Infinite flow, but I submit myself

Xiu Wei Yi subconsciously avoided Tang Mo Bai’s gaze. “No, I… still need to pick more opponents for the next round of the gladiator fights. Even though I have the intel from you guys, it seems the attention I’ve attracted isn’t that high. I need another match.”

Tang Mo Bai didn’t stop him.

The two left, under the gaze of the entire cafeteria. Tang Mo Bai awkwardly finished the slime meal in front of him and then rushed to the bathroom, took off his pants, and pulled a packet of powder from his clothes pocket to dump it into his mouth.

Honestly, the taste was hard to compliment. If he hadn’t gone through survival training in the wilderness in the past two weeks, eating insects, frogs, and birds raw, he would’ve likely thrown up right now. The powder was too pungent and harsh, leaving a bitter, sour taste, and his tongue felt numb after swallowing it.

Neither Xiu Wei Yi nor Yan Wuzhen managed to finish it. Xiu Wei Yi was expected, but Yan Wuzhen’s reaction was quite interesting.

The expert team outside the screen made a note in Yan Wuzhen’s database.

After that, Tang Mo Bai participated in two more gladiator fights, all opponents arranged by Yan Wuzhen.

To be honest, he had started to admire Yan Wuzhen’s methods and connections. Under the resurrection match rules, being used as a stepping stone for someone else could mean direct death. Yet, even knowing this, the other party still agreed. This meant that either Yan Wuzhen had promised them immense benefits that could make them betray someone, or he had grasped a deadly weakness.

In either case, it was a significant move. One could imagine that he had even put his life savings on the line—there was no way he would allow anyone else to benefit from it.

This suggested that the qualification test itself had issues, either being too long or with a very low success rate.

The more Tang Mo Bai understood the crisis he might face three days later, the calmer he became. After completing the three gladiator fights, aside from the money spent on healing, oil lamps, and food, he still had 80 soul coins left. If he kept going at this pace, he would meet the minimum requirement of 100 coins by tomorrow.

As the few newcomers who hadn’t earned 5 soul coins lamented, night fell as expected.

Tang Mo Bai returned to his shabby room. Although it was dilapidated, it was still one of the few free dwellings in this place. While Deville hadn’t returned yet, he quickly left encrypted information on the ground to update the experts off-screen with his unfinished plans.

Later, Deville came back.

The information on the ground had already been cleaned up. When Tang Mo Bai saw his figure, for some reason, he subconsciously let out a sigh of relief and smiled at him. “It’s nice to see a familiar face in this place.”

The rooms around them had emptied out, and the place was eerily quiet at night.

Deville, as usual, didn’t speak, and Tang Mo Bai didn’t mind. Or rather, he had figured out that he was in a reclusive mental state, which made him feel more at ease.

In this hellish place, it was rather the crazy people who gave a sense of security.

With nothing to do, he picked through the events of the day, using them as conversation material. Of course, it was a monologue—Deville didn’t reply. However, when Tang Mo Bai looked toward him, he noticed that his gaze seemed to be following his direction, as if listening quietly.

After Tang Mo Bai finished discussing everything he could think of, he murmured, “Maybe I’ll only live for three more days… Hmm, but there’s no need to be so pessimistic? Anyway, I think ‘they’ will find a way to get me out. Sigh, I want to go back and see them…”

Even though the livestream had already been shut off, Tang Mo Bai still subconsciously referred to the country as “they.”

He really wanted to go back to modern society…

At that moment, he suddenly noticed that Deville had taken a moldy piece of bread out of his pocket. By now, having seen the cafeteria’s offerings, Tang Mo Bai knew that this moldy bread was actually one of the normal food items here—well, it could even be considered somewhat of a luxury, at least compared to the slime meals.

He thought about how he had once tried to stop Deville from eating it. Considering its price, it wasn’t surprising that someone would attack over it…

Lost in thought, his gaze involuntarily focused on the piece of bread. When he snapped back to reality, he found Deville walking toward him.

Deville had a strong, imposing presence. He couldn’t help but recall seeing him fight in the gladiator ring earlier, and his nerves tensed up.

Then, half a piece of moldy bread was shoved into his hand.

Tang Mo Bai: ?

“Is this… for me?” He hesitated.

Deville nodded.

Hmm, he hadn’t gotten this treatment before.

But he still accepted it happily. After all, there was no guarantee he’d make it to the third day—so why be so polite?

“Thanks, bro!”

Ironically, the first act of kindness he had received since arriving here came from someone who might be mentally unstable.

However, he had already eaten enough for the evening. After a moment of hesitation, he put the bread in his pocket to save for breakfast the next day. At least he wouldn’t have to eat the slime meal again.

As usual, the ghostly figure appeared at night, but this time, Tang Mo Bai was prepared. He calmly lit the oil lamp.

The oil lamp he exchanged from the supply shop was much brighter and more stable than the one from last night, and it had enough oil to last through the night. He felt relieved. After all, the one from last night had likely been a cheap, beginner version. If they had to rely on that every night, they might as well give up on the gladiator fights—everyone would be too exhausted.

Even the finest weapons required proper maintenance.

However, the gladiator arena wouldn’t let them exploit such loopholes. The oil lamp’s light only covered an area that was just enough for one person to be comfortable. Two people… well, they had to be cautious.

“Huh?” Tang Mo Bai blinked and stared at Deville, who hadn’t shown any sign of leaving. After a long pause, he hesitantly asked, “Where’s your oil lamp?”

Deville looked at the oil lamp in Tang Mo Bai’s hand, then opened his arms. Though he didn’t speak, his body language said it all.

“No way!”

Deville tilted his head.

“Last night was a special case, and you don’t lack soul coins…” Tang Mo Bai stammered. Wait, two grown men hugging… is that really comfortable? And how could he not exchange for an oil lamp? It was a necessity!

But wait, didn’t Deville not bring an oil lamp back last night? That oil lamp was provided to the new recruits by 009…

Tang Mo Bai hesitated, but the ghostly figure didn’t. The wind began howling around them, and Deville simply stood there, gazing at him. He stood outside the range of the oil lamp’s light, his eyes clear and innocent like a child.

This was really creepy!

Tang Mo Bai cursed inwardly. In the end, thinking about the piece of bread, he reluctantly held the oil lamp with one hand and pulled Deville into his arms with the other. “Couldn’t you come over on your own?”

In the end, they resumed the position from last night, with Deville sitting on a pile of straw, and Tang Mo Bai curled up in his embrace.

Perhaps even Deville hadn’t realized that they had another option—back-to-back. The oil lamp’s light range was much wider than last night’s, so two adults could manage sitting back-to-back. But they instinctively chose to embrace.

Maybe last night’s experience affected not just Deville, but perhaps after the brutal day, only this tight posture could draw some trust in humanity.

Forget it, forget it. For that half piece of bread, he told himself. He was still getting the better deal. It was just a hug, after all. Think of it as a large mattress!

To be honest, Deville had a lot of muscles, and when he relaxed, his chest muscles were soft and just perfect as a pillow. At first, Tang Mo Bai felt a little awkward, but once he thought about how the pillow itself didn’t mind, why should he?

Sleep! He could sleep! Just treat him like a human mattress!

Thinking like that, he felt a lot more at ease. He relaxed, and the exhaustion from the three gladiator matches during the day hit him like a wave. He thought he might have trouble sleeping while hugging a stranger, but in fact, he was overthinking.

He slept soundly, all the way until the first light of dawn.

He had a peaceful sleep, but someone else turned and tossed restlessly. Xiu Wei Yi, in a room a few doors away, stared at the dried bloodstains inside the room, anxiously biting his thumb nail, his mind filled with Yan Wuzhen’s words.

After a long time, he gripped the short knife tightly in his hand, as if holding onto the only hope he could.

When Tang Mo Bai woke up, Deville had already disappeared. He probably left earlier. Tang Mo Bai tidied himself up, carefully re-set the traps he could recycle, stuffed the small firearm into his sleeve pocket, and got ready for another day of gladiator battles.

However, today Yan Wuzhen had only arranged one opponent for him. He was both surprised and relieved. If the next three days were filled with matches, he’d start questioning life—if Yan Wuzhen could control so many gladiators, why not just become the underground emperor of this place?

After winning the rigged match as usual, he noticed that the number of viewers in the livestream had multiplied several times since the beginning. Without Yan Wuzhen saying it, he knew it was the effect of those gladiator matches. It seemed that he had truly gained fame.

Currently, he had 95 soul coins, only 5 short of unlocking the qualification test, which would give him a chance to find out what this test actually involved.

At that moment, an unexpected figure appeared in front of him.

“…Xiu Wei Yi?”

Tang Mo Bai reflexively raised his hand in greeting. “How’s it going over there?”

“Not bad, though I haven’t earned the coins for tonight yet.”

“Oh, I see. Then you…” Tang Mo Bai’s words were cut short as he noticed the gladiator challenge notification popping up in front of him.

Within three days, each newcomer has the right to accept a gladiator challenge invitation without refusal.

And Xiu Wei Yi’s choice was… a death match.

Why?

Standing in the gladiator arena, despite receiving prior warnings, Tang Mo Bai still couldn’t understand. Though his relationship with Xiu Wei Yi wasn’t particularly close—just two herbivores sticking together, running faster than the other when needed—it wasn’t bad enough for him to choose this.

He wasn’t the type to keep all his doubts to himself, so he bluntly asked, “I haven’t offended you, have I?”

“No,” Xiu Wei Yi answered honestly, “Not only that, but you’ve helped me a lot here. If it weren’t for you, I probably would’ve been one of the eliminated ones on the first day.”

“Then why…” Tang Mo Bai narrowed his eyes suddenly. “Did Yan Wuzhen promise you something? But that doesn’t make sense. He wouldn’t cause trouble for me.”

Xiu Wei Yi was the only newcomer who knew about their contract, so naturally, he couldn’t reveal the truth. But it was clear there was nothing preventing him from challenging Tang Mo Bai. However, if he did, it would ruin the persona Yan Wuzhen had built for Tang Mo Bai, and the heat would drop, which would certainly go against the terms Yan Wuzhen had signed.

Unless… the heat hadn’t dropped.

Tang Mo Bai finally realized something was wrong. He looked up at the sky above the arena and saw that the barrage of comments was almost taking over the sky.

From the sheer number of comments, the heat couldn’t have decreased. In fact, it had even doubled compared to the last match between Tang Mo Bai and the old man.

“This is odd,” Xiu Wei Yi noticed the confusion in Tang Mo Bai’s eyes and gave a self-mocking smile. “Betting heats up the livestream, but aside from that, the resurrection match is like a reality show that satisfies the cruel desires of other demons. What’s the most popular thing in reality shows?”

“Isn’t it drama, betrayal, and upsets?”

[Ah, the usual backstabbing, but I love it!]

[‘Dark horse’ vs cannon fodder, hahaha, if Xiu Wei Yi wins, it’ll be a huge upset!]

[Gamblers just want…]

[Hahaha, I knew this kid was a traitor. My judgment was spot on!]

The layers of barrage seemed to confirm Xiu Wei Yi’s words. Tang Mo Bai stopped looking at the sky full of comments and focused directly on Xiu Wei Yi. “Then what about you? Why are you listening to him? Don’t you know the danger that comes after this?”

Gladiator battles could be said to be for profit, but a death match? Was there really a need for one of them to kill the other? Although their relationship could be described as “you die, I live” in a friendly way, Tang Mo Bai thought that their fragile friendship would only collapse when faced with a major crisis or a significant profit.

Although Tang Mo Bai did have something valuable enough to make someone take a risk, the danger was mutual. He himself was struggling with the threats from Yan Wuzhen and the other gladiators three days later. Why did Xiu Wei Yi think he could avoid it…?

Wait.

He looked deeply at Xiu Wei Yi. “Is it the original sin fate? Does your desire have something to do with me?”

“Yes,” even though the gladiator match had already begun, Xiu Wei Yi, like Tang Mo Bai, didn’t rush to fight. He calmly answered his question. “I know very well that Yan Wuzhen doesn’t have good intentions, but I’m willing to gamble on this possibility.”

“—To gamble that after I kill you, [the true self] will have a chance to grow further.”

Xiu Wei Yi assumed a fighting stance, his expression on his face a twisted mix of emotions. “I never expected that one day, my jealousy of you would become the source of my strength.”

“Tang Mo Bai, why is it you that the great demon has taken an interest in?”