"I sure can. Guns are like part of my body," Ling Ling said shyly, raising her hand. Her voice was quiet, contrasting with the lethal confidence in her words.
"I'm fine too," Snake Spirit replied calmly. He stood still, his gaze fixed on the arena floor as if he was already calculating trajectories.
Jing Shu nodded. She obviously had no problem with the arrangement either. With her life-saving trump card hidden and no cameras around to expose her secrets to the world outside, she could finally go all out. As for the tedious task of assembling guns from mismatched parts, she wasn't particularly interested. "I'm good," she said.
"Hey, I object! Guys, I really can't survive this. I will die for sure! If I die, you will all be screwed!" Xiao Hei wailed. He was literally crying, the tears streaming down his dusty face.
"Alright then, we will take the challenge," Tank said, ignoring the outburst. "Once it starts, everyone goes all out; no holding back. We will go over the plan in a minute. Xiao Hei, once you're in, either hide or stick close to someone here. Anyone here is strong enough to protect you."
Xiao Hei still looked terrified, his knees knocking together.
Tank patted him on the shoulder, his large hand nearly covering the man's upper back. "We're not joking. Everyone here is powerful. Forget six people; even sixty wouldn't be a problem. You already forgot what happened yesterday?"
That finally calmed him down. He quickly decided which thigh to cling to and figured following Tank was probably the safest bet for his survival.
But no one expected Tank's crow mouth to actually hit the mark. A few days later, they really did end up fighting that many people. The scene; damn.
The Asian team had no hesitation about joining the competition, and challengers immediately flooded in from every corner of the market. Maybe Tank looked strong, sure, but after that last match, everyone could tell this team basically relied on him alone. The crying coward was useless, and the two scrawny Asian guys didn't look like much either. And two women in a mercenary fight? Please, that's suicide.
The arena was boiling with raw excitement.
Among the many challengers, Peggy finally chose a team that had just been promoted to A-rank. The team was mostly made up of former special forces soldiers who were pros at assembling and handling all kinds of weapons. They even had a specialized sniper and a heavy-hitter demolition specialist. The lineup was balanced and deadly.
Jing Shu's group was made to change into striped uniforms that looked like prison clothes, making them stand out even more against the sand. Their bodies were searched over and over again; no weapons allowed, not even hidden in private spots. If the guards hadn't been women, someone would have been sent straight to heaven by now. The loud commotion and shouting outside suggested someone had just been caught sneaking something in.
Their pets were tied together in one designated place near the entrance. Jing Shu glanced at Ah Huang, who stuck out his tongue obediently. The dog looked as if he was saying, "Go on, master, I will behave."
For some reason, she felt a bit uneasy. She whispered for Xiao Dou not to bully Ah Huang, then slung her silly-looking backpack over her shoulders and stepped into the arena.
It was her first time taking off her thick cotton coat. Without it, she suddenly felt exposed, even cold. The underground black market was warm, but it wasn't that warm.
Once she ditched the bulky coat and pants and put on the thin uniform, Jing Shu looked completely different; like a duckling turning into a swan. Her transformation caught everyone's eyes. With her hair casually tied up, her pale neck showing, and her refined, delicate features, she looked like a Snow White dressed in prison clothes. She was breathtakingly beautiful.
Even in identical uniforms, some people just radiated a different kind of presence. She was pure and striking, like a white lotus blooming from the thick mud. But Jing Shu's beauty was less innocent and more dangerously alluring.
Her teammates stared at her in disbelief.
"Wait, this was that old lady before? No way!"
"So this is what she really looks like?"
Whistles rang out from the crowd in the stands. Xiao Hei scrambled to translate, afraid Tank might abandon him if he didn't. "Oh my God, there's such a hottie in that team!" "Don't kill her too fast, let me have some fun first!"
Meanwhile, Ling Ling's usual appeal in her short skirt was gone. Her long legs were hidden under the loose uniform, making her look a lot more ordinary.
After half an hour of preparation and strategy discussion, the staff finished resetting the stage. The survival challenge was about to begin. Each participant had a thick black hood pulled over their head before being sent into the sticky "map," completely scattered from one another.
The arena mimicked the desert map from PUBG. There was actual sand, rusting tin huts, and even maze-like areas built from debris.
A thick layer of bulletproof glass separated the upper audience level from the underground area. It was probably there to prevent riots. After all, this was the only passage connecting to the first floor.
"Dear mercenaries, good news! Anyone who managed to sneak in a weapon without getting caught; you have passed. You're allowed to use it in this match!"
Peggy had even arranged professional translators, which saved Xiao Hei from extra work.
Monkey cursed under his breath. His weapon was too big to sneak through the search.
Snake Spirit smirked. His poison was hidden right in his mouth.
The opposing team, however, looked furious. Their specialized weapons had been too bulky to hide.
Jing Shu felt even more confident. Honestly, she didn't need a gun to win this. Besides, how could anyone pull out a huge rifle from under their clothes anyway?
Her confidence came from another source. While everyone else was blindfolded and stumbling, she could sense exactly what was around them. She did this not by seeing, but by controlling her insects.
The man-eating bugs she had been breeding for years finally came in handy. She had discovered those vicious creatures back when she was trapped underground at Xishan, and after years of careful cultivation, their numbers had grown terrifyingly high. She released them beneath the sand. They were unseen but everywhere, forming a web she could feel like a spider sensing its prey.
She could sense where everything was, even the exact positions of all twelve players.
This round, Jing Shu was basically playing with cheats.
"What a shame I can't bet on myself," she muttered.
A fight like this without body armor or helmets was insanely dangerous; it's a game with real lives on the line. Jing Shu hated taking unnecessary risks. So she decided to end it fast.
Cut clean, cut quick.
The "map" was big enough to spread everyone far apart, giving players a chance to find weapons first. No one wanted an instant box drop right after landing; that would be boring for the crowd.
People loved watching real humans fight to the death. And for the ones in the arena, the thrill was very, very real.
When Peggy shouted that the match had begun, the whole place exploded with excitement.
The twelve players ripped off their hoods almost simultaneously and sprinted toward the nearest weapon points.
The killing game had officially begun.