Ash's first impression of the Death Fighting Club was that it was dark.
Unlike other places in the prison which were brightly lit, there were very few lights in the Death Fight Club. Except for the incandescent lamps on the death fight ring in the middle, there were almost no lights in the surrounding high platforms and audience seats. The spectators seemed to be submerged in darkness, and the only lights between heaven and earth were the two people fighting on the ring.
This was also the place where Ash had seen the most prisoners. He had only met a few prisoners here and there along the way, and when passing by the library and the gymnasium, Ash had also seen a dozen prisoners. However, after entering the Death Fighting Club, even without bright light, just from the whispers he heard and the shadowy outlines in the dark, Ash could tell that there were almost a hundred people in the Death Fighting Club!
"Lang got you?"
"Newcomer?... Oh, the leader of the Four Pillars. What a brave young man, he even dares to contact the Four Pillars."
"Gourmet Lang has it!"
"Ronn, is that your boyfriend? You've changed your taste!" a sturdy man said jokingly.
"Desmond, if you keep saying this kind of nonsense and destroying the relationship between me and my boyfriend, believe it or not, I will bite you to death!?" Langna cursed back angrily, and he didn't sound like he was really angry, but rather a little shy.
However, the laughter around them quieted down, and the sturdy man named Desmond hurriedly put his hands together and apologized: "Haha, Lang, I didn't mean to offend me in that way. By the way, how about introducing the new guy?"
Langna snorted, as if he was not going to pursue the matter. Desmond breathed a sigh of relief and quickly shrank back into the crowd.
Seeing this, Ash quietly moved away from Langna.
He already felt that a bald passerby who seemed to be "weak and vulnerable" might very well be the notorious killer in this prison.
"Ash Heath, a new guy who just came in these two days, wants to join the deathmatch, so I brought him to see." Langna said with a smile, "Who is fighting now?"
"'Diamond' Tiger and 'Blind Beast' Ludo."
"Why is Luduo... Ah, Tiger is an old man after all, why didn't he let go of this little contribution? Didn't you challenge Luduo?"
"We definitely won't let go of this piece of fat meat, but Luduo has never seen Tiger fight to the death, and feels that Tiger is easier to bully, and Tiger's stakes are high, so..."
Ash moved closer to the audience and looked at the one-sided slaughter in the ring below—an old white-haired man and a muscular green-skinned orc fighting with their bare hands.
Yes, it was a one-sided massacre. It was obvious that both sides were attacking but not defending each other. However, the white-haired old man did not shake or breathe heavily after being hit by a fist as big as a casserole. There was not even a red mark on his skin, as if the green-skinned orc had just hit his chest with the strength of a baby.
However, on the other hand, each of the white-haired old man's punches was as heavy as a thousand pounds, and it made a sound of stone cracking when it hit the green-skinned orcs, which made people's scalps tingle.
When Ash arrived, the green-skinned orc had been beaten to a bloody mess, with not a single piece of good flesh on his body, several of his teeth missing, and his eyes swollen like squinting eyes.
With a blow from a heavy hammer, the green-skinned orc was knocked several meters away, and hit the wall with a bang, leaving a trail of blood on the wall. He sat on the ground and could not get up.
However, the white-haired old man glanced above his head, then rushed over and continued to punch the green-skinned orc.
He was like a bath scrubber rubbing mud, rubbing the flesh and blood off the green-skinned orcs with one punch.
Ash couldn't bear to watch: "Isn't the winner already decided? Why isn't it over yet?"
"Has the winner been decided? Not yet." Someone nearby said with a smile, "Try to reach out."
Upon hearing this, Ash reached out his hand, but found that he touched an invisible wall of air, which caused ripples. Invisible barriers appeared in the air on all four sides, completely isolating the lower stage from the surrounding audience seats.
"Only when one of the parties dies or is completely unconscious will the isolation barrier be released. Then the medical staff will appear from that door and drag the body back to the medical room for treatment."
The man pointed to an inconspicuous door in the ring and said, "As long as the barrier has not disappeared, we must not let our guard down. We must continue to suppress and crush our opponents."
"Besides, there is no such thing as surrender in a deathmatch. The loser has only two possibilities: death or loss of consciousness."
"I don't know how many fools who relied on their bravery and looked down on their opponents stopped fighting halfway because they regarded this as a stage for friendship first and competition second. Then they were killed by their opponents, lost a lot of contribution points, and were promoted to the upper position of the Judgment Sequence in one fell swoop... But this is also the meaning of the Death Fighting Club: to transfer the contribution points that do not belong to you to those who deserve it more."
Boom!
Hearing the dull sound of the fist, Ash felt that the orc had even the hot pot base exploded, and couldn't help asking: "Can this really be saved?"
"He's not unconscious yet, but even if he could be saved, he'd be as good as dead. Look up there."
Ash looked up and realized that the glowing spot on the ceiling was actually a display screen with battle information written on it:
"Tiger Norris bets 35 contribution points"
「VS」
"Ludo·Yaxi bet 5 contribution points"
Ash was surprised and said, "The stakes aren't equal. Why did Tiger take so much?"
"As long as both parties agree, even unequal bets can be made." The man said leisurely, "And there are rarely deathmatches with equal stakes. According to the rules, each time you participate in a deathmatch, you must bet a little more than the previous deathmatch. Tiger has participated in 34 deathmatches before, so he must bet 35 contribution points this time."
"So this is Ludo's fifth death match?"
"No, this is his tenth game. Each prisoner starts with 50 contribution points, and the bet increases with each game. He bet a total of 45 contribution points in the first nine games, but only 5 points are left in the tenth game."
The person next to him sneered.
"So, as long as Luduo loses this battle, he will have no contribution points at all, and he will never be able to earn contribution points through deathmatches again. Unless he can take gold coins out of his stomach, he will always be the first in the Judgment Sequence."
Ash said "oh" and suddenly realized something: "Wait, does that mean he lost all the previous nine games?!"
"That's why he's called 'Blind Beast' Luduo. He always chooses opponents he can't beat."
Boom!
With a bang of hammer, the green-skinned orc's head seemed to explode. At the same time, a dinging sound was made on the light curtain on the ceiling, showing the words "the winner has been decided".
The barrier of the ring disappeared instantly, and the door inside the ring opened. Three black-robed men wearing crow masks entered the ring. They didn't use a stretcher, but directly dragged the body of the green-skinned orc away.
"The old man is too mean, pretending to be a pig and eating the tiger to cheat the orcs' contribution points."
"How can this be called a lie? I knew from the beginning that the old man was not easy to deal with. Lu Duo not only has a bad vision, but also a bad brain. You can tell with your toenails that among the old people, women, and children who can stay in the Death Fighting Society, which one is easy to get along with?"
"Is this the first person the old man has carried away?"
"Since the day I came in, the old man has carried away at least five people."
"Old man, you have so many contribution points. Next time, you should leave this kind of opportunity to young people like us. That beast is really something. It's giving away contribution points anyway, why not give it to me?"
In the darkness, everyone was bustling around and making a lot of noise. The white-haired old man wiped the blood off his fist with a towel. Suddenly, he coughed twice and coughed up several mouthfuls of bloody phlegm. He said in fear: "That orc's fist was quite powerful. I seem to have internal injuries..."
"Who would believe you?"
Everyone roared in unison. It seemed that they had seen someone being deceived and then being played by the old man for the second time.
"He's very strong in this ring."
Ash looked to the right and found that Sword Lady suddenly appeared again.
And unlike other people, the dim light had no effect on her. She seemed to be able to glow by herself to dispel the darkness, sitting on the railing very abruptly.
But what was even more amazing was that she actually changed into a new set of clothes that looked like a tight kendo uniform for training, and she also tied up her long red hair, turning herself into a dashing female swordsman.
Ash subconsciously blurted out, "Why is he so strong?"
"Because this stage only allows attacking privileges, but still limits the output of magical power."
The people next to them said in unison with Jian Ji.
Sword Princess glanced at Ash who covered his mouth, and continued: "There are many types of magicians, craftsmen, warriors, scholars, doctors... But most magicians can only use magic power to drive magic spirits. As long as their magic power output is limited, magicians are no different from ordinary people."
"But there are a small number of magicians who, even without magic spirits, still possess strength that surpasses that of ordinary people—they are physical magicians."
"Generally speaking, all practitioners who practice physical training can be called physical practitioners, such as sword practitioners, boxing practitioners, gun practitioners, spear practitioners, axe practitioners... As long as they have the right weapons, they can fight against many enemies alone. However, compared to physical fitness, they only have the advantage of 'skills'. In terms of physical fitness, they are not much stronger than ordinary people."
"However, there is a type of physical arts master who continuously strengthens their bodies, and even uses magic spirits to modify the structure of their flesh and blood, and wields themselves like weapons, thereby achieving nearly overwhelming violence. Even if this type of physical arts master loses their magic spirits, the strengthening effect in their bodies will not disappear. It's fine if they are placed in other places, but in this prison where magic spirits are banned, their advantages can be maximized!"
"This type of physical practitioner is called a weak practitioner."
"Flesh and blood are weak. Their bodies are no longer made of flesh and blood."
Ash looked over and found that when the white-haired old man was leaving the ring, his fingers brushed across the railing, actually scratching the railing to pieces!
'Diamond' Tiger... So this is what it means!
"Now that you're here, let's start fighting." Sword Princess said, "Just don't fight that old man. Oh, by the way, it's best to choose an unarmed opponent for your first fight, and you'd better be unarmed as well."
"Why?"
"Because your body is too weak. If you use a real sword, you will probably be crippled before you can swing a few times. And if your opponent also uses fists, you can at least fight with him for a few rounds to buy time for the experience transfer." Sword Princess folded her hands and said, "I'm actually more afraid that your opponent will take your sword away and behead you with one sword. In order to avoid such an eye-catching scene, you should fight with bare fists for the first time."
"I don't expect you to fight, but you'll get beaten, right?"
Ash readily accepted Sword Princess's suggestion, turned to the person who had been chatting with him and asked, "I want to participate in a deathmatch, and my opponent should be unarmed. Do you have any recommendations?"
"Bare-handed fighting? You've really asked the right person, brother. I'm good at bare-handed fighting. Come fight with me. I promise I won't bully you."
"Okay, okay, but this is my first deathmatch, and I will only bet 1 contribution point. Even if you want to play the pig and eat the tiger, you won't make much." Ash joked.
"Don't worry, brother. Not only will I not earn your contribution points, I will also give you contribution points. I am very weak, after all—"
At this moment, all the lights in the Death Fight Club suddenly lit up, and the darkness in the audience seats was swallowed up by the light, and it was bright.
It was then that Ash realized that the 'kind person' he had been chatting with was actually an acquaintance he had met not long ago.
"—even you want to punch me in the face."
Igula looked at Ash and smiled, "Nice to meet you again, Ash with the lovely fists."