Boxing Match

Back at the hotel, Zhang Shuai and Huang Tianli waited in their room while Situ Changtian went off to help arrange the underground boxing matches.

Zhang Shuai could sense that after he had displayed his strength, Situ Changtian had become much more proactive about the fights. This was hardly surprising; no one would turn their back on money. With Zhang Shuai's level of skill, he was a guaranteed winner, and for every match fought, Situ Changtian would pocket a hefty commission. With money to be made, Situ Changtian naturally became very enthusiastic.

After waiting for two hours at the hotel, Situ Changtian finally returned, and he brought good news.

"Little Brother Zhang, there's a match tonight at seven-thirty with a prize of 200,000 dollars. Your opponent is a fighter from Bear Country named Mikhail. He has fought twelve matches in the underground circuit with a record of nine wins and three losses. The schedule for today was already set yesterday, but Mikhail's original opponent had a sudden accident, and it was hard to find a replacement on such short notice. I've already signed you up with the organizers, and they've agreed. You should prepare yourself; I'll come to take you to the underground arena at six-thirty sharp. No problem, right?"

Zhang Shuai looked at Huang Tianli and said, "Director Huang, we agreed on a fifty-fifty split of the prize money. I should be getting 100,000, right?"

Huang Tianli understood what Zhang Shuai meant and smiled. "Don't worry, you'll get your 100,000. As for how I split my share with Situ Changtian, that's between us. We've already discussed it, so you don't need to worry about that. Besides, when the time comes, we'll convert the prize money into Dragon Kingdom currency and transfer it directly to your bank account."

With that assurance, Zhang Shuai was put at ease. He had come to the Beautiful Country to make money, and he had to be clear about how the prize money would be distributed beforehand to avoid any disputes later.

Afterward, Situ Changtian took out a stack of printed documents, preparing to brief Zhang Shuai on the general profile of his upcoming opponent, Mikhail, including his preferred attack patterns and weaknesses. He had barely started when Zhang Shuai waved his hand. "Brother Situ, there's no need to tell me that. I don't care who the opponent is. You just need to arrange as many matches as possible within these six days so we can all make more money."

Situ Changtian laughed, tossed the documents aside, and said, "Fair enough. With your skills, you'll win regardless of who you're up against. However, we can only arrange this one match for today. There's no helping it; tomorrow's matches can only be arranged tomorrow. This underground arena isn't like other competitions where you can just book them back-to-back, because no one can guarantee whether a fighter will still be alive to fight the next match after one bout."

Zhang Shuai said confidently, "I'm confident that I can keep fighting!"

Situ Changtian gave a wry smile. "No matter how good you are, I can only arrange two matches a day at most. If you fought ten times and won every single one, you wouldn't be able to find an opponent in the arena anymore—no one would dare fight you. Two matches a day is the limit."

He wasn't wrong, and although Zhang Shuai had little social experience, he could understand the logic behind that.

At six-thirty, Situ Changtian took Zhang Shuai and Huang Tianli to the underground arena.

The underground arena was built in the basement of the hotel. After taking the elevator down, they found that aside from a section used for parking, the center of the basement was surrounded by thick iron plates. There was a large iron gate at the entrance with a smaller door set into it, where two burly white men sat on stools, keeping watch.

Seeing the three of them, the two white men stood up. They clearly recognized Situ Changtian, and one of them said, "Hey, Situ, you can go in, but your friends have to buy tickets."

Situ Changtian replied, "These are the fighters for tonight's match, the ones facing Mikhail!"

Upon hearing they were participants, the white man stood up and patted them down. Once he was certain they weren't carrying any weapons, he let them pass.

Walking through the door, they entered a narrow corridor. Zhang Shuai could already hear a cacophony of shouting in a foreign language. He couldn't understand it, but the atmosphere was incredibly lively.

Soon, Zhang Shuai saw a bar with a neon sign in foreign letters that he also couldn't read. When he was self-studying in the countryside, he never imagined that a country boy like him would have the chance to go abroad, so he had never learned a foreign language.

Following Situ Changtian into the bar, music was playing, and the wall behind the counter was lined with all sorts of liquor. Almost every customer in the bar was crowded around an octagonal iron cage in the center. There were Black, white, and Asian people, men and women alike, all shouting excitedly around the cage.

The atmosphere was intense; it was the first time Zhang Shuai had seen such a place.

Inside the octagonal cage, a burly Black man was in the middle of a fierce struggle with a young Asian man.

The fight was brutal; both the Black man and the Asian youth had bloodied faces.

The Asian youth, in particular, was clearly lacking in strength compared to his opponent. He had a gash on his forehead that was still bleeding, and his entire face was swollen and distorted. He seemed to be injured quite severely, as his movements were unsteady, but the Black man didn't have much energy left either. Their intense exchange had likely exhausted them both, and they were both gasping for air.

Situ Changtian had told Zhang Shuai that the underground fighting here was no-holds-barred—no referees, no protective gear. Two fighters were locked in a cage until one collapsed or surrendered.

Because of this, the scene of underground black-market boxing was bloody and cruel; fighters were often beaten to death.

Such matches were virtually non-existent in the Dragon Kingdom due to its strict laws. However, this was the underworld of the Beautiful Country, where the death of a person or two wasn't a major issue. Those who fought in these matches were usually nobodies—either gang members or desperate men drowning in debt. Their lives weren't worth much to the Beautiful Country, and to the organizers of the underground arena, while a dead fighter might cause a minor inconvenience, as long as it was cleaned up properly, the government usually wouldn't interfere.

Just then, the Black man in the cage moved. With a single stride, he lunged at the Asian youth and threw a massive punch. Perhaps due to exhaustion, the Asian youth's reaction was a split second too slow, and he failed to dodge. The Black man's fist slammed heavily into his face.

The sudden strike sent the surrounding crowd into a frenzy of excitement.

In that moment, Zhang Shuai could even hear the sound of bone cracking as the Black man's fist smashed into the Asian youth's nose, sending blood spraying everywhere.

The next instant, the Asian youth collapsed straight to the ground, his body twitching. From the side, one could see that his face was completely distorted, his nose crooked and covered in blood.

Clearly, the Asian youth had lost all ability to resist.

Even seeing the youth lying motionless, the Black man didn't let his guard down. He walked over and kicked the youth, and only after confirming he was truly unconscious did he stop. He shouted a few words at the host in the white shirt standing outside the wire mesh.

The host nodded and announced the Black man's victory, drawing cheers from the crowd. Soon after, the host took out a key, opened the cage door, and several staff members entered with a stretcher to carry the unconscious youth away.