Pretending To Be A Boss

There are many kinds of encounters in this world, each creating its own story.

Nobles and commoners, princesses and ronin, legends and grassroots, or perhaps just the bland meeting of John Doe and Jane Doe.

Akasi always cherished every encounter.

Meeting Tang Xian seemed to be the beginning of various adventures and freedom.

Meeting Tang Suoye marked the start of a mutual redemption.

And what about Number Seven?

Years later, he still didn't know why that powerful girl appeared in his life or what for.

The seventh Cage Battle.

The level of the monsters was starkly different from those he had encountered in previous fights.

Each one was a killing machine with terrifying strength, possessing power that ordinary test subjects could only dream of.

In the face of these monsters, Akasi had no advantage in speed.

But when the battle began, Akasi unexpectedly adapted well.

Despite the presence of beings far stronger than him, Akasi had fought with Number Seven a year ago and had early exposure to the pinnacle of strength in this world.

So he did not feel any surprise.

It was like he was one of the monsters. Yet, this was still the most brutal Cage battle Akasi had ever fought.

Logically, these powerful test subjects shouldn't need to participate in the Cage battles anymore.

Any of them could dominate on their own if let out.

But here, only one among them could survive. In Number Seven's words, they were all mudfish.

In this battle, Akasi brought everything he had to the limit.

Speed, strength, and even cunning.

In this trial where dozens fight chaotically and only one survives, choosing an ally early on is crucial, even though this ally will become an enemy later.

These calculations could greatly increase one's survival rate.

In the course of the year, Akasi did everything in his power to gather information on all his opponents.

But even after going to such lengths, six beings far more powerful than him still stood on the battlefield before him, on the path to Number Seven.

It was like a year before when Number Seven had easily defeated Akasi. After he struggled to eliminate half of his opponents, he was finally forced to confront the remaining ones—monsters whose strength he could not match no matter how hard he tried.

They easily trampled over Akasi.

Yet no one dared to approach Number Seven.

Because the beginning of this Cage battle was marked by Number Seven slaying two of the favorites with a single sword strike.

She was like a solitary queen, standing out even among these monsters.

She squatted in a corner, like a spectator watching from the sidelines.

The various struggles in the arena seemed unrelated to her.

As the battle reached its final stages, the monsters finally ran out of strategies and began fighting indiscriminately.

Akasi was the weakest one among them.

Despite his extraordinary speed, this also led to a terribly bad situation.

In a seven-person duel, if six were warriors with the horrific power to tear apart their foes and the last one was an agile, devious assassin,

then any reasonable combat strategy would be to deal with the assassin first.

This was an utterly hopeless situation for Akasi.

Any one of the six was stronger than him. But it wasn't that he had no chances of winning.

However, if the six attacked together, then there really was nothing he could do.

...

...

Tang Suoye was cruelly pinned under Xi He's foot, unable to move.

The serum from the Deer of Eden was indeed extremely rare, but from the beginning, Xi He's eyes had never been on Tang Suoye.

The creature under his foot was like an insignificant reptile.

Tang Suoye struggled, watching helplessly as Akasi was locked by the mire men, about to suffocate to death.

She made chirping and muttering sounds, desperately trying to say something, but the words just couldn't come out.

Akasi was about to die.

Many years ago, she had seen the dispirited look on Number Twenty's face after Number Twenty-One died.

She didn't want to become like that, her blue eyes lost much of their brightness but still flickered faintly.

Xi He noticed that the mire man's movements slowed down a bit, a tiny bit of resistance. Indeed, he saw that some force was pulling at the mire man.

He first looked at Yuan Wu, who was still caught in fear and sorrow.

The memories suddenly evoked by Xi He plunged Yuan Wu into a profound sense of guilt.

He felt no anger or joy, so other emotions were more intense.

A slight sadness could make him cry, a slight fear could make him tremble, a slight sense of guilt could make him feel ashamed.

He seemed to be overwhelmed by these emotions, forgetting what he most needed to do.

So Xi He frowned and looked at Tang Suoye.

The girl he was stepping on.

"Is it you?"

To Xi He's surprise, this faint telekinetic fluctuation was coming from a girl who should not possess the tyrant's bloodline?

Around Tang Suoye, fine particles were suspended in the air.

The suppression from Bai Shou Zang Lin was extremely powerful. Xi He found it hard to believe that this frail girl was becoming stronger because of her desire to save Akasi.

At that moment, Tang Suoye felt a strong pressure weighing down on her.

The terrifying oppression felt like the air suddenly became heavy.

Her eyes fixed on Akasi, her mouth kept opening and closing, muttering the words she could not voice.