Starforce Warriors

Chapter 311: Huge Upset

Li Xiaofei turned around. Standing before him was a young man around his age, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, smirking as he gave Li Xiaofei a playful wink. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“What kind of fun?” Li Xiaofei asked.

The young man gave a mischievous “DDDD”[1] look and said, “Can’t say, can’t say.”

Li Xiaofei raised an eyebrow. “And who are you?”

“The name’s Zhang Zhihong, but you can call me Zhihong... or Zhang Zhihong,” the young man said, completely straight-faced.

Li Xiaofei stared at him, speechless.

Is this guy playing word games with me?

“Is this your real face?” Li Xiaofei asked, his curiosity piqued.

“Who’d be dumb enough to use their real face in the light core virtual world? What if you do something that ticks people off? You’d get hunted down in real life!” Zhang Zhihong grinned. “So, of course, this is my real face.”

Li Xiaofei sighed.

Can we have a normal conversation, please?

“Come on, man, let’s go upstairs,” Zhang Zhihong insisted. “I promise, you’ll have the time of your life.”

Li Xiaofei hesitated for a moment but decided to follow Zhang Zhihong to see what all the fuss was about. After paying 1,000 star coins, he followed Zhang Zhihong through a passage on the right side of the hall and took an elevator up to the second floor.

“This is the thrilling show you were talking about?” Li Xiaofei asked as he glanced at the giant screen.

It wasn’t playing some adult video as he might have suspected. Instead, it was broadcasting intense combat matches, with pairs of fighters—men against men, women against women, and mixed—engaged in fierce battles.

“Of course!” Zhang Zhihong replied with a serious expression. “What did you think I meant?”

Li Xiaofei stood there, speechless.

Can I please get my 1,000 star coins back?

Zhang Zhihong patted Li Xiaofei’s shoulder and assumed a tone as if he was imparting some profound wisdom. “Brother, come on, grow up. For people who can participate in this kind of competition, the panties business is nothing in real life. These are live combat matches on the screen here, and they’ll help you understand your opponents. Now, look over here...”

He held up two fingers, waved them in front of Li Xiaofei’s face, and pointed to another large screen on the left. This screen displayed names, each followed by numbers like 1.23, 4.56, and 100.

"Those are the odds," Zhang Zhihong explained with a grin. "It's an official betting pool. It’s totally secure, legal, and above board. See that guy at the top named Ganshen Danaduo? He’s got the highest odds in this division. The odds are 100-to-1 for him, and pretty much all the experts and institutions are backing him. Almost no one bets against him."

Li Xiaofei squinted at the screen. It displayed 500 names along with their respective odds. He scanned the list carefully and noticed that his name wasn’t among them.

Curious, he asked, "Aren’t there 10,000 participants in this division? Why are there only 500 names on the betting list?"

"Oh, the other 9,500 are just fodder that’s not worth mentioning," Zhang Zhihong replied. "Who’s gonna bet on some weaklings?"

Li Xiaofei sighed, feeling a bit exasperated.

"Wait, look!" Zhang Zhihong suddenly pointed to the screen. "Ganshen Danaduo’s match is up, and his opponent is... 3392289... Tsk tsk, poor guy. The system didn’t even bother showing his name, just his number. He’s about to get destroyed by Ganshen Danaduo."

Li Xiaofei’s eyebrow twitched, suppressing the urge to explode. That was his number.

He asked, "How do I place a bet?"

Zhang Zhihong’s face lit up with excitement as he said, "Just transfer the funds to me. I’m one of the staff here, and I’m responsible for placing bets for our VIP clients. You say the word, and I’ll take care of it."

"VIP clients?"

"Yeah, anyone who makes it up to the second floor is a VIP."

"Why should I trust you?"

"We can sign a light core agreement if you want," Zhang Zhihong suggested confidently.

"Alright," Li Xiaofei swiftly transferred 10,000 star coins to Zhang Zhihong and said, "Bet on Ganshen Danaduo to lose."

"What? Brother, you're being reckless! I really think you should reconside- Wait, don’t just leave!" Zhang Zhihong called after him. "Are you sure about this?"

"Stop talking nonsense," Li Xiaofei retorted as he pressed his participant wristband. A beam of light descended from the sky, transporting him out of the preparation hall.

In the next instant, Li Xiaofei found himself in the arena. To ensure fairness, all the initial elimination rounds were held in identical arenas. This one was a majestic martial arts training ground atop a floating ancient sect, with white clouds drifting peacefully around.

The floor was as smooth as white jade, and the arena was circular, with a diameter of about a kilometer. From above, it looked like an enormous jade plate.

Across from him stood a middle-aged man who looked quite scholarly.

"I am Qiankun Danuoyi. Please, enlighten me." The man said politely, clasping his hands in a respectful salute.

Li Xiaofei stood there, confused. "Huh?"

For a moment, he thought he had been teleported to the wrong battlefield.

"You're Ganshen Danaduo?" Li Xiaofei asked, uncertain.

The middle-aged man's forehead veins bulged as he gritted his teeth. "Damn autocorrect..."

Li Xiaofei was speechless.

"Argh! You know too much!"

Perhaps it was Li Xiaofei's expression that triggered him, but the middle-aged man erupted furiously like a kindergarten kid wrongly accused by a teacher.

Boom!

He raised his fist and unleashed a powerful punch.

Ten Qi, Ten Shackles, 120 Acupoints, Eight Meridians! He was in the eighth stage of the Meridian Expanding Realm. However, Li Xiaofei didn’t even bother to move and took the punch head-on.

Boom!

The terrifying force that could flatten a small mountain struck Li Xiaofei squarely on the forehead.

Crack.

The sound of bones shattering echoed. The middle-aged man’s face twisted into an expression of disbelief.

In the next moment, his fist began to crumble, bit by bit, as though it were weathered wood. Then his entire right arm, right shoulder, and right side of his body followed.

"So... strong," the middle-aged man gasped. "What... is your name?"

Li Xiaofei hesitated for a moment before replying, "I'm Your Grandpa."

He actually insulted me?

As the middle-aged man's body dissolved into blue data streams, his face froze in an expression of pure injustice.

Sure, you're strong, but do you have to be so rude?

***

“Holy crap, how is that possible?”

Zhang Zhihong stared at the big screen in disbelief as Ganshen Danaduo's name dimmed and disappeared.

The top seed of the tournament has been taken out in his first appearance? This is a huge upset.

The entire second-floor VIP lounge and the hall below erupted in shocked gasps. If not for the fact that the odds had been carefully calculated by professional teams analyzing contestant data, Zhang Zhihong might have suspected that some unscrupulous betting house had rigged the match to fleece everyone.

“Hey, pay up.”

A hand patted his shoulder. It was Li Xiaofei, standing behind him.

Still shaken, Zhang Zhihong turned to look at him. "You’re done with your match already? Lost, huh? Don’t worry about it. It’s all for fun. From now until the finals, you can use the match portal to come here, watch games, bet, and enjoy the services...”

“Stop talking nonsense,” Li Xiaofei cut him off. “Where’s my winnings?”

Zhang Zhihong quickly pulled out his light core, calculated the amount, and transferred 999,000 star coins to Li Xiaofei. He said, “I took 1,000 as my service fee.”

Charging a service fee? What a rip-off.

Li Xiaofei thought about it but decided not to argue. He turned to leave.

"Hey, brother, I didn’t catch your name!" Zhang Zhihong called after him, running up.

“My name’s 3392289,” Li Xiaofei said before teleporting away.

Zhang Zhihong scratched his head.

"That name sounds familiar... Wait... Holy crap, the guy who played dumb and beat Ganshen Danaduo was him?!"

His eyes lit up as if he had just uncovered something monumental.

1. It refers to the Chinese words 懂得都懂 which means “If you know you know” ☜