Lord of the Sky City

As the announcer's voice settled, the doors of the gateway number ten slowly opened, and Rocky, clad in the White Demon Armor, slowly walked onto the field, his image simultaneously appearing on the big screen!

"My god, what kind of armor is that?"

"It's so beautiful!"

"Which generation of armor is this? Is it specialized?"

When Rocky's figure appeared on the big screen, the majority of the audience gasped in unison, completely stunned by the brilliance of the White Demon Armor!

Shortly thereafter, as the spectators regained their senses from the stunning impression left by the White Demon Armor, excited cheers erupted!

"Amazing! It must be Special Armor!"

"Right! This match is going to be worth watching!"

"Nine against one! This match is definitely nine against one!"

"Nine against one!"

"Nine against one!"

"Nine against one!!"

In the midst of the rising cheers, someone took the lead in shouting the slogan "nine against one," and soon, this chant echoed continuously, every spectator shouting in excited unison.

However, amidst these deafening cheers, a group of people had extremely grim faces. While the entire audience was thrilled, only this group was gloomy.

This group was none other than Orton and his companions.

Listening to the deafening shouts around them, Orton and his companions looked towards the arena with grim faces. They then dismally realized that among the ten participants in this preliminary match, except for Rocky, the other nine competitors were wearing the Arena's fourth-generation Mass-Produced Armor.

The fourth-generation Mass-Produced Armor versus the White Demon Armor naturally wasn't an equal match, yet the greater the disparity in strength, the more problematic it became. In a chaotic battle where strengths were so uneven, eliminating the strongest competitor first became the primary strategy for victory or even survival.

This was why the spectators were shouting "nine against one." And if even the spectators outside the arena could see what was obvious, how could the competitors not?

"Damn, it's a setup!"

Hammerfire muttered gloomily as he noticed that Rocky had instantly become the target of everyone.

And he was right!

The arrangement of this preliminary match was meticulously planned by the Arena—from the competitors' entry, their order of appearance, and everything else, all designed to create the current scenario!

Of course, this wasn't the Arena deliberately targeting Rocky. In fact, the Arena didn't care who Rocky was; they only cared about whether the match was exciting. To make each match thrilling, the Arena meticulously arranged every aspect.

With the aim to please as many spectators as possible, the Arena would go to great lengths to enhance the appeal of the matches. They might, for instance, arrange matches between competitors of similar skills if the matches were high-Rank, or even set up matches between competitors with personal grievances to settle their differences in the arena. If the matches were low-Rank, the Arena might arrange uneven matchups or pit veterans against newcomers, all to add excitement in various ways.

Besides finding focal points from the competitors themselves, the Arena also put great effort into the format of the competitions. The ten-person brawl of the preliminary match was one example. Other formats included Triple Threat matches, Four Corners matches, Gauntlet matches, Cage matches, and Hardcore matches, provide a variety of styles.

Rocky's match was meticulously orchestrated by the Arena to create an additional spectacle outside of the melee, deliberately setting up a scenario where he was outnumbered nine to one!

The audience's cheers were deafening, and the competitors in the field could naturally hear them too. So when Rocky looked at the other competitors who had already entered the arena, he noticed that they were also watching him. Not only that, each of the glances held either ferocity or resolve; it was clear that they had all made the same determined decision!

Realizing he had become the target of everyone even before stepping onto the platform, Rocky couldn't help but sigh internally, feeling incredibly unlucky.

From the audience's perspective, he was facing a challenge of nine against one, but as a competitor, Rocky understood all too well that his problem was not just about being outnumbered. It was that all nine were desperate to fight for their lives against him!

Why say this?

Because of Xia Nai's match!

In the three preliminary matches that morning, the one Xia Nai participated in had the highest casualty rate, with eight people dead in just one match. Given this precedent, the opponents Rocky now faced were not just targeting him for victory—they were doing it to survive!

Given this, one could imagine Rocky's predicament. The preliminary match hadn't even started yet, and it had already turned into a life-or-death struggle!

"Ladies and gentlemen! I can assure you all with certainty that this match will be the most intense and spectacular of this round of preliminaries. Are you—ready?!"

As Rocky sighed to himself, the announcer's voice sounded again, and with his words, a wave of cheers erupted from the stands. Everyone was eagerly anticipating this match!

Amidst the cheering, the commentator turned to look at the ten contestants: "Contestants, are you ready?!"

"Come on! Come on! Come on!"

"Roar! Roar! Roar!!"

"Go for it!"

"Kill him!"

At this questioning, all contestants except Rocky immediately responded with roars that sounded as if they were all on a frenzy, excited but also unusually aggressive.

"The match—begins!"

As the announcer declared the official start of the match, the contestants who had long been waiting around the ring couldn't wait any longer and one by one jumped onto the platform!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, the first nine contestants had climbed onto the platform, and seeing the others spring into action, Rocky took a deep breath and leaped up as well, standing on the platform a moment later.

Like the previous matches, ten contestants occupied their spots upon ascending the platform, dividing it into ten equally like slicing a cake. However, just like before, once everyone was up, all eyes uniformly turned to the same spot—they looked at Rocky.

Indeed, as soon as the match officially started, all the contestants, without needing to discuss anything, intuitively teamed up together, planning to collectively take down Rocky!

In this situation, there was no standoff, no caution, and no hesitation at all—as soon as Rocky stepped onto the platform, the other nine contestants simultaneously charged at him!

"Take him down!"