The information that Zhou Heng could gather over the past few years was certainly limited. He needed to look for the truth between the rumors he directly or indirectly heard from the craftsmen and businessmen of the Ram District.
It's not like the groups of the Rat District were an important secret, but the people he could interact with weren't too familiar with them.
The ones that provided the best information were two kinds; the workforce that lived in the Rat and worked on the Ram; and the unofficial guards that charge a 'protection fee' and had the habit to brag about their backing.
The first one had much information, but only about small groups, and is not like Zhou Heng is very arrogant to the point of disdaining those kinds of forces, what he needed is ambition, not arrogance.
Those small groups didn't have the 'resources' he wanted, so he didn't plan to approach them, though, he didn't stop gathering information about them, after all, with the system that could help him with information storage maybe in the future it could be useful.
The most notable piece of information that he got was from a thug protecting a bakery a street away from the place the trio of the orphanage worked.
The thug was a middle-aged man, with a rough appearance, and a stern face with scars that deterred many with malicious thoughts. His most notable characteristic, however, was that he had one arm missing.
After seeing him for the first time, Zhou Heng thought that he could collect some info from both the Bear and the Rat District, and he was right, the man that never revealed his name was an ex-soldier from the Bear District.
Using the naivety of a child, Zhou Heng led the man to talk about part of his past. Zhou Heng learned from him about how the people that could truly be called knights in the Bear district were pitifully small, most of the forces were just soldiers that protected the city and followed orders from a typical military hierarchy.
Knights were at the top of the hierarchy, but it wasn't like a knight was a man from principles or a title that came from righteous achievements, they also weren't designated by the nobles.
They were the elite, the most capable soldiers, with exceptional skills in combat, survival, and reconnaissance. A knight alone could take dozens of enemies.
At this point, Zhou Heng was confused, by the little he had lived in Ariethis City he hasn't seen anything that could be called 'supernatural', he believes that a man can take in a fight, tens of enemies, but he needs to use more the brain that the body.
But he also knows that in this world fire weapons already exist, so how a knight can be so valuable when there is a weapon that can end his life even in the hands of a child? He didn't look down on them, but for him, a capable captain that led tens of armed soldiers was more important than an individual exceptional soldier.
If the knights were only a simple group of elites it will be okay for him, but listening to the thug, he learned that knights were above some commanders and only generals could ignore them, for this reason, Zhou Heng had an extreme interest in meeting with a knight and see what kind of monster they were.
After talking about the Bear district, the man didn't want to talk too much about how he left that life, so he focused more on his new life in the Rat district, more specifically in what he called the 'Den'.
Most of the 'High-leveled' groups in the rat district had either a place or a figure backing them, they were either named hounds of the nobles or the members of a recognized place.
The Den was like that, the location was unknown to Zhou Heng until today, it is even said that there is more than one Den around the Rat district, they were a group that focused mainly on gambles, pit fights, and 'protection' projects.
To the thug, it was the 'Best place for a man that only knows how to use strength', he even admitted that he lost his arm in the Den and not in his years of service.
Little did he know, that the words he said that day about the Den, would be the foundation for Zhou Heng's plans.
The system wanted Zhou Heng to kill the hero with his own hands, so the Den was the best place for Zhou Heng to learn how to do it.
Looking at the arena in front of him, Zhou Heng was dumbstruck, his mind was truly impressed by the one that built it, it wasn't small, twenty men could fight in it without having any space problems.
And if the arena wasn't already big enough, the viewer space was twice the size. Could it be that in Bausmat the word 'quake' didn't exist? This was a subterranean arena, how many buildings were above it? and if isn't the only one in the district...
''It's too big...'' Zhou Heng muttered with wide eyes.
''I'll be shy if you say something like that.'' Anthony said with an embarrassed expression, ''Rascal, even my wife doesn't say things like that to me...''
Zhou Heng's face darkened, but he recovered quickly and began observing the arena more.
The place was built with concrete and was supported by columns. The arena was covered with sand without any obstacles and had some fences to separate it from the surroundings. It didn't have chairs for the 'public', and Zhou Heng could even see some stalls for bets and drinks.
''How was this built?'' Zhou Heng voiced his doubts.
''Hmm... What to tell you, the waters in Ariethis are deeper than you can imagine little guy.'' With a small grin, Anthony said.
''Still, you said that you wanted revenge, but you were referring to theft, in my opinion, this place is more suitable for a business like yours.'' Anthony lost his eternal smile, narrowed his eyes, and looked deeply at Zhou Heng.
He was playful and lazy, liked interesting things that broke the monotony, but he wasn't stupid, the kid came saying that he wanted strength to take revenge, but took an approach of theft, but that was just a side job for his group, it was a coincidence or he came knowing that this place existed?
Zhou Heng also took his gaze from the arena and looked at the tall man, just a few seconds were enough for his back to be covered with cold sweat, the feeling this man give was as scary as when Bern threw the knife at him.
''Hehe, don't worry, I'm not the type to care about these kinds of things.'' Giving a wide smile Anthony broke eye contact and started walking toward a passage at the side of the stall for bets, ''Follow, follow, this kind man.''
Zhou Heng gulped and started following. They weren't the only ones here, some people of all ages were around.
Smoking, drinking, cleaning, organizing the stalls, like a business place after work. Zhou Heng could see some children of his age cleaning parts of the arena that were wet, he could also see blood in the sand and fences.
''Ah, that? Well, last night was pretty chill, not exciting enough, we had the luxury of cleaning today for the lack of marks the participants left.'' Anthony said when he noticed Zhou Heng looking at the dirty sand, ''In the future, you will also help with the maintenance, everyone has to contribute so we could be a happy family.''
After arriving at the passage, Zhou Heng could see that it was a corridor with four doors, two on each side. Anthony led him toward the farthest of the right and entered without hesitation.
The room looked similar to the dormitory of the orphanage with four small beds, the room wasn't small but it also wasn't big, only the four beds already consumed 70% of the space.
''You will stay here. If my memory doesn't fail, only three brats were staying here. If I'm mistaken then...'' With encouraging thumbs Anthony looked at Zhou Heng, ''Gain your bed.''
''For responsibilities... Someone will naturally come and assign them to every cub staying here.'' Anthony continued, ''As for the rest of the time, you are free, if you want to learn something, you have to take the initiative and ask around, I'm free most of the time, but I don't always stay in this place, so if you see me, take the chance'' Anthony winked.
''For advice... the woman with red hair that you saw earlier likes to take care of children so you can approach her for many things.'' Anthony scratched his cheek with a look that say 'I don't know what else to tell ya'
Zhou Heng listened carefully and asked, ''The arena...?''
"Hmm? Ah, you will see action in the night every few days, and remember only 'see', no matter what, no one here enjoys seeing brats trashing each other, we are not that twisted, wait a few years.'' Anthony said with a 'stern' expression.
''Well, that's everything, there are a lot of different people around, many are experts of different arts and many are just wastes, what you do is your business, just don't disturb other people unnecessary and everything will go bingo.'' Anthony patted Zhou Heng's head and went outside the room, ''Ah, a last piece of advice, be careful with a man with white gloves and glasses.''
Anthony said the last line with a dark grin as if hinting at him to pay attention to the unknown man, after that he left without looking back.
Zhou Heng breathed deeply and looked at the room, he was certain that even the 'little' boss, Bern wasn't as scary as Anthony, but it wasn't his business, he was grateful and wary at the same time.
Shaking his head he went to the end of the room and found that every bed had small things under them or at the side, like belongings of an occupant.
Just at this moment, four kids entered the room and looked warily at Zhou Heng.
''Who are you!? What are you doing here!?'' The leading yelled.
''...'' Zhou Heng's lips twitched and cursed inwardly at Anthony.
It seems that his 'memory' really failed.