Chapter 114: Thousand-eyed Anomaly

"If you think these matches are being held just to make money, then you're severely belittling the stadium director."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The director once said that he's a philosopher," Hailey explained with a pout. "There seem to be some conflicting points between being a philosopher and earning money, and I don't know why the director is into philosophy, but as your manager, I can dig up all types of information for you, including what I just told you."

Adam offered no response to this. He wasn't convinced that this young girl, who appeared to be only around 13 to 14 years old, could actually amount to anything.

However, just as Hailey predicted, no one displayed any interest to the sacrificial subject's pleas.

It seemed that the director of this place really was a "philosopher" who wasn't interested in money. No one paid any heed to what the sacrificial subject was saying, and no one cared about the ransom that he was offering.

All of them merely watched with excitement as the sacrificial subject was driven to a mental breakdown by the sight of the helmet that was being brought to him.

Indeed, anyone would have a mental breakdown if they knew that they were going to have to face that giant monster in the three-dimensional projection in battle.

"No!" The sacrificial subject continued to howl in despair as the worker placed the spiked helmet onto his head, and at this point, his entire body was already spasming uncontrollably from extreme fear.

However, the worker displayed no mercy as he switched on the helmet, then connected it to the same machine as the anomaly's host, sending them both into the psychic world together.

As the two of them entered the psychic world, the projected image changed drastically.

A forest environment appeared in the giant three-dimensional projection, and the Thousand-eyed Anomaly and the sacrificial subject both appeared in different corners of the forest.

In a state of fear and panic, the sacrificial subject's first reaction as soon as he arrived in the forest was to run. He didn't know where the anomaly was, so he could only pick a random direction in a blind panic and flee for his life.

Thankfully, luck was on his side, and he was fleeing in the right direction, thereby making it more difficult for the Thousand-eyed Anomaly to track him down.

After arriving in the forest, the anomaly initially searched through the surrounding area, killing all of the birds and animals that it encountered in the process, reflecting its instinctive urge to hunt and kill.

However, its initial search failed to dig up its target. Compared with hunting birds and animals, the anomaly was clearly more interested in humans.

"No one will escape... No one will survive... No one will see the light of day..." In the real world, the host of the anomaly had been deprived of the ability to speak, but in the psychic world, he was constantly mumbling to himself.

The anomaly remained still on the spot as it spread out its entire body, and as it continued to murmur to itself, all of the eyes all over its body abruptly sprang open, releasing dazzling radiance.

The light was incredibly bright, and as its eyes were opened, the entire forest was basked in a deathly white hue similar to the complexion of a deceased individual. The light was so bright and piercing that all of the spectators who were watching the three-dimensional projection could only continue watching through narrowed eyes.

"There you are... I've found you..."

The white light encompassed an enormous area, quickly spreading to the part of the forest that the sacrificial subject was running through. In the instant that the white light shone onto him, the clothes on his back were suddenly set alight, and a symbol of an eye appeared on his back.

"I can see you... I can see your heart, your liver, your spleen, your stomach, your everything..."

As the anomaly continued to murmur to itself, the marked subject suddenly fell to the ground and began throwing up violently.

Initially, all he threw up was some stomach acid and bile, but as the eye on his back began to glow with white light, he threw up everything inside himself.

Within mere moments, he had thrown up the entirety of his own being, and in the end, all that was left of him was a sheet of skin that drifted down onto the ground.

The stadium immediately erupted into a frenzy of excitement at the sight of the gruesome execution, and the cheering in the stadium was elevated by several more decibels.

"Alright, alright, don't get too excited everyone. The main course is still yet to be served! Now that both anomalies have completed their demonstrations, I'm sure you'd all agree that they're extremely powerful emotional anomalies. You can now place your bets on the anomaly that you think has the best chance of winning. In order to avoid swaying your judgment, I won't say anything else. The timer is set for 15 minutes, you can use any of the electronic devices beside you to swipe your card and place your bets!"

"Hey, who do you think is going to win?" Hailey was watching as the spectators around her frantically cast their votes, and the real-time odds were being displayed on the device in front of her. Judging from these odds, it seemed that more people were betting on the Thousand-eyed Anomaly.

This was no surprise, considering the extremely formidable and memorable display that it had just put on.

"I think the Skinned Anomaly will win," Adam replied.

"Why? I feel like the Thousand-eyed Anomaly is more powerful."

"I agree."

"Then why do you think the Skinned Anomaly will win?"

"Because the Skinned Anomaly possesses qualities that give it an innate advantage over the Thousand-eyed Anomaly." Having experienced so many battles of life and death, Adam was drawing on his experience to help him make his judgment. "If it were a bunch of Thousand-eyed Anomalies up against a bunch of Skinned Anomalies, then the former would definitely come out on top, but in a one-on-one battle, I think the Skinned Anomaly will win?"

"Are you sure?" Hailey was itching to place a bet of her own.

"Of course not. They've only made very basic demonstrations, and I don't know if they possess any other abilities," Adam replied with a shake of his head, but Hailey was still unable to suppress the urge to get in on the action.

Gambling was deeply engrained into the culture of Shadow City, and Hailey was very much immersed in this culture.

The essence of chaos was the pursuit of unpredictability. It would be no fun if she could know in advance with 100% certainty which side would win.

With that in mind, Hailey immediately bet all of her funds on the Skinned Anomaly without any hesitation.

After around 15 minutes of rowdy commotion, the betting machine stopped operating, following which the host declared the commencement of the match.

"As usual, the one who placed the highest bet gets to choose the match venue." The host picked up an electronic screen as he spoke. "The highest better is a gentleman going by the moniker of 'Chicken', and they've placed a bet of 1,888,888 on the Thousand-eyed Anomaly. The venue that he chose is the warehouse! I personally hate the warehouse, but there's no denying the fact that it's always been rated as the fairest match venue due to its simple layout."

"Your chances of winning have gone up even further now," Adam remarked.

"How are you so sure?"

"The warehouse is a closed environment, while the Thousand-eyed Anomaly excels more in long-range combat." As Adam offered Hailey his analysis, he couldn't help but recall his battle against the Golden Iron Triangle. Back then, it had been all thanks to the setting that he was able to bring down Black Archer.

His battle against the Golden Iron Triangle wasn't his most dramatic battle, but it was the one that had taught him the most lessons, including how to effectively work with allies, how to use meat shields to distract the opponent, and how to use the environment in battle, all of which were lessons that had been taught to him by those three.

"Let the match begin!" While Adam was still lost in his memories, the host announced the commencement of the battle, snapping him out of his train of thought.