Chapter 42: First Battle (1)

Jack and a group of gladiators were pushed to a laser prison in the middle of the gladiator arena, which served as a preparation and resting area for the gladiators.

The prison was quite big, with a passageway leading directly to the arena. When a name was called, the gladiator had to step forward. Otherwise...well, one could imagine the consequences.

Watching the third unlucky person being dragged out of the passage, Jack shook his head. This was a clear sign of the harsh reality of the arena.

In addition to the prison cells, several weapon shelves were in the room, displaying different cold weapons such as knives, spears, swords, halberds, axes, hooks, and forks. However, the bloodstains on them indicated that they hadn't been cleaned for a long time.

There were also some scattered pieces of armor, although most of them were incomplete. One could still create a semi-complete armor set by sorting and patching them up.

The burly man Jack had seen earlier, who spoke arrogantly, was now sitting on a bench, skillfully putting armor around himself. Next to him was a double-edged giant axe that stood half as tall as a person.

The axe was stained with some dried blood and gave off an intense smell. If someone were to be struck by it, they might not be killed by the axe, but they would certainly be suffocated because of the smell.

Outside the laser, the prison was a bar-like area where a group of scavengers who had been busy all day at the garbage dump outside the city were drinking and forgetting about their troubles for a while.

Of course, watching the gladiators being sent to the "chopping block" just a wall away made them feel even better, and they naturally spent more money.

Jack didn't prepare anything. He didn't need to. He was the best weapon himself.

Jack immediately saw the Asgardian Valkyrie through the laser prison, who had captured and electrocuted him before in the crowd.

This girl seems to have made a lot of money during the day, and now she's spending without looking at the prices. There's a pile of empty wine bottles in front of her, and she's shouting for drinks so fast that the service robot is shaking, probably stuck.

"Wow, wow, wow, the famous Valkyrie."

Jack walked up to the cage and looked up and down at Valkyrie.

As the top soldier of Asgard, Valkyrie's temperament and body curves are all heavenly.

She's also quite pretty, but her years of rich life have made her look much more shabby and worn out. However, in Jack's eyes, she's still a beautiful woman.

If she could wash off the makeup on her face, she would be perfect.

Hearing the name Valkyrie, Valkyrie paused her drinking but didn't even look at Jack. She put down the wine bottle, paid the bill, and left.

Regarding her reaction, Jack was not surprised at all. Seeing her leave without stopping her, he said it again.

"It seems like Hela has caused quite a psychological shadow on you."

The name "Hela" made Valkyrie stop in her tracks. Finally, she turned to look at Jack, her gaze sharp and focused, no longer showing the previous glooming appearance.

"What do you know?" she asked.

It's not surprising that Valkyrie reacted this way. After all, even the locals in Asgard knew little about Hela's story, let alone an outsider.

When Odin exiled Hela, he erased all traces of her existence. In fact, he even spread a spell of forgetfulness to make everyone in Asgard, and the Nine Realms forget about Hela's existence.

Only Valkyrie survived, either because she fled Asgard in despair after being the only survivor, or perhaps Odin, in one of his more morally questionable states, banished everyone who knew Hela so he could rebuild Asgard anew without the sins of its past.

Valkyrie was able to escape this fate by fleeing to Sakaar beforehand, which was a domain of the Grandmaster, where Odin's reach couldn't touch her.

For years she had been living a life of alcoholism in order to forget the devastating war that had destroyed the entire Valkyrie army and the woman named Hela.

She thought she had succeeded in forgetting, but hearing the name again today made her realize that she had been deceiving herself all along.

Suddenly, she grew to hate Jack, who had forced her to remember her past.

"I know a lot, a lot. If I survive tonight, I can sit with you and talk about it," Jack taunted with a smile. Just then, the broadcast announced his name, and He shrugged, turned around, and left.

Crack!

Seeing his posture, Valkyrie's face remained expressionless, but she crushed the bottle of alcohol in her hand.

Jack walked down a long corridor in his military uniform, his hands in his pockets, and strolled towards the arena.

No one could tell he was there to participate in the championship fight; instead, he looked like he was taking a walk.

He didn't experience Stan Lee's haircut service, as his hair was already short, to begin with.

As he approached a giant stone door, the voice of the Grandmaster came through clearly from behind it.

"Alright, let's welcome our final contestant today. Although it's his first time in the championship tournament, I believe he has great potential and could even win the championship. So, let's give a round of applause for... from... somewhere... Quinn!!!"

"Hey, It's Wayne, fucker"

Jack's expression remained unchanged. Although he didn't particularly like the name Wayne, he disliked it even more when people changed his name without permission.

The stone door in front of him shook and slowly opened to both sides. Jack stepped out.

As he crossed over, a loud cheer swept over him like a tsunami, almost stunned him.

Looking around, the arena resembled a gladiatorial arena from ancient Rome, surrounded by towering walls.

The arena had a seating arrangement filled with people screaming and expressing enthusiasm.

A few flying vehicles, including the Valkyrie, floated above the arena as Grandmaster's hologram introduced the next gladiator and the rules.

"An exciting moment, isn't it? As you all know, it's been long since we've had a champion since the last one left. We need a new champion, so without further ado, today's second gladiator is only one win away from becoming the champion--"

"Claw King"

Hearing this title, Jack suddenly felt that perhaps Quinn wasn't as bad as he had thought.

As Grandmaster introduced the next contestant, the cheers from the audience increased several notches. Jack even felt the gravel beneath his feet trembling.

Jack looked up at the opposite side of the arena, where there was also a stone door. At this moment, the door slowly opened, revealing everything behind it.

This was a monster over three meters tall!

Its upper body was that of a human, while the lower body was that of a giant scorpion with three tails. The stingers on its tails emitted a faint glow, indicating their strong toxicity.

Jack knew why Grandmaster called him the Claw King, as he had two claws in addition to the four pincers on the monster's body. However, this wasn't the main point.

Jack snapped back to attention, his expression weird.

Isn't this the Scorpion King?

.....

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