Volume 2: Empire Chapter 195 Absolute Power
At this time, there was only a wrestling lever left in the center of the Hercules Arena. The bracket in the middle of the lever was an alchemical device specially developed for the competition. Once it was activated, it could be firmly attached to the ground, and the entire competition prop would not be uprooted due to wrestling.
Luke and Cato the Barbarian walked into the arena together and stood at the two ends of the lever.
The referee of the competition was a barbarian, holding a red starting flag in his hand and a bone whistle in his mouth. He first checked the physical condition of the two contestants to confirm that they had not used any magic or skills, nor were they wearing any alchemical props that would affect the fairness of the competition.
After checking on Cato, the referee gave him a few words of encouragement.
It had never happened before that a human entered the finals of the Hercules Arena since its construction. Most barbarians did not want humans to take away the honor that belonged to them, let alone win.
The judge saw from experience that Cato was a very powerful barbarian, so the task of preventing the human race from advancing upward was given to him.
Competition preparation.
Luke and Cato each put one end of the lever on their shoulders. Due to their height, Luke's lever was lower, which was a natural disadvantage . But when Cato realized this unfairness, he lowered his own height without hesitation, making his end level with Luke's.
"Such a height will affect your strength," Luke reminded.
Cato said confidently: "But I will win the game in the end."
"Hahaha...if I win, I'll buy you a drink."
"good!"
At this time, the referee blew the whistle and waved the starting flag. The game began, and Luke and Cato exerted their strength at the same time.
The lever did not move.
This was the first time Luke encountered an opponent who was as strong as him, and this was after he had gone through a series of strength training. The downward pressure on his shoulders was extremely huge, and Luke had to use all his strength to keep the lever from tilting towards him.
Looking at Cato, he encountered the same situation as Luke. In order to win the game, he used all his strength right from the start, and his muscles swelled, making his body look a whole circle bigger than before.
The bustling stadium became quiet at this moment, and everyone held their breath and stared at the pointer standing in the middle of the lever.
Will the race for human strength end here?
Luke's special identity makes the audience feel more worried than watching any other game.
The stalemate lasted for about a minute, and the pointer finally moved. It shifted towards the barbarian Cato. Although Cato tried his best to turn the disadvantage around, he was too exhausted to lift the lever on his shoulder again.
Deafening cheers erupted from the stands of the stadium, and the human spectators shouted Luke's name loudly.
This human strongman not only made it to the finals in the Strongman Arena on the Holy Mountain, but also defeated a barbarian opponent in the finals.
Although the game was not over yet, the human audience believed that Luke had won.
Luke did not disappoint his supporters. He maintained his advantage and steadily raised his lever. As the offset pointer passed the red line on the Cato side, the referee waved the flag and announced the end of the game.
"Human strongman Luke won this game. Congratulations, Mr. Luke."
The atmosphere in the arena was pushed to a climax again. Although there were far fewer humans than barbarians coming to watch the game, this time the humans turned the arena into their home court.
The human nobles under the gray wolf statue were also extremely excited. The Celtic Duke was gradually relying on humans, and now a human strongman appeared. Did it mean the rise of humans in the Tedega Hills?
He only needs to win one more game to win the championship!
This is definitely a great honor for the people of Tedega Hills.
Luke did not celebrate with the audience. He walked up to Cato who was sitting on the ground and reached out to pull him up.
Cato was in a very low mood.
He was the one carrying the hopes of the tribe, but he was eliminated just after entering the finals.
If I don’t win the first prize, I won’t get the prize money. Am I going back to the tribe empty-handed?
Luke knew what Cato was worried about. He pulled Cato to the sidelines and consoled him, "You are very strong. You lost to me because you were weak. Did you miss lunch?"
As if to confirm Luke's guess , Cato's stomach growled cooperatively.
Cato replied sheepishly, "Yes, but only a piece of toasted black bread."
Luke walked to the sidelines and asked the Stone Barbarians for food. The Stone Barbarians took out the snacks they had with them, packed them into a big bag and threw it to Luke.
Luke returned to Cato with the food and they sat on the floor.
"Eat something first, I'll treat you to a drink tonight."
"Thank you, thank you, human." Cato was really hungry, and he just stuffed whatever food, whether it was pasta or meat, into his mouth.
"What are your plans if you don't win?" Luke asked Cato.
Talking about sad things, Cato stopped eating and said helplessly: "I don't know. The elders said that with my strength, I can definitely win the championship in the Holy Mountain Strongman Arena. The elders have won here many times and returned to the tribe with prize money.
I have failed the elders and the tribe, and without the prize money, I don’t know how to go back.”
"Would you like to work for me? I can pay you a salary that's more than the winning bonus?" Luke started to bribe people.
Hearing that there was more money than the winning prize , Cato immediately asked, "How much is it?"
Luke said, "The prize money for winning the Holy Mountain Strongman Contest is 100,000 Reichsmarks. I will give you 150,000 Reichsmarks."
"One hundred and fifty thousand!" Cato was shocked by the number and calculated in his mind how much food he could buy for the tribe.
"It's 150,000... and the salary is paid every month."
"ah?"
Seeing that Cato was a little overwhelmed, Luke explained, “The Holy Mountain Strongman Arena has a rule that strongmen who win the strongman competition are not allowed to participate in the competition within one year.
That is to say, even if you win every time, you can only get a prize of 100,000 yuan a year.
But if you work for me, you can get a salary of 150,000 yuan every month.
Do you understand what I mean?"
"I understand!" Cato nodded stupidly and asked again, "You really give me so much money every month? I... I don't know anything except strength, and I'm not as strong as you."
"You can learn if you don't know. I can teach you anything you want to learn. Don't worry, I won't lie to you. Since I pay you so much, it means you are worth that much money.
Think about working for me?"
"I work for you, human."
"Call me Mr. Luke."
"Yes, Mr. Luke."
Luke was very happy to have found a treasure.
Just with this brute force that can compete with himself, the Barbarian Cato has the foundation of a four-star level.
Now Cato is a seedling with great talent. As long as he is properly nurtured and watered, he will surely grow into a pillar of talent. Luke has already formulated a training plan for Cato in his mind, and the basis of the plan is the Storm Barbarian training template summarized by the players.
Kato, who had found a long-term meal ticket, was also very happy to eat and drink.
The strongman competition continues.
Soon Luke had his second wrestling match.
As long as he wins this game, he will be in the top ten and win the championship. For the human audience, Luke's victory will satisfy them. After all, at the end of the game, the remaining ones are all well-known barbarian strongmen. They have all received professional training and their strength is not comparable to that of a barbarian boy from an unknown mountain.
The human audience hoped that Luke would be lucky again and be assigned to a weaker opponent. But his luck was over, and Luke was about to face a famous barbarian strongman, whose best result in the strongman competition was second place.
The human audience seemed to know the result of the game and wailed, feeling sorry for Luke's failure to win.
However, it is a great honor for a human strongman to enter the finals and win a match.
The game begins.
The scene where people expected Luke to be defeated quickly did not happen.
The lever is stable and the pointer does not move!
The human audience was immediately shocked and excited, and the entire audience shouted "Luke" in unison.
At this time, Luke was extremely puzzled... Is this the only strength a strong man who once had the ability to compete for the championship has?
Although the pressure on my shoulders was heavy, I didn't feel like I had to give it my all.
Looking at the opponent again, the unusually strong barbarian seemed to have really used up all his strength.
It seems like I really found a treasure this time.
Luke attacked vigorously, and the pointer immediately shifted. The cheers from the audience became even louder, and some people even fainted on the spot due to excitement.
It turns out that humans can have greater power than barbarians!
Luke did not leave any suspense in the game and overwhelmed his opponent in one go.
The referee announced: "Human Hercules Luke wins."
Then came one victory after another.
The sound of the Hercules Arena spread the miracle happening in the arena to the entire holy mountain.
A human strongman is defeating his barbarian opponents one after another, moving towards the championship.
The humans who heard the news gathered outside the Hercules Arena and shouted "Luke" along with the people inside. The results of the competitions were also reported outside one by one.
Ten-person championship round.
Groups of five wrestle in turns, and the player who wins the most matches will qualify to participate in the final showdown.
This is not only a contest of absolute strength, but also a contest of physique and endurance of strength.
Luke won all four games and stood on the final decisive stage.
However, his opponent lost one game in the round-robin match and had to play a tiebreaker with a player who also won three games before he barely advanced.
The two were ready to fight for the final victory, and the state of both seemed to have determined who would win the championship.
It was already approaching evening, and the competition had been going on uninterrupted for the entire afternoon.
Except for the preliminary round, the players have some rest time. After entering the finals, it is basically one match after another. If you can defeat your opponent cleanly, you can not only save energy, but also have more rest time than other players.
Luke's games all ended quickly.
The opponent he eventually defeated had two long stalemates in the rounds, and he lost the last round. In the extra round, he faced an evenly matched opponent, which again severely depleted his physical strength.
Humanity is already celebrating the emergence of the first ever human strongman champion.
This is a day they will never forget; this is a night they will never sleep.
But… a human strongman champion is unacceptable to the barbarians.
The final battle was called off before it even started.
The barbarian nobles in the main stand suspected that the human contestant Luke cheated and used some kind of strength-enhancing technique to win the game by dishonorable means.
This time, the human nobles showed rare courage and argued with the barbarians.
Every player will be checked in every game, and it is impossible to cheat using techniques.
The barbarians believed that it was impossible for a human to possess such power and that he must have cheated using some difficult-to-detect technique.
The human argued, "If there is no discovery, then there is nothing. This is a fair competition. We cannot accuse the human of cheating just because the barbarians lost!"
The quarrel in the main stand spread to other stands, and the tension between the barbarians and humans became increasingly intense.
When the situation was becoming increasingly uncontrollable, the Celtic Duke's order was delivered to the Hercules Arena.
"To prevent any accidents, the final round of this year's strongman competition has been suspended. Ten days later, please go to the Duke's Castle to continue the competition. The Duke will personally put the gold belt on the champion."
This is an order that clearly favors the barbarians.
Ten days is enough time for the exhausted Barbarian Contestant to recover his strength. It will definitely not be as easy to defeat him then as it is now.
But the Celtic Duke had a very high prestige in the Tedega Hills. After such a biased order was announced, the humans who were originally filled with indignation immediately stopped.
After the arrival of the city militia, the crowd surrounding the Hercules Arena quickly dispersed, and the audience also left in an orderly manner.
At this time, night fell on the holy mountain.
Without electricity, there were only a few lights in the entire city.
Luke returned to Fecochik's house with the people he brought with him and Cato. Coco was both excited and angry, and said that he would draw up a ten-day training plan so that Luke could defeat the barbarian in front of the Celtic Duke.
The barbarians of the Stone Family followed behind Luke, not daring to breathe, like little brothers following their boss for a walk.
Although the final match was not held, everyone knew who was the champion today.
Barbarians have a worship of strength that has been passed down from their ancestors, and absolute power will make barbarians feel awe.
Now, a human being defeated all the barbarians in a contest of strength, and the impact it had was greater than if the barbarians had won the championship.
Cato was also very in awe of Luke. He was eliminated in the first round of the finals, but Mr. Luke was the champion today.
The gap is not generally large.
I must learn from Mr. Luke, build up my strength, and strive to win the next strongman competition.
Along the way, everyone has different thoughts.
Until a well-dressed man stopped them and said, "Mr. Luke, congratulations on your excellent performance in the Hercules Arena. My name is Morici, and I am a steward of Lord Sergei.
The Baron invites you to his residence for dinner.
The carriage is ready for you."
The carriage was parked by the roadside.
Luke took one look and replied, "I don't know Baron Sergei. I have to drink with my barbarian friends tonight and don't have time to go anywhere else.
Let’s meet again some other day!”
