Empire of Shadows

“That big guy won again.”

In the office, Stone, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, watched Ethan leave, a trace of dissatisfaction on his calm face.

The intermediary for this ring match was the Kodak family. They had specifically arranged for the fighter “Steel Jaw” to face Ethan, with the goal of making Ethan lose a round.

The casino’s profits came from the act of gambling. The Kodak family not only ran the casino but also all industries related to gambling, which included organizing boxing matches.

Organizing boxing matches, setting odds based on wins and losses, and thereby attracting a large number of bets was one of the most common things a casino did.

Ethan came into the Kodak family’s line of sight from his third match. They weren’t particularly surprised that the Lance Family was raising a boxer.

In fact, many gangs had their own fighters. These fighters would not only fight in official matches but would sometimes also participate in underground fights.

To settle some disputes, or purely for gambling.

The Kodak family also had fighters and also ran the betting odds for the ring.

At first, they hadn’t noticed Ethan, at least not paid much attention to this young fighter. But after the Lance Family continuously placed heavy bets on him, Stone, who was in charge of the Kodak family’s gray-area businesses, noticed this big lug.Every victory represented the Lance Family and Ethan’s fervent supporters snatching a large profit from the company’s hands!

Stone didn’t like this kind of character, even if Ethan’s style was good and he always won, he couldn’t make money for Stone and the family.

If it were an ordinary person, he might have used some underhanded tricks, such as forcing the other party to throw a fight. But Ethan had a gang background and was a member of the Lance Family, so these tricks were useless.

“How much did we lose this time?” he asked.

A staff member in charge of the accounts, while checking the ledger in his hand, pushed up his round-framed glasses and said, “About $300,000.”

“That much?” He licked his lips, his temper starting to rise.

The staff member nodded and flipped through the ledger in his hand. “The Lance Family bet $500,000 on Ethan, and it was at the very beginning.”

“We reduced the odds later, but it was too late.”

“Steel Jaw” was actually not weak. He had been famous for a while. Whether in terms of fame or past records, at least his stats were much better than Ethan’s.

What did Ethan have?

A newly debuted heavyweight fighter who had fought four matches, three of whom were nobodies, and one was just an over-the-hill, declining old heavyweight boxer.

Strictly speaking, “Steel Jaw” was the first somewhat famous heavyweight fighter in his prime that Ethan had encountered.

On paper, Ethan’s stats were simply no match for the other party.

So when arranging the odds, Ethan’s odds were not too low.

Just at that time, the Lance Family’s $500,000 bet directly lowered Ethan’s odds, but the bet on the ticket was still the original one.

“Fuck!” Stone cursed.

“Can we arrange a tougher opponent for him?” Stone’s gaze returned from Ethan’s disappearing back and fell on the other people in the office.

His gaze was unfriendly, and even a bit ruthless, making these subordinates’ scalps tingle slightly.

“Also, that what’s-his-name Steel Jaw made us lose so much money. Find a chance to teach him a lesson.”

“This kind of person shouldn’t continue to box!”

“Break his legs. I don’t want to see him in the ring again!”

One sentence decided the fate of a boxer, but he didn’t feel he was being excessive, because he had lost a large sum of money.

A young man sitting on the sofa on the other side was Stone’s trusted subordinate. He leaned back on the sofa, his posture very relaxed. It could be seen that he had a full sense of security here and was very casual.

“Ethan keeps winning. In the next match, the people who place heavy bets on him will only increase. We must find a fighter who can defeat him, not one who can pose a threat. That’s not safe.”

Stone looked at this trusted subordinate. He had provided him with a lot of help in many matters, and he also quite agreed with the other’s point of view.

“Yes, do you have any ideas?”

“Or do you have someone in mind?”

This wasn’t an underground fight; it was a legitimate boxing match. To snipe Ethan in this kind of boxing match, you couldn’t use the rules of an underground fight.

The fame and the like of both sides had to be on the same level. For example, if Ethan wanted to challenge the boxing champion now, no matter what conditions he offered, the boxing champion would not respond.

He had to continuously improve his stats and obtain the qualification to challenge before he could challenge the boxing champion, and the boxing champion might not even respond.

If you wanted to snipe Ethan, and you found someone too famous, too strong, Ethan and his team could completely refuse.

And the boxing fans wouldn’t think there was anything wrong with it. To participate knowing you would lose, that wasn’t courage, it was just plain stupidity.

His trusted subordinate showed a slight smile. “I’ll handle this.”

Stone nodded and didn’t say anything more. He trusted his subordinate.

“This match certainly won’t satisfy them. They should be starting the next one soon. Arrange it as soon as possible.”

Stone’s guess was not wrong at all. On the minibus, Ethan’s coach had talked about this problem.

“‘Steel Jaw’ is of no help to your improvement. That fool is famous only because he relies on his natural talent.”

“What you need is to face some more technical fighters, who can cause you trouble, not a fool who doesn’t defend much.”

The coach’s evaluation of Steel Jaw was very poor. At the heavyweight level, victory and defeat were often decided by two or three punches.

Even if the boxing champion came today, he wouldn’t dare to let Ethan hit him twice first, so this Steel Jaw was not to be taken seriously.

The reason he could make a bit of a name for himself was most likely because the opponents he chose were those with no fame and no talent.

He had gained some fame by relying on his natural talent and could then get some money.

When he really met someone with better talent than him, whether it was in taking a punch or in punching power, he was simply no match.

Looking at Ethan, the coach’s expression finally softened. “Your friends are waiting for you. Remember what I told you.”

“Alcohol will destroy your athletic ability, and sex will turn you into a weakling. You have a bright future in boxing…”

“I know,” Ethan interrupted him.

He knew the coach was doing this for his own good, but he didn’t really like some of the coach’s ideas, such as him cutting off contact with the people from the Lance Family and focusing on boxing matches.

His roots were there. He would not cut off contact with Lance and the others.

If he had to choose one, he could give up his identity as a boxer, but he would not cut off his friendship with his brothers.

Sensing Ethan’s impatience, the coach didn’t say anything more. He had the driver stop the minibus on the side of the road. Ethan eagerly got out of the car.

Looking at the smile on Ethan’s face, the coach’s expression was calm.

He believed that as Ethan’s fame grew, as he began to become a celebrity, a socialite, he would take the initiative to seek to say goodbye to his past self.

“Hey, champ!”

Hiram jumped out of the car and patted Ethan’s arm, a smile on his face. “The way you knocked that bastard down was so cool.”

“He was as stupid as a sandbag, to actually trade punches with you.”

Ethan scratched his head and said with a laugh, “He wanted to test how heavy my punch was.”

“Now he knows,” Hiram said with a big laugh, and the others all laughed as well.

Actually, Steel Jaw had been a bit careless. He didn’t think a rookie would go all out in the first round. This did not conform to the principle of stamina allocation.

Most rookies would obey the coach’s request, which was to get as much information as possible in the first round, not to use only four or five-tenths of their strength, and to allocate their stamina in the second and third rounds.

So he was certain that Ethan’s punch would not be too heavy. This way, even if he took a punch, the impact would not be great, and at the same time, it could give Ethan a hint that “you can’t knock me down.”

But he didn’t expect that Ethan was not a rookie in the traditional sense. The successive victories had made him full of confidence. What bullshit stamina allocation principle?

If you can’t knock me down, then I’ll knock you down.

So when Steel Jaw’s five-tenths-heavy punch landed on Ethan’s chin, Ethan’s ten-tenths-heavy iron fist hammered on his steel jaw.

Perhaps he was the real rookie.

Soon Ethan got into the car where Lance was. They went to the villa. Today they would have a good time.

“How does it feel?” Lance asked.

Ethan seemed very relaxed. “These people are too weak. They are no challenge for me. I want to challenge someone stronger.”

Lance nodded. “I will help you build up momentum, but I hear that this has to be a process. Your ranking in Likalai State is not too high yet, but after two more wins, you will have the qualification to challenge the top ranks.”

If he could achieve seven wins in seven fights with seven knockouts, then Ethan would be qualified to challenge the higher-ranked fighters, and would also be considered to have officially entered the real boxing world.

Ethan smiled foolishly. “The coach said that this year is just for me to get a feel for boxing matches. Next year, I should gain weight and consider fighting in the heavyweight division.”

“At this stage, we won’t necessarily be aiming for the light heavyweight challenge or anything like that.”

He was still in the light heavyweight division now, one level below the heavyweight division. In fact, the difference was not that big.

His technique was still a bit rough. This was a good opportunity to hone it.

Elvin looked back at him. “If there’s a chance, why not give it a try?”

“If you move up to the heavyweight division with a title like light heavyweight champion, your starting point will be higher.”

Ethan was also not sure. After all, he had been a boxer for less than a year.

Lance changed the subject. This would depend on the coach’s own arrangements and Ethan’s feelings about the match process.

If he showed that he couldn’t handle it now, then he might still focus on the light heavyweight division for a short time, and might even be demoted.

But if he performed very easily, then moving up was inevitable.

“Alright, let’s not talk about this for now. There are many girls who want to meet you now.”

(End of chapter)