Anyway, the fifth-level star cores had already been taken out, and Grandmaster had seen the treasure. Blaine wasn't worried about adding this one more.
Besides, it was very possible that this old thing didn't even know what it was; otherwise, it wouldn't have been treated as a mysterious reward in the arena and left hanging there for so many years.
"This… this is?"
"Huh? You actually stole my things?"
When Blaine took out the metal fragment, Grandmaster was confused once again, because the object in Blaine's hand looked exactly the same as the one he possessed.
"Look carefully. Don't jump to conclusions so quickly, okay?"
Blaine was speechless. How could this guy assume everything belonged to him? Clearly, he'd been spoiled by Sakaar for far too long.
"Oh, oh, oh, I looked wrong,"
"The size is different, the shape is different,"
"And the patterns seem different too."
Grandmaster spoke vaguely, but if one of his subordinates hadn't just leaned over and whispered something into his ear, Blaine might actually have been fooled by this clumsy act.
Needless to say, with Blaine's hearing, he naturally caught what the subordinate said—it confirmed that Grandmaster's own metal fragment was still there.
Otherwise, Blaine had no doubt that Grandmaster would have stubbornly insisted that whatever Blaine was holding belonged to him.
"So, you know what this thing is?"
Blaine didn't press further. Although he knew Grandmaster had something related to it, he needed him to reveal it himself.
Otherwise, this tiny piece of metal didn't emit energy like a tenth-level star core. It looked completely ordinary, and Blaine wouldn't even be able to find it in a junk heap.
"Know it, of course I know it,"
"Here—right over there."
Now that he knew Blaine had stolen something similar, Grandmaster once again revealed a sly expression. He pointed outward and spoke with a smile.
Following the direction of his finger, Blaine saw that directly above the arena, three objects were hanging in front of a massive billboard, all covered with black cloth.
However, to Blaine, whether the cloth was there or not didn't matter. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he activated his Hawkeye perspective and saw straight through the covering.
Hanging highest was a necklace made of animal teeth. That was easy enough to understand—probably awarded for the most victories in the arena or some special rule.
It was clearly the first prize. The second was a fairly ordinary trophy. The third was the mysterious metal key Blaine had been longing for.
He had to admit, Grandmaster was incredibly stingy. Such a massive arena, and the trophy itself was probably the only thing worth a bit of money.
In the hands of the ignorant, these prizes were no better than trash. It was only thanks to the residents of Sakaar that they were regarded as symbols of glory.
From the very beginning, Blaine's Hawkeye vision had been sweeping the skies. He'd thought it was some kind of holographic projection equipment, but he hadn't expected it to be the location where the prizes were displayed.
Placing them at the highest point of the arena allowed everyone present to see them, stimulating the gladiators' fighting spirit, drawing in more spectators, and earning more money. In that regard, Grandmaster truly was a business genius.
"Well,"
"Since you want this,"
"Then you must know how valuable it is,"
"Do you know what it means to be the third prize of the Sakaar arena?"
"That's an enormous honor,"
"Not to mention how hard this piece of metal is—it must be priceless,"
"There's no need for me to explain it to you. You should understand it better than I do."
Seeing that Blaine seemed interested, Grandmaster happily went along with it and started bragging without restraint.
Blaine, however, saw everything clearly and was secretly amused. Grandmaster obviously knew very little about the metal and had no idea what it was actually for. If it weren't for the fact that it couldn't be broken and its use was unknown, he would never have been willing to put it up as an arena prize.
"Alright, stop exaggerating,"
"Don't you just want to trade it for that star core?"
"I'll make this clear right now,"
"That's impossible."
Hearing the first part, Grandmaster became excited, but the second half was like a bucket of cold water poured over his head.
What a joke. Grandmaster was an iron rooster, but Blaine wasn't any different. To him, money was life—more important than life itself.
What did a fifth-level star core represent? If the system wasn't cheating him, it was worth five or six hundred billion units. Blaine had been a Bounty Hunter for so long, and this was the first time he'd ever held such an enormous sum. Asking him to trade it away for a piece of metal? He wouldn't agree even if you paid him a million.
Besides, in anyone else's hands, star cores and money could only be seen by Blaine—they couldn't be stolen. Blaine was fine taking things that weren't claimed by others, but taking what clearly belonged to someone else was unacceptable to him.
That was why Blaine could search for star cores in space and exchange them for money, but once the Collector was gone, he couldn't exchange the star cores he already possessed. Once money or star cores entered Blaine's hands, prying them loose was nearly impossible unless the money itself collapsed.
Blaine was the kind of person who could spend trillions without blinking, but if you asked him to spend tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, he absolutely wouldn't. Why? Because he actually cared about that scale of money.
"Now that you know what I want,"
"And what you want is right here in my hands,"
"Isn't this the best possible arrangement?"
"Isn't this a win-win situation?"
Grandmaster was genuinely puzzled. Both sides clearly possessed what the other desired. To anyone else, this would be an excellent deal.
"I said it's impossible,"
"Is there any other way?"
Blaine still didn't want to resort to force. He didn't yet fully understand Grandmaster's strength, so caution was the safer choice.
"Hmph, I've never seen someone as stubborn as you,"
"And no, there's no other way,"
"I only want that."
At this point, it was as if Blaine had stepped on Grandmaster's tail. He suddenly stood up, anger written all over his face.
"Then goodbye."
Through mind reading, Blaine knew Grandmaster was playing hard to get, deliberately acting like an unyielding boss. Blaine decided to play along and counter with his own tactic.
"Wait."
Sure enough, just as Blaine stood up and hadn't even taken a step, Grandmaster immediately backed down and spoke again.
"Don't be like that,"
"Since you've come to me, you naturally have to follow my rules,"
"Since you don't want an equal exchange,"
"Then you only have one path left,"
"You want it? Then I have conditions!"
"Gladiator battles—earn the reward through combat?"
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