Chapter 251 – Beast Fight
After their initial fear subsided, people began to closely observe the strange, hybrid alien. Even the boy who had been crying earlier was no longer afraid. Instead, his curiosity got the better of him, and he approached the cage once again. He pulled a gold button from his clothes and threw it at the creature.
The alien let out a loud “howl,” baring its teeth and hissing at the boy.
The thick iron chains restricted its movement, and the sturdy cage gave the boy confidence. He moved even closer to the bars, making faces at the creature and even kicking the iron grate with his foot.
The alien tried to claw at the cage, attempting to grab the boy and pull him inside to devour him. But just as its thick paw touched the bars, a strong electric current surged through the cage and into its body. The creature’s limbs went limp, and it collapsed to the ground.
Pang Shixi watched this scene with satisfaction, tossing the remote control that controlled the current back onto the tray held by his attendant.
“Can any of you guess what I’m going to do next?” Pang Shixi asked, smiling at the gathered crowd.
A young woman with short, neat hair and dressed in a black evening gown spoke up, “A beast fight?”
“As expected from the eldest daughter of the Rong family,” he praised, raising his left hand while holding his right palm flat beneath it, lowering his head slightly in a ceremonious gesture.
The action was full of ritual.
“The Rong family has been religious for generations. This gesture is part of their religion’s greeting ceremony,” a voice explained in Tu Ran’s earpiece. “The Rong family excels in genetic breeding and reviving extinct species. Today, 90% of the pets circulating in the market were created by the Rong family.”
“Over twenty years ago, they bred ancient beasts like mammoths and saber-toothed tigers, causing a huge public stir. They used this fame to establish large-scale arenas across continents, where people would enthusiastically watch beast fights. These arenas generated billions in profits annually. However, due to humanitarian concerns, most were eventually shut down and now only exist in certain black markets.”
Below the platform, the woman in the black dress politely returned Pang Shixi’s gesture. Afterward, Pang Shixi turned to address everyone, explaining his intentions.
After a long-winded introduction filled with irrelevant details, he finally got to the point: “Let’s see if the warriors of our Federation are stronger, or if the wild beasts from those uncivilized lands will triumph.”
As he spoke, he raised his right hand high, with his index finger pointing upward, his voice echoing throughout the Wanle Temple. “Ten thousand Federal credits! Any warrior here who dares enter the cage for ten minutes will have the money transferred to their account immediately!”
The so-called “warriors” referred to the Executive Department guards present at the event.
No one responded.
Ten thousand Federal credits wasn’t a small amount—equivalent to about two months’ salary for the guards. But it wasn’t enough to risk their lives over. None of the guards moved.
“It seems the guards are well-paid if they aren’t tempted by my offer,” Pang Shixi said, sighing dramatically. His eyebrows drooped, and the skin on his face sagged, showing his age. According to the data in her visor, Pang Shixi was already 64, though he was well-preserved and looked no older than a man in his late forties.
His body language was exaggerated, one moment laughing heartily, the next frowning deeply. He seemed completely unconcerned with his status or the fact that two other family heads, equal in rank to him, were sitting in the audience.
From the expressions of those around her, Tu Ran deduced that Pang Shixi’s erratic behavior was nothing new to them.
To be honest, the outward behavior of the heads of the three great families had surprised Tu Ran. Before this, she had only heard of their existence but didn’t know their names or appearances. She had assumed they would be cold, inscrutable figures who rarely smiled or spoke.
Seeing the three in person, Tu Ran was surprised. One was gullible, believing anything told to him; another was overly friendly, smiling at everyone; and the last, an old man, seemed eccentric and erratic.
It was as if her understanding of the world had been turned upside down once again.
Below the platform, the wealthy attendees were amused by Pang Shixi’s antics. A man in a well-tailored suit stood up and said, “The head of the Pang family is as rich as a nation, yet only offers ten thousand? No wonder they’re not interested. I’ll add to it—I’ll offer fifty thousand!”
His words drew more laughter from the crowd.
To the wealthy, there wasn’t much difference between ten thousand and fifty thousand. But the idea that these sums could push the guards to risk their lives thrilled them.
Though no guard had yet stepped forward, the crowd’s excitement grew, and more people began to join in.
“I’ll offer a hundred thousand!”
“I’ll offer two hundred thousand!”
Tu Ran looked down coldly at the crowd, her finger gently tapping the trigger of her assault rifle.
When the reward reached three hundred thousand, a guard finally stepped forward.
“I… I’ll go.”
Tu Ran glanced at the guard. He had been stationed outside, unaware of what was happening inside, and had likely been drawn by the noise.
As he entered and stood before Pang Shixi, he asked, “Three hundred thousand, ten minutes, right?”
“Of course,” Pang Shixi responded with a warm smile, his tone as patient as a kind elder’s. “But you can’t take your gun inside. I’ve prepared some weapons for you to choose from.”
A servant pushed a cart covered in red cloth before the guard. On top were various weapons, all melee.
The guard removed his own weapons, placing them aside, and chose a long dagger before walking up to the iron cage.
The guard stood before the iron cage, staring at the creature inside, which was nearly three times his height. His face paled as he gripped his only weapon, a long knife, tightly.
Though the bars of the cage were wide enough for a human to slip through, Pang Shixi still ordered the single door of the cage to be opened.
As the door creaked open, the creature inside grew agitated, violently slamming against it, lowering its body to squeeze through the small gap.
Tu Ran heard the creature’s voice.
“Food… food… food…”
That door had always been used to deliver food to the creature.
Now, the guard was walking through it.
As soon as he stepped inside, the creature lunged at him, and the ten-minute timer began.
The guard, fortunately, was quick enough to dodge the initial attack. From then on, he darted around the cage, trying to avoid the creature.
The beast was large and clumsy, hindered by both the confines of the cage and the shackles on its legs, preventing it from devouring its long-awaited meal.
Its frustration grew, and it kept changing direction, lunging at the guard. Each time, the guard managed to evade just in time, causing the creature to slam into the cage’s iron bars repeatedly. The loud “bang, bang” echoed throughout the room, but the cage remained unyielding.
The wealthy onlookers watched with wide eyes, fully engrossed in the spectacle.
It was the first time they had witnessed such a battle between a human and an alien.
The contrast between strength and weakness, size and insignificance, savagery and civilization, brute force and agility…
At that moment, the value of life seemed irrelevant.
