Two minutes later, the man was defeated. His score unchanged.

Shen Mo’s score was now 4.

Twenty-six points to go before reaching the passing score of 30.

Tan Xiao and Su Man assumed there’d be a moment’s respite — but without even a minute’s pause, another challenger walked out from the audience seats.

Tan Xiao clicked his tongue. “This is brutal. They’re running a gauntlet on him…”

Su Man analyzed: “They figure Mo-ge has fought three straight rounds, so his stamina must be badly depleted. This is the best—”

“Best opportunity to score!” Tan Xiao finished her sentence for her. “Alright, I get it — stop saying it.”

Su Man: “……”

……

The player who came up this time was knocked out by Shen Mo in under three minutes.

After that, challengers kept stepping up one by one, but every single one was taken down by Shen Mo within a few minutes.

Of course, part of that was Shen Mo’s skill — but the more significant reason was that every challenger who came up was testing the waters. None of them was fighting at full strength.

At zero points, losing a match cost nothing. So why risk going all out against Shen Mo?

Going all out had a real downside: win and earn 1 point, but also drain yourself enormously and possibly take injuries, then lose to the next challenger and lose all those points! All that effort for nothing!

Better to pace yourself~

The dynamics on the brawl stage gradually shifted into a war of attrition centered on Shen Mo.

Points accumulated, but these twenty-odd players showed no sign of backing down.

They came from different countries, had different skin tones — yet they were strikingly unified in this one thing: outlast him!

Like a pack of wolves facing a lone lion: one bite here, one bite there — however fearless the lion, however ferocious, sustained attacks would eventually drain even the mightiest beast until it collapsed!

Except……

They didn’t know where Shen Mo’s limit actually was.

Without anyone noticing, another seven or eight brawls had passed. Shen Mo’s score had risen to 13.

Within 10 points, a player who lost dropped 1 point.

Between 10 and 19 points, a player who lost dropped 5 points.

In other words — whoever beat Shen Mo now would earn 5 points in one shot!

This made the wolves even more reluctant to let go of the bone. Some who had already fought once came back for a second round, barely able to contain their eagerness.

The mentality was always: he’s fought over ten rounds now — surely he’s tired? He must be at his limit? Surely this is the moment?

And yet — they lost again.

Shen Mo still stood on the brawl stage, his expression unchanged, composed and unhurried. He had removed Jefferson’s hook and made it his own — now the most effective weapon on the stage.

Someone in the audience couldn’t hold back: “Is this guy using some kind of special item? How is he still standing?”

“No, he’s exhausted,” a person beside them said. “Haven’t you noticed? At first it took him a minute to beat someone — then two minutes, then three… The last one took a full seven minutes! He’s past his limit. He’s just forcing himself to keep going — making a show of ease to deceive everyone!”

A man with a thick mustache stood up, restless and unconvinced: “I’ll go up again and try!”

“You’re going back? You’ve already lost twice!”

“Maybe this time I win! 5 points — who doesn’t want that?!” The mustachioed man strode toward the stage.

From the back row of the audience, a low, heavy laugh rang out.

Everyone turned toward the sound.

In the back row lay a heavily built Russian man — somewhere around forty, with an unkempt beard and both legs casually crossed and propped up on the back of the seat in front of him, his big leather boots emanating a pungent odor.

This man had been lounging in the back row sleeping since the game began. He had not participated in a single brawl.

Someone called out to him: “Hey! Big Beard — what are you laughing at?!”

“Laughing at you idiots…” Big Beard cast a lazy glance at the stage and said, “Just wait. You’ll all lose anyway.”