Empty Promises

Tullius was the commander of the Fourth Army of Talantum.

He was also the main character of this grand victory ceremony.

He was the main culprit who had annihilated Lin Lei's entire clan.

Lin Lei was confused.

He did not know why this person had come to see him.

A few muscular slaves were carrying a large chair, and Tullius sat on it. He used his right hand to support his chin. He looked down at Lin Lei.

"Kneel down!"

A few steel crossbows were aimed at Lin Lei, the arrowheads gleaming with a cold light.

Lin Lei's lips couldn't help but twitch, revealing his snowy white canine teeth.

He could not stop making sounds from his throat.

Tullius waved his hand, and the steel crossbows were put away.

"Don't be nervous. I'm here today for no other reason than to discuss business with you."

"Business?" Lin Lei retracted his attacking stance. Right now, he was extremely weak. Forget about awakening his bloodline, even moving normally would be difficult.

He could guess that this was the after-effect of using the Fox's Assault.

It was normal to pay a price for being in a powerful state. He could not do anything to Tullius now.

However, Lin Lei suspected that even if he could use the Fox's Assault, he would not be able to do anything to Tullius.

Otherwise, Tullius would not have come to see him in such an unguarded manner.

Strong self-confidence required strength as the foundation.

To be confident without power was foolish. Lin Lei naturally didn't think that Tullius was a fool.

The answer was obvious.

Seeing that Lin Lei had calmed down, a playful smile appeared on Tullius' face.

"You're very smart and powerful. The rarest thing is that you don't let hatred get to your head. I even wanted to recruit you into the army, but it's a pity that I can't."

Hatred?

Lin Lei really did not have that sort of thing. At most, he hated Tullius for all the abuse he had been subjected to, but the one who had directly executed him was not Tullius, and so there was not much hatred between them.

Lin Lei did not expect that Tullius would misunderstand this, but he was not going to bring this up himself. Thus, he turned to ask the reason why he could not join the army.

Tullius' answer was quite unexpected.

As a slave captured during the war, he was theoretically Tullius', but he was recognized as a sacrifice by the emperor during the triumphant ceremony.

The emperor of Talantum also had another authority, which was the grand priest of the gods.

As an offering, Lin Lei's rights were naturally the emperor's to determine. However, right now, he did not need to be an offering. Instead, he could become a gladiator and make a fortune. 

Titus did not want to claim ownership of Lin Lei. If word got out that he was snatching offerings from the gods, he would be seen as blaspheming them.

However, the emperor could not very well declare his own authority over Lin Lei, which resulted in a very strange situation now.

Right now, Lin Lei's ownership belonged to the emperor, but Tullius would be in possession of Lin Lei's earnings as a gladiator.

This was why Tullius had said that he was Lin Lei's creditor.

This sort of relationship almost made Lin Lei dizzy. Although he did not quite understand what was going on, he understood one thing. He did not need to call Tullius 'Master'.

All Lin Lei needed to do was hand over the money he earned as a gladiator to Tullius.

"Of course, you're a capable person. If possible, I hope that you can get out of being a gladiator.

"As a released slave, you may be restricted in Talantum, but not in the army. As long as you have the ability, you can climb as high as you want."

Tullius' words were full of temptation, like a strange uncle who was using strange candy to trick little girls.

Lin Lei was not too interested in this sort of thing. Not taking revenge was already his limit. He would only work with his enemy if there was something wrong with his brain.

However, he could not disobey Tullius in front of him, so he could only agree.

"No problem! Since you can't claim ownership of me, how can I escape from being a gladiator?"

Hearing Lin Lei agree, Tullius was very happy as well.

"The first way is to get someone to pay a large sum of money to buy you. This person's status can't be too low, or it'll be easy for people to talk about it.

"But it wasn't easy for me to be a legion commander, and I don't think anyone would offend me like this, hahaha."

Linley was cursing in his heart, 'You've almost said what's in your heart. It's obvious that you don't want anyone to buy me, right?"

After Tullius finished laughing, he continued, "The only other possibility is that you win all 100 rounds in the arena.

"As a gladiator, you might not know this, but in Talantum, a gladiator who has won 100 games will be recognized as a person blessed by the gods.

"By then, you'll naturally be able to get rid of your identity as a gladiator and live freely as a slave.

"Work hard!"

After Tullius left, Lin Lei's face instantly fell.

As a person from the 21st century, he smelled a strong air of empty promises.

Although Tullius had said that he wanted to recruit Lin Lei, in truth, he had been hoping that Lin Lei would shed his last drop of blood in the arena.

By then, Tullius, who would reap the profits, would naturally make a fortune.

All Tullius did was nothing more than paint him a bright future to stimulate Lin Lei into working hard in all upcoming gladiator fights. 

Damn it, Tullius was clearly a slave owner. How could he be so proficient in the strategies of a capitalist?

However, Lin Lei did not have any other choice or any other way out.

"Even if they're just empty promises, I'll make them real!"

Just as Lin Lei was mumbling to himself, he heard a sweet, gentle female voice coming from the door.

"What are empty promises?"

Lin Lei peeked through the gates, and what he saw was a slender, elegant figure.

Just by looking at her figure, although she was not the kind that would make people want to commit a crime for her, her unique temperament could still make people's imaginations run wild.

She had what she should have, but they were not very big. Lin Lei felt as though he could grasp them with one hand.

However, that face somewhat ruined Lin Lei's reverie.

In other words—extreme destruction.

Just after looking at the left side of her face, Lin Lei felt that this woman's looks were probably not inferior to his.

However, the right side of her face was extremely terrifying. There were many burn marks all over it, and there were obvious signs of infection. Occasionally, pus would come out.

Her slender ears perked up in the air, allowing Lin Lei to guess her identity in an instant.

"An elf?"

Hearing Lin Lei's question, the woman opposite showed a disgusted expression. "No, I'm a mixed-blood.

"You still haven't told me what empty promises mean, and you're already asking me questions?"

When Lin Lei heard this, he felt that he was a little impolite. However, since he was captured, he had never been polite.

Although the elf in front of him was not polite, Lin Lei felt that he still needed to be careful.

For a moment, he had regained some of his self-esteem as a civilized person.

"It's a little complicated to explain. I'll need some time to explain it.

"Before that, let me introduce myself."

Lin Lei placed his right fist in front of his chest and performed an orc greeting gesture.

"My name is Lin Lei. I'm a fox priest."