When Oleg kicked open the Fight Club's doors and rushed backstage, he saw one young face after another, some bewildered, others terrified. These were the children Scott had lured here.
Even more horrifying was the blood covering the floor. The boy lay there quietly on his stomach, motionless.
"All of you, stop!" Oleg roared in anguish and fury.
Seeing the Underworld's Guard Captain arrive, the thugs wisely took a step back.
Oleg hurried over to Chu Mu and murmured in panic:
"Don't die, don't die! Kid, don't you dare die here!"
He rolled Chu Mu over. The boy had a woven sack clutched tightly beneath his belly. His small, hunched back seemed to have been protecting its contents all along.
The woven sack was stained red with blood.
Oleg looked at the boy's face. It was so battered that his original features were barely recognizable, and the pain in Oleg's heart nearly robbed him of breath.
Just half a day ago, this kid had been bouncing around right in front of him!
Oleg extended a trembling finger to check Chu Mu's breathing:
"You little brat, you came from the sea of stars. You can't die in a filthy place like this. This place is so filthy. So filthy."
Oleg's eyes reddened. He could not tell how much of that he was saying to Chu Mu and how much to himself.
"Uncle, I'm not dead." Chu Mu raised his swollen eyelids. Even with all his strength, he could only open them a sliver.
Even that tiny movement made his face twitch with pain.
But Chu Mu knew he was safe.
Seele had brought Oleg.
Although his past encounters with this man had been unpleasant, Chu Mu understood that he truly was a good person.
In times like these, good people were hard to come by.
"Good boy, good boy, good boy!" Seeing Chu Mu speak, Oleg repeated the words three times, overwhelmed with emotion.
Beside him, Seele finally felt the fear gripping her heart ease. She simply sat down to one side and burst into tears.
She desperately needed a good cry!
From the moment Chu Mu had pushed her away until now, she had been holding too much inside. Far too much!
Then Chu Mu struggled to look at Oleg. His voice was faint, but utterly earnest:
"Uncle, I have a favor to ask."
"I'll make sure you get justice!" Oleg promised before Chu Mu could finish.
But Chu Mu shook his head and, with difficulty, turned to look at the children Scott had lured into the room:
"Please save them. Please."
At that moment, Oleg was shaken to his core!
What kind of resolve was this? Even after being beaten into this state, nearly losing his life, the boy was still thinking of others' welfare?
Was this the boy people called Rivet Town's little mad dog? The Orphanage's miser? The Great Mine's desperado?
No, this was a hero!
As the Underworld's Guard Captain, he could not let this little hero lose heart!
"Leave it to me!" Oleg said solemnly.
Now Oleg knew that everything Seele had said was true. The witnesses and evidence were all right here in the Fight Club. Scott had known he was coming, yet he had not even bothered to hide them, leaving everything openly on display.
That showed just how brazen the man was!
Still, as the Fight Club's owner, he must have had someone backing him.
After all, powerful figures from the Upper District often came to the Fight Club to watch underground matches.
As a Silvermane Guards Guard Captain in the Underworld, Oleg's rank was neither particularly high nor particularly low. He might have carried some weight down here, but to the powerful figures of the Upper District, a mere captain was nothing.
Scott understood that perfectly. With nothing to fear, he watched Oleg with a smile.
Just then, Oleg's subordinates from the Public Security Office finally arrived, and he immediately ordered:
"Find a board and take this child to the Clinic. Be gentle on the way. Don't jostle him."
"Yes, sir!" Seeing Chu Mu lying on the floor covered in blood, his subordinates were privately appalled.
To beat a child this badly! The Fight Club's owner was truly scum!
Seeing their hostile looks, Scott actually felt rather pleased.
He immediately sneered:
"Heh, you think you can just leave? This brat blinded me in one eye, and he wants to leave without paying?"
Suppressing his anger, Oleg asked:
"How old is this child?"
"Six. Why?" Scott frowned.
"Under the laws originally established by the Architects, a child of this age bears no criminal responsibility for an offense. If you want civil compensation, take it up with his parents or another guardian," Oleg said coldly.
"His parents?" Scott screeched like a rat whose tail had been stepped on. "His parents are dead! They were probably blown to ashes when their spaceship exploded! Where am I supposed to find them?"
Hearing that, Chu Mu's eyes dimmed a little.
Although he could calmly call himself an orphan with no parents, hearing it from someone else's mouth still stung.
"Then die and go ask them for compensation down below!" a soldier beside him could not help retorting to Scott.
That left Scott seething with rage.
"Then bring his guardian here! His guardian must be that damned old hag from the Orphanage!" Scott refused to give up until he got what he wanted.
If he could not take Chu Mu's life, then he would squeeze as much profit out of him as possible!
"Show the Old Director some respect!" several people present snapped at once, making Scott shrink back.
"Can't we let him go to the Clinic first? He needs immediate treatment." Oleg secretly clenched his fist, sorely tempted to punch Scott's repulsive face.
Scott's sharp eyes caught the gesture, and he knew he could not push any further. If the brat actually died in the Fight Club, Oleg might well tear him apart!
"He can't leave. I have a doctor here too! But you'll have to pay me the medical fees as well."
Hearing Scott's proposal, Oleg could only nod in agreement.
The Fight Club's resident doctor picked up his medical kit, came over to Chu Mu, and began bandaging him.
Whether deliberately or carelessly, the doctor's handling caused Chu Mu considerable pain.
But compared with the pain in his heart when his illness flared up, this was nothing. He could endure it.
Seeing this, Scott frowned and gave the doctor a questioning look.
Sweat broke out on the doctor's forehead, and his movements grew even rougher.
The others present knew nothing about medicine. They thought pouring medicinal oil directly into a wound was standard practice, perhaps even a special remedy used by the Fight Club.
But the doctor knew that this oil was meant to promote circulation and disperse bruising. Forget open wounds-even slightly sensitive skin would burn agonizingly on contact with it.
Yet Chu Mu closed his eyes as though asleep, showing no reaction.
Scott's expression gradually darkened.
While Chu Mu was being bandaged, Oleg did not remain idle. He instructed two subordinates to leave, one to notify the Old Director at the Orphanage, the other to summon more reinforcements from the Public Security Office.
He also arranged for Seele to leave the Fight Club and help him with something.
The immediate priority was to save Chu Mu, but Oleg still remembered the boy's request. He also had to save those innocent children.
At that thought, Oleg could not help cursing inwardly-
That damned Scott!
Before you continue