Loki opened his eyes and found himself inside a cave.
His mind felt hazy for a moment before he realized he wasn't in Asgard, but on a planet filled with trash.
He was supposed to be entertaining people as a slave in the Gladiator Arena, even stimulating the adrenaline of those barbarians with death and blood. But Ben had saved him, removed his control device, and given him freedom.
After leaving the Arena, Loki had fled all the way, barely managing to escape the Imperial Capital, but he had collapsed in the wilderness.
Now, it seemed he had been rescued by someone.
He struggled to stand up, but a sharp pain shot through his body.
Even though the chains had been removed with Ben's help, the wounds that pierced his bones wouldn't heal easily.
"You're awake?"
At that moment, a silver-gray alien holding a bowl of water walked in. Seeing him awake, it put down what it was holding.
Loki immediately became vigilant.
Seeing this, the person stopped their actions and raised their hands to show they meant no harm.
"Don't be nervous. If I had malicious intent, you would have already been sold to the Imperial Capital before you woke up. After all, His Highness the great Red King doesn't know his slave has narrowly escaped death." The other party's words were full of mockery, making Loki understand that this person was unwilling to submit to the Red King's rule.
The words Ben had spoken to him in the dungeon not long ago flashed through his mind.
"That red ant looks down on everyone with his nostrils. Do you think the people on this planet are willing to be enslaved by him? Loki, only you can leave the Arena now, and only you can gather the forces that resist the Red King."
"You're just going to let me leave?" he had retorted at the time.
"Of course, you can run away with your tail between your legs like a dog, but that red ant will never pay the price for enslaving the Prince of Asgard. Or are you planning to go home to your mother? To let Odin and Thor see how cowardly and weak you are?" Ben countered.
Then, he said to Loki, "This is a good opportunity to prove yourself, Loki. If you can become king on Sakaar, who can say you're not qualified to be the King of Asgard?"
His thoughts returned to the present. The alien placed the water beside him. He looked down at it, his face showing disgust.
The bowl of water was as murky as mud soup.
Compared to it, the food in the Arena was considered good.
"We only have this," the alien said.
"All the resources on this planet are gathered in the Imperial Capital, and only the Red King can decide how to distribute them. Otherwise, those Scavengers wouldn't be absurd enough to eat alien corpses..."
Loki was silent for a moment. He licked his dry, cracked lips, then suddenly burst into laughter, "It seems you need a true wise ruler!"
"If you are willing to help us, we would be very grateful," the Shadow Person said. "I know you are the Prince of Asgard and have a deep hatred for the Red King. I can take you to meet the leader of the Rebel Army."
"But you won't be our king, because we are waiting for..." he said, then paused again, his face filled with noble faith:
"The Son of Sakaar."
...
In the dungeon.
Bill stretched his body. The rest of the past few days had made him feel much better.
After taking only a few steps, he heard other gladiators discussing the battle between the Hacker and the Red Wind Queen a few days ago.
"He almost won. If the Red King hadn't interfered, he would have been the first to defeat the Red Wind Queen."
"Yeah, but what can we do? We all have to listen to him."
"Damn it, if it weren't for the Obedience Disk..."
Then, all conversation was swallowed by silence. They dared not speak loudly, nor could they let the guards hear any complaints about the Red King.
But all the words fell into Bill's ears.
He opened his palm, and a small device lay quietly within it. At the same time, the plan Ben had told him flashed through his mind.
This device could interfere with the signal of the Obedience Disk, but it had to be placed at the highest point, the top of the Totem Tower, to cover the entire Imperial Capital.
Bill's mission was to infiltrate the top of the Totem Tower when the second match began.
Actually, this mission would have been more suitable for Looma.
However, both Ben, Looma, and Brunnhilde unanimously believed that the Red King would definitely monitor Looma during the second match, preventing her from disrupting his plan to eliminate Ben.
Therefore, Bill, who was equally powerful, became the best candidate to complete this mission.
As for Brunnhilde, she was naturally going to organize the other Scavengers and rally another force.
This way, with Ben and Looma as the main combat forces, plus all the enslaved Rebel Army on Sakaar, the gladiator warriors led by Bill, and countless Scavengers like locusts...
These forces gathered together would be enough to launch a planet-level war.
A week passed quietly.
The second match of the Champion Challenge arrived as scheduled.
However, this match was not held inside the Arena, but in Sakaar's famous forbidden zone – the Maw!
The "Maw" looked like a giant mine, with spiral paths seemingly leading to the abyss of hell.
And deep within the Maw was scalding, scorching magma.
Just standing on the edge of the deep pit, Ben could feel the scorching air rushing towards him.
He looked up. Directly above him, planes equipped with cameras circled incessantly.
Since the battlefield wasn't in the Imperial Capital, the match was being broadcast.
Inside the Imperial Capital.
The Red King was rarely seen fully armored, his golden armor clad upon him.
This was a type of high-tech exoskeleton armor, and in terms of technological content, even Tony Stark's current battle armor technology was insignificant in comparison.
The Red King was brutal, but he was also extremely cautious. After Caiera was sent out to deal with Ben, he didn't give anyone the slightest opportunity. Not only this armor, but almost the entire Royal Guard of the Totem Tower had been mobilized to his side.
In addition, various powerful weapons were always at the ready.
This way of protecting himself like a turtle in its shell was why Looma looked down on him.
However, the Red King no longer cared about such things.
Originally, he had considered that Looma's strength was formidable and that forcibly taking her down would incur a considerable cost, which was why he had pretended to be a gentleman towards her.
But Looma's act of defying him in front of tens of thousands of people last time had made the Red King unable to tolerate it any longer.
Once Ben was dead, he would immediately recall Caiera and the Death Crowns Unit, and then make his move against Looma.
He wanted to completely turn Looma into his slave!
"Does that woman show any unusual activity?" Having already made his decision, the Red King's tone towards Looma became dismissive.
A guard stepped forward and said with his head bowed, "So far, the Red Wind Queen has remained in the training room, likely preparing for the third match."
"A pity, there will never be a third match." The Red King chuckled coldly. He sat down, still wearing his battle armor, with his massive dual-bladed saber placed beside the throne.
"I will let the entire world see the fate of a slave who defies me!!"
Maw Mine.
Caiera had already arrived with the Death Crowns, or rather, the Death's Head Guards, and had been waiting for a long time.
Each Death Head Warrior was wearing exoskeleton armor similar to the Red King's, though their models were slightly older and not as advanced as his.
Caiera's mood was very complicated.
On one hand, she felt disgusted by the Red King's actions, deploying such a large army just to eliminate one warrior...
But at the same time, due to the Obedience Disk, she could not disobey the Red King's orders.
She reached out and pressed her fingertip onto the disk. With a slight increase in force, she could crush it.
But at the same time, the neurotoxin within the disk would spread throughout her body in an instant, taking her life.
She sighed.
She didn't immediately attack Ben.
The monsters in the Maw were terrifying. Even if Ben's displayed strength had even suppressed Looma, he might not be able to subdue that monster.
If he lost, all their preparations would be in vain. Conversely, if Ben won, they could launch an attack when he was most relaxed and eliminate him in one fell swoop.
At this moment, she strode towards Ben.
Caiera was dressed provocatively. Although Ben didn't find her appearance appealing, he had to admit she had a good figure.
"This is the Maw, and it is your battlefield. You must defeat the monster in the Maw to be considered victorious," she said.
Hearing this, Ben looked towards the lava. At this moment, the giant monster seemed to sense the presence of living beings and began to awaken from its slumber!
"Roar!"
It raised its mountain-like body, and in an instant, the enormous volcano erupted with its terrifying visage.
The scorching energy instantly raised the temperature of the Maw. In just a moment, the air temperature had reached nearly a hundred degrees Celsius, and it was still climbing!
At such a terrifying temperature, even Ben's current superhuman physique could not endure it. Yet, Caiera, standing beside him, seemed completely unaffected.
"Good luck, Hacker."
She floated away gracefully.
At the same time, the volcano finally erupted completely!
The scorching volcanic ash instantly surged hundreds of meters high. The molten lava, baked and melted by the heat, surged out like a giant fountain. Burning boulders rained down like the end of the world!
Boom!
In an instant, a power capable of swallowing civilizations surged towards Ben, seemingly intending to burn him to ashes with the wrath of the King of Sakaar!
From a distance, Caiera watched Ben, who had already been engulfed, and shook her head slightly.
Clearly, she didn't believe Ben could survive this disaster, which could be called a catastrophe.
However, the moment he arrived at the Maw, Ben knew what he had to do.
"Heatblast, Hero Appears!"
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