"Roy!"
The moment the thin, middle-aged man opened his eyes, his gaze locked onto Roy.
Kaizen stood beside Roy, watching him intently.
"Roy, it's up to you now. You said that as long as we found one of them, you'd have a way to get the other two out."
Roy hesitated, looking at the thin, middle-aged man. But it was only for a moment.
"Teacher."
"Teacher?" The man glared at Roy, his voice sharp with anger. "After what you've done, you still dare to call me that?"
"I have no disciple like you!"
"Betraying your teacher—you deserve to die!"
Roy let out a bitter laugh. "Teacher, I had no choice. If I wanted to survive, I had to do what he said. I just want to live. Is that really so wrong?"
His voice remained steady as he pressed on.
"Teacher, you should cooperate now."
"Why sacrifice yourself for their sake?"
The thin, middle-aged man stiffened at those words, as if grasping onto a final shred of hope.
"If I let them go… will you spare me?"
Both Roy and the middle-aged man turned to Kaizen.
The desperation in the man's eyes was clear.
Kaizen glanced at him, then turned to Roy.
"Roy, don't dump this problem on me. You made a promise. Find a way to fulfill it."
"Otherwise, why should I let you live?"
"All three of them must die."
The middle-aged man's face went pale.
He now understood—there was no room for negotiation.
Kaizen wouldn't let him go.
"You little brat… you think you control everything? If you kill me, you're as good as dead!"
"AKA will hunt you down."
"Heavens Arena won't let this slide."
"And my lord will avenge me!"
His expression twisted with fury, but Kaizen remained unimpressed.
He knew the man was bluffing.
AKA was no match for him.
Would Heavens Arena or its overseers retaliate on the man's behalf?
Maybe.
But Kaizen had already consulted Doppo.
Doppo's advice had been clear: as long as he didn't cause too much trouble within Heavens Arena, he'd be fine.
That meant once these three left the Arena, what happened to them wasn't the Arena's concern.
Even inside Heavens Arena, as long as Kaizen kept things quiet, neither the Arena nor its officials would interfere.
Roy's voice was calm, but his words carried a clear threat.
"Teacher, you don't want misfortune to befall the ladies, do you?"
"And my dear brothers and sisters."
The middle-aged man froze.
"Roy… what are you saying?"
But Roy wasn't afraid anymore. His mind was made up.
"It's exactly what it sounds like, Teacher. Don't blame me—I only want to survive. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself."
The older man's eyes darkened.
"You would go this far? Even against your own?"
"Do you really think you can keep living in this city after something like that?"
"How do you think people will see you?"
Roy shook his head. "That's not your concern, Teacher. Even if I have to leave, it's better than dying. I can always start over in another city. I don't have to stay here."
The middle-aged man fell silent.
After a long pause, he finally looked up at Roy.
"And if I refuse? What will you do to them?"
Roy shrugged, his expression relaxed.
"The junior brothers? I'll sell them off. The junior sisters? I'll pick a few for myself. The pretty ones will be useful, the others can be sold."
"As for your wife, Teacher… well, as your disciple, I suppose it's only right that I inherit her."
This time, the middle-aged man didn't explode in anger.
Because he knew anger was useless.
"Fine. I'll cooperate." His voice was low, bitter. "But Roy, if you so much as touch them, even if I die, I'll never let you go."
"Give me a phone."
Roy handed him one.
The man dialed a number.
It rang briefly before connecting.
"It's bad," the man said quickly. "Kaizen's still alive. Roy got caught. Now I'm trapped by Kaizen and his people. I need backup. Hurry!"
There was a brief silence on the other end.
"What?"
The middle-aged man gave his location.
"Come fast! I can't handle this alone."
...
AKA Base, Heavens Arena
Two men exchanged grim looks.
"Are we going?"
"We have to. If we don't, Kaizen will come for us next. And he'll be even harder to deal with later. This is our best chance to take him down."
"But… what if it's a trap?"
"A trap?"
"Think about it. He might already be in Kaizen's hands."
"Impossible. Kaizen's strong, but not that strong. It hasn't been that long—there's no way he subdued him that fast."
"You go first. I'll follow later."
The bald man frowned. "You're being paranoid."
"Better cautious than dead. If something's off, I'll think of another way."
"Fine. I'll go."
The bald man left first, heading toward the meeting point.
The second man followed, keeping his distance.
What neither of them realized was that the moment they stepped out of Heavens Arena, Ai Lukun had already captured their movements on surveillance and sent the images to Kaizen.
Kaizen was waiting.
Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Then, suddenly, the third core member of AKA hesitated.
He had barely stepped outside before he turned back and hurried into Heavens Arena again.
"..."
Kaizen narrowed his eyes.
"So cowardly?"
He waited a little longer, but the man didn't come back out.
Instead, he went upstairs.
"Then we take down this one first."
"The last one can wait."
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