Chapter 11: The Terrifying EMP – Section 10

How should one describe it? If not seen with one’s own eyes, it’s hard to imagine that such emaciated humans could exist in this world. His arms and legs were barely different from thin reeds. Even more astonishing was his torso, the main structure of the human body, which was equally shockingly thin—resembling a telegraph pole from a distance.
But none of this was the most important. Black Hair noticed that even with such a thin body, his skin was covered with veins. Those thick veins writhed around his body like the roots of an old tree, pulsing with each breath, and bright red blood vessels could even be seen on the surface.
Black Hair said nothing, merely observing the other man quietly. Similarly, the other man also watched him silently. The two seemed to share some strange understanding, creating an awkward silence in what should have been a normal situation. Even the noisy pirates seemed to sense this atmosphere and fell into eerie silence.
After a long while, the other man suddenly yawned.
“Sorry, I didn’t sleep well last night. Go ahead, I’ll catch up on some sleep.”
After saying that, as if unaware of the strange looks from everyone, he lazily stretched and lay back in the corner. Soon, loud snoring could be heard. Everyone was left speechless by his absurd behavior.
“Quite interesting,” Black Hair said suddenly, smiling at the man’s strange actions. Ignoring the pirates present, he headed back to his seat. Behind him, Blood Puplets showed a puzzled expression.
“Boss, that guy seems a bit strange?”
“Mm,” Black Hair replied indifferently. “He’s a skilled fighter. At least, much better than those useless idiots here.”
“Oh? Then I’ll go find out more.” With that, Blood Puplets turned and left quickly.
At that moment, the commentator’s lewd voice rang out again from the arena.
“Ladies and gentlemen, today is the third round of the Death Arena battles. According to the schedule, it’s time for individual fights. But do you know? This world always has its surprises. Well, here comes the surprise!! I just received a joint message from the leaders of the eighteen star regions who were supposed to compete today. They’ve all requested a challenge…” The commentator paused deliberately, playing up the suspense. Only after driving the audience crazy did he smile triumphantly. He slowly took out a piece of white paper, unfurled it, and waved it around.

“This challenge is to defeat two opponents single-handedly in yesterday’s mech duel, causing countless poor kids to lose everything they had… Idiot, no—Mr. Blackhair!!!”
Whoa!!!
The audience immediately became excited. Almost everyone stood up at the same time, cheering loudly. This extremely unfair challenge awakened the wildness in each of them. It was a great fortune to see Mr. Blackhair, who made them lose money, in such a dire situation. Those blood-red eyes were like those of a pack of beasts.
Right? The challenge from the eighteen pirate leaders was equivalent to having eighteen fighters on the field at once. Even if Mr. Blackhair were a god, his fate would be sealed. It was simply magnificent, almost all the pirates decided privately. Even if Mr. Blackhair refused this challenge, they would use their collective strength to force him to accept it.
On the other hand, when the leader of the Pickpocket Pirates, Jinridang, heard this news, he almost fainted.
God, what a joke. A challenge from the eighteen pirate leaders—this had never happened in the history of death duels. And it was too unfair. It was just one fighter; what grudge could there be to resort to such extreme measures?
Poor Jinridang naturally didn’t know that among the pirate spectators killed by Mr. Blackhair yesterday, there was an extraordinary person. He was the biological son of one of the eighteen pirate leaders. Seeing his son killed in such a cruel manner, that leader could certainly not stand by. Filled with anger, he contacted several other leaders that very night to arrange this fatal confrontation for today. Moreover, the Pickpocket Pirates gang also became the target of that leader’s revenge. Even if Mr. Blackhair died in the duel today, he planned to ally with other leaders to suppress Jinridang in future profit-sharing.
This was just the beginning.
“Whose idea was this!?” On the podium, upon hearing the commentator’s sudden announcement, the chairman’s expression also changed instantly. He snapped at his secretary beside him.
“It… it was Vice Chairman. The eighteen leaders met with him yesterday and spent half the night discussing it before making the decision. He said it wasn’t worth disturbing you over a gladiator’s matter, so I didn’t report it to you,” the secretary replied cautiously. Clearly, he hadn’t expected the chairman to explode like that either.

“Bullshit!! Is this really considered a minor matter? Is your head filled with water? A joint challenge by the eighteen leaders—something that’s never happened in the history of death gladiations! They claim it’s a challenge against some mere gladiator, but it’s actually a demonstration to me!! They want me to see the power of their united force!!” The chairman’s face turned ashen, and his voice boomed like thunder. If he weren’t in the private booth on the podium, everyone would have heard it clearly.

Scared stiff by his scolding, the secretary was at a loss. But there was nothing he could do. Since it had already been announced, he had to pretend to support it, whether the chairman agreed or not. After all, the pirate alliance of thirty star systems claimed to be united as one, but they still had various factions. Before things really escalated, everyone had to accommodate each other.

It was a pity he still planned to recruit this black-haired man—now, it seemed nothing was possible anymore. The chairman sighed inwardly, his expression slightly improving.

At that moment, the black-haired man and the eighteen gladiators appeared in the arena.

Contrary to what others expected, upon hearing the news, the black-haired man merely smiled and walked down into the arena without showing any opposition. As he walked, he took off his coat, revealing a muscular frame covered in numerous scars that resembled worms crawling across his body, making him look even more ferocious. This drew gasps from the audience.

The eighteen gladiators were all tall men, about two meters tall. Their massive builds could easily accommodate the black-haired man. They carried large weapons—swords or axes—and their fierce eyes resembled those of bears. Just by looking at them, it was clear they could easily tear apart a Bombay elephant.

Of course, that was only a Bombay elephant.

Although these men looked fierce and terrifying, the black-haired man could see at a glance that they lacked any real skill. In battle, they relied mostly on their fearless attitude and innate instincts. Their so-called training mostly focused on strength. With such men, even if there were eighty of them instead of eighteen, they would still pose no threat to him.

“Hmph.” A faint smirk appeared on his lips as the black-haired man suddenly let out a cold laugh. With a swift motion of his left hand, a pitch-black, over four meters long spear appeared in his hand in the blink of an eye. Its speed was so fast that no one in the audience could see how he did it—it seemed as though the spear had always been in his hand!

God!! Is he a magician?
Gasps filled the audience. All the pirates looked shocked, speechless as they stared at the black-haired man standing there with a gun in hand. Even those with blood-red eyes in the stands were stunned.
Come on, that’s a huge spear—far from the dagger Black Hair used before. Where on earth did he hide such a large weapon? Just by stretching out his hand, he could pull out such a spear out of thin air—does Black Hair have a subspace storage device?
Shaking his head, the blood-eyed man quickly dismissed that idea. Subspace technology was one of humanity’s most advanced achievements; not only was it extremely difficult to implement, but the devices required would fill a five-meter-square room. It was definitely not something Black Hair could carry alone. Besides, rather than using such a large storage device to hold a spear, it would be better to just carry the spear on one’s back. No one would be that stupid.
Unlike the audience, the eighteen gladiators in the arena were stunned by Black Hair’s actions before bursting into laughter.
“Hey, is he some kind of juggler? He pulled out a toothpick just by reaching in. Thinking he’s invincible? That thing looks fake.”
“Yeah, guys! The boss said we can’t let him leave alive today. Let’s go!!”
“Go, kill him!!”
With chaotic shouts, the eighteen gladiators charged like enraged bulls. With each heavy step, dust rose into the air. Just eighteen men, yet they gave the impression of an entire army. The fierce aura forged through countless battles could even be felt by the spectators outside, causing the timid ones to turn pale with fear.
Unfortunately, Black Hair, their opponent, showed no signs of nervousness. As if the fierce gladiators charging at him didn’t exist, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and held it between his lips. Then he leaned forward slightly, extending his left hand with the gun behind him, his eyes narrowing slightly.
In his eyes, though the eighteen gladiators looked fierce, they were full of flaws. Without much thought, Black Hair could come up with hundreds of ways to kill them. But since this was an arena, let’s make the fight a bit more artistic.

With a light sneer, the left hand holding the gun tightened sharply. With a slight push off the toes, he instantly shifted from a standing position to a charging state. His speed was so great that even after advancing nearly five meters, his shadow remained where he had been standing.
“Bang!!!”
A sudden loud explosion!! The figure charging forward blurred instantly, followed by a screeching sound in the air. Countless dark gun shadows erupted from behind him like a storm, instantly enveloping him. Before the opponents could react, these gun shadows rose into the air, bearing an unstoppable force, pressing down on them!!
“Hah!! Rainstorm Pear Blossom Guns!! Scatter!!!”
What!? The three fighters at the forefront widened their eyes in shock; before fear could appear on their faces, the sharp gun shadows instantly devoured them. In an instant, countless fierce and terrifying forces struck their massive bodies from all directions.
“Ding ding ding ding…” A series of metallic collision sounds rang out, as dense as machine gun fire. Under everyone’s gaze, the huge axes the three fighters tried to use for defense were repeatedly pierced by the gun tips, preventing them from moving even an inch. Blood splattered all over their massive bodies, turning them into bloody figures. Soon after, the gun shadows surged, and with a crack, the three huge axes shattered into pieces!!
“No!! This can’t be!!”
The fighters’ eyes were wide with rage as they shouted loudly, but the merciless gun rain swallowed their massive bodies, accompanied by continuous hissing sounds. Red blood arrows flew through the air. As the gun shadows in the black-haired man’s hand retracted, three naked figures covered in blood holes appeared before everyone’s eyes.
“God!! He’s a demon!!”
The audience erupted in chaos. All the pirates cried out in shock, unable to speak anymore at the sight of those three bloody figures.
Were those still the once-proud fighters? Now, their skin had been stripped away by the gun shadows, revealing intricate muscles and blood vessels beneath. Countless egg-sized blood holes ran through their bodies, with blood gushing out like a fountain. Due to the extreme pain, their expressions were terrifying, like ghosts just crawled out of hell.
“Bang!!” The three blood-red figures collapsed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust. After convulsing a few times, they stopped moving forever.
“Demon! Demon!!!”

Not only the audience but also the other gladiators were terrified by Black Hair’s terrifying tactics. Their eyes widened, fear evident on their faces, and their forward steps slowed down unconsciously.
But on the contrary, Black Hair wasn’t willing to wait. He had just exerted himself and his blood was surging with energy—how could he allow those gladiators to delay even for a moment? The strong scent of blood in the air stimulated his nostrils, and a sense of excitement surged within him. The huge scar on his temple twitched slightly, giving him a ferocious expression.
“Kill… kill…” murmuring, Black Hair’s figure flashed…
The spear appeared again!!!