At the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena, Ye Qing, having won twenty consecutive matches, saw his odds gradually increase.
The audience at the venue went wild, and people didn't even bet on wins or losses anymore but placed all their money on the new betting pool opened by Tiger King, wagering whether Ye Qing could set a new record.
"In the twenty-first match, Ye Qing's opponent will be the former record holder, known as the Meat Grinder, Jackson!"
This news spread across the venue, and everyone was shocked by it. They knew the twenty-first match would be a major hurdle, but no one expected that Ye Qing's twenty-first opponent would be such a formidable one.
Jackson, nicknamed the Meat Grinder, was a professional boxer from America. Standing at one hundred ninety centimeters and weighing one hundred eighty jin, he possessed incredible explosive power and surprisingly agile movements.
Two years ago, he had won twenty-one consecutive matches, not only proving his strength but also earning a large sum of money, which led Tiger King to regard him as the strongest contestant.
Although he had been away from the ring for two years, he hadn't neglected his training, exercising continuously and reaching peak condition. Additionally, his accumulated fame had many people eagerly anticipating when he would return to the ring and set another record.
Tonight, Ye Qing's performance dazzled everyone, causing them all to compare him with Jackson, speculating who among the two was stronger. Tiger King played on this sentiment by intentionally setting up Jackson as the opponent in the twenty-first match, to maximize the excitement of the audience.
"Come on, will our dark horse contestant Ye Qing tonight break the historical record and create the miracle of twenty-two consecutive wins? Let us wait and see!" The referee stood on the stage and shouted in a highly provocative tone, "However, for the twenty-first match, he will face the toughest opponent, the former record creator from North America, the Meat Grinder, Jackson!"
The audience erupted in cheers, all shouting excitedly. In two years, the legends about Jackson had been told countless times, and nearly every visitor betting at Tiger King's Dog Field knew of Jackson's reputation. And today, he was finally returning to battle, facing an opponent like Ye Qing, it was truly a battle of the century!
The referee said, "Now, let's look at our odds. The odds for Ye Qing have risen a lot, falling back to one to five now. Let's see Jackson's odds, currently at one to one point two. Wow, indeed the older ginger is spicier, despite being away from the ring for two years, Jackson's reputation remains, with unmatched prestige!"
"Damn, 'unmatched' my ass!" shouted the fat man who had been betting on Ye Qing's wins, standing up and swearing, "Ye Qing has been fighting for twenty rounds, even a robot would be tired by now. At this time, you send out Jackson, who has been conserving his strength for so long, clearly targeting Ye Qing. How is this fair!"
"Exactly! Exactly!" others chimed in, these people, like the fat man, had become Ye Qing's most loyal supporters.
"Underground Boxing Ring, there is no such thing as fairness!" the referee unabashedly said, "This is arranged by the order, if he can get past this person, then he has a chance to break the record. If he loses, then it's survival of the fittest. If you want to support Ye Qing, you can continue to bet on him winning!"
"I'll bet!" the fat man indignantly said, "I bet five million, Ye Qing will break the record!"
As soon as he said this, a stir broke out all around.
"Damn, Fatso, got too much money to spend, huh? Five million? Knowing that you're going to lose."
"If you had that much money, giving it to charity would earn you some good karma, instead of wasting it here!"
"You guys don't need to worry about it, Fatso has earned at least twenty million tonight. Throwing away five million like a stone, he can afford it, what are you guys fussing about!"
The crowd buzzed with discussion, mocking the fat man's action. Five million, even though the people here were not poor, none of them would want to throw away so much money.
The fat man glared and said, "Shut the hell up, I do what I want, what about it!"
"Fatso, I really admire you, knowing you're going to lose!" the referee laughed loudly, then turned and said, "Alright, there are still two minutes left to place your bets, please hurry up and make your bets!"
Upstairs, in Tiger King's private room, the underlings were tallying the betting results. Suddenly, one of the underlings changed his expression and cursed, "Damn, who the hell is this?"
"What happened?" Tiger King turned around displeasedly and asked, "What's going on?"
"Boss, look." The underling turned the screen to Tiger King and said, "The guest in VIP Room No. 8 has bet a billion, betting that Ye Qing will break the record!"
"What?" Tiger King swayed, nearly falling off his chair.
Tiger King had run this place for a long time and had seen large bets before. But to throw down a billion at once, this was his first encounter. Previously, the highest a customer had bet was only twenty million, which was the biggest amount Tiger King had seen. This time, someone was betting a billion, what was he up to?
"Who is in Room No. 8?" Tiger King asked gravely.
A young follower immediately said, "It's Yang Shitao!"
"Yang Shitao?" Tiger King furrowed his brows and was silent for a long time before he said in a deep voice, "Calculate it for me, if Ye Qing breaks the record, how much money will we lose?"
The follower, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, said, "The betting results just came out, one hundred and ten million on Ye Qing breaking the record, only three million on him matching the record, and eighty million on him not breaking it. Ye Qing's odds are one to five, meaning, if Ye Qing wins, we will have to pay out at least three hundred million!"
Tiger King furrowed his brows. Without that one hundred million, the betting results were still within his expectations. In fact, his decision to send Jackson up was specifically to inflate the odds, while reducing the likelihood of Ye Qing breaking the record as much as possible.
That way, people would bet on Ye Qing not breaking the record, and all he needed to do was to rig the fight, throw a few fixed punches, letting Ye Qing break the record, and then he'd make a huge profit.
However, he never expected that Cheng Yaojin would appear out of nowhere. Yang Shitao throwing out one hundred million was completely unforeseen. If Ye Qing broke Jackson's record, then he would be ruined, losing three hundred million in one night, which was almost his entire fortune.
"That bastard Yang Shitao!" Tiger King gritted his teeth and angrily said, "Quickly pass down the order, tell Jackson to kill Ye Qing, no matter what he must not break the record!"
"Yes!" A young follower hurried off to handle the task while Tiger King glared at the screen, his mood inflamed to an extreme.
After a while, Tiger King's fury slowly subsided, and he coldly watched Ye Qing on the screen, suddenly sneering, "Yang Shitao, to kill a Ye, you're really paying a high price. Spending one hundred million as a stake, forcibly pushing me to kill him, had I known I should have just talked to you, taken one hundred million from you directly and done him in, why go through such trouble?"
The follower beside him, puzzled, said, "Brother, this Yang Shitao is too crazy. One hundred million could hire the top assassin, why go through such trouble?"
"It's not the same effect," Tiger King sneered, "Hiring the top assassin, though he could kill Ye Qing, but he would not be able to experience the feeling of watching him being beaten to death. He threw out one hundred million this time just to watch Ye Qing get beaten to death by Jackson himself. Humph, ever since his son died, this old guy has gone mad.
With so much family wealth and no heir, of course, it's best to squander it quickly. Spending one hundred million for the thrill of revenge, he has nothing to regret!"
The young follower nodded as if he understood but continued to peer worriedly at the ring below us, "I just don't know if Jackson can beat Ye Qing."
Tiger King's brow slightly furrowed, he stared at the screen for quite a while before he said gravely, "Even if he can beat Jackson, I definitely won't let him break the record. You two, go invite that man over immediately!"
"That man?" Both followers' expressions changed, showing panic, which indicated the terror associated with that man.
Tiger King said coldly, "Enough talk, hurry up and go!"
The two followers reluctantly turned and left, while Tiger King continued to stare fixedly at the screen and said in a deep voice, "Ye, you're dead!"
Amid the cheers of the crowd, Jackson climbed onto the ring. He was dressed in a short suit with a massive gold belt around his waist, a symbol of honor.
Jackson arrogantly spread his arms, enjoying the cheers from everyone. He slowly turned to face Ye Qing, gave a thumbs up, and then pointed downwards, insulting him in broken Chinese, "Sick Man of East Asia!"
Ye Qing frowned, this nickname was decades old, and here Jackson was, using it again.
"You damn foreign devil, see if you can beat Ye Qing before you talk nonsense!" A plump man stood up yelling, "Don't you believe that Ye Qing can knock your teeth out!"
Jackson glared at him and said, "I've fought many matches in Huaxia and I haven't lost a single one. You East Asians, always an inferior race, never a match for us!"
A chorus of boos immediately rose up from the crowd, and even those who were supporting Jackson began to get angry. After all, everyone in the audience was Huaxia people, and here he was, insulting Huaxia people, showing no respect for Huaxia at all.
"Let's fight, why all this nonsense?" Tiger King said angrily from upstairs, "Tell them to start quickly!"
The referee below, receiving Tiger King's order, didn't dare to let Jackson talk too much longer and hurried onto the stage, saying, "Alright, the match begins formally, please both contestants..."
Before the referee could finish speaking, Jackson suddenly charged towards Ye Qing, his formidable physique like a tower, as he fiercely rammed his shoulder towards Ye Qing.
"Damn, another sneak attack!" The plump man couldn't help but curse aloud.
The crowd also gasped in shock, Ye Qing's frame seemed almost childlike in front of Jackson. If that hit landed, Ye Qing would likely be sent flying.