I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate

Chapter 213: Chapter 186: The Fish Have Entered the Nest

「Evolutionary Calendar Year 1001, April 20th.」

The Six-Nation University Exchange Tournament officially began.

At Island University’s open-air stadium, the venue for this year’s tournament, there was already a sea of people.

The stands were completely full, with no seats left. Even the area in front of the large screen broadcasting the event outside the stadium was packed with people.

The spectators weren’t just students and teachers from Island University, but also many citizens of the Peninsula Country.

Although the tournament was being held in the Peninsula Country at Island University, it wasn’t just people from the six universities who were paying attention.

Countless citizens across the six nations were waiting in front of their TVs and phones for the live broadcast.

Twenty-four fighting rings had long been set up in the enormous stadium.

A pair of teachers from Island University, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, were the hosts for the tournament.

”The Six-Nation University Exchange Tournament has a history of over three hundred years. The 162nd tournament is about to begin, and it is our great honor to be your hosts...”

The two of them rambled on for a while before finally inviting the participating teams from the six universities to make their entrance.

Amidst a wave of applause, the six university banners were raised, fluttering in the wind. The six teams, from six universities in six different countries, entered the stadium from different directions.

As part of the Dongli University team, Su Ze silently followed at the rear. He came to a stop on the grass, with the other five teams standing not far from his side.

Just then, the cameras focused on the contestants, zooming in for close-ups of each one. These images would be broadcast live into millions of homes.

After the contestants had entered, the hosts invited Mr. Jin, the headmaster of Island University, to the stage to give a speech.

After a long time, Mr. Jin finished his long-winded speech and announced the official start of the tournament.

Beside the 24 rings in the center of the stadium, teams of staff sprang into action. The referees took their positions, the medical personnel were in place... Each ring was assigned one referee and one evolver skilled in healing.

Next, the contestants were called to their rings according to their drawn numbers.

Twenty-four matches would be held simultaneously, and the broadcast director would capture the most exciting moments to air live.

Su Ze stepped onto his assigned ring. His opponent was a girl from the Great Desert Kingdom. She was tall and slender, and she gave Su Ze a friendly smile. ”Please, go easy on me.”

Su Ze returned the smile. The Great Desert Kingdom and Dongli were on good terms, and he was willing to go easy on a friendly neighbor.

With a blow of the head referee’s whistle, the matches officially began.

Some matches, however, were over as soon as they started.

Take Luo Kai from Dongli University, for instance. His opponent was Yarlin, the hot favorite to win the individual competition. Without any hesitation, Luo Kai raised his hand to surrender the moment the whistle blew.

This came as a great disappointment to the many people who had been eager to witness Yarlin’s strength.

A wave of boos erupted from the stands.

But Luo Kai, without batting an eye, simply jumped off the ring and entered the loser’s bracket, awaiting the upcoming challenge round.

In the other rings, some matches also had huge disparities in strength and were decided very quickly.

These defeated contestants weren’t discouraged. They all knew they would have another chance later. Their eyes scanned the rings where fights were still ongoing, trying to identify a weakling to challenge.

The contestants who entered the loser’s bracket were all in good shape; almost no one was injured. As soon as they realized they were outmatched, they would immediately concede rather than engage in a pointless struggle.

Ten minutes passed. Most of the matches had already been decided. The fights that were still going on were mostly between two opponents of comparable strength.

Gu Yue’er, for example, was up against a powerful seed player from the Mu Country. The two were trading blows, evenly matched and locked in a tight battle.

Meanwhile, Su Ze’s fight was also still going. His opponent from the Great Desert Kingdom was of average strength, yet Su Ze seemed to be locked in a stalemate with her.

Su Ze was fishing.

On one hand, he was giving his friendly neighbor some face by not defeating her instantly. On the other hand, it was a performance for those guys from the Luofan Country.

If he appeared too strong, how would those lizard-loving bastards from Luofan Country dare to challenge him?

Pei Wuhua, Dongli University’s coach, stood below the ring watching the match. Seeing Su Ze still locked in a stalemate with the Great Desert Kingdom contestant after more than ten minutes, he couldn’t help but shake his head.

’Just as I thought,’ he mused. ’Su Ze’s powerful defense was gained by sacrificing his offensive capabilities.’

The other members of the Dongli University team who had already finished their matches were also watching Su Ze’s and Gu Yue’er’s fights.

’Su Ze’s defense is insane, but his other aspects really are mediocre...’ A similar thought surfaced in all of their minds.

The contestants from Luofan Academy, however, had scornful looks on their faces. The few among them who were in the loser’s bracket had already marked Su Ze as their target for the challenge round.

Finally, Gu Yue’er’s match concluded. In the end, her skill proved superior; she spotted an opening and defeated her opponent.

Over on Su Ze’s side, he also ”struggled” to force his opponent to the edge of the ring, barely managing to knock the girl from the Great Desert Kingdom off the platform.

’Thank goodness he won...’ His teammates all breathed a sigh of relief for Su Ze, but the hearts that had just settled were immediately filled with anxiety again.

With that level of strength, could Su Ze defend his spot in the ring?

Everyone knew you should always go for the weakest link. Based on the performance Su Ze just gave, the entire loser’s bracket would probably be fighting to challenge him.

And Su Ze would have to defeat two challengers to secure his position in the winner’s bracket and advance.

As the first round of matches ended, the 24 contestants in the winner’s bracket stood on the 24 rings, while the 24 from the loser’s bracket gathered below.

Of Dongli University’s eight contestants, only four, including Su Ze, were currently in the winner’s bracket.

”Take a twenty-minute break! Injured contestants can receive treatment. The challenge round will begin in twenty minutes!” the head referee announced.

Each contestant in the loser’s bracket had two chances to challenge someone. If they failed to enter the winner’s bracket after using both chances, they would be eliminated.

If they used their two chances to enter the winner’s bracket but were then knocked back down by someone else, they would also be eliminated.

If someone from the winner’s bracket was challenged, defeated, and sent to the loser’s bracket, they would also get two challenge chances, and they would have priority in choosing their opponent.

There was an order to the challenges. The contestants who had lasted the longest in the first round had the right to challenge first.

Since the contestants who appeared weaker in the first round would likely attract many challengers, establishing an order was necessary.

Luo Kai from Dongli University, for instance, had been the first to surrender, so he would be the last to pick his opponent.

Conversely, the girl from the Great Desert Kingdom who had lasted so long against Su Ze would be the first to pick her opponent.

The twenty-minute break passed quickly.

The challenge round began.

The girl from the Great Desert Kingdom who had lost to Su Ze chose to challenge a contestant from the Peninsula Country.

The seed player from the Mu Country who was next in line was powerful and disdained challenging Su Ze after his poor performance. Instead, he chose a reasonably strong contestant from the Ancient An Country.

Then it was the turn of a Luofan Country contestant named ”Tabu.” His strength was average for the Luofan Academy team, and he wasn’t a seed player. However, in the first round, he had faced a contestant from the Mu Country.

The Mu Country and the Luofan Country were in cahoots. The Mu Country contestant had intentionally thrown the match, allowing Tabu to last until the end.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Tabu chose Su Ze as his opponent.

Seeing Tabu leap onto the ring, Su Ze revealed a friendly smile.

’A small fish has taken the bait!’

But this little fish wasn’t his target.

’Use the small fish as bait to catch a bigger one!’

Su Ze made his decision in an instant.

As the referee announced the start, Tabu opened his mouth and spat a stream of viscous green venom at Su Ze.

’Fucking disgusting...’ Su Ze dodged with a look of revulsion and quickly closed the distance to Tabu.

He didn’t even dare use any skills, afraid he might scare away the other fish in the river.

After getting close to Tabu, Su Ze still didn’t use any skills. He simply started trading punches and kicks with him, looking like two martial arts masters sparring in a movie, evenly matched in their exchange.

Every time Tabu tried to use a skill on Su Ze, he found it was either dodged or tanked directly by Su Ze.

’This Su Ze’s offense is weak, but his defense is truly insane...’ The longer Tabu fought, the more alarmed he became. He felt that Su Ze was like a stubborn, stinking rock—a pain to fight, but also a pain to leave alone.

”That guy from Dongli University is stronger than I thought!”

Many people below the stage who hadn’t yet chosen an opponent were watching Su Ze’s and Tabu’s fight and couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

”It’s mainly his defense that’s strong, like it’s made of iron. If you’re not confident in your own damage output, it’s better not to challenge him.”

”Exactly. Without a really powerful attack skill, you’d probably just get worn down to death by him.”

”Just like this Tabu from Luofan Academy—he’s doomed to lose!”

At this, many people began to re-evaluate Su Ze’s strength. Those who had originally seen him as an easy target suddenly realized that if their own grip wasn’t strong enough, they might not be able to squeeze this persimmon after all.

While Su Ze and Tabu were slowly ”sparring,” the challenge matches in the other rings were also proceeding in an orderly fashion.

The weaker, lesser-known contestants became the primary targets for challenges.

Meanwhile, no one dared to challenge the strong ones, like Yarlin, Gu Yue’er, Li Yongguan, and the other seed players from the various universities.

But just then, when it was the turn of a Mu Country contestant from the loser’s bracket to choose an opponent, Salman, the number one seed player from Luofan Academy, suddenly gave him a meaningful look.

The Mu Country contestant froze for a moment, then seemed to understand something. He challenged Salman.

His move took everyone by surprise. Challenging Salman? Did he have a death wish?!

Su Ze, however, grew excited. ’The fish are schooling!’

He stealthily increased the frequency of his attacks, wearing Tabu down until he was exhausted. Then, catching him off guard, he sent him flying off the ring with a single body slam.

He had finally ”lucked out” and won again.

The spectators watching this fight all let out a sigh of relief. It was finally over. They weren’t tired from fighting, but they were exhausted from watching.

On the other side, Salman, who had just been challenged by the Mu Country contestant, immediately chose to surrender!

”What is Salman doing?”

”Is he throwing the match so blatantly?!”

”Look, he’s walking toward Su Ze’s ring!”

”He did it on purpose! He’s going to challenge Su Ze!”

Everyone instantly understood Salman’s intention. He had deliberately surrendered for the sole purpose of targeting Su Ze!