A 52-inch LCD television hung on the wall of the lounge, broadcasting a live match on Arena No. 3. A porcupine and a wild boar were rolling together in a fierce battle, while a commentator—who seemed to be hired straight from some television shopping network—was pounding the table and knocking over chairs, delivering an even more exhilarating commentary than the fight itself. As the match reached its climax, the audience in the arena was fired up as well.
Xu Mo was also witnessing, for the first time, a beast battle composed entirely of shard creatures. He found it quite novel and entertaining. With no acquaintances around to chat with, he requested a complimentary cup of hot coffee for contestants from the staff. Holding the cup in his hand, he sat down and leisurely watched the match as he sipped.
"Um... excuse me... should I call you brother, sister, or uncle, auntie?"
As the wild boar on the screen used its tusks to fling the porcupine out of the ring, a timid and gentle voice suddenly sounded beside Xu Mo. He instinctively turned toward the voice and saw an ordinary member wearing a black cloak with the number 0555. The girl's fair hands were nervously twisting the hem of her cloak, and she appeared visibly uneasy.
Xu Mo couldn't immediately discern her intentions. He shook his head indifferently and said, "No need for any titles. Do you need something?"
"Ah... Hello, brother!" The girl flusteredly pulled over another member with the number 0554 and introduced him to Xu Mo. "My name is Han Han, and this is my boyfriend, Wang Zihao. We just wanted to ask... Are you one of the contestants in Group C of this beast battle tournament?"
Xu Mo glanced at the girl, who sounded like a junior high school student, and replied coolly, "Why do you ask? Also, you actually revealed your real names? Aren't you afraid of causing trouble for yourselves in the real world?"
"Ah~! These are just the names of the main characters from a novel I write for fun! Not our real names. I just feel that addressing each other by numbers here is too impersonal..."
"But that's the essence of the ability user world. It's hard for people to trust each other and get along." Xu Mo sighed, feeling a bit melancholic, then asked, "Why are you suddenly asking me this?"
The quiet Wang Zihao beside Han Han suddenly waved his hand, releasing a blue light. A golden Labrador the size of a calf appeared at his side as he stroked it gently. "This is our shard creature, 'Silver Light.' While its combat ability is average, it has a unique skill called 'Danger Sense.' It can detect any intelligent shard creature stronger than itself, whether visible or not. Based on its reaction, we can even gauge the creature's strength. Just now, when 'Silver Light' got close to you, it was so terrified it could barely move. This is the first time we've seen such a strong reaction from it. So... we weren't trying to pry, we just wanted to see if 'Silver Light' still had a chance to qualify."
"So that's why..." Xu Mo waved dismissively, signaling for them to relax. "I'm only participating in a private bet with someone. I'm not an official contestant in the beast battle tournament."
Hearing that he wasn't a contestant, Han Han and Wang Zihao visibly relaxed. After politely thanking him, they were about to leave when Xu Mo suddenly stopped them. "Wait a second. I have a question for you."
"Ah~! Sure, brother, go ahead." Like an obedient little girl, Han Han immediately stopped and sat down across from Xu Mo.
So obedient? It's a miracle that someone with her personality has survived in this dangerous world of ability users...
Her unconditional cooperation made Xu Mo feel a bit awkward, so he softened his tone as much as possible and asked, "How long have you two been in the Alliance? And how long have you been participating in beast battles?"
"We may be the youngest, but we're actually among the earliest members of the Alliance! We've been in beast battles for over a month now. But since 'Silver Light' isn't very strong, we've only been competing in low-tier matches with small rewards..." Perhaps sensing the disparity in strength, Han Han spoke without reservation.
"So you must know quite a bit about the beast arena's creatures and their owners?"
Han Han instinctively bit her finger and replied, "Well, I can't say much about those who are just playing for fun, but as for the top 50 ranked beasts and their owners, we have a general understanding... Are you looking into someone in particular?"
Xu Mo nodded. "The leader of Blood Skull, the one known as 'Ripping King Kong'—do you know anything about him?"
The moment he said that, Han Han visibly trembled. She anxiously looked around to ensure no one was eavesdropping before whispering, "Brother, is Ripping King Kong your opponent in the bet? Then you'd better be careful! He's extremely devious. He often uses bets to half-forcefully take good things from newcomers. Worse yet, he owns one of the top three ranked beasts in the arena. Many newcomers have suffered at his hands."
Top three in the rankings? No wonder Ripping King Kong dared to wager two Level-2 shards—this was his trump card.
"Have you seen his beast? How strong is it? It's not a Level-2 creature, is it?" Since he had an experienced beast arena insider in front of him, Xu Mo naturally wouldn't miss the chance to gather intel. The more he knew about his opponent, the greater his chances of victory.
Han Han quickly shook her head. "No way! As far as I know, only the top-ranked 'Bone General' is a Level-2 creature. No other Level-2 creatures have appeared yet... Ripping King Kong's beast is called 'Bladed Mantis.' It's been strengthened to the peak of a Level-1 creature. It's a three-meter-long golden mantis, a pure melee combat creature with well-balanced attack, defense, and speed. It can even use its wings for short bursts of flight up to ten seconds. Essentially, it has no obvious weaknesses. Its special skill is the 'Blade Storm,' which instantly slashes twelve times in a row. Any opponent caught in its range is almost guaranteed to be shredded. In close combat, it's practically invincible."
Shard creature battles are full of uncertainties, especially due to each creature's unique special abilities. But once these abilities are known in advance, even the strongest opponents lose part of their edge. With this knowledge, plus the overwhelming strength of his own Level-2 beast, Tyrant Queen, Xu Mo now saw no suspense in the upcoming match.
Looks like Ripping King Kong is about to experience what it means to "lose both the bride and the army" today...
Feeling pleased, Xu Mo pulled out a green shard, originally intended for crafting bullet magazines, and tossed it to Han Han with a smile. "Thanks for the information. Consider this a token of appreciation."
"Ah~! Thank you, brother! This is too much, though... The things I told you are common knowledge anyone could have shared..."
Han Han was overwhelmed with gratitude. Though she and Wang Zihao were among the most senior members of the Alliance, they barely had any Apocalypse shards. They had been scraping by in the beast arena just to earn some fruit coins for pocket money. While they occasionally received small tips for selling information, Xu Mo's generosity—equivalent to nearly a hundred fruit coins—was rare.
After two more intense beast battles concluded, a staff member finally approached Xu Mo with the notification for his upcoming match.