"Kid, you've got guts. If you hadn't crippled my son, I might actually have let you off this once. But now I want you to end up just like him. Lose in the ring, and I'll cripple all four of your limbs. Do you dare take that bet?"
Hearing Gu Yuanshan propose betting their limbs, Li Rui merely shook his head. His advanced bodyguards and the arena's top fighters were evenly matched in combat ability. He wasn't one hundred percent certain of victory; only in terms of numbers was he unbeatable. Only an idiot would make a bet like that with him.
"I'm not interested in your limbs. I'm only interested in money. I'll bet ten billion. Are you in?"
Seeing that Li Rui hadn't taken the bait, Gu Yuanshan felt a wave of disappointment. But when he heard Li Rui offer to bet ten billion, his eyes instantly lit up again. After more than twenty years in the sand and gravel, concrete batching plant, and underground bare-knuckle fighting businesses, all his cash combined amounted to only a little over ten billion. Having ten billion suddenly delivered right to his door excited him immensely. As for crippling Li Rui, there would be plenty of opportunities.
"Fine, I'll bet ten billion with you. But we can't just trade empty words, can we? You say you have ten billion, and I'm supposed to believe you?"
Li Rui said nothing and simply took out a bank card. It was a China Merchants Bank card he hadn't used in years, with only a few yuan in it. Just moments ago, Li Rui had instructed the system to transfer ten billion into it.
"There's ten billion in this account. You can call and check. The PIN is six eights. Where's yours?" As Li Rui spoke, he placed the card on the table and pushed it forward.
Seeing that Li Rui didn't seem to be putting on an act and had really produced ten billion so casually, Gu Yuanshan's heart tightened slightly. Could this kid be from some powerful, wealthy family?
But that shouldn't be possible. I had my men investigate him. Eighteen generations of farmers, and he's only suddenly risen up recently. It's downright bizarre. That was also why he hadn't dared make a move all these days. But things had reached this point, and there was no retreat. If the other party really had a powerful background, as long as he won this ten billion today, at worst he could take twenty billion and fly far away. If the other party really was just a mud-legged peasant who had suddenly come into a windfall...
Across from him, after taking out his bank card, Li Rui was also waiting for Gu Yuanshan to act. He saw Gu Yuanshan stare blankly for a few seconds before a ruthless gleam flashed through his eyes.
Li Rui knew the old bastard was definitely thinking up something sinister. But he had the system. If Gu Yuanshan really wanted to court death, he wouldn't mind making him disappear from Blue Star forever.
Gu Yuanshan beckoned to a man behind him, then leaned over and whispered something in his ear. The man left and returned to Gu Yuanshan's side a few minutes later, holding a bank card.
Gu Yuanshan likewise pushed the card forward and said, "There's ten billion in this account too. The PIN is six sixes. You can check it as well."
Li Rui didn't stand on ceremony. With a glance, he signaled Li Yi to call and check. Gu Yuanshan did the same, summoning someone to make the call.
Neither of them acted out the scene from television dramas where big bosses made a deal without checking and said, "I trust you." Neither trusted the other.
After receiving confirmation from the bank staff, the two men making the calls turned to their respective bosses and nodded to indicate that everything was in order.
When Gu Yuanshan led Li Rui and the others over to the ring, they had already attracted the spectators' attention. After all, it was hard for several dozen burly men not to draw notice.
Seeing this, a young man curiously asked the middle-aged man beside him, "Hey, brother, what's going on here?"
The middle-aged man turned his head to glance at the young man and said proudly, "Your first time here?"
"Yeah, yeah, today's my first time. What's going on down there? Those look like two different groups, right? Look at their builds. Not one of them looks easy to mess with."
Seeing that the young man was sincerely asking, the middle-aged man finally explained, "See the slightly older one? That's Boss Gu. He's the owner of this underground fighting arena."
"See those ten men behind him? They're the ten best fighters in the arena. All ten have undefeated records. Their win rates are so high that they generally don't fight casually anymore. Only when a big boss brings a fighter here does the arena send out one or two of them."
The young man nodded repeatedly as he listened. "Then, brother, why have all ten top fighters come out this time? Does that mean something?"
"If you asked someone else, they might not know. I only know because I've been coming here so long. In ten years, there have only been three occasions when all ten top fighters gathered. This means someone's here to challenge the house."
"Challenge the house? Brother, could you explain that in detail?"
The middle-aged man shook his head instead. "See the people on the other side? Look at those builds. I reckon not one of them will be easy to handle either. There's a good show coming. You're in for a treat. Just watch."
After the man finished speaking, two men stepped into the ring one after the other. One was an advanced bodyguard from Li Rui's side, and the other was one of the arena's ten top fighters.
The advanced bodyguard wore red shorts and was bare-chested, revealing explosive muscles of steel. His hands were bare too, without boxing gloves or even wraps. Apart from wearing blue shorts, the man opposite him was dressed exactly like the bodyguard.
"Black Bear is the most brutal fighter in my arena. Not one person he's defeated has ever been able to stand up and walk again. You'd better buy your man a wheelchair in advance. Heh." Gu Yuanshan gave a sinister chuckle.
"Heh, you don't need to trouble yourself over that. Have you bought your son a wheelchair yet?"
"You!" With a bang, Gu Yuanshan slammed his fist onto the table. The tremendous force sent the teacups on it jumping and rattling.
Li Rui ignored the furious Gu Yuanshan and turned his gaze to the ring, where the two men had already assumed their fighting stances.
The system's advanced bodyguards were generally around 1.9 to two meters tall and weighed around a hundred kilograms. Black Bear opposite him was likewise around 1.9 meters tall, and his weight differed little from the bodyguard's. Only compared with the bodyguard's freakish muscles did he fall slightly short.
The two stared intently at each other. Neither attacked first, both searching for openings in the other.
"Black Bear, did you play with women so much last night that your legs have gone soft? Quit dragging your feet. You're not scared, are you?" A white-looking man around two meters tall below the ring mocked him in broken Dragon Country speech.
"Yeah, Black Bear, don't tell me you're too scared to go in because he's big? Haven't we crippled enough big guys already? Get on with it. The sooner you finish, the sooner we can go find some women," another man, a black man likewise around two meters tall, jeered.
Black Bear didn't respond to their mockery. All his attention was focused on the opponent before him. Only by actually facing this expressionless, muscular beast could someone understand what an oppressive presence meant. He hadn't struck yet, but Black Bear's instincts told him this was a true expert.
The two faced off for more than thirty seconds. Black Bear was the first to lose patience, but just as he was about to strike, he heard a voice from outside the ring.