our family is gone

Chapter 789: Rat King Competition

Whether it is catching rats, collecting rats or processing these side industries, they are all just preparations for the most important core, which is rat fighting, because this is a business with no capital and is the most profitable.

This brings us to the second part - rat fighting.

The recovered rats must first go through a first round of screening to pick out the healthy and strong ones with potential for fighting rats, and then feed them with the skinned raw meat.

When a certain number of rats are gathered, for example ten, the first round of preliminary selection will begin and all of them will be put into a rat fighting arena. The competition will not end until only half of the ten can survive.

The ten rats will have numbers painted on their bodies to distinguish them from each other, and also to give those who place bets a target to choose from.

If you keep half, your chance of winning is basically one in two. The minimum bet is not high, and the odds are naturally not much either. It is a level that everyone can play for fun.

Of course, by analogy, there are also those that keep three out of ten or one out of ten. The odds are even higher and the risks are greater. At the same time, the fight is more brutal and there are more spectators.

The rats in the previous rounds had no titles, only colors and numbers. They were well-known only because of the reputation they accumulated by surviving the several battles in the primaries.

The brutal fighting will leave obvious scars even if the survivors do. At this time, people will name them according to their battle records or characteristics.

The one named "One Ear" must have had its ear bitten off in a battle, the one named "Broken Tail" has a missing section of its tail, and there are also ones named "One-Eyed", "Baldy", and "Steel Teeth"... Anyway, they are very distinctive and not officially named, but a consensus formed by the people themselves.

The official accounts always record numbers, but nicknames are also used for publicity.

As for those who failed to pass, the number will be returned to the new rat, like a cycle that can never be escaped...

The rats that have been given nicknames have already experienced several fights. The rats selected in this way are bloody and warlike, and the fights are very interesting to watch. However, chaotic fights would be unpleasant to watch.

So the next step is the end of the preliminary round and entering the second stage, which is the one-on-one duel between the title rats.

Just like fighting in a boxing ring, the excitement of the battle increases sharply, and with the previous basic data, the odds also begin to change.

There was even a formal competition - the Rat King Competition!

Sixteen teams will be selected to participate, and the sixteen will enter the next eight, the eight will enter the next four... and then the four will enter the next two to start playing three rounds. During this period, different teams will take turns to rest until the first champion, Rat Rat, is decided.

In order to enhance the viewing experience, the loser will not be killed, but will enter the loser group, but the competition will be more brutal, and only one person will survive and fight the champion.

Regardless of whether or not they can succeed in revenge after making it out of the loser group, it will be a game that is both topical and entertaining to watch.

This is the regular game process, but in order to make it more interesting, other ways of playing have been developed.

Some title rats with damaged limbs cannot enter the loser group, but it would be a waste to just kill them, so those people thought about it and learned from the popular way of dealing with the injuries of gladiators, which is to add equipment to the rats.

At first, they just sharpened their claws, and later they simply tied blades to them. Some of those with broken limbs or tails also received special "prosthetic limbs."

The most famous one is a rat that was defeated and had its hand eaten, and then someone made a drastic modification by installing an iron rod like a shrunken sword blade in the place where the hand originally was.

Then, it performed outstandingly in the subsequent battles. Under the encouragement of a large number of viewers, the official actually organized a revenge battle, allowing it to fight again with the rat that bit off its arm and ate it.

You know, that mouse has already won several games. Although it has not participated in formal competitions, it is also half a step away from becoming a champion. No one would think that it cannot beat a disabled mouse with this record.

There were enough gimmicks that day, and the results were also very exciting. He was at a disadvantage at first, and then he relied on prosthetic limbs to insert into the enemy's body to fight back and kill the enemy. In the end, he completed his revenge and earned a new title [Rick].

Rui means the sharpness of the weapon, and ke means defeating the enemy. Together, they mean defeating the enemy with sharp weapons, highlighting the importance of transformation.

Of course, the venues that sold tickets and the casinos that took bets also made a lot of money. The audience saw an exciting game with many ups and downs. Everyone was happy. As for who was unhappy, it was only the gamblers who lost.

From this point on, a new trend started, where the weak relied on external objects and equipment to win, which added a bit of suspense to the battle and attracted more attention.

Some people want to wear armor, but after putting it on, they can't tell the winner even if they fight until they are exhausted, so it's not very entertaining.

In fact, the gladiators in this world are also very advanced. Hamlet's fight with rats can also be used as a reference, and the game can even be more cruel and intense. After all, it is not humans but rats.

In some formal gladiator arenas, gladiators actually had to be paid wages, and prizes were offered for gambling fights. In the final analysis, it was similar to a ring and anyone could sign up. Some famous gladiators were even treated like stars.

Of course, there are also cruel jobs like slave fighters, especially foreign races like barbarians are more popular, and there are even wild beasts and magical beasts with extraordinary bloodlines, not to mention the cruelty and bloodiness.

Anyway, Hamlet didn't need to pay the hamsters wages or give them rewards. He just fed them the skinned corpses of the hamsters. If they got injured, he would apply medicine and wait for them to recover. If they died, he would replace them with new ones. He didn't feel sorry at all.

At the beginning, some people saw that the official was making huge profits, so they also had some ideas. After catching the rats, they did not kill them or sell them, but organized rat fights privately.

As I said before, if you want to make Junkrat fight, you need something that can only be produced by the official, and this is called core technology.

You can beat the hamsters when they are extremely hungry, but you won't last long. It's even funnier when some male and female hamsters start to have sex while beating each other. The audience won't buy it and may even report you because there are rewards for sweeping the gambling.

The lord will not care if you don't engage in gambling, but if you do, this is tantamount to taking money out of the lord's pocket. You'd better go and build roads.

But how to make money without gambling? There is no solution.

Another reason is the cost issue. It is difficult for ordinary people to organize relatively formal competitions. They are informal and not entertaining to watch. There is also no guarantee that the competition is not manipulated, so it is possible for the bookmaker to take the spoils.

In contrast, because the official organization of the rat fighting competition is handled by a group of people who collect ticket money, they only need to study how to make the competition exciting and topical to attract more people, winning or losing is not important.

The casino is responsible for the betting. They are in charge of all the bets, odds, and wins and losses.

Both are responsible to the lord, but they are two different departments. Although it is impossible to have no influence at all, at least on the surface the interests of both sides are different, creating a relatively fair environment.

After all, there are people checking the accounts. If they don't match, you either have to repair the roads or go to a nursing home. The law is no joke.

This shows that although those people all curse Lord Lance for being a dictator, many people are willing to believe in the lord and recognize the rules. This is the reality.

Now a heavy snow has come, leaving them in the town. Fortunately, there are fewer entertainment activities than before, and the rat fighting competition is still going on in the snow.

Now it is the quarter-finals, and the venue is bustling with activity. It is almost packed with people, and everyone is shouting for the rat they are supporting (betting on). From the ferocious looks on their faces, it is hard to tell how much money they have bet on.

Some people even came from other places in the snow just to watch the game, so you can imagine how popular it is. At this time, the two rats in the cage had scars of varying ages on their bodies, and they kept scratching and biting each other, their skin was broken and fat and a little blood was visible, but they didn't stop, and fought even more fiercely.

This is why Hamlet was able to control the rat fighting industry. Without that kind of potion, such wonderful effects could not be achieved.

Even those people wanted the sanatorium to develop some stimulating drugs for these rats to take before the battle, but it was obviously not agreed.

Because it seems like the more it eats, the bigger it gets, and the more battles it fights, the smarter it gets...

The intensity of the battle seemed to be heard from the shouts of the spectators. After all, some people really risked everything.

However, the outcome of the battle did not depend on their will. One of them fled with a seriously injured body, while the other chased after him with a ferocious look.

This is the advantage of not being starving. You can run away after fighting, and the winner has already been decided at this time, instead of having to kill the opponent.

Because the loser group is also a business. The sixteen fighting rats selected from hundreds or thousands of rats all have titles. To them, the rats can die, but their death must be valuable.

The referee observed for a while and made sure that the two were unable to resist before he had them separated and announced the result.

"The winner [Broken Tail] advances, the loser [Golden Fang] enters the loser bracket, the next game is..."

There are many matches held in the venue every day, but there are only three regular matches a day, and tickets are sold.

There are many other races, with the primaries making up the majority, which are free to watch.

Some are special competitions, such as the battles between modified rats, or the battles between some title rats. Tickets are also charged for these, after all, they are very exciting to hype.

After the results were announced, some were happy and some were sad. A lot of people started to curse the loser, saying, "You can still enter the loser group if you lose, but I will have no money if I lose."

But there is nothing to pity about gamblers, and most people would not risk their entire fortune, so they are still a minority.

The halftime break actually gives everyone time to go to the casino to place their bets.

The sturdy man who was shouting fiercely just now was now sitting there, getting angrier and angrier as he thought about it, complaining to his companions, which immediately resonated with everyone.

"You're still called Gold Teeth? He can't even beat a mouse with a broken tail. I think he should just be called Broken Teeth."

"Damn, that guy seems to have such a good record, he must be Fukiyose."

"Hahaha, I asked you to buy from me. I've seen the Tail-Broken Fame Competition. The enemy bit off its tail, but it bit open the enemy's throat."

"What should I buy next? I'm optimistic about..."

As they were talking, a shout suddenly came.

"You guys are really here. Stop playing around. The mission is about to begin."

"What mission? It's snowing heavily outside."

"That's right, aren't we going back?"

"The snow has stopped. Go back to work. We finally got the assignment."

The man was very mysterious, so they left without saying anything else, but they still kept talking about fighting the rat.

The snow outside that had been falling for several days did not get smaller, but actually stopped. Even the howling cold wind stopped, and the warm winter sun hung in the sky, bringing an inexplicable sense of comfort.

"What mission did the leader receive? I heard they are short of Junkrats. Could it be that they want us to catch Junkrats?"

"Don't tell me, any one I catch is better than that gold tooth."

"That's right. The snow has stopped, but the snow is so thick that even Junkrat won't come out."

This is a bit of a joke, but also a self-deprecating one.

Anyone hanging around here can tell that they are members of the Scorpion Mercenary Group. Although they escaped with the Royal Guards when the Darkness fell, they also suffered some losses and could only stay here temporarily to recuperate. Then the Blood Moon came, and all kinds of weird things happened, causing the leader to even plan to run away.

However, the lease period for the venue has not expired yet. After all, we originally wanted to make a lot of money from the ruins. In addition, the initial investment was too huge, and the sunk cost was here, so we had no choice but to stay.

They no longer believed in treasure, so they turned to making money, such as the emerging rat industry, and unexpectedly made a fortune by catching rats.

This is why these people think that their mission after returning is to continue catching mice.

"This time we're not catching mice. As for what the mission is, you'll know when you get back."

I was feeling a little overwhelmed by the heat in the room just now, but now that I came out and took a breath of cool air, I immediately calmed down and hurried back.

Then they found a team of Holy Light Knights above the mercenary group’s base. This instantly made the expressions of those who had just returned and didn’t know what was going on become serious.

They were all mercenaries, and they were in Totnes, so they were not very sensitive to these things. There were not many religious people, so they were cautious and fearful about the church.

Not to mention Hamlet. The lord clearly dislikes the church and has even beaten up the legend of the church. If you get involved with them, I'm afraid...

"Don't overthink it. This mission was initiated by the church. They don't lack money."

Hearing this, the expressions of those people immediately became more serious. Mercenaries don't talk about faith, they talk about gold coins.

"What's going on? How did the church find us?"

"Do you still remember those two people from the church when it was dark and the ruins were in turmoil? Brother Martin saved you.

Now the people of the church want to go deep into the ruins. Not many people have gone deep into it. Most of them are either dead or gone. Brother Martin, one of the mercenaries who stayed, recommended us. "

In the end, it was because Scorpion knew how to handle the situation at that time, and he worked hard in the subsequent battles and his strength was also good, which left a good impression on Brother Martin, so he was able to get this task.