Radiant Era - Chapter 52

Chapter 52 Gambling  

The Black Forest of the Dark Spirit Continent was the hardest one to reach among the forests of the world, and the mere mention of its name struck terror into people’s hearts. Dark Spirit Continent was the nest of dark elves and evil spirits, the centre of magical beasts, a territory ruled by demons. The Golden-eyed Green Boa was the most distinguished predator in the Black Forest.

The Golden-eyed Green Boa wasn’t actually the strongest magical beast in the Black Forest, but it was indeed the most notorious. Its enormous body, sinister appearance, cruel hunting style, and terrifying eating method, compounded by the visceral fear of cold blooded reptiles that humans felt, created the terrifying reputation of the Golden-eyed Green Boa.

On the other hand, the Ice-armored Polar Bear of Odin Ice Origin was also a magical beast with a huge reputation. Magical beasts with sturdy bodies like theirs which were several times bigger than common black bears were the favourite battle companions of those beastmen and berserkers of the five Dalian Islands during the century of the Land Island War. An adult Ice-armored Polar Bear had the strength of at least a peak Earth Knight expert. An Ice-armored Polar Bear charging madly into a group of infantrymen would undoubtedly be like a meat grinder creating a storm of flesh and blood.

What made people feel even more helpless was the fact that Ice-armored Polar Bears truly lived up to their names:  innately able to use the secret technique ‘Ice Armor’ to summon a 15-centimeter-thick layer of ice to cover the surface of their bodies like armor. The defensive capability of this armor was extremely astonishing, so other than using special heavy weapons or magical weapons, no other means were effective in breaking it.

Golden Rose Bar truly deserved to be called the biggest gold-melting den in Dunerk. That Jin could bring out two such magical beasts for animal-fight gambling proved its extravagant business style.

The so-called lowest acceptable bet of five hundred gold coins was merely the base amount. One could bet at least five hundred gold coins, but who among the young masters and mistresses present would bet just the base amount? To attract the attention of those charming young mistresses, several young masters would bet crazily, taking out ten times the minimum amount every time.

Jin giggled happily as he led Lin Qi and the others to an animal-fighting ring in the deeper parts of the bar.

The destination was a semi-hidden underground stadium, where the steps that served as seats could accommodate several hundred people. These seats surrounded a wrestling ring shaped like a deep well with a diameter of about one hundred meters, sufficient for two magical beasts fighting in close proximity. The seats were elevated at least thirty meters above the ring so that even magical beasts would find it impossible to jump to the audience.

Furthermore, with the surface of the surrounding walls, pillars, and ground shining brightly because of a bizarre magical formation engraved with crystal dust and gems using powerful magic, it was impossible for even flying magical beasts to escape the ring; thus watching here was absolutely safe.

The wrestling ring was currently divided into two by a black curtain. On either side of it were two enormous iron cages: one containing a more than 30-meter-long huge boa with a green mesh pattern covering its body and one containing a more than 10-meter-tall sturdy polar bear with iron needle-like fur strands.

The boa coiled its body, its cold eyes occasionally swept across the people standing above it. In contrast, the polar bear in the other cage lay lazily on its stomach as it licked its front paw. Although it would also glance at Lin Qi and the others sporadically, but most of the time, it would just lick its own paw as if the paw was way more interesting than them.

Basically, both beasts didn’t move much, but their enormous bodies, sinister appearances, plus the spirit deterrence distinctive to magical beasts were enough to make the legs of the pampered young mistresses tremble. Although they were scared to death, they just covered their faces with handkerchiefs or small fans and laughed with artificial tenderness, making a show of not minding the two beasts.

Two adult magical beasts! Jin rubbed his hands in excitement. “They both have strength equivalent to Earth Knight experts. The person who capture them only managed to bring them to Dunerk after expending a lot of effort, and I bought them at a sky high price.”

Chuckling softly, Jin proudly said, “Everyone also knows that serpents fear cold the most, so the Ice-armored Polar Bear has a certain advantage. Thus, the betting odds are 1:2 for the Ice-armored Polar Bear and 1:3.5 for the Golden-eyed Green Boa. You may start betting now.”

Glancing quickly at Lin Qi, Jin smiled with narrowed eyes and said, “If someone is interested in betting against Lin Qi, then Golden Rose can serve as the notary. However, according to our rule, I have to take one tenth of your total bet. But please rest assured, we are absolutely fair and just. We absolutely won’t do anything that would tarnish the reputation of the Golden Rose.”

Lin Qi calmly took out the golden note worth one hundred thousand gold coins and casually placed it on the handrail in front of him. He laughed heartily and said, “To let you have a small advantage, I bet all of this one hundred thousand gold coins on this Golden-eyed Green Boa, ! So, one hundred and fifty thousand gold coins, as long as you pay one hundred and fifty thousand gold coins, you can bet with me! Who among you… Damn it!”

A golden note worth one hundred thousand gold coins was essentially still a piece of paper. Because Lin Qi put it on the handrail, then exhaled a little too heavily while talking, he accidentally blew the golden note to flutter and land in front of the cage of the Golden-eyed Green Boa. Lin Qi cried out in alarm, fully displaying his money-dependent life essence, then leapt over the handrail.

Everyone cried out in alarm, worst of which Jin, whose complexion turned deathly pale.

The Golden Rose had never before had a guest who had accidentally died or been wounded. There was a height of no less than thirty meters between the seats and the ring, so normal people who fell down would definitely die! If Lin Qi fell to his death here, it would be hard to imagine what Lin Qi’s terrifying father would do!

Ten people simultaneously stretched half of their bodies over the handrail, looking helplessly at Lin Qi, as he clutched the fine vein lines of the magical formation on the wall and slid down like a gecko. Lin Qi rushed to the front of the cage imprisoning the Golden-eyed Green Boa while gasping for breath, and cautiously picked up the golden note.

“Damned guy! Are you tired of living, Lin Qi?” Jin shouted in anger.

Lin Qi stood in front of the cage of the Golden-eyed Green Boa. The enormous body of the boa shook restlessly, its head aimed at Lin Qi rigidly. Jin screamed loudly in fright. Approaching within a distance of even ten steps from this kind of magical beasts was already extremely dangerous.

Lin Qi quickly retreated several steps and inhaled deeply then shouted several times. A thick metal door at a corner of the stadium opened. Several Golden Rose guards hastily rushed out, escorting Lin Qi through the small door.

After a while, Lin Qi returned to the others through a secret passage. He held the golden note firmly and panted while shouting, “Ha, one hundred thousand gold coins. Look, this time, I truly took out one hundred thousand gold coins! Who wants to bet against me? Who?”

Everyone looked at the golden note in Lin Qi’s hand simultaneously.

Angel, who Lin Qi once pushed into a gutter and who couldn’t leave her house for no less than half a year after that, suddenly waved her small folding fan. She smiled gently and said, “Well, Lin Qi, I have thirty thousand gold coins here!”

To his satisfaction, Lin Qi saw the eyes of more than a dozen of young masters light up at the same time.