Douluo: The Adventures of King Skin

You are such a charming man, no matter where you are, you are like a firefly in the dark, so bright and outstanding.

——Sanqiao

In June in the Mediterranean, the sky is clear and cloudy, the sun is warm, and occasionally a cool sea breeze blows through the dry mountains.

The Peloponnese is like a big basket hanging below the Balkans, and the ancient city-state of Elis is located to the northwest of the basket.Not far outside the city, there is a series of temple buildings, which will be the venue for the famous Olympic Games in later generations.

The valley on the north side is buzzing with people. The five-day Olympic Games has reached its final closing ceremony, and it is also the long-held finale event.

——Armed race!

The so-called "armed race" is a long-term reservation of sports games in the Greek world where citizen soldiers are implemented.

Sports meets in different places have different rules.Not only does the distance vary, some areas focus on arming, and athletes need to be armed with full sets of armor and large shields and spears; some areas focus on racing and only require helmets and large shields.

The rules of the Olympic Games are relatively simple, as long as you hold a large shield and run 392 meters back and forth.

The stepped auditorium is surrounded by the track on three sides and is bustling with dignitaries from various city-states and regions throughout the Hellenistic world. Commoners, freedmen and other non-status people are crowded on the slopes without seats.

In the center of the audience's sight is the starting line of the track, the 20-yuan starting stone with grooves carved into it; and 196 meters away, facing the open space of Mount Crinos in the north, stand 20 stone pillars, which are so-called In the "return post", the athlete will return around the post and run back to the starting point.

Since the rule is "just take shields," the audience was lucky enough to witness 20 naked athletes holding bronze shields, entering the venue under the guidance of the girl priest, and lining up at the starting point.

A weight-bearing run of less than 400 meters can be completed in one or two minutes.

But the game was in no hurry to start. The priest first distributed a few clay pots, and then 20 young, strong and naked athletes began to apply olive oil to each other.

In Greece, athletes oiling their bodies is a very high-level way of cleansing and a sacred ritual.

As the fingers intertwined with the flesh, the plump and lively muscles gradually became shiny. While the audience was feasting their eyes, something disharmonious happened.

There was an athlete who, for some unknown reason, stood there alone, neither anointing others nor letting others anoint him.It was obviously a game with only a large shield, but this guy also wore a Corinthian helmet.

Because he was wearing a helmet, the audience didn't know which city-state he was from. They only knew that he was definitely not a player from their own city-state.And looking at his figure, which is much slender and not tall compared to other players, is he still a child?

Generally, the athletes participating in the Olympic Games are young people. Since the competition only occurs once every four years, there must be many underage athletes.

But this person on the court is too young. His hair is not fully grown in the real sense. Looking at it like this, he is probably not even 16 years old, right?

The audience was talking a lot, and then they saw the helmeted guy starting to greet the female priest.Then the priestess hesitated for a moment and then began to anoint him.

???

He actually asked a woman to anoint him with oil? !

The audience burst into dissatisfied boos!

"Isn't it a foul if athletes don't anoint each other? This is definitely a foul! Which city-state is this barbarian?" Athenian scholars expressed serious concern.

"Who is this **? You ** are wearing a helmet, who is this coward? **He came to *** before he **, he is simply a ******" Spartan envoy I can't help but spit out the fragrance.

"Alas! Today's young people are really shameless. I think back in the Holy Order, the warriors anointed each other every day. It's a pity that we can't go back..." The Thebes exile sighed.

"Haha, he's so small, and he asked a woman to anoint him. I'm afraid he hasn't been weaned yet, and he's numb..." The Syracuse nobleman began to feel strange.

"rnmtq!!!" the Macedonian veteran called.

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The noise in the auditorium was transmitted through the bronze helmet, and when it reached his ears, there was only an empty noise.

Turning a deaf ear to the noise in his ears, he took a big breath and concentrated on brewing a violent emotion - he was really good at this - so adrenaline gradually filled his body, his heart rate increased, and his blood flow accelerated. He could feel his muscles trembling, Starting to heat up due to accumulated energy...

He did not use all his strength to get ahead like other players from the beginning, but tried his best to drive his legs to maintain the rhythm of training.

He raised the shield in his left hand forward, breaking through the whistling air in front, making a metallic roar; although the Corinthian helmet on his head was heavy, it helped him maintain his center of gravity...

Between exhalation and inhalation, time also slowed down, and he could feel his heart pumping blood like a heavy wave, like an ocean current carrying heat throughout his body.

The muscles in his legs from the heels to the buttocks contracted in turn, fighting against gravity and inertia. It was almost impossible to tell whether he was stepping on the ground to move forward, or driving the earth backward.

This is an experience of omnipotence, and there is nothing more so-called talent than this.

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As soon as the competition started, the athletes on the track were divided into two echelons, the front and rear. The mysterious athlete wearing a helmet only followed closely in the first echelon, and his position was even a little behind.

When the first echelon reached the turnaround point, the players extended their right hands to the stone pillars to slow down.

The sand-covered field was struck by 40 pairs of feet, causing dust to rise into the sky. There were shadows under the stone pillars for a while, and the audience couldn't help but stand up and look out.

I saw a ball of fiery red rushing out first.

That's the red feather on the helmet, it's the little man with the helmet!Several other players following him were only half a body behind him.

The whole stadium was in an uproar for a while. Although he only had half a body position advantage, as long as he maintained this half body position, that helmet boy could win?

What happened next made the viewers collectively lose their voices. The gap between the helmet guy and the competitors was getting wider!

Is it because other players are losing physical strength?Or are helmet players starting to pick up speed?The people in the audience were unknown.

I saw that he always maintained a balanced and powerful pace. There seemed to be endless energy in his body. With an indomitable momentum, he left his opponents and flying dust behind. Only the fiery red feathers moved forward with him... …

As he gets closer and closer to the finish line, the gap between him and other contestants becomes wider and wider!

The ridicules and insults broke in his throat, and the meaningless heckles began to be incoherent.There were many previous contestants on the field, but he ran so fast, faster than the previous champions!

The audience has realized that he will be the champion of the armed race, the champion of the entire Greek world!

People kept praising him and cheering loudly for him!

Finally, when he returned to the starting point, he was greeted with cheers. This arrogant young man won the championship!

Amidst the smoke and dust, the champion raised his heavy bronze shield at the finish line, and the bright red ostrich feathers on his helmet fluttered in the breeze.

Olive oil mixed with sweat dripped down, and the young and muscular body shone in the scorching sun, just like a demigod hero hundreds of years ago declaring victory...

The frenzied crowd swarmed forward, lifted the champion high, and carried him to the altar where the awards were presented.

The Olympic Games itself is part of the Olympic ritual. In the eyes of the ancient Greeks, the winning athletes were the darlings of the gods, and many people regarded the winners as objects of worship.

As a result, many people tried to push their way to the front and touch the winner's olive-oiled body.

Those who had wiped it raised their hands and were delighted, while those who had not wiped it were trying their best to push forward...

Passing through the door arches and corridors, a huge flow of people lifted him up to the altar burning with the sacred fire.

Various spices were put into the altar of the holy fire on the altar, and the blue smoke carried a strange fragrance.The officiating virgin is already waiting there to crown the winners of the various competitions with olive branch crowns.

It was then that the mysterious champion, finally free from the crowd, had a chance to untie his chin strap.

He took off his helmet, revealing a head of conspicuous red hair.

Ladies and gentlemen, red hair, regardless of Two-dimensionality, is a SSSR-level rarity in the entire world, but it is actually not particularly conspicuous when seen in daily life.

It is said that you have red hair, but in fact it is often not particularly red. In fact, it is just a "carrot color"

——Just like carrots, everyone generally defaults to red, but a little yellow, a little brown, and a little green are all good carrots.Unless...

Unless you have long, flowing Raditz-style hair like this naughty young man, who oils it at night, waxes it during the day, and maintains it carefully, then it will be red and long, and it will look like black hair, brown hair, short hair, or curly hair. Mao’s Greek world is far above average!

The crowd was shocked by the high fashion value of 1500.Then someone immediately recognized him based on this rare feature:

"He is Pyrrhus! Pyrrhus, the commander of Epirus!"

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Who is Pyrrhus?

The name Pyrrhus means "Fire-haired One".

(Speaking of which, the color of the flame is not simply red, but I won’t repeat the water here.)

Legend has it that Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, the hero of the ancient expedition to Troy, also had red hair, and his nickname was "Pyrrhus".

This Neoptolemus came to Epirus to conquer the world after the Trojan War, "overcoming obstacles and being on the verge of death from all directions." His successors are called the Pyrrhic lineage, and this land far away from the center of Greece is also The cult of Achilles was established.

Although, the region of Epirus is located on the west coast of the Balkans, far away from centers of civilization such as Athens and Corinth. According to modern Greece, half of the country's borders are already abroad.

Moreover, this place is culturally barbaric and backward, and it was only very late that it began to consciously learn the customs and knowledge of the advanced areas of Greece; there is no navigation tradition, and even settlement was only a few decades ago; diplomatically, it has been a foreign country for a long time in Greek history. It’s soy sauce; the system is a tribal alliance plus an autocratic monarchy, which can be said to be incompatible with the Greek city-states.

Only Dodona in Epirus was once a well-known religious center, but that was already hundreds of years ago, and now it is completely incomparable with places like Delphi, Athens, and Ephesus.

If Greece is a circle, Epirus has one foot outside the circle.

In the past, most Greeks would have never even heard of this place name.

However, less than 20 years after the death of Alexander the Great, the Macedonians still have the final say in Greece.And Epirus, which has long-term ties with Macedonia, is a tribal alliance that was originally on the edge of the Greek world and is also quite well-known.

After all, Yadi's mother Olympias came from the royal family of Epirus. In the second war of the successors a few years ago, she used her natal family as a base and fought back and forth with Cassander...

So as soon as this young man took off his helmet, someone immediately recognized him.

Descendants of Aspidus.

Commander-in-Chief of the Epirus Alliance.

Basileus of Molossia.

Pyrrhus.

It's true and true, and it's guaranteed to be as good as fake.

There are red hairs as proof.

After his identity was revealed, there was a moment of silence in the audience.