Chapter 96

Kerlayev is Yue Hu's partner, so during the training period, Helias paid close attention to him, and the two even had a sparring session. To be honest, Helias was confident that he could take him down within two minutes in a real fight, but that would come at a cost. If he wanted to take him out in one hit... that was beyond the capabilities of a beginner.

Kerlayev is a pure physical force adventurer, with all his attribute points allocated to strength, agility, and constitution. His strength is as high as 22 points, breaking the 20-point barrier. More importantly, his agility and constitution are both over 18 points, making him well-rounded with almost no weaknesses in hand-to-hand combat. Moreover, his fighting style is steady and experienced, and with his counterattack skills, he can unexpectedly deal heavy damage to his opponents. He is a tough opponent who values defense over offense.

However, such adventurers have a fatal weakness: they have very low resistance to non-physical attacks. Due to their low mental attributes, their resistance to magical attacks is poor, so their resistance can only be provided by their constitution, with a maximum of 25% (i.e., one-quarter of their defense). This is why Kerlayev was easily charmed by Yue Hu, although he was conscious, his subconscious had already submitted to her.

Helias naturally thought of this and asked Yue Hu with a hint of hope, "Was he taken down by a powerful mage? To have such explosive power at the beginner level, he truly is a formidable opponent..."

Yue Hu saw through Helias's attempt to avoid the topic and shook her head with a smile, "The true strength of the opponent is still unknown, but from the information we have, he seems to be a strong melee attacker... Oh, and he's also an acquaintance of yours, the Asian from District 12 who sent you flying on the first day of training, remember?"

Yue Hu's last sentence was clearly a taunt, and indeed, when Helias heard the identity of the enemy, his facial muscles twitched. But it was just a moment, and Helias's expression quickly returned to normal. He slowly smiled and said, "So, it's that guy... You want to use my hatred to wear him down and then reap the benefits, right?"

Helias appeared calm, but Yue Hu knew that this man's heart was filled with anger and jealousy. Although they came from different city-states, Yue Hu had heard of Helias. Including the trial world, this man had only experienced three mission worlds, and each time his score was over 80. Not only did he receive rich rewards for completing the missions, but the side quests he uncovered also rapidly increased his strength. In the previous world, Helias encountered a city-state war and single-handedly killed an ordinary-level adventurer from an opposing city-state, which made him famous and attracted the attention of the high-ups in the Holy City and the Journalists' Association.

In a sense, Helias was an adventurer who had a head start. He relied on his own efforts and talent to become strong at an astonishing speed, becoming a shining new star early on. But precisely because of this, his pride and self-respect could not be trampled upon. If it were someone like Ma Le, who gained most of his strength through luck, it would be different. Because the strength came relatively easily, Ma Le's reliance on it was not so great, and losing a battle was just a matter of continuing to work hard. But Helias was different; he had risked his life to gain his abilities, and to be easily defeated in the end was an unimaginable blow.

Therefore, Helias could not tolerate Ma Le's existence, and Yue Hu clearly understood this. She added fuel to the fire, "Reap the benefits? No, no, I don't think you have the ability to fight him to a standstill..."

These words deeply pierced Helias's heart. His forehead veins bulged, and his eyes twitched, but after a moment of calm, he suppressed his anger and said in a low voice, "Fine, I'll join forces with you. Tell me your plan!"

Although Helias was angry, he did not lose his reason. If what Yue Hu said was true, then the enemy was not someone he could handle alone. Although ganging up on someone did not align with his usual proud demeanor, to protect his fragile pride, he was willing to abandon his pride. "What's the use of being strong if you end up as fertilizer in the end?"

Yue Hu was secretly pleased that her provocation had worked and began to discuss the strategy with Helias. However, she did not notice that on a nearby tree trunk, a genetically modified killer bee was quietly perched, its black, shiny compound eyes tightly focused on the five people by the river.

In the dense forest two kilometers away, the District 11 character, the strong black youth Salish, was holding an iron hook and pacing back and forth vigilantly. Behind him, his partner, the black girl Lulu, also a character, was carrying a large beehive, with hundreds of killer bees buzzing around it. From Lulu's expression, it was clear that she was very afraid of these venomous insects, but under some pressure, she had to carry it.

Surrounding the two characters were seven mutated monsters, the same kind that had attacked Ma Le. For some reason, these monsters seemed uninterested in the young boy and girl, and they were lazily squatting, some grooming their fur, others even licking their tongues, looking like domestic pets.

Although the seven monsters had different expressions, their positions were very orderly, with almost the same distance between them, forming a perfect circle. Salish and Lulu were inside the circle, and at the center of the circle, an old man was sitting cross-legged, his palms facing the sky, his eyes tightly closed, as if meditating. As for the old man's identity, the only one who could infiltrate the Hunger Games with such an advanced age was Soros!

After a while, Soros slowly opened his eyes and chuckled, "That boy from District 12 is so strong, it seems I underestimated him... As for that little bitch and the religious fanatic's plan, hmpf, it's nothing but a low-level scheme!" As he spoke, the old man stood up, and with a wave of his hand, the seven mutated hounds stood up, instantly shedding their lazy demeanor, looking sharp, fierce, and cruel. Salish and Lulu also hurriedly stepped up to Soros, as if afraid to anger the old man.

Soros mused, "Since those two are planning to deal with that boy Ite, I... will go after his teammates. To last until the end of the Hunger Games, one sacrifice seems insufficient..." Through the reconnaissance of the killer bees, Soros had almost figured out the movements of all the tributes. He knew that Ma Le and his teammates had separated. Thus, the old man led his monster army and marched toward the direction of Lingzhi and the others.

At the same time, in the control room of the Hunger Games, dozens of staff members were busy. This spacious room was where the direction of the Hunger Games was decided. The walls were lined with countless screens, each corresponding to a camera in the arena. The staff members tracked the remaining tributes and switched cameras to ensure that the latest battle reports were delivered to the audience in real-time.

In the center of the room, a large round table displayed a 3D holographic map, a perfect replica of the Hunger Games arena. The staff members around the table controlled everything in the arena through their computers. They could set traps or control landmines, and while there were usually no major changes, if necessary, they could even alter the entire landscape of the arena.

Suddenly, the control room door was slammed open, and a young man in a suit burst in, roaring at the staff members, "What the hell is going on?!"

The staff members were startled and looked at the man, who was named Seth. He was also part of the Hunger Games organizing committee, but he did not manage the operation or control of the games. Instead, he was responsible for publicity and sales. In other words, he was the one who dealt with the sponsors the most, aside from the chief designer, Seneca.

Seth threw a stack of papers on the table and roared, "The Hunger Games have been going on for less than three hours, and I've already received dozens of complaints. More than one sponsor said that he had just placed a heavy bet on a tribute, but the next second, the boy he had high hopes for was torn apart by a mutated wild dog! What kind of joke is this? Mutated monsters should only be introduced at the end of the games! What is Seneca thinking?!" After shouting for a while, he realized that Seneca was not in the control room and asked in confusion, "Where is Seneca? Where is Seneca?"

A female researcher walked over and replied, "Mr. Seneca is not feeling well today and said he would come later..." Seth was taken aback, "Today is the first day of the Hunger Games, and he's late? Humph... Forget it, who is in charge of the mutated monsters? Step forward!"

No one stepped forward, and the staff members all looked at a short, plump black woman. Seth walked over and grabbed her wrist, demanding, "Is it you? Did you release a large number of mutated wild dogs into the arena?"

The woman did not respond, but she lifted her head, her eyes vacant, with no pupils, only a pale white, which startled Seth, and he instinctively let go of her hand.

Then, the black woman's face began to contort, and she started clawing at her own face, screaming in pain. She clawed so hard that she gouged out her own eyes and tore off her face, blood streaming down, staining her white lab coat.

This terrifying scene caused a commotion, and someone immediately pressed the alarm. Peacekeepers rushed in, trying to subdue the woman. But she somehow found the strength to break free from two peacekeepers and, screaming, smashed her head into the corner of a table, her brain splattering as she died.

All the staff members were shocked, and the peacekeepers were too afraid to approach and clean up. The camera switching had stopped, and complaints began to erupt across the Capitol...

In the depths of the jungle in the arena, Soros, who was on the move, seemed to sense something and looked up at the sky behind him, smiling to himself, "Discovered, huh..."

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