The Knight's Tradition

Outside the locker room, there were cheers, shouts, and the unique bugle call of the boxing ring.

Two rows of buglers stood beside the boxing ring, each holding a huge horn in front of them. When the boxing match was about to begin, they would slowly blow the horns.

The melodious and weathered voice rose from a low crescendo to a resounding boom, accompanied by the oxygen supplied through the ventilation ducts, lifting the emotions of all the audience members from the depths of despair to the heights of elation.

The entire gleaming venue was filled with the smells of tobacco, sweat, and hormones.

A tuxedo-clad emcee stood inside the Octagon Cage, microphone in hand, smiling broadly as she looked around, "Ladies and gentlemen!"

"After 4 months and 10 days, a new fighter will be joining the Octagon Cage in Fourth District of City No. 18. Tonight, he will climb the ladder from bantamweight."

"Do you all remember that a year ago, King of Fighters Afan Octagon Cage on a night just like this?"

"Of course, four months ago, a similarly talented newcomer also died in the Octagon Cage."

"Every time a newcomer appears, their performance is something we can look forward to..."

In the cramped changing room, Qing Chen looked at Li Shutong: "Master, you only said you were bringing me here to see things, but you didn't say beforehand that I was going to get beaten up. Isn't that a bit hasty?"

Ordinary boxers can only use simple locker rooms; only those who reach the Tigerweight and above can have their own private locker room.

But the locker room wasn't really that important to Qing Chen, because he hadn't even brought any clothes to change into...

That was too hasty.

Li Shutong said slowly, "When I first stepped into the boxing ring, I wasn't prepared at all, and both your senior uncle and I went through a beating process. It's normal! A knight must be fearless in the face of any difficulty!"

Qing Chen looked at Li Shutong suspiciously. "Master, you can't bring yourself to do it, so you want to see someone else beat me up, right?"

Li Shutong thought for a moment and said, "What's wrong with thinking that way? Your second master thought the same thing when he took me into the boxing ring!"

"I understand now, so this is still a knightly tradition," Qing Chen said.

Judging from the appearance, the one who sent Li Shutong to the boxing ring was the one who had just passed away in the Forbidden Zone No. 002, before the rules were established.

The other party must have been so annoyed with Li Shutong and Chen Jiazhang that they sent them up to get beaten up.

Qing Chen knew his own limitations very well. Not to mention that he didn't have much practical experience, just considering the abilities of superhumans, the Knight lineage was at a great disadvantage in the boxing ring.

I can't use the Autumn Leaf Blade!

Moreover, Qing Chen also knew the rules. On the first night of his ranking match, he had to fight his way up from bantamweight to Tigerweight. After exhausting himself to reach Tigerweight, he would still have to face a real E-Class expert.

How could he not get beaten up?

Li Shutong asked, "Besides the boxing ring, is there any other place in this world where you can cultivate real combat experience without any worries? Even the sparring intensity in the Federal Army is not as high as here."

Qing Chen was also pondering that real combat requires ample experience; a sense of distance and rhythm are intuitions that can only be mastered through long-term sparring.

Seeing that his apprentice was somewhat interested, he continued, "Think about it, E-Class superhumans aren't exactly common anymore. In the Federal Army, only captains are qualified to apply for this level of gene serum, and not everyone is willing to get injected. If you want to find someone of the same level to practice with, even if you're willing to fight them, they might not be willing to fight you."

"And think about it, you have to spend money to hire someone to train outside, but you can make money training here! Once you reach the middleweight level or above, you get a share of the betting pool for every fight, win or lose! There are also appearance fees!" Li Shutong said.

"Okay, I'll call," Qing Chen said.

Li Shutong lamented, "If I had known earlier that I should have just asked for money, I wouldn't have wasted my breath arguing with you."

"By the way," Qing Chen asked curiously, "Master, aren't you going to place some bets on me winning?"

"I won't buy it," Li Shutong said with a smile.

Qing Chen was completely dumbfounded. "Master, are you so sure I can't win tonight that you don't want to lose money? You're just sending me up there to get beaten up!"

Li Shutong patiently said, "I don't think that way. I just think gambling is bad."

As he spoke, Li Shutong took off his coat and put it inside out. The coat was actually two-in-one, and the inner layer was no longer pure white, but pure gray.

"Master, why do you wear your clothes inside out?" Qing Chen, puzzled.

You'll find out soon enough.

"Master, do you think I can win tonight?" Qing Chen asked.

Li Shutong thought for a moment and said, "Actually, once you reach the Tigerweight, your opponents will already be true E-Class gene warriors, so it won't be easy to win after several battles. If you want to win, you still need an opportunity."

Qing Chen's face darkened; another opportunity was missing.

Last time, when his master said he was just one opportunity away from being realized, he deliberately created conditions for a C-Class expert to hunt him down.

"But Master, shouldn't I be wearing a mouthguard or something? And where are my boxing gloves?" Qing Chen asked.

"The rules of underground boxing have changed a long time ago. No mouthguards, no gloves, it's more exciting now," Li Shutong said.

The cheers outside the locker room grew louder and louder, and someone banged on the alloy gate. "Boxer, please come up to the stage!"

However, at that moment, Li Shutong's phone suddenly rang. He took it out, glanced at it, and said, "After we left, that little girl Yang Yang returned to the Luoshen Building. It seems she plans to live across the street."

"Is this another gossip session with you?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled.

"Yes," Li Shutong nodded.

Qing Chen was confused at the time. So, would real Artificial Intelligence be just as gossipy as humans?

"Don't overthink it. There's really nothing between us," he explained calmly. "When Yang Yang came to Luo City in the Outer World, it was quite abrupt, so I've always wanted to know what she was planning to do, but I have too little information and can only observe quietly."

"Do you know now?" Li Shutong asked.

Qing Chen nodded and smiled, "Almost, I've already found her weakness."

He already knew what Yang Yang wanted to do.

Li Shutong lamented, "Are young people these days so complicated? Back in our day, 17-year-old boys and girls didn't need to scheme and fight like this."

The staff outside the door, seeing that Qing Chen hadn't come out for a long time, assumed that Qing Chen was scared.

He said somewhat urgently, "You've already signed the contract for tonight. If you refuse to fight, you'll have to pay the boxing ring a penalty for breach of contract!"

Qing Chen smiled and said, "Master, let's talk about everything after I finish this match."

As he spoke, he pressed the alloy gate of the changing room and walked silently outside.

The door opened, and the staff outside were waiting.

Li Shutong smiled behind Qing Chen. He suddenly understood the feelings his uncle had when he sent him and his senior brother to the boxing ring. He was worried but also hopeful.

He didn't wait in the locker room, but quietly walked into the crowd.

I'll only accompany you for a part of your journey, and from now on I'll no longer concern myself with wind, snow, sunshine, or rain.

But I'll still watch it secretly.

Inside the private room, Li Yinuo stood quietly by the glass window, watching the boy in the snow-white tracksuit walk out of the boxer's tunnel.

Compared to the opposing bantamweight champion, Qing Chen had no coach, no team leader, and no beautiful women by his side; he was all alone.

Qing Chen didn't even prepare any clothes for the boxing ring, and his thin figure didn't look like that of a boxer.

If Li Yinuo were to say, this boy was more like a student who happened to be passing by, who probably saw that underground boxing could make money and wanted to try it out, fantasizing about getting rich overnight.

There have been many such people, but they all died in the Octagon Cage.

When the audience in the boxing ring saw Qing Chen appear in this state, they started booing.

Those who bet on him lamented their bad luck. "Damn, I thought we'd found a talented newcomer, but this kid shows absolutely no signs of training!"

"She's so young! Which school does she go to?"

"Hurry up and bet on the other side! Win back the money you lost betting on him!"

At that moment, a gray figure walked through the crowd. "Buy back tickets for betting on newcomers at 10% off, buy back tickets for betting on newcomers at 10% off."

After the spectators place their bets, the boxing ring gives them a white card that looks like a chip, with the amount of the bet printed on it.

The winner gets to exchange the cards for money, while the loser throws the cards into the boxing ring.

Regardless of how times change, underground boxing has retained this custom. The scene of winners excitedly raising their tickets and losers angrily throwing them away always makes gamblers feel more immersed.

Li Shutong walked around the arena carrying a bag, shouting, "I'll buy back those who bet on the newbies to pass the level at a 10% discount! Only those who bet on passing! You can exchange this for money now, but if they lose the game, it'll be worthless. You have to cut your losses in time!"

"I'll sell! I've staked 2000 yuan to get through customs!"

"I'm selling too! I've bet 800 yuan to get through customs!"

Li Shutong said with a smile, "One at a time!"

In just five minutes, the bag he was carrying was almost full.

For other gamblers, the odds of betting on Qing Chen to pass the game are now only 10 times, and these odds are still decreasing.

But Li Shutong was different. He deliberately made everyone see that Qing Chen was unprepared, making everyone think that Qing Chen was just a novice with no training.

In this way, he started his bets with ten times leverage.

When Qing Chen asked Li Shutong why he wasn't placing a bet, Li Shutong said gambling was bad, but he knew that it wasn't the right time yet!

Li Shutong was not short of money; he hadn't experienced what it was like to be short of money in a long time, so he wasn't trying to make money off Qing Chen.

But that's exactly what his uncle did when he and his senior brother were sent to the boxing ring back then!

Tradition must not be broken!

Actually, my uncle's family wasn't poor, but he spent money like water on women, so the other party came up with this trick, which almost led him to financial freedom.

Li Shutong remembers very clearly that in order to increase their odds, his master actually required them to wear flip-flops and patched clothes when they first appeared!

Compared to his senior apprentice, Li Shutong felt he had already given his disciple a lot of face.

Thinking of this, Li Shutong smiled slightly. The past was so wonderful that he couldn't help but reminisce.

At that moment, Li Tongyun, who was in the private room, suddenly walked to the glass window. The little girl grabbed Li Yinuo's hand. "Sister, I noticed you were staring at that boxer in white. Do you know him?"

"I know her, she's a new friend of mine," Li Yinuo said with a doting smile, looking at Li Tongyun.

"Sister Yinuo, who is he?" Xiao Tongyun asked obediently.

Li Yinuo shook her head. "I can't tell you his identity."

A hint of worry flashed across Xiao Tongyun's face, but her tone remained innocent. "Since he's your friend, aren't you worried that something might happen to him in the Octagon Cage? This brother is so handsome, he won't get hurt, will he?"

Li Yinuo smiled and said, "I'm not worried. Even his elders aren't worried, so why should I be? Don't worry, he'll be fine. The fighters in this Octagon Cage are no match for him."

At this moment, Li Tongyun Nan Gengchen both felt a sense of relief.

The two seemed to sense each other's feelings in the private room, and after exchanging a glance, they felt even more awkward.

"Could the other person be Brother Chen's friend?" Nan Gengchen wondered.

"Could the other person be a friend of Brother Qing Chen?" Li Tongyun wondered.

Li Yinuo said to them, "The initial ranking match is only at the bantamweight level. This kind of opponent will only be crushed in front of this student. An Xin watch and see, I guess he can finish the fight in 1 minute."

The boxing match in the Octagon Cage has begun, but things are not as Li Yinuo said, and Qing Chen has not directly crushed his opponent Wang Fu.

Qing Chen was seen covering his head in defense, while Wang Fu's fists rained down on him, seemingly leaving him no chance to fight back.

The boy's originally pristine white tracksuit quickly became disheveled, covered with fist marks.

The minute Li Yinuo mentioned had passed, and the battle situation remained unchanged.

Seeing this, Li Tongyun said worriedly, "Sister Yinuo, this seems a little different from what you said?"

Li Yinuo, with a toothache, said, "This is his strategy."

Outside the private room, Li Shutong glanced back at the Octagon Cage and immediately said, "The tickets used to bet on newcomers to pass the level will be bought back at 0.5% of their original price! From now on, it's 0.5%!"

The gamblers, looking as if they had just lost their parents, angrily shouted, "Didn't you just give us a 90% discount? What kind of discount has a decimal point?! This is outrageous!"

"That was just now," Li Shutong explained earnestly, "Didn't you see he was beaten up like this after only reaching the bantamweight level? I received clearance tickets; don't I need to take any risks?"

Li Shutong thought to himself that his apprentice was so sensible that he even knew how to create a good atmosphere for his master.

In contrast, he and his senior brother didn't have this awareness back then.

Chen Jiazhang knocked the bantamweight champion to the ground as soon as he stepped onto the stage, causing his martial uncle to lose a lot of money.

At this moment, the security guards in the boxing ring also spotted Li Shutong, but they did not question him.

Generally, if a boxer's friends or family members place malicious bets, staff will issue a warning.

However, if it involves collecting other people's tickets, it doesn't cause direct losses to the casino, so they don't interfere.