“Get out of my way, don’t block me!”

“Who the hell stepped on my foot? Which idiot… Ah!”

“Ah, help—”

Heart-wrenching screams squeezed out from their throats as they only cared about fleeing for their lives, utterly disregarding the wellbeing of others. Those who ran slowly were overtaken by the people behind them; some, annoyed by the obstruction, simply shoved others aside. The pushed individuals lost their balance and fell straight to the ground, being trampled over by the crowd.

Li Po turned his head at the noise, but before he could get a clear view of the scene in front of him, the crowd surged over. The person at the forefront raised his hand, trying to push away someone obstructing his path. Li Po furrowed his brow, but before he could react, a chilling touch suddenly came from his wrist.

The next instant, a force pulled him, causing him to crash directly into someone’s arms.

His chin hit a solid chest, and Li Po inhaled sharply. He was pressed closely against Jiang Yu, feeling the live heartbeat of the person next to him.

At that moment, Jiang Yu’s expression was particularly cold. He pulled out the pistol from his waist and, while protecting Li Po from being bumped into, made his way towards a less crowded area. After avoiding the crowd, he let go, instructing succinctly, “Stand here and don’t move, wait for me to come back.”

Li Po immediately objected: “No, I’m coming with you.”

Jiang Yu looked down, his gaze cold and leaving no room for negotiation. Unintimidated, Li Po slightly raised his chin, meeting his gaze directly: “I don’t want to lie to you. Even if I promise to stay now, once you leave, I’ll sneak in anyway.”

Jiang Yu just stared at him, eventually saying nothing, and walked away. His expression was very cold, and Li Po guessed he was probably angry, the kind that was hard to appease.

They re-entered the arena.

As soon as they entered the venue, Li Po was immediately hit by a pungent smell of blood, making him dizzy. He glanced down and his pupils dilated.

Scattered all around within his line of sight were bodies, each torn apart without exception. He was standing on a blood-soaked piece of fabric, and in the distance, there lay a pool of what seemed like organ fragments.

In the center of the arena, the two fighters were nowhere to be seen. Li Po focused on the fresh blood stains on the ground, already forming a rough guess in his mind.

Suddenly, a sharp scream hit Li Po’s eardrums, and he stiffened, turning his head towards the source of the sound—it was a drooling monster.

The wolf’s neck chain had been snapped by immense force, its fur bristled up like steel spikes, giving it a terrifying appearance. Due to the contamination, its size had increased several folds, and its fangs had elongated into extremely sharp blades, effortlessly biting off the neck of the person closest to it.

Sensing the presence of living beings, it slowly turned its head, glaring menacingly at the two people at the entrance of the arena. Its fangs were dripping with blood and flesh, its eyes gleaming green as it suddenly lunged forward—

A stench hit them, and Li Po’s eyes darkened, ready to unleash his psychic power. But just as he started to release it, his wrist was abruptly grabbed, and he was forcefully pulled back, leaving him no chance to struggle.

“Don’t go forward.”

“…”

Jiang Yu’s tone was almost commanding, and Li Po choked, immediately nodding in agreement. Indeed, with Jiang Yu around, it wasn’t his turn to deal with the contaminant. Besides, in Jiang Yu’s eyes, he was nothing but a useless vase, only fit to watch the battle from behind.

Li Po pursed his lips, finally accepting this reality. He watched Jiang Yu’s back, thinking him to be a block of hard ice that couldn’t be chiseled through.

While Li Po was inwardly griping, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a shadow. The shadowy figure was sneaking a peek towards the contaminant. When it noticed Li Po’s gaze, it immediately retracted its head, scampering off towards a corner of the arena in a panic.

Something seemed off to Li Po. The expression on that man’s face wasn’t one of fear but more like guilt. What was he guilty about? Could this contaminant be related to him?

With this thought, Li Po quietly backtracked a few steps, carefully avoiding Jiang Yu’s sight, and followed the man.

•

The Beasts’ Platform in the arena.

Located directly below the central platform of the arena, the Beasts’ Platform was extremely spacious, imprisoning various hard-to-tame ferocious beasts. Dozens of expensive and ornate cages were laid out on the ground, each holding a starved wild animal. Having not been fed for a long time and all strapped with restraining chains, they had no strength to break free from their cages.

The man ran in, trembling. He briskly walked to a shelf in the corner of the Beasts’ Platform, scanning the shelf filled with syringes.

These syringes were prepared for the animals in the cages, intended to create a better show and encourage betting among the spectators. Before the beasts made their appearance, staff would inject a certain amount of these substances to make them more excited and ferocious. There were even estrus injections prepared for the animals, which some guests from the upper district loved to watch.

Among these, only one syringe was different. With sweat covering his forehead, the man took the syringe from the top left of the shelf, gripping it tightly before turning to run.

Just as he was about to reach the door, he suddenly saw an extra shadow on the ground outside. That instant, alarm bells went off in his head, and his hair stood on end.

“What are you doing here?”

A clear and pleasant voice came from the doorway, and the man watched as the shadow slowly approached, turning into a man dressed in black clothes and wearing a black hood.

As the voice fell, the man clenched the syringe in his hand, his face dramatically changing. Struggling to maintain his composure, he barked, “Who allowed you to barge in here? Get out now!”

Li Po chuckled lightly. He stepped forward, entering the Beasts’ Platform. After seeing the interior, he briefly showed surprise before his expression returned to normal: “Does the contaminant outside have something to do with you?”

His tone was light, like a feather, but it fell like a death knell in the man’s ears. His face instantly turned a ghastly shade of purple, and he stiffened, denying with a strained neck, “It has nothing to do with me, don’t talk nonsense!”

Humans and contaminants were sworn enemies. Being associated with a contaminant meant a certain death.

But he hadn’t done anything! He just switched the animal injections with an enhancer provided by a guest as requested, nothing more!

“Why are you running then?” Li Po’s expression turned cold, his gaze dropping to the man’s hand, “What are you holding in your hand? Give it to me.”

As he spoke, the man immediately retracted his left hand. His calves tensed, muscles ready to sprint, and as Li Po made no immediate move, he bit down and dashed forward!

But Li Po was faster; he moved like lightning in front of the man, lifting his leg and kicking fiercely at the man’s calf.

“Bang—”

The man’s calf couldn’t withstand such fierce force. His legs gave way, uncontrollably collapsing to the ground. Fortunately, his left hand supported him on the ground, or he would have fallen completely.

“You…”

The man looked up in shock at the figure before him, disbelief written all over his face. Although he couldn’t see the face of the person in front of him, judging by the physique, the opponent was either a beta or an omega. But how could a beta or omega have such strength?

Li Po ignored his expression. He just lifted his foot, grinding his shoe on the man’s right hand, “Give me what’s in your left hand.”

Seeing Li Po was serious, the man swallowed hard. His brain whirled, thinking of how to destroy the syringe. It was a matter of life and death; he couldn’t hand over the syringe!

He could crush the syringe with his hand, but that posed a problem—the contents would splash onto his hand. Although he didn’t know what was in the syringe, he was almost certain that the recent contaminant incident was related to this syringe. So, he dared not risk it; he feared the contents might be lethal.

The wall beside him was stark white. The man’s eyes flicked, and he quietly lifted his wrist. Just then, Li Po sharply caught the movement, pulling out a dagger, pressing its tip against the man’s neck, “If you dare smash it, I dare stab.”

“Don’t, don’t! I’ll give it to you!”

Cold sweat ran down the man’s back. His sweat-soaked clothes clung to his back, his voice trembling as if sifting chaff, his teeth clattering. Yielding to Li Po’s domineering presence, he shakily raised his right hand, handing over the syringe, “Here… for you.”

Li Po narrowed his eyes, pleased as he took the syringe from the man’s hand.

Finally, he eased the pressure on his toes. The man seized the opportunity, struggling to free himself from Li Po, crawling away on his knees. His left leg hurt terribly, and he wasn’t sure if it was broken or not, but he couldn’t even lift it, dragging himself painfully away.

“Running? We’re not done here.”

Li Po frowned unhappily, stepping forward again, stepping not on the man’s hand this time, but on the almost broken leg.

“Ah—”

A heart-rending scream came from the man lying on the ground, his face turning pale instantly. Sweat poured from his forehead, his voice trembling, “What else do you want to know? I’ll tell you, just move your foot, please…”

Satisfied, Li Po moved his foot away, his gaze unintentionally sweeping towards the doorway, but he stiffened when he saw who was standing there.

“… Sir, you’re here.”

Jiang Yu had been standing there for who knows how long. His expression was cold, his eyes frosty as he looked at Li Po and then slightly down at the man Li Po had just stepped on. The man looked pained and extremely fearful of Li Po.

Caught in the act, Li Po felt awkward, but it didn’t show on his face, only a compliant and docile look in his eyes. After a few seconds of eye contact, he voluntarily lowered his gaze, hiding the dagger behind him, even managing to smile:

“Sir, don’t look at me like that, I’m scared.”