Mikhail

The fight ended, and the bar's patrons began returning to their seats and gathering in groups of three or five to drink. The host announced that the next match would begin in forty minutes, with Mikhail from the Bear Kingdom facing Zhang Shuai from the Dragon Kingdom.

As soon as the bar's patrons heard that Mikhail would be fighting, they cheered excitedly. Clearly, many of them knew him. Mikhail had fought in this underground arena many times and was something of a star fighter, so plenty of people were looking forward to seeing him in the ring.

Zhang Shuai had never been to a place like this before. The patrons were all speaking foreign languages he couldn't understand, and he looked around like a curious child. Many of them had flushed faces; it was hard to tell whether that was from the alcohol or the excitement of the fight they had just watched. The noisy bar made Zhang Shuai uncomfortable. It was simply too loud.

Situ Changtian took a phone call and spoke a few words in a foreign language. Zhang Shuai couldn't understand him, but guessed that the organizers were asking about the arrangements. After hanging up, Situ Changtian led Zhang Shuai and Huang Tianli into a private room in the bar.

Inside, Situ Changtian explained the rules of the underground fights to Zhang Shuai, including some details he needed to pay attention to.

Just then, a series of shouts and whistles erupted outside.

Situ Changtian suddenly laughed. "All right, I won't say any more. With your skills, you're sure to win. There's still a little while before your fight, so why don't you enjoy the show? You definitely won't see a performance like this back home. Heh, broaden your horizons..."

Zhang Shuai was curious. What kind of show was Situ Changtian talking about?

Soon, Huang Tianli led Zhang Shuai out of the private room. In the octagonal cage in the middle of the bar, two naked young women were putting on a wrestling match.

One woman was a blonde, blue-eyed white woman, and the other was a black-haired Asian. Both had great figures: full breasts, rounded hips, and slim waists. They were now grappling fiercely, their breasts bouncing with every movement and drawing the eye.

Zhang Shuai stared in astonishment. They even had shows like this? No wonder Situ Changtian had said he wouldn't see one back home. The authorities cracked down so strictly on pornography there that a lewd performance like this was certainly out of the question.

Clearly, neither woman had ever trained in wrestling. The match was just a performance, meant to get the crowd excited. The patrons' enthusiastic shouts made it obvious how much they enjoyed the show.

Zhang Shuai watched without looking away. As a novice, aside from adult films from Japan, he had never seen anything this steamy in real life. This really was an eye-opening experience.

After grappling for a while, the black-haired woman suddenly stuck out a leg and tripped the blonde. The blonde reacted quickly; as she fell, she reached out and pulled the black-haired woman down with her. Then her long, pale legs suddenly clamped around the other woman's head. The black-haired woman struggled, but the harder she fought, the tighter the blonde squeezed...

Zhang Shuai gaped.

How had the match suddenly taken such a turn?

This...

The two women were putting on this kind of performance in front of a crowd?

It really was an eye-opening experience. Hearing the audience's uninhibited laughter and whistles, the novice Zhang Shuai felt his face burn.

The two beauties' mid-match show ended with just over ten minutes left before the fight.

Zhang Shuai returned to the private room and sat quietly for more than ten minutes before he finally calmed down.

No wonder so many people abroad liked underground fights. They were tense and exciting, violent and bloody, and came with their own special performances. How could they not be popular? Huang Tianli had told Zhang Shuai that tickets to this underground arena cost over a thousand dollars each. That didn't even include the drinks. With at least several hundred, maybe a thousand people in the bar, the ticket sales alone must have brought in a fortune.

A quarter of an hour later, the host appeared in the ring with a microphone, and the music throughout the bar stopped.

The host introduced the two fighters about to compete, but he did so in a foreign language, so Zhang Shuai couldn't understand him.

Soon, a wave of cheers broke out. A tall, powerfully built man from the Bear Kingdom emerged to the crowd's shouts and climbed into the octagonal cage. He had to be Mikhail, Zhang Shuai's opponent that night.

Then the host began introducing the other fighter. Zhang Shuai caught his own name, and Situ Changtian hurriedly said, "Xiao Zhang, it's your turn!"

Zhang Shuai walked over without expression and climbed into the octagonal cage.

The host shut the cage door and locked it.

Inside the octagonal cage.

Mikhail looked at Zhang Shuai with disdain and made a cocky throat-slitting gesture, sending the audience into a frenzy.

Mikhail was 1.82 meters tall and weighed 98 kilograms, his body covered in muscle. Zhang Shuai was only 1.75 meters tall and weighed just 70 kilograms. They looked like they weren't even in the same weight class.

Zhang Shuai kept his face impassive, but he had already made up his mind. After that gesture, he was going to make sure Mikhail spent a few extra days in the hospital.

The audience clearly favored Mikhail. They all thought Zhang Shuai had come out to make up the numbers and get himself killed.

The foreign man and woman standing behind Huang Tianli began discussing the match.

"This one probably won't be worth watching. There's no way that little guy from the Dragon Kingdom can beat Mikhail. The only question is how long he'll last."

"Aren't people from the Dragon Kingdom supposed to know kung fu? I've seen their movies. Most kung fu masters aren't big. Look at this young guy—he's expressionless and doesn't seem to care about Mikhail. Maybe he's a master?"

"You actually believe in kung fu from the Dragon Kingdom? Let me tell you, it's all fake. The movies exaggerate everything."

Just then, the host's whistle sounded, and the match officially began.

Mikhail didn't take Zhang Shuai seriously at all. The moment the whistle blew, he launched into an attack, apparently planning to knock Zhang Shuai down and end the fight as quickly as possible.

Mikhail charged at him like a huge black bear. Zhang Shuai didn't dodge until the other man was almost on top of him. Then he lifted a foot and shifted two steps to the left, quickly evading Mikhail's heavy punch. Mikhail's fist was simply too slow for him. Zhang Shuai felt as if he could predict its direction and trajectory from the tiniest movement.

If Situ Changtian hadn't repeatedly warned him not to end the fight too quickly, Zhang Shuai could have dropped Mikhail as soon as he stepped into the ring. But there was no choice. To fight more matches and earn more money, he couldn't reveal his true abilities. He needed to drag things out for at least three minutes before ending the fight.

Mikhail's punch missed, but he wasn't surprised. He reached out roughly to grab Zhang Shuai's clothes. Zhang Shuai slipped away with a quick duck, but soon Mikhail had backed him into a corner of the cage, against the wire mesh.