Black sail

Chapter 654 XXXIV. The Showdown of the Century
September 8th, 9:30 PM.

Inside the designated villas for the finalists near the Imperial Arena.

The top 16 contestants have all been given the highest level of treatment; tomorrow is the night they will be eliminated.

To avoid any disrespect before the emperor, Kaden is undergoing renovations.

The soft light from the crystal chandelier reflected off the champagne gold-trimmed floor tiles, and pebbles laid under the bathtub to facilitate drainage. Steam from the hot water filled the air, and the spacious bathroom was enveloped in a hazy, sensual atmosphere.

"what……"

Kaden let out a long, comfortable sigh while soaking in the bathtub, playing with the white jasmine and acacia flowers floating on the water.

He did so much dirty work for Diaz, what's wrong with enjoying himself?

Several young and beautiful maids served her, filing her nails, washing her hair, applying cleansing lotion, and one of them massaged her feet.

Even the sexually normal Kaden felt a bit of pleasure, but he always felt something was missing, and he remembered that snake kiss filled with murderous intent.

As if sensing the slight tremor, the maid, who was applying cleansing lotion to the inside of her thighs, blushed slightly, but in keeping with her professional spirit, she still had to finish her work.

She was one of the top 16 contestants in the Continental Martial Arts Tournament. When the maid touched those strong and well-defined muscle lines, which were even more energetic than those of men, she felt a different kind of emotion and her movements became even more vigorous.

Kaden, with his strong will, suppressed a soft groan, but he still bit his lip and stared at the maid with a hint of amusement.

The maid lowered her head, but continued to move.

If it weren't for the other person beside him constantly nagging about tomorrow's precautions, Kaden, as a top fighter in the Thieves' Guild and an absolute wolf-killer, wouldn't mind having some fun, but right now he's not really interested.

"Although there is no rehearsal, these matters are still related to your future career. Even if you do not intend to join the royal court, if that lord is pleased, there will be more rewards. Tomorrow, many noble families will be present, as well as prominent families including the Astalia family. You come from Gureg, so you do not need to bow to them. However, when you see the Emperor, you are a foreigner. Although you do not need to kneel, you should still bow and place your right hand on your left shoulder. Please try to keep the angle of your bow at more than forty degrees."

The organizer's commentator talked to Kaden for a long time and taught him a lot of polite phrases and etiquette. Although some awkward situations are inevitable in every final, at least the organizers have tried their best. That's the contestants' problem and has nothing to do with them.

The Continental Martial Arts Tournament is one of only two ways in the world to come into contact with the Emperor. Not only do outsiders lack experience, but many officials within the country also lack experience, so they need to be taught.

Kaden had no choice but to listen.

The bloody fourth round has ended, and unsurprisingly, Gerdley qualified for the final in the last match.

I think back to all the contestants.

The Divine Sword Dragon, the Wolf King Rex, Valentina, the chief disciple of the Sword King of Alan, and himself.

Du'erden the Death Whisperer, Julius the Dancer of Death, Clement the Exile of the Abyss, all who see a shadow perish.

Iron-faced cerebral palsy, Louis the gun-wielding watchman, Calvin the corpse collector, and Marianne the Lady of the Golden Country.

Orphan Maker Ivanovich, Road Rogue Shirahoshi, Sky Prisoner Daniel, Stateless Person Gedley.

Half of them were already famous, while the other half were unknown, given nicknames by newspapers during the martial arts competition.

The JF-17 is awesome and famous, but I've never had any contact with it. Who are you, uncle?
It's worth noting Ivanovich, a familiar face at the cannibalistic BBQ. He's even more of a heavyweight, a wanted criminal from the Cross Alliance known as Prison Nine Gates, whose infamous reputation has been ruined by his past. He's managed to whitewash his past and come out on the right track.

The Thieves Guild has a wide range of businesses. Assassination can be handled by its own members, but when it comes to commercial threats involving carving out roads and territories, it still needs to contact some ruthless figures in the underworld to deal with them.

Ivanovich takes on any job he can get and has a good relationship with the Thieves' Guild.

It's hard to say who is the most powerful among the sixteen, but it's clear who is the most despicable.

Kaden isn't aiming for first place in the martial arts competition. He'd better try to defeat him tomorrow, then we can have a chat. If you win, fine. I'm off to Fugui, sister.

"The competition will begin at 7 p.m. tomorrow, but there will be warm-up activities during the day, including interviews and discussions with the sixteen contestants. Please get a good rest tonight. Female contestants will need to get up a little earlier. The other three female contestants, Valentina, Marianne, and Shirahoshi, will receive the same preferential treatment as the female contestants, and we will put more effort into their makeup, styling, and clothing."

The female manager in charge of reception, dressed in impeccable formal attire, reminded her.

"If it weren't for the girls, why would there be so many steps? After a whole day of work, what's the point of playing games tonight? I'm exhausted." Kaden complained without holding back.

Your mother's Royal Court of Aran, so poor, huh? To put it bluntly, it's all just hype. They're making money for the organizers, but then they squeeze every last drop out of gamblers worldwide during the night's sports betting. They're really squandering their profits.

"There's no need to worry. We've held this event for many sessions, and the process is quite easy. Besides, isn't cultural work also a part of the competition?"

The organizers were using psychological manipulation against Kaden.

"Holy crap, Su Chaharchan!"

Kaden was speechless. What the hell is this cultural work? You've made my mother, the martial arts champion Su Qier, look like she's been through the wringer. Luckily, my aunt is somewhat educated and can write her own name.

"Feel sorry?"

The organizers didn't understand what Kaden meant, since she had never been an undercover agent on the Black Sailboat.

"Never mind that. Just give me tonight's evening paper. Let me see what your official media, the Aran Era Weekly, and those people from the Adventurers' Guild wrote. Ah..."

Kaden felt great from the relaxing massage by the maid. The hot spring water wasn't ordinary water either; it had a medicinal feel to it. With Kaden's experience, he could tell it was a very expensive potion. All the fatigue from the day's battle was swept away.

Before leaving, his colleague told him to keep making calls, and that they would take care of the rest of the work. Kaden didn't know what they would do, but he decided to check the newspaper first.

The reception manager sent someone to get newspapers, one copy for each of the mainstream media outlets.

A few minutes later.

While still soaking in the water, Kaden took the newspaper. He first glanced at the official media of Alan, which was very serious, and then looked at the popular private newspapers in Alan, which were not very interesting either.

Let's take a look at the Adventurers Guild, which is known for its boastful claims and whose editors are practically sugar pills. Due to the high traffic today, the public has been paying close attention, and due to time constraints, they will even print several copies in a row. Freshly printed, they have their own printing plant in the local area, and their transportation efficiency is extremely high.

I don’t know, I’m scared.

"I, of, fa!"

Kaden's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He sat up straight in the bath, splashing water all over the maids around him.

What's going on? What happened?
In addition to the annual analysis of champion predictions, this year the "Miscellaneous Talk and Anecdotes" section took up a large portion of the newspaper, almost one-sixth of the page. For a gossip and scandal section, especially on the first day of the Mainland Martial Arts Tournament, one-sixth is an extremely large proportion.

[A showdown of the century! Thieves Guild versus Heaven's Port.]

The reasons behind the private feud between Round of 16 players Salet and Kaden.

The secret of the Overlord's bloodline.

[Which of the two whistleblowers is lying?]

These headlines completely stunned Kaden. She considered herself highly intelligent, but at this moment, even her CPU was burning out. The Overlord Bloodline was published in the newspaper like this? What had she been doing all this time?

Two whistleblowers... two whistleblowers...

The topic of the Thieves' Guild has come up again.

Kaden caught the key point, his brain went blank for a dozen seconds, and finally he sorted out his thoughts.

Fortunately, Diaz is also a micro-management expert and had a trick up his sleeve.

Lisiter, you've got guts, trying to self-destruct, huh?

Looks like I'll have to take tomorrow's finals seriously...

(End of this chapter)