154: Chapter 154 A Blank Board Cheating Scheme? The Officials Reneging on Their Debts! Who Took My Money!

The referee's hand holding the microphone was shaking like a leaf.

He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty.

Looking at Xiao Kuangyun, who lay beneath the arena, life or death uncertain, and then at the youth standing calmly in the center of the ruins, the referee felt his professional career was coming to an end right here.

But he still had to announce it.

It was the procedure.

"The vic... winner! Longya Academy, Lin Qi!"

This shout roared through the loudspeakers, his voice cracking noticeably.

The oppressive silence that had reached its limit shattered completely in the next second.

It was like pouring a basin of cold water into a pot of boiling oil.

The entire stadium instantly boiled over.

"Rigged! This is absolutely rigged!"

A fat man in the front row slammed his drink bottle onto the ground, not even caring that the liquid splashed all over his pants.

His face was flushed and his neck veins bulged as he roared at the arena.

"Refund my money! I don't believe it! How could a Blank Slate insta-kill Xiao Kuangyun? That's a Rank Three powerhouse! That's a tank wearing Reflective Armor!"

"Cheating! This is definitely cheating! I want to report this! Lin Qi must be using hacks!"

"Where is the Tianji Pavilion? Where is the referee panel? Are you all blind? You dare judge him the winner with such ridiculous stats?"

The spectator stands turned into a chaotic mess.

Countless people were howling and cursing.

It wasn't that they couldn't afford to lose the money.

It was that they couldn't accept their worldview being ground into the dirt.

The big screen maliciously displayed Lin Qi's stat panel once again.

[Strength: 5]

[Agility: 5]

[Spirit: 5]

[Physique: 5]

These four numbers were like four giant slaps across the faces of the hundred thousand spectators present.

Slapping them until their heads were buzzing.

If Lin Qi had a hidden class or some Divine Artifact, they could still comfort themselves by saying it was a victory for a pay-to-win player.

But what did these stats of all 5s mean?

This was like an ant extending a pinky finger and flicking an elephant away.

Was this logical?

This display was enough to make both Newton and the Ancestral Masters of the cultivation world turn in their graves from rage.

Lin Qi stood on the arena.

He didn't bother to pay any attention to the roars around him that sounded like mad dogs.

With his hands in his pockets, he didn't even bother to lift his eyelids.

[A bunch of unsophisticated lemmings.]

Lin Qi sneered inwardly.

[Keep shouting; the louder you scream, the more it proves how much this slap hurt.]

He only cared about one thing right now.

And that was money.

Before the match, he had Zhang Wei bet his entire net worth.

The odds were 1:700.

How much money was that?

Lin Qi wasn't good at math, but he knew it was definitely a figure that would allow him to walk tall throughout the Federation.

He turned around, not giving the clown-like audience another glance, and headed toward the player tunnel.

His steps were light.

He even felt like whistling.

Only the truly powerful knew that at a time like this, no explanation was needed.

Getting the money was the only thing that mattered.

In the lounge on the other side of the player seating area...

Li Pojun stared intently at Lin Qi's departing back.

The specialized alloy water cup in his hand had been squeezed out of shape.

"Investigate."

Li Pojun squeezed the word out from between his teeth.

The assistant beside him flinched and quickly pulled out a notebook.

"Brother Li, investigate what?"

"Investigate his background! I want to know what color underwear he's worn since he was a kid! I want to know how he bypassed the System's detection!"

Li Pojun's gaze became more solemn than ever before.

He had seen it clearly just now.

Lin Qi's punch had no spiritual energy, no skills; it was pure mechanical transmission of force.

That was what was truly terrifying.

This meant that as long as a defense had a physical form, it might be as flimsy as paper in front of Lin Qi.

"This guy is a formidable opponent."

Li Pojun took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the trembling caused by his fear.

Meanwhile, on the other side...

In the Longya Academy observation area.

Instructor Su Qing crossed her arms, a hint of a smile finally appearing on her lips.

It was a smile of relief.

"This kid really didn't let me down."

Beside her, Elder Mo was so excited his beard was shaking.

Like a child who had received a new toy, he grabbed Instructor Su Qing's arm.

"Did you record it? Did you record the data fluctuations of that punch just now? That was Inch Power! That's the Inch Power that's been lost for hundreds of years! A textbook-level Mountain Crushing and Earth Splitting!"

Elder Mo's eyes were shining.

He felt as if the hope for the revival of ancient martial arts was right before his eyes.

He was even more excited than the gamblers who had won money.

Speaking of winning money...

Zhang Wei was currently like Fan Jin passing the imperial examination.

Hiding in a corner, he looked at the numbers on his terminal, his entire body shivering.

The fat on his face wobbled.

A silly, giggling sound came from his mouth.

He looked like a two-hundred-pound idiot.

"Rich... I'm really rich this time..."

Zhang Wei's fingers were cramping.

He looked at the long string of zeros following the account balance.

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands...

He couldn't count them all.

He simply couldn't count them all.

A principal of several billion, multiplied seven hundred times.

This money could probably buy half of Tianhai City, right?

Zhang Wei felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat.

His blood pressure soared.

But he didn't care.

Even if he were to drop dead on the spot right now, he would be willing.

"Withdraw! Withdraw it quickly! Safety first!"

Zhang Wei tremblingly extended his fat finger toward the golden [Withdraw All] button on the screen.

He jabbed it hard.

The motion was so forceful it was as if he wanted to poke a hole in the screen.

Zhang Wei closed his eyes.

He waited for that beautiful "ding" notification sound.

That would be the sound of heaven.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

There was no sound.

The surroundings were noisy, yet he felt a deathly silence.

Zhang Wei snapped his eyes open.

What met his eyes was not a green success notification.

Instead, it was a massive, glaring, blood-red exclamation mark.

And a pop-up window as cold as a death sentence.

[Warning: Error Code 404]

[Detected that this account is suspected of using unknown exploits to manipulate match results; data flow is abnormal.]

[According to Article 74 of the Tianji Pavilion "Gambling Security Protocol," the highest-level risk control circuit breaker has been triggered.]

[All your funds have been forcibly frozen.]

[Please wait for manual review (Estimated review time: 15-30 working days).]

Boom!

Zhang Wei felt like something had exploded in his head.

It was his blood vessels.

And also his beautiful dream.

His face instantly turned deathly pale, as white as a corpse that had been dead for three days.

All color drained away in an instant.

"No... No... Impossible..."

Zhang Wei's lips trembled, and he couldn't even speak clearly.

He frantically clicked the withdrawal button.

Click.

The window popped up again.

Click.

The window popped up again.

That red 404 was like a mocking smiley face, ruthlessly laughing at his stupidity.

"My money... That's my money!!!"

Zhang Wei let out a scream like a slaughtered pig.

He felt like the sky had fallen.

It really had fallen.

The high-interest loans he took, the pharmacy he mortgaged, and Lin Qi's share...

All gone?

Frozen?

What was the difference between this and robbery?

Lin Qi had just reached the family seating area when he heard Zhang Wei's heart-wrenching scream.

He frowned.

His originally good mood instantly turned sour.

"What are you howling for?"

Lin Qi walked over and kicked Zhang Wei, who was slumped on the ground like a pile of mud.

"We won. Hurry up and take the money so we can get a good meal, and redeem my equipment while you're at it."

Lin Qi's tone was relaxed.

He just wanted to get some money now and then buy some exotic beast meat to nourish his body.

That Mountain Crushing Force punch just now had consumed quite a bit of his physical strength.

His stomach was empty.

Zhang Wei looked up.

His face was a mess from crying, covered in tears and snot.

When he saw Lin Qi, it was like seeing a life-saving straw.

He grabbed Lin Qi's leg and wailed miserably.

"Brother Qi! It's over! It's all over!"

"The money... the money is gone!"