After arriving at the building with the champion heads on display, the short man straightened his back and walked inside with his head held high—completely abandoning the submissive attitude he'd shown earlier in front of Clark. After all, he did have some status here and didn't want others to see him looking so pathetic.
However, although he seemed more confident after entering the building, when it came to facing Clark and Diana, he didn't dare return to his former arrogance. Clark and Diana were standing so close—if they wanted to make a move on him, he doubted even a dozen guards could save him.
Clark followed the short man all the way to the top floor before finally seeing the so-called Grandmaster. But the Grandmaster wasn't alone. Clark estimated there were dozens of people around him. Most looked like guards, but a few wore different attire.
One woman, who looked like an aunt, stood behind the Grandmaster. Next to him was a woman in a black leather outfit, and opposite them sat a "person" tied to a chair.
After Clark and his group appeared, only the aunt-like woman glanced at them. The Grandmaster and the black leather woman didn't even look their way.
"One million. He's yours." The woman in black pointed at the person tied to the chair and spoke to the Grandmaster, seemingly unaffected by Clark's arrival.
"Too expensive." The woman standing behind the Grandmaster spoke in a flat tone before the Grandmaster could reply.
"142, can you go lower?" the Grandmaster asked the woman, whom he addressed as 142.
"Fine, fifty." Maybe 142 had been overcharging, because the Grandmaster offered her a slight discount.
"Deal. Topaz, pay her," said the Grandmaster, raising his right hand and signaling the aunt-like woman—Topaz—to transfer the payment.
"Got it. I'm leaving now," 142 said with a smile to the Grandmaster.
"Next time you come, bring me something nice!" the Grandmaster shouted after her.
142 didn't turn around—she just waved back casually and walked away.
"Take him down." After 142 left, the Grandmaster pointed at the newly purchased "person" and ordered Topaz to escort him out. Once she had arranged it, the Grandmaster finally walked toward Clark.
Clark had already guessed what was going on the moment he saw the transaction—clearly, the Grandmaster was buying another gladiator. The only difference this time was that it wasn't Thor.
"Cousin, these are the ones?" The Grandmaster glanced at Clark and Diana, then spoke to the short man who had brought them in.
"Cousin?" Clark turned to look at the short man. The two looked nothing alike—Clark doubted they were even the same species.
"It's just a title. If you like, I can be your cousin too," the Grandmaster said with a relaxed smile.
"…"
"It's time for lunch," Topaz said as she came over after finishing with the new gladiator.
"Oh right, lunchtime. Would you like to join me?" the Grandmaster turned and invited Clark and Diana with a gesture.
As Clark looked at the Grandmaster, a trace of doubt rose in his heart. In the movie, the Grandmaster didn't seem like someone so polite—why was he acting this friendly now?
Still, Clark didn't plan to argue with this smiling schemer just yet. He wanted to see what the Grandmaster was really up to. If it turned out to be no good, he'd smash his little gourd of secrets wide open.
The short man—called the Grandmaster's cousin—quietly slipped away during the commotion. Technically, no one was watching him, but really, nobody cared to stop him either.
The dining room where the Grandmaster hosted them had a very Western style. The table was about twenty meters long. Clark and Diana sat at one end, while the Grandmaster sat alone at the other.
"You two must be new to Sakaar. You can call me whatever you like, but most people just call me the Grandmaster," he said after they sat down.
"Yes, we just arrived. I'm Clark, and this is Diana," Clark replied calmly. He didn't find it strange that the Grandmaster already knew about them—after all, he had sent someone to find them.
But what Clark didn't know was that the Grandmaster learned about their arrival from the hyperspace disturbance Clark caused when he teleported to Sakaar.
Thousands of years ago, the Grandmaster ended up on Sakaar after being betrayed. Otherwise, as an Elder of the Universe, he would never have chosen to live on a garbage planet like this.
Even though Sakaar had improved greatly under his rule, it was still fundamentally a junk planet—still receiving garbage from every corner of the universe.
However, despite its shortcomings, Sakaar had a unique advantage—one that was the main reason the Grandmaster chose to stay: the planet was surrounded by numerous spatial distortions, which created Sakaar's strange environment.
Due to these distortions, countless collapsed space tunnels appeared in Sakaar's sky. No one knew where they led—no one had ever gone through them and returned.
Matching the internal instability, Sakaar's outer space was filled with natural space traps. Surrounded by these, almost no one could safely enter or leave the planet.
Even if someone managed to enter without hitting a trap, there was no guarantee they could avoid one on the way out.
So in a way, Sakaar was completely isolated from the rest of the universe. The only way to reach it was to get lost during a space jump and be lucky enough to drift in through the spatial currents. It sounded unbelievable, but that's how every resident of Sakaar got here.
As for those unlucky enough to get lost in space without landing on Sakaar, they were simply never heard from again.
Even though Sakaar was relatively safe, the Grandmaster—always paranoid—had installed detection devices around the planet, including hyperspace sensors. He knew there were many species in the universe capable of using hyperspace travel, like the Asgardians under Odin.
So hyperspace surveillance was a must, especially to guard against anyone who might be watching him.
That's how he detected Clark—who had just arrived using a newly mastered hyperspace technique—and immediately sent someone to find out why Clark and Diana had come to Sakaar, and whether they had a hidden purpose.
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