cage in a cloud of smoke.
The dust slowly dissipated, and the three Astral Express crew members, protected by shields, stood in the cage unharmed. 」
「 .....」
~Genshin Impact World~
Wriothesley suddenly began to feel lucky that he couldn't personally participate.
"This... Is this how underground boxing matches are fought..."
He was dumbfounded, his face filled with a wry smile, and he couldn't even hold the black tea in his hand steady.
Self-destructing if they couldn't win, this was even more unethical than the Clockwork Meka that would trick and ambush at the drop of a hat. Boxing matches in another world... were they really this wild?
—