Chapter 403: Chapter 403: Disturbance in the Waiting Area

Nina Jacobs quickly skimmed the rules.

They seemed consistent with the contents of Jared Crawford’s work records.

"Welcome to the world of the free and the bold."

Harlan stood at the entrance not far away, welcoming them with open arms.

If it weren’t for his blood-stained clothes and the burly men with Wolf Fang Clubs at their waists standing just inside the door, Harlan’s smile would have seemed as genuine as an old friend’s welcome.

"Shall I take you two to Team 1’s territory first?

Wandering into the wrong territory around here will get you a beating, you know."

Harlan made an elegant gesture of invitation, opening a door splattered with layers of blood for them.

"Is your Team 1 short on people?"

Nina Jacobs asked. She had originally planned to find Tobin first, but now she couldn’t seem to get away.

’Does this Harlan have nothing better to do?’

"We’re not short on people, but we are short on people with guts," Harlan said, walking casually ahead of them. "You two don’t seem to be afraid of anything, and you don’t look worried, either."

"When you’ve seen enough out there, you stop being afraid."

Nina Jacobs assumed he was talking about the severed arm.

"No one else dares to speak to me like that."

Harlan stopped and turned his head, looking at them with great interest.

Ever since passing through that door, Nina Jacobs had been assaulted by all sorts of smells.

The stench of blood, rot, smoke, and something sour...

The corridor was lined with stone walls, but it was lively on the other side, with a din of voices echoing from beyond.

Nina Jacobs looked back at Harlan, her eyes filled with confusion. "Then how are we supposed to speak to you?"

But he just laughed.

"I just remembered, it should be about time for the first fighting match of the day to begin.

And I believe a member of our Team 1 is in the second match,"

Harlan said.

’The fighting matches have started?’

’It seems the noise behind the stone walls is most likely from the matches.’

Nina Jacobs never expected to see a familiar figure in the arena.

Tobin.

Unlike before, Tobin now had a face full of stubble and a completely dejected expression.

A closer look revealed his body was covered in layers of scars.

The match hadn’t even started, yet many people were already shouting excitedly:

"Chuck, kill him!"

"Yeah! Kill him so we can win the biggest prize!"

"Don’t worry, Chuck never fails. That blockhead is a dead man."

Nina Jacobs frowned.

’Has Tobin completely given up on himself?’

Nina Jacobs glanced at the time displayed on a large screen nearby. There were still ten minutes until the match began.

The rules at the entrance had stated that the waiting area would be off-limits once a match started.

That meant she could go down there now.

A crowd had already gathered around the chain-link fence of the waiting area.

Tobin listened to the crowd’s jeers in silence until he heard a familiar voice.

His eyes flew open, and for a moment, he thought he was seeing things.

He was actually seeing Nina Jacobs here.

Just then, Nina Jacobs was being surrounded by several men with ill intentions.

"Get lost,"

Nina Jacobs said bluntly.

"Well now, a pretty new face, and from Team 1, no less.

Don’t tell me this blockhead is your boyfriend?

Why don’t you come have some fun with me?"

One of the men reached for Nina Jacobs.

But the next second, the tall man behind Nina Jacobs lifted him high into the air. The sound of bones snapping was followed by a scream as the man was thrown violently back into his group.

Nina Jacobs walked over to Tobin. "Win this match, and I’ll find a way to get you out of here."

"Why did you come here?"

’Could it be because of me?’

Tobin was overcome with guilt. He had already given up on life.

"I know Isabella Ramsey, too."

Nina Jacobs’s words left him utterly shocked.

"She may just be an ordinary person, but she never gave up.

And she saved your life once. Do you want that to have been for nothing?"

As they spoke, Nina Jacobs noticed that the men, furious and humiliated, were about to charge at them.

Wayne Warner was about to step in, but Nina Jacobs stopped him.

’Heh, so they did have an ulterior motive for coming here.

But she’s severely underestimating this place.’

From a viewing stand on the second floor, Harlan watched the two of them causing a commotion below.

’I wonder how they’ll handle this.’

"They dared to lay a hand on someone from our Team 3! That’s a direct provocation!

I don’t care if it’s a man or a woman, everyone, get ’em!"

The atmosphere in the fighting arena was already thick with conflict and slaughter. It only took one person’s call for everyone else to rush forward in response.

Some brandished iron axes, while others conjured deadly Superpowers.

But their attacks were all blocked by a transparent sand shield.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A man with a blood-stained axe hacked relentlessly at the sand shield, but not a single crack appeared.

The three people inside the sand shield were unaffected. Nina Jacobs took the opportunity to briefly tell Tobin about Zoraida.

Tobin lowered his head in regret.

"I was so blinded by anger back then... I didn’t even think about Zoraida..."

"Zoraida is a smart kid. She’s still waiting for her sister to come back. Even she hasn’t given up, so what do you think you’re doing?"

Nina Jacobs could hardly imagine how a child had managed to survive for so long in a place like this.

"I understand. I’ll win."

Tobin clenched his fists.

Nina Jacobs was right. Isabella Ramsey had saved him, and together they had struggled to survive for over thirty days in an abandoned, zombie-infested residential complex.

He couldn’t just throw his life away.

"I believe in you."

Nina Jacobs finally felt relieved.

A bell rang. It must have been the warning bell for the match.

"I have to go up,"

Tobin said.

As an Earth Element Superpower User, he had learned quite a few moves and combat strategies from Nina Jacobs on their journey over the past few days.

Even against a vicious opponent, he wouldn’t necessarily lose.

Meanwhile, the crowd outside had launched several rounds of attacks, but the sand shield remained completely motionless.

To their great humiliation, the people inside the shield had been casually chatting the entire time.

"She dropped the shield! Everyone, get them!"

Seeing Nina Jacobs and Wayne Warner about to leave, a man in a tank top was the first to act, conjuring a Wood Element Vine.

SHIIING!

The dismantled sand shield didn’t vanish. Instead, it reformed into several sharp spikes.

A long Diamond Sand Spike shot forward, tearing through the vines and piercing the man’s body with unstoppable force.

For a moment, the entire area fell silent.

No one else dared to move, because several more spikes were now hovering in mid-air.

They seemed to be awaiting their master’s command.

With a glance at the now-lifeless man in the tank top, Nina Jacobs recalled the Diamond Sand Spikes and walked straight out of the waiting area.

Harlan’s expression turned to one of surprise.

"Well, well, I didn’t expect that.

Turns out she’s an exceptional Earth Element Superpower User. I knew I wasn’t wrong about her."

"Looks like your Team 1 has picked up two formidable new members."

A smiling, middle-aged man with glasses standing nearby commented.

"What? Does your Team 4 want to try and poach them?"

Harlan raised an eyebrow, pointedly brandishing the scalpel in his hand.

Nina Jacobs observed her surroundings as she walked.

Just then, she felt an intense gaze on her.

She glanced back the way she came and was surprised to see Ms. Carter from the registration desk watching her.

Ms. Carter gave her a nod before turning and walking away.

"Not bad. That little trick of yours just now certainly caught a lot of people’s attention."

Harlan said teasingly as the two of them approached.

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