Chapter 88

The remaining people were stunned on the spot, none of them had expected this guy to be so formidable. A few people stepped forward, intending to join Ma Le's "idle camp." However, Ma Le, the guy, didn't give them any face and dismissed their thoughts with a single sentence: "No reason to start a fight, shameless. And you few, want to be fence-sitters? This wall of mine isn't that easy to lean on. Come, call me grandpa and let's see!"

Everyone here was a tough character, all of them had survived by the edge of the blade, who would fear a fight? How could they endure such an insult? A few people immediately raised their fists to attack.

"What's going on, do you want to be disqualified?!" The chief instructor Atara walked over and stopped everyone.

Being disqualified meant a fifty-fifty chance of survival, and the main quest would definitely be impossible to complete. No one dared to take this risk. Therefore, several adventurers glared at Ma Le fiercely and reluctantly retreated.

Atara walked up to Ma Le and raised his voice to ask, "From District 12, explain what happened here!"

Ma Le pointed to Helias, who had just stood up, and explained, "That guy wanted to hit me, but I counterattacked and knocked him down. Hmph, thinking he's invincible, joining a stinky cult and acting so arrogant!"

Upon hearing this, Helias' eyes turned red. If Ma Le's words were just insulting him before, now they were insulting his faith, which a devout Cross believer could not tolerate! Helias roared in anger and lunged at Ma Le. Several security guards rushed over but couldn't stop him. A bloody incident was about to happen!

At this moment, a sacred melody sounded, and a beautiful song floated through the venue. Helias heard the song, and his violent state gradually calmed down, eventually returning to normal. He sincerely apologized to Atara, thus avoiding a serious consequence.

The provocation failed, and Ma Le narrowed his eyes, giving a deep look at the girl singing. The information in his Spirit Knowledge mentioned her; she was Helias' teammate, named Ophelia, also a believer in the Holy Church. To influence people with just a song, this woman was not simple...

Next, the adventurers began their various skill training. After all, during the Hunger Games, they couldn't use items or props. If they didn't prepare, hunger, cold, and poisoning could still kill them. But Ma Le was different. Relying on his special talent, he believed his survival ability was off the charts. Therefore, while others were training hard, he was always sitting in a corner, trying to break through the Nine Yang Divine Skill. For him, in this world lacking powerful creatures, internal skills were the most efficient way to enhance his strength.

It wasn't until evening that the people who had finished training returned to the apartment. Katniss and Peeta began to question Ma Le, "Why did you provoke the other adventurers? This is very disadvantageous for us!" Ma Le completely ignored the two kids' questions and fished out his ear. Peeta even complained to the mentor Haymitch, but Haymitch was very indulgent towards Ma Le, only saying lightly, "He's not an idiot, he must have his reasons."

Katniss and Peeta glared at Ma Le angrily and left in frustration. Spirit Knowledge, however, wouldn't let it go, "As your partner, I have the right to know why you did this!"

Ma Le looked at the twin-tailed glasses girl with a serious expression and shrugged, "No special reason, I'm just attracting hate. Once the Hunger Games start, you just take them and run, the rest is up to me!" Spirit Knowledge was surprised, "Impossible, how can you fight so many adventurers! Even if you're stronger than Helias, it's absolutely impossible. You must know that Helias isn't just physically strong, his holy power is even more terrifying! According to the latest intelligence, after he activates his holy power, his strength is at least 30 points, and his melee attack power increases! Even if you're physically stronger, it's absolutely impossible... Ow!!"

Before Spirit Knowledge finished speaking, Ma Le flicked her forehead, causing the girl to cover her forehead in pain, tears streaming down her face. "I know all that, don't worry, I have confidence since I dared to do this!" Ma Le smiled and placed his hand on Spirit Knowledge's head.

"Who cares about you!" Spirit Knowledge pushed Ma Le's hand away and glared at him with tearful eyes, then asked after a while, "Why? Why do such a dangerous thing?"

Ma Le supported his chin, thought for a moment, and slowly replied, "In the last world, I met a kid like you, equally arrogant, equally proud, and equally dislike being touched on the head... but he's smarter than you!" Spirit Knowledge huffed and turned her face away. Ma Le seemed not to notice the girl's mood and continued, "He is indeed very smart. Although he's not as well-informed as you, he can analyze the most information from a few words. Thanks to him, I survived in the last world and received a huge reward. To put it simply, he's my friend and savior!"

"Since you get along so well, why don't you team up? If you team up, you won't end up in such a twisted world!" Spirit Knowledge pouted. Ma Le laughed, "I want to, but he's already at the ordinary level. However, he promised to wait for me in two worlds. After two worlds, as long as I advance to the ordinary level, he will team up with me."

"So that's why you look for opportunities to go outside, to do side quests and increase your evaluation?" Spirit Knowledge guessed, but then looked shocked, "Wait, two more worlds... you only have a hundred points of evaluation now? That means you've experienced very few worlds... what kind of encounter made you such a strong person!"

"Besides increasing my side quest evaluation, I have one more thing to do," Ma Le ignored Spirit Knowledge's shock and explained, "My little brother is very smart and can do well on his own. After teaming up, I might become a burden with my clumsiness. So, I thought, what can I do for him. After much thought, I realized one thing: he's a mage, weak in melee and defense. So, to support him, I've positioned myself as a strong attacker and defensive core. Before we officially team up, I need to quickly become a qualified tank!"

Spirit Knowledge asked, "So, you're challenging so many people to train yourself?" Ma Le smiled, "Not entirely, they're not even worth my attention. I'm mainly practicing my taunting ability, hahaha..."

Spirit Knowledge was completely speechless, "Taunting ability... is it practiced like this?" Ma Le said seriously, "Of course, think about it, in a battle, if one person keeps showing off and being verbally abusive, always doing annoying things, who would you hit first? That's the tank's professional quality!" Spirit Knowledge sighed, "Do you know there's a skill called taunt?"

Ma Le was taken aback, "There's such a skill?!" Spirit Knowledge nodded, "Of course, but it only lasts a few seconds. And such a skill is a control skill, very rare..." Ma Le felt reassured, "So, my natural taunting face is more practical and economical!" He then laughed proudly and strode back to his room.

Spirit Knowledge looked at Ma Le's back and spat, "I've never heard of someone practicing being a jerk on purpose, may you practice a face thicker than a city wall!"

In the following days, all the tributes trained systematically. Ma Le also asked Spirit Knowledge for a bunch of pre-set paper figures, and whenever he had the chance, he would activate his ability and slip away, no one knew what he was up to. Soon, it was time for the tribute display.

The tribute display is where each participant enters the gymnasium in turn, where various weapons and equipment are available for selection. Above the gymnasium, in a box about three meters above the ground, all the sponsors watch the tributes' self-displays. The participants must showcase their most skilled abilities in as short a time as possible to win the sponsors' favor. Finally, the show's organizers will score each participant, with a full score of ten points. The higher the score, the more attention they receive, and the more sponsors they might get.

The participants enter in the order of District 1 to District 12, so Ma Le and his group were scheduled last.

Everything proceeded as in the plot. When Katniss entered, the wealthy sponsors, who had already seen over forty performances, were bored, especially since the presenter was from the weakest District 12. Feeling neglected, our heroine shot an arrow towards the viewing stand, pinning the apple in the mouth of the roasted suckling pig in the center of the table to the wall. Then, Katniss politely bowed to the sponsors in shock, "Thank you for watching, please consider it!"

After Peeta and Spirit Knowledge's displays, it was Ma Le's turn, who was last.

This big guy had already made a big splash at the District 12 lottery and caused a fight on the first day of training. It could be said that the sponsors still had some expectations for Ma Le.

But just as Ma Le closed his eyes, faced the viewing stand, and slightly bent his knees, the room suddenly went pitch black. "Power outage?!" the sponsors shouted. At the moment the darkness fell, a thud was heard from the viewing stand, as if something heavy had fallen. Although there was a moment of panic, the sponsors quickly calmed down. For these big shots, a brief darkness couldn't disturb their composure.

After just a few seconds, the lights came back on. The Hunger Games organizer, Seneca Crane, called the security guards and learned that the building's power had been cut off for unknown reasons and the backup power had been activated.

"It's just a power outage!" Seneca reassured the wealthy sponsors, and then everyone watched Ma Le's performance. To the sponsors' great disappointment, this big guy just clumsily danced a few awkward... steps, if you could call it a dance. No one had ever seen a dance that started with slow arm movements and ended with stepping in place. Not only was the dance ugly, but he himself was not agile, with a dull gaze and stiff movements, completely lacking in beauty!

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