I thought as I lifted her up and tossed her Into the almost full bathtub, Immediately I could see her rapidly rising temperature start dropping in my blue HUD view.
Once the bathtub was full, I turned off the water tap, and for a moment I considered my further actions.
I needed money, a lot of It but I couldn't leave Hope's side because there was no way to know how her body would react to the serums.
"Tch! You know you could have appeared a few minutes later, after I decapitated myself"
I couldn't help but complain as I took off my sunglasses, Inserted my right hand's fingers Into my left eye socket, and yanked It out while ordering my AI to suppress biomechanical cells from healing my barely bleeding eye socket.
"Here problem solved"
I muttered as I placed my eye which was still transmitting Its view of Hope like a camera directly to my brain on the marble table.
After that, I took off my bandana mask and wrapped It around my empty eye socket while exiting the bathroom and our room which I made sure to lock.
As I climbed down the stairs I couldn't help but overhear a few patrons who looked the part of battle-hardened warriors brag about the fighting matches they won In the collisium.
"I lost my left arm In a fight to the death against a bonebane although I was left with only one arm It was f*cking worth It!"
A tall and burly Merc bragged while cupping a feel of scantly clad women's b*easts while holding his irradiated beer in his robotic arm.
"Oh my you're so brave, say why don't we head upstairs and you show me that sword of yours"
The woman purred into the man's damaged ear as she started caressing the man's c*otch, hearing this the man's face reddened.
"Cough*cough*, that I'm afraid I spent all the money on my new arm already"
The man muttered embarrassingly as he did the p*ostitute's demeanor immediately changed.
She stood up and left without a word, only to jump onto another man's lap the next second.
Seeing this the man's colleagues with a woman on their laps each burst out laughing.
"Hahaha"
"Oh shut It you f*cks, you're as poor as me!"
The man barked causing the men to Immediately shut up as the two women started Interrogating their patrons.
In the end, they also left after realizing they also couldn't buy their time and we're only freeloading.
Seeing this I sat down next to the first man, and as I did the pissed-off mercs directed their anger towards me.
"What the f*ck do you want pretty boy?!"
Hearing this I couldn't help but look at the man as If he was an Idiot.
"You do realize that I have more scars than all of you combined right?"
I asked.
"Old Lu the big lad Is right"
Finally one of them admitted, causing me to facepalm, It seems like their brains have been eroded by radiation at this point or they are just f*cking Idiots.
"Alright big lad, you got more scars happy so bugger off already were trying to have a drink here"
Old Lu said as he took a sip of his beer.
"Do you want to get rich?"
I asked as I did the men's attention got piqued.
"Were listening"
One of the men with ear implants said as he leaned forward so that he could hear me better because the b*othels music was making It hard for him to understand my words correctly.
"Your friend over here mentioned death matches in the coliseum, so I'm 99 percent positive that you can bet on those matches right?"
I asked while pointing with my gloved thumb at old Lu.
"Yep there are official and nonofficial gambling options to choose from"
Ol Lu said.
"Good so here's the plan bet everything on me, In turn, I want 90 percent"
I sad as I did the men burst out with laughter.
"HAHAHA, you're big and well built but against a bonebane you're no better than us, old Lu over here only won because he was fighting a crippled youngling because of the previous matches"
One of the men said while pointing at old Lu whose face became red as a tomato.
"Hey, It's still a bonebane alright"
The man defended himself.
"Are you familiar with cosmic marines?"
I asked after sighing.
"Huh as In the Infamous UNOEs buggymen who were every soldier's worst nightmare during the great war?"
One of the men asked.
"Yeah those guys and I'm one of them"
I said as I pulled out old Lu's combat knife so fast that before their brains reacted I placed my hand on the table and drove the knife into my hand.
"Believe me now?"
I asked as I showed them my hand whose wound coagulated Itself in seconds leaving a fresh scab after I pulled out the chipped and mangled knife.
"For f*cks sake what are you made of?! I just bought this a week ago!"
Old Lu practically cried after seeing his combat knife which was now no better than scrap metal while the other two men exchanged glances.
"W... whats your limit?"
One of the men asked after swallowing a gulp of saliva.
"That depends on the coliseums rules"
I answered as I leaned Into the leather couch.
"No hot weapons, only cold ones and If you can afford It you can fight in battle armor and exoskeleton armor and everything else''
After hearing this I started considering my power level without my power armor and weaponry.
"How high up the hierarchy is a death knight?''
I asked.
"Pretty high, he Is the king In human sized category"
Old Lu answered.
"When I can take down a death knight"
I answered as I did all three sucked In a breath of cold air.
"60 percent"
"85"
"70"
"80"
"75"
"Deal''
We quickly agreed on the percentage of earnings that would go Into my pocket.
"So then Is the next match?"
I asked as I couldn't help but feel excited subconsciously at seeing what this post-apocalyptic world had to offer.
"It's today In a few hours"
Old Lu said as he did I stood up.
"When what we're waiting for let's go get rich"
I said promoting the burly middle-aged men with weathered faces who based on their smell hadn't taken a bath for a year or so to also stand up.
"Let's go!"
"I'll lead the way!"
"We're going be f*cking rich!"
The exited men roared as we stormed out from the b*othel and beelined straight to the coliseum which was actually just a pre-war factory turned Into a giant fighting ring.
The journey to the coliseum was filled with excitement and anticipation.
We arrived at the massive, abandoned factory compound that had been transformed into the battleground for the deathmatch.
The exterior was adorned with crude neon signs and flickering holographic advertisements for upcoming fights.
The entrance was crowded with spectators, mercenaries, and fighters, all eager to witness or participate in the brutal contests.
The atmosphere was charged with an air of frenzied excitement.
We pushed our way through the bustling crowd to reach the registration booth.
A surly-looking man with a cybernetic eye and a robotic arm manned the booth.
He eyed us suspiciously, taking note of our ragtag group of fighters.
"We're here to register for the next deathmatch,"
Old Lu said, placing a bag of low-grade energy crystals on the counter.
The man's mechanical eye scanned the contents, and his robotic arm scooped up the crystals.
"Whos fighting?"
He grumbled.
"He Is and were betting everything on him"
Ols Lu said while pointing at me as he placed two more leather pouches on the counter.
"Name?"
"Dracula Von Death"