Behind-the-scenes deal

At that moment, Kitano Yama and his bodyguard were not the only people in the private room.

Another woman was seated there.

She was dressed in black, with regular features and a pair of beautiful, long legs. She exuded an air of cool elegance.

Hearing Kitano Yama speak, the woman known as Boss Suzuki turned and gave him a slight nod.

"I'm very interested in the subspace technology this Explosive Bomb Fist has. So I'm determined to get his corpse."

Kitano Yama smiled in agreement. "If you want it, Boss, of course I have to get it for you."

After all, the woman before him was Suzuki Wan, the heiress of the Suzuki Consortium, one of the three great consortiums.

Only then did Suzuki Wan smile at his flattery.

"Don't worry, you won't lose out. I'll cede three gold mines to you. That should be enough to keep your North Wind fed for years."

The Suzuki Consortium was vast and wealthy, in a completely different league from the North Wind Consortium.

Even a few scraps from Suzuki would be enough to fill the North Wind Consortium's coffers.

Kitano Yama's smile broadened. Then he saw Suzuki Wan stand and walk over to the window.

She watched Xia Lin's retreating figure as he entered the fighters' passage, listening to the crowd chant "Explosive Bomb Fist." A faint smile curled her lips.

"Actually, this man is pretty interesting... I mean his fighting style. It's interesting, isn't it?"

"Listen, Xiao Shan. The whole crowd is shouting his nickname. After just two Savage Martial Arena matches, he's already famous, an extremely popular fighter in the low-level Savage Martial Arena."

Kitano Yama nodded in agreement.

"That he is."

Xia Lin's wild arrogance and his fresh, eye-catching fighting style had brought him enormous traffic and attention.

After just two Savage Martial Arena matches, the name Explosive Bomb Fist was known to everyone.

"What a pity..." Kitano Yama sighed softly.

It was a pity that the man had subspace technology from Huaxin's side, and that Suzuki Wan had taken an interest in him because of it.

And compared with the traffic a low-level Fierce Martial Arts fighter could bring, currying favor with the Suzuki Consortium was obviously more important.

"There's nothing to regret," Suzuki Wan said, smiling and shaking her head.

The image of that flower-like beautiful young man came to mind, and her gaze slowly grew heavy.

"Let's do this. I'll add one more condition."

"For his next match, three days from now, have this Explosive Bomb Fist fight my Flower Swordsman."

"We'll decide the outcome beforehand. Flower Swordsman wins, and he dies."

Kitano Yama was taken aback, realizing what Suzuki Wan was doing.

She wanted to use Xia Lin, a highly popular fighter, as a stepping stone to build a path to fame for the Fierce Martial Arts fighter under her command!

He wondered who this Flower Swordsman was...

Kitano Yama muttered to himself, but outwardly he nodded repeatedly.

"No problem at all."

Fierce Martial City had the same hallmarks of the traffic era.

People eagerly chased whatever was trending.

And Explosive Bomb Fist was undoubtedly one of Fierce Martial City's recent hot topics.

Subspace technology, missiles used against opponents.

It sounded bizarre and looked even more bizarre, but that was exactly why it was a hot topic and drew even more attention.

And with Explosive Bomb Fist taking the stage every three days, Xia Lin kept a firm grip on that attention.

On the day after his second Savage Martial Arena match, Xia Lin's next opponent was dug up, and the news quickly spread with a push from certain people.

A Fierce Martial Arts fighter named Flower Burial, nicknamed Flower Swordsman, appeared out of nowhere and came into the public eye.

A news portal had a photo of Flower Burial.

Looking at the young man before him, Duan Jun found himself somewhat captivated by his breathtaking beauty, even though he was a man himself.

He was 1.8 meters tall, with a slender yet strikingly beautiful figure and features so delicate that it was hard to tell his gender. In the photo, Flower Burial wore snow-white training robes and held a longsword, looking like an immortal descended to the mortal world.

"What a face. What a truly handsome face."

Duan Jun spoke with admiration, only to hear Yang Dehai's voice beside him.

"What you've been waiting for is about to happen."

Duan Jun turned to Yang Dehai in confusion. "Uncle, you mean..."

Yang Dehai shrugged. "Xia Lin. Explosive Bomb Fist."

"I've seen you following news about him every day lately. It's obvious you haven't completely let go of what happened that day."

As he spoke, Yang Dehai pointed at Duan Jun's computer screen. "Well, here it is now, isn't it?"

Duan Jun still didn't quite understand what Yang Dehai meant. Shaking his head and calling him a blockhead, Yang Dehai pointed to a line in Flower Burial's introduction.

"He belongs to the Suzuki Martial Arts School. He's one of the Suzuki Consortium's people."

Duan Jun's brow slowly furrowed as he realized something.

"Now look at this."

Yang Dehai tossed the Economic Times in front of Duan Jun.

Newspapers were a medium for spreading information that had already been phased out.

But the thing was, many fairly important matters weren't put online, or received no attention there, yet were recorded in print media.

There, in a section tucked away in a corner, was an inconspicuous line.

[The Suzuki Consortium ceded its shares in three major mining areas, selling them to Kitano Yama of the North Wind Consortium at an extremely low price.]

This time, even the densest person could understand what Yang Dehai meant.

Duan Jun sucked in a breath, remembering his conversation with Xia Lin and Yang Dehai that day.

Just then, Yang Dehai spoke again. There was something slightly unusual in his tone, but Duan Jun didn't notice it.

"In the next Savage Martial Arena match, Xia Lin will die. If he doesn't die, he'll be crippled."

"He's become the sacrifice in this behind-the-scenes deal."

"Just as I said, winning or losing in the arena has nothing to do with how well he can fight. Compared to a consortium, he's just a nobody, just one of the countless masses."

"The law can't punish him, but a consortium can."

Duan Jun looked back at Yang Dehai, only to find a trace of sorrow on his face.

Duan Jun didn't understand why Yang Dehai felt that way. He merely said, "That Xia Lin doesn't seem like the obedient type..."

"Threats, drugs, guns, physical restraint... You don't think North Wind has no way to deal with him, do you?"

"There are far too many ways."

Yang Dehai had just finished speaking when he saw Duan Jun spring to his feet, snatch the car keys off the table, and stride out the door.

Yang Dehai froze, then shook his head with a bitter smile.

In a voice only he could hear, he said slowly, "It's meaningless."

Under the Iron Curtain, no one could control their own fate.

Night was falling.

Xia Lin finished his day's training, left the North Wind Martial Arts School, and climbed into the luxury car driven by the butler.

"Time to go home and eat."

His expression was relaxed, his tone flippant.

But before the butler could start the car, a police car cut in front of them.

The police car door opened, and someone Xia Lin recognized, but hadn't expected to see, stepped out.

It was Duan Jun.

He walked up to the car just as Xia Lin rolled down the window and grinned at him.

"Hi, kid cop... What is it? Here to arrest me and bring me to justice again?"

His smile and tone were so exaggerated that they made Duan Jun a little uncomfortable.

Yet looking at that handsome face with its exaggerated smile, Duan Jun couldn't muster even the slightest bit of anger, though he didn't know why.

Duan Jun took a deep breath and spoke.

"You, get out of the car. I have some questions for you."

As he spoke, Duan Jun looked at the butler in the front seat.

"It's about some details from the last case."

The smile slowly disappeared from Xia Lin's face.

He thought it over seriously for a moment, then nodded gently.

"All right."

He opened the door and got out of the car.