Chapter 27: Losers

　　"It's best if you don't scream, I hope you regret it." Mike said icily while shaking his right hand and scratching out a butterfly knife from his sleeve tube. He nimbly flicked the blade with his fingers and looked at Allen wistfully and said, "How do you feel about slashing your face with this thing?"

　　Alan looked at him coldly, without a word. The silence felt humiliating to Mike, and the other man's disdainful look gave Mike a burning sensation in his nerves. His chest rose and fell sharply, and he exhaled a hot breath from his mouth. Twisting his body forward, he slashed at Allen's cheek, and he was going to tear that damn pretty face apart!

　　The colorful red pupils dilated slightly, and in Alan's eyes, Mike's movements slowed down and could even be broken down into several images. He saw where the blade was coming from, and suddenly probed out with one hand, gripping the butterfly knife as tightly as an iron vice.

　　Mike was startled, only to feel the blade dug into the crack of the stone, unable to pull it out for a moment. Although Alan's palm was cut with blood from the sharp blade, the expression on his face was terrifyingly calm. The other hand reached out and encircled Mike's arm holding the knife with a sudden shock. Under the effect of the source power, the jolt traveled up the arm and eventually shook Mike's hand to the point of dislocation.

　　Mike couldn't hold the butterfly knife any longer and looked over at Alan in surprise when the other man swept his fist across his face and suddenly the world turned upside down. Spinning in mid-air for a week before he fell heavily to the ground. Only to feel a bitter taste between his mouth, and a rusty flavor filled the air. It turned out that his lips had scraped and bled, and the blood ignited Mike's anger. As he tried to get up, the butterfly knife that suddenly landed in Alan's hand slammed down and dug deep into his palm.

　　"Ah ..." Mike opened his mouth to cry out in pain.

　　A palm still dripping blood butted his mouth tightly as Alan pressed his entire body against his. With one hand covering the side of Mike's mouth, the other clenched into a fist and slammed it hard into the small of his back. The punch caused Mike to arch his body, his stomach twitching intensely as something tried to spit out, only to be gagged back tightly by Allen's hand pressed against his mouth.

　　Mike dislocated one hand and nailed the other to the ground for the knife, unable to move for a moment. Alan, for his part, mechanically repeated the motions of raising his arm and dropping his fist like an emotionless machine. One after another, smashing into Mike's abdomen with constant speed and force. The dull sound of the blows resounded in the fighting area, and at the same time in the ears of every teenager who was watching.

　　Their faces all turned extremely pale, and two of them were already trembling in their little legs, almost about to softly fall to the ground.

　　At the other end of the training hall, the elevator doors opened and Lucy and Emily walked out of it. Emily pulled Lucy and said, "Forget about Alan today and accompany me for reaction training."

　　Lucy looked at her strangely, "Emily, what's wrong with you today. You haven't let me come to the training hall since just now, and now you want me to stay with you."

　　"It's not like the Death Ring is about to start, and I want to try to get stronger."

　　"Don't worry." Lucy patted her shoulder and said, "Sister will protect you when the time comes."

　　At that moment a sudden scream rang out from the fighting area, and someone screamed shrilly, "Somebody, kill someone! Murder!"

　　Emily blushed at the sound, but Lucy was already running in that direction. The fighting area was already surrounded by those who had heard the news, Lucy parted the crowd and squeezed her way in, bumping through the few teenagers who had been watching before, and saw Allen standing up. He slowly turned around, his face and body covered in blood, but it was eventually colored by Mike opening his mouth and spraying a mouthful of blood.

　　Looking at the ground again, Mike was motionless and not sure if he was dead or alive.

　　"Alan, this is ..." Lucy's eyes widened.

　　Alan stiffly moved his lips and said, "He started it."

　　At that moment a team of guards squeezed in, behind the guards was still Smith, the building's head of security. Seeing Allen and Mike, Smith shook his head, "What's going on here?"

　　A nearby teenager looked back and screamed, "It's Allen, it's him ..."

　　Before he could finish his sentence, Smith had swept his palm over and jerked him to the ground. It was only then that the head of security took out a strip of handkerchief and wiped his hands saying, "I didn't ask you. You said it, Alan."

　　Allen then gave a brief account of what happened, and Smith nodded and said, "You may go."

　　Again to the guards, "Throw this piece of shit in the med bay."

　　Ellen walked over to Lucy and tried to say something. Instead, Lucy snaps, "Don't say anything, I believe you."

　　Then looking to Emily, who was following her, Lucy said in a hushed voice, "Emily, you've been pestering me to keep me from seeing Alan because of this? So that Mike can get his hands on Alan?"

　　"Lucy, I ..." Emily shook her head, "Mike and I said he was just trying to teach Alan a lesson. I really don't know ..."

　　"Enough!" Lucy looked at the girl and sighed, "It's okay for Mike to be like that, but why are you like that too."

　　"Let's go."

　　The young girl gave Alan a tug and the two of them burrowed out of the fighting area. As they left, Allen had no intention of seeing someone.

　　Ans.

　　He stood quietly to the side, pondering. Seeming to notice Ai Hua's gaze, he looked back and forced a smile before bowing his head and leaving.

　　Having just returned to his room, Anse hadn't even sat down when Smith arrived. This head of security looked around for a moment, then smiled, "Mr. Anse, there's something very interesting. Guess what we found in Mr. Mike's room. Ha, a physical enhancement potion."

　　"It's ... is it?" Anse steeled himself, "So what?"

　　"I looked through the recent list of rewards, and under Mr. Mike's list, I didn't find any record of the issuance of the reinforcing potion. Then the interesting thing came ... "Smith walked behind Anse and said, "You shouldn't know that in order to avoid mistakes in the distribution. Usually when the list of rewards comes down, we have to make little marks on the prizes. On that potion of Mike's, we found that marking. Strangely enough, the marking shows that the owner of the reinforcing potion should be you."

　　"So can you tell me, Mr. Anse, why your potion was in Mike's room?"

　　"Maybe ... maybe he stole it." It took all of Anse's strength to squeeze the words out of his mouth.

　　"Yes? Then I sincerely hope that the representatives of the Alexander family will believe you on that." Smith walked toward the door, at which he paused again. He turned back to Anse, "You're smart, really. Smart people don't usually strike out on their own, but you didn't do it cleanly enough. And I don't think a piece of shit like Mike is worth an enhancement potion."

　　After Smith left, Anse realized his back was wet with sweat.

　　Later in the afternoon, a representative from Alexandria arrived. As soon as he entered, he asked, "Why did you do it?"

　　"Because he got too close to Lucy." This time, Anse wasn't going to lie half-heartedly.

　　"Oh, you're wasting the goodwill the Alexanders have shown you just because of one woman?"

　　"No, sir." Anse lifted his head and looked the representative squarely in the eye, "Before Mr. Main's attention to me, Alan and Lucy occupied the top two spots in the rankings. They are of extraordinary strength, sir. Moreover, they seem to have become friends. Two people like that would pose a great threat to me, which is why I wanted to waste Allen before the match. This is for strategic reasons."

　　The representative listened, closed his eyes for a small moment and then said, "I believe you, and your judgment was correct. Unfortunately, you still failed. Failure is failure, there are no excuses. Mr. Maine hates losers, and the Alexanders have a system of punishment for that, in order to make losers remember their lessons."

　　Anse gritted his teeth, "I understand, sir, please chastise me."

　　"Very well, remembering that this is your first failure, the punishment will be light. Remember, you don't get a second chance."

　　After the representative left, a man wearing sunglasses and a suit walked in. He opens a black suitcase and pulls a shiny, oiled whip out of it.

　　That night, Anse had to lie upside down on his bed while his back was left with ten clear bloody marks. As well as, an unrelieved shame.

　　"I'll double back, Alan." Lying on the bed, Anse said, word for word.

　　Two days passed by in a flash, and finally, it was the day when the death ring began.

　　On this day Allen had already woken up at 5:00 a.m. He carefully put on the single set of light armor that the committee had rewarded him with, the light armor was so snug that it didn't interfere with his activities even if he then put on the costumes that the organizers had prepared for each teenager. After putting on the clothes, Allen picked up the Mad Butcher that was resting in the corner and quietly walked out of the bedroom. What surprised him was that Hughton, who would rarely be seen in the morning, was standing in front of the window in the hall early this morning, looking out the window at the city that was gradually waking up.

　　"What, planning to leave without saying goodbye? How can I say I've been your mentor for a month, and I don't even have a goodbye?" Hughton turned around, today it was rare that he wasn't carrying a bottle of wine, and his clothes were also fully dressed. Except for his eyes, which were still as red as ever, he looked no different from a normal person.

　　"Mr. Hughton, thank you for your guidance this month." Alan said seriously, "If I survive, I'll buy you a nice drink."

　　"I like that." Hughton grinned, "Get your ass over here, you need to memorize this while there's still time."

　　Watch as he rummages through his pocket and pulls out a slip of paper with dense writing on it. Curious, Alan took it and asked, "What's this?"

　　"The method of impacting the first confinement barrier is honestly the best to be able to not use. I've already tried to minimize the shock to the heart caused by this method, but if you use it in the death ring, there's a possibility that it will bring you additional danger. Regardless, just memorize it for now. Remember to burn this thing after you're done reading it." Hughton muttered, "Source power confinement isn't a good thing, and I don't want to get involved with that kind of trouble."

　　Even though he said that, Alan was still grateful to him. Taking the note, with his memory, he quickly engraved every word on the paper in his mind. After reading it, Allen burned the note.

　　Watching the note turn to dust before Hughton nodded, "Come on, I'll walk you to the rendezvous point, Tonisf should be there."

　　Giving Allen's shoulders a firm grip, Hughton said earnestly, "Try to stay alive, boy."