"Kid, your foot hurts, doesn't it? This is a pair of iron shorts specially prepared for you. Now let me show you what a man's anger is!" Even through the iron shorts, Vlad could still feel the force of Zhang Lei's kick. His eyes twitched upwards twice. This kid's kick was ruthless. Without this extra protection, his future happiness would probably be hard to guarantee. Now it's time to tell him which places he can't attack casually.
"Is that so?" Zhang Lei was really not used to speaking in English. These idiots all liked to talk nonsense on stage, which was really annoying. "I'll show you that the Iron Underpants are definitely not omnipotent!"
The next match is the semi-final, and Zhang Lei has already decided to lose in the semi-final, so there is no need to continue hiding this match.
Vlad felt a tremendous force surge up his legs, as if his legs were clamping a hot steel bar. Then, a strange sensation rose from his groin, a sensation he would never forget for the rest of his life.
His iron underpants were completely deformed; Zhang Lei's kick, infused with internal force, had rendered them useless. Of course, his protected genitals were also destroyed along with them. If Vlad could proudly say before that his penis was like a giant carrot, now it was a mashed carrot.
Although Zhang Lei's kick meant he wouldn't fully recover for at least a few months, with time and treatment, it was still possible for him to regain his former glory. Even the One-Turned-Ball Hero had a spare egg left, right? Vlad, in his cleverness, wore iron shorts, only to have his entire crotch shattered into a pulp by Zhang Lei's internal force, perhaps even along with broken egg yolk. Repairing it would probably require the next major leap in human medical technology.
When a person with superpowers doesn't activate their abilities, they are not necessarily the same as an ordinary practitioner. This is because their perspectives are much broader, and even without activating their abilities, they still have a slight advantage over ordinary practitioners. As for people like Zhang Lei, who have training-related superpowers, it goes without saying that their abilities inherently provide a significant advantage in their daily training.
Zhang Lei's is not even an exaggeration. There are several other superpowers that specialize in external physical training or internal energy cultivation. With such superpowers, the speed of their physical progress is incomparable to that of ordinary cultivators. However, in terms of combat, they are much weaker than other superpowers. Superpowers like self-examination, which are strong in both aspects, are relatively rare. Otherwise, what right would self-examination have to claim to be the strongest?
Amid the gasps of the audience, Vlad crashed heavily onto the ring. He didn't need to roll around anymore; he was foaming at the mouth. This was Zhang Lei's only match where he drew blood. In other matches, he only suffered minor internal injuries. Zhang Lei felt that leaving Japan had calmed his mind, and at least his killing intent had faded considerably.
"I've thought it over. Let's not bet on the semifinals, and we shouldn't bet on the opponent either!" Zhang Lei called out to Tian Xiao as he stepped off the stage. At this point, Tian Xiao already had more than 6.5 million US dollars in his hands. Of course, the rest had been pocketed by transaction fees; otherwise, how would the organizers make money?
It's fine for the boxer and his associates/agents to pressure you; everyone should try their best to win, that's the spirit of the Olympic rings. But if you bet on your opponent to win, then there's a problem. When no one is watching, you can do whatever you want, but if someone causes trouble, that's a problem too. Calculate the profits; it has far exceeded the initial budget, more than six and a half million US dollars, more than fifty million RMB. That's more than enough, even more than before. One shouldn't be too greedy; it's time to stop.
Episode 3: The Bloody Path to Growth, Chapter 53: No Limits to Abstention (Part 1)
Zhang Lei and his team had done a good job of planning. They had indeed investigated the fighting arena on the ship before they came, although the so-called investigation was nothing more than looking at the information and introductions on the ship.
However, barring any unforeseen circumstances, nothing will go wrong. Zhang Lei deliberately lost in the semi-finals. Since a champion is crowned every day, there won't be much publicity for this kind of competition. They will simply edit together the champion's path to victory as an advertisement and broadcast it on the closed-circuit television throughout the ship.
Zhang Lei only needs to avoid contact with the final champion. Therefore, Zhang Lei has made up his mind that he will lose this semi-final, but he absolutely cannot let the winner win easily. He must at least leave the winner with some kind of wound that is difficult to heal, so that the champion will definitely not be the one who has fought against Zhang Lei.
Robert is Zhang Lei's opponent in this semi-final. He is currently pacing around in the locker room. Everyone has seen Vlad's miserable state. In their opinion, they would rather be beaten to death than suffer such treatment. It's too miserable. A perfectly good big wooden stick has been turned into a pile of small matchsticks.
"Agent, please talk to your superiors and ask them to allow me to withdraw. I don't want my life to end up like his!" Robert pleaded with his agent. The boxers on the ship actually had very little autonomy. If he withdrew without permission, his future would be bleak.
But looking at Vlad, who was still being used as a role model, and at his tattered iron shorts, Robert felt all his courage vanish in an instant. "Never mind, even if the higher-ups disagree, I'm definitely forfeiting this match. I don't want to spend the rest of my life as a eunuch in the palace!"
Zhang Lei waited in the empty boxing ring. He couldn't forfeit. If he forfeited, his opponent would have at least a 50% chance of winning the championship, and he, the one who forfeited, would be included in the album. Although he didn't know if Michiko and her group would be so bored as to watch TV, it was always better to be cautious.
Just as Zhang Lei was getting impatient, the host on stage suddenly announced something that shocked him: "In the first semi-final, Robert withdrew due to health reasons. The winner is Taro Ryusuke!"
Ignoring Zhang Lei's jaw nearly hitting the ground, the host walked off on his own. In a few minutes, another semi-final match would begin.
"How could this happen!" Zhang Lei angrily threw the towel to the ground.
"I knew you were too ruthless in the last match. Any man would be scared. If I were your opponent in this semi-final, I might have forfeited too!" Xiao Peng was quite familiar with them now, after all, they were in the same boat, and he even had 20% of that huge sum of money. But thinking about Zhang Lei's opponent in the last match, Xiao Peng still felt his teeth ache and his heart clench; the word "miserable" couldn't even begin to describe it.
Most importantly, when Xiao Peng put himself in that situation, he realized that in the simulated battle in his mind, his fate would be almost exactly the same as Vlad's. The combat skills he learned in military life, while practical, weren't really suitable for people with superpowers. If Zhang Lei were to fight him, even if he unleashed his superpowers, it probably wouldn't be of much use to him.
"Damn it, don't let me see that Robert, or I'll make sure he's impotent for life!" Zhang Lei cursed viciously at the guy who ruined his plans, knowing he might get scolded when he got back.
On the other hand, Robert suddenly felt a chill; he seemed to be really unwell.
"It's a pity I didn't place any bets on this one. If I had known it would end like this, I would have bet on you to win!" Tianxiao complained a little; she was getting a bit addicted to gambling.
"Be content. According to the original plan, we should have bet on the opponent to win this match. If that had happened, apart from the small prize money I would have received, everything else would have been for nothing!" Zhang Lei didn't feel any regret. On the contrary, he felt a sense of lingering fear. Today, he almost worked for nothing. Even if he came back tomorrow, he certainly wouldn't have such good luck. His strength had already been partially revealed, and tomorrow his odds would be pitifully low. After deducting the transaction fees, he probably wouldn't make much more than his initial investment.
"Be careful, don't bet on the next one either. I've decided, I'll forfeit the next one too. It's just the prize money, I don't want that little bit of money!" For Zhang Lei, who already has a net worth of several million US dollars, the accumulated $30,000 in appearance and winning prize money is indeed just a small amount of money.
The rules of the ship's boxing ring dictate that if a fighter forfeits, all the prize money from previous rounds automatically rolls over into the prize pool and is distributed among the remaining fighters based on their performance. In other words, Robert's forfeited winnings will also be proportionally distributed among the other boxers.
“Here’s what we’ll do: over six and a half million US dollars. Each of our bureau members who didn’t come will receive two hundred thousand, which is six hundred thousand. Each of Silver Swordsmen will receive one hundred thousand, which is also six hundred thousand. We’ll also give the two Japanese girls fifty thousand. That’s a total of one million three hundred thousand. We’ll leave five million two hundred thousand. We’ll take the change and use this two hundred thousand as our expenses on the ship. Future group activities will be paid for from this.”
Making money really requires a share; otherwise, jealousy will get the better of them, and while it might not necessarily ruin the deal, Zhang Lei and his group certainly won't get their money comfortably. Besides, they can't refuse to give it to those two girls. There's an old Chinese saying, "Better to pull in a whole village than just one household," which illustrates this point. Don't underestimate these two girls now; once their fathers get Chinese citizenship, their status might be much higher than Zhang Lei's group—because their fathers are useful.
Moreover, their assets are currently frozen, so giving them some money now would be a real lifesaver. They might actually need our help someday.
It's not right to treat everyone the same; there must be a distinction between close and distant relationships. This way, those who are closer to you will feel balanced, and those who are less distant won't feel bad. Besides, honestly, it's not like the people from Silver Sword would be nervous handling such a large sum of money. These two little girls came in handy at this time because they received the smallest amount. This is human psychology; no one wants to be the one with the least. Having someone at the bottom makes things much more balanced.
"As agreed, of the remaining five million, Xiao Peng will take 20%, one million; Tian Xiao will take 30%, one million five hundred thousand; and I'll keep two hundred and fifty!" Zhang Lei said excitedly, completely unaware of the grammatical errors in his speech. The two who were splitting the money, especially Xiao Peng, were breathing rapidly and didn't even notice his grammatical mistakes.
Zhang Lei had already submitted the abstention report. Now the three of them were waiting in the audience for the final result, after which they could leave. The money had been transferred to several cards as requested by them, all from Swiss banks. When it comes to the reliability of banks, Swiss banks are still the best; at least they don't arbitrarily close accounts.
"The final and most exciting match, uh!" The host took the slip of paper handed to him from the audience, "Red side Ryusei Taro forfeits, so the winner, uh, Black side Charlie also forfeits, this match..." He wiped his sweat; he had never encountered this situation before, and now he didn't know how to judge it.
Episode 3: The Bloody Path to Growth, Chapter 53: No Limits to Abstention (Part 2)
Amidst the crowd's condemnation, Zhang Lei and his team slunk away, hoping the organizers would treat the competition as one without a champion, or at least award the title to the sole winner among the four semi-finalists. In any case, they hoped to avoid any tie for the championship, as that would cause further trouble.
However, I doubt the organizers would publicize something so embarrassing...
Everyone was happy to receive the money. Zhang Lei and his team weren't foolish enough to reveal their earnings, and the person who received the money wisely refrained from asking. It's a favor that someone thought of you; asking how much someone received would be incredibly rude.
Linghu Zaichong and Li Zaixing exchanged a few casual words. Six figures in US dollars were not a small sum for them. Despite their serious expressions, the corners of their mouths couldn't help but turn up. Even Linghu, who had the superpower of self-examination to control himself, was no exception.
As for those with silver swords, needless to say, although the National Bureau of Foreign Affairs doesn't pay much, it's still considered a high salary, which is more than enough. But for them, it's completely different. Two of them even explicitly stated that they would apply for retirement upon returning.
...
With the money, life on the ship became much more comfortable. As agreed before, the group's expenses were all covered by the extra 200,000 yuan that Zhang Lei and his team contributed. Although this amount of money was not as much as what was given away before, the effect was definitely no less significant.
Even a pair of twin sisters have smiles on their faces these past two days. They checked the amount of money on the ship's machine. Even with Japan's relatively wealthy economy, it would be an impossible task to save up that much money with pocket money.
Few people complain about having too much money, especially Mei Chuan Neiyi. If she were the kind of girl who wasn't swayed by money, she probably wouldn't have resorted to any honey traps. This little girl, Yong Gang, had just learned a bit of Chinese, and she called Zhang Lei "brother" and Tian Xiao "sister" so sweetly, even though Zhang Lei and Tian Xiao were probably younger than her.
People only start to fear being called old when they grow up. Zhang Lei and his friends at that age didn't have this worry; both Tian Xiao and Zhang Lei found it quite pleasant. Their mindset had changed; from now on, they were compatriots!
Having received the $50,000, Mei Chuanai had long forgotten her stance as a young, angry Japanese. Zhang Lei thought to himself, "No wonder the United States is the world's hegemon now; the power of the dollar should not be underestimated!"
Compared to the joyful atmosphere on Zhang Lei's side, Michiko's side was much more desolate.
"I'm exhausted!" Michiko pressed several acupoints on her legs with her fingers. Even an expert couldn't withstand this. For the past two days, Michiko had been standing and walking for more than eighteen hours a day. The only time left was for eating, sleeping, and going to the toilet. She didn't even have time for washing her face and putting on makeup, which are the most important things for a woman, let alone taking a bath.