Don't even think about it—Grandmaster must be there.
At the same time, his mental power detected that a large number of people were gathered in that location.
The crowd was extremely dense, practically shoulder to shoulder. Blaine guessed it had to be Grandmaster's arena. There was likely a match going on at the moment, and judging by the noise, those people were the audience.
"Hmph, quite lively."
His voice was still lingering in place, but Blaine's body had already appeared in front of the arena gates.
Several teams of heavily armed patrols guarded the entrance, and everyone who wanted to enter had to purchase a ticket.
Naturally, it was impossible for Blaine to buy a ticket. Using teleportation again, he appeared directly inside the arena's stands.
Blaine's sudden appearance startled a few people nearby, but the audience was cheering wildly for the fight in the arena. Wave after wave of roars drowned out any startled cries, completely covering their reactions.
While everyone was immersed in the excitement of the battle, Blaine calmly surveyed the arena.
The area occupied by this arena alone probably took up one-twentieth of the land in this wealthy district, where every inch of ground was precious. One-twentieth of a U.S. state was no small matter. Converted to Earth's scale, it was at least as large as dozens of standard stadiums combined.
The structure itself was rather ordinary, resembling the ancient Roman Colosseum on Earth. The spectator stands rose in layers, encircling the battlefield. The flat area at the bottom, roughly the size of ten football fields, was clearly the place where the gladiators fought.
However, the most eye-catching spot was undoubtedly the highest position directly facing the arena.
There was a ring of viewing platforms that looked like transparent glass. At first glance, it was clearly an exclusive area for nobles. With a full 360-degree view and no blind spots, along with dedicated attendants serving them, it was essentially the supreme VIP box.
Blaine glanced over and seemed to spot a familiar figure.
"Oh?"
"Loki?"
Dressed in a green robe, with curly hair and an unmistakably smug expression, Loki looked quite pleased. At that moment, he was the one giving instructions about the battle below.
Sitting beside Loki was Grandmaster, the ruler of Sakaar.
He appeared to be an elderly man around fifty years old, dressed in flamboyant clothing, with colorful paint smeared across his face. A large string of animal teeth hung around his neck, and he held a scepter in his hand, looking like some kind of Amazonian tribal chief.
At the same time, several maids surrounded him, feeding him fruit one piece at a time. He lived as leisurely as an ancient emperor.
Someone who looked this kind on the surface was usually vicious at heart. It was likely that only Loki, with his silver tongue, could flatter Grandmaster so effectively in such a short time and gain his trust.
As Blaine observed Grandmaster, the latter, far away on the viewing platform, seemed to notice Blaine as well.
Although there were tens of thousands of spectators, Blaine's presence was distinctly different from that of ordinary people. He stood out in the crowd.
Blaine had thought he blended in perfectly, but he soon realized that the people around him were intentionally—or unintentionally—keeping a bit of distance.
It was probably because Blaine hadn't deliberately used Shadow Stealth to conceal himself. His faint Bounty Hunter killing intent leaked out, surrounding his invisible presence with a cold, frosty aura. It was no wonder Grandmaster had noticed him in the crowd.
However, Blaine wasn't worried. Sooner or later, he and Grandmaster would meet and talk—whether about business or about life and death.
Looking toward Grandmaster, Blaine saw him wave his hand and whisper something to the people beside him, then glance back at Blaine.
With the deafening cheers filling his ears, Blaine could only see Grandmaster's gestures and not hear what he said.
Still, Blaine didn't care. There was no need to guess—it was either an invitation to talk or a challenge to fight. No matter what it was, Blaine would deal with it.
Then, like the rest of the audience, Blaine turned his attention to the battle below.
Activating Hawkeye over the arena instantly enhanced his vision. Not only could he clearly see the entire crowd, but the two gladiators fighting below were also fully visible.
The two combatants were unfamiliar to Blaine. Naturally, they weren't anyone noteworthy in the Marvel universe.
One of them was a strange-looking stone humanoid, his entire body covered in earth-yellow rock. To others, he probably looked solid and imposing, but to Blaine, he resembled a lump of dried mud—ugly and brittle, something that could shatter with a single slap.
The brute stood over two meters tall, with bulging chest muscles and sinews like stone. Well—stone protruding like tendons felt odd to describe, but regardless, he looked unusually strong.
His opponent, however, was a dwarf less than a meter tall, thin and short. If Blaine hadn't been paying attention, he might not have noticed him at all.
Yet despite his small size, compared to the straightforward stone monster, this creature was vicious.
Its body wasn't humanoid at all, but resembled a monstrous praying mantis. Its two front claws were razor-sharp, while its small head could rotate a full 360 degrees. A row of blood-red, saw-like teeth filled its mouth, and its bulging eyes were as large as copper bells.
The creature looked completely mismatched, as if stitched together from different parts. It was seriously uncoordinated, and Blaine found it unpleasant to look at.
Moreover, this mantis-like creature seemed mutated. Instead of the usual green, its body was dark gray, making it hard to identify at first glance. If it weren't capable of speech, Blaine might have suspected Grandmaster had randomly grabbed a praying mantis that had eaten insecticide and mutated, just to fool the audience.
"Damn, these aliens are ugly."
"One's weirder than the next."
"Creative minds, even stranger appearances."
Blaine couldn't help complaining, especially as he turned Hawkeye and swept his gaze across the stands.
He had thought only Grandmaster enjoyed collecting such bizarre gladiators, but it wasn't really a matter of preference. Alien lifeforms were simply that strange.
After taking in all of this, Blaine had already learned quite a bit.
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