Beast Fight

Once the initial shock wore off, the crowd began to study the strange hybrid creature more closely. Even the child who had been crying earlier stopped, and curiosity drew him forward again. He pulled a gold button off his clothes and hurled it at the creature.

The mutant let out a low growl, baring its teeth at him.

Thick iron chains confined its movements, while the sturdy cage gave the boy confidence. He crept closer, made faces at the creature inside, and even kicked at the iron bars.

The mutant clawed at the cage, desperate to reach the taunting child and devour him, but the moment its thick paws touched the bars, a powerful surge of electricity crackled across the metal, jolting through its limbs. In an instant, it collapsed, limp and twitching, onto the floor of the cage.

Pang Shixi watched with satisfaction, then tossed the remote control for the electric current back onto the tray held by the attendant beside him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, have any of you guessed what I'm about to do next?" Pang Shixi asked, beaming at the assembled guests.

A young woman in a black evening gown with a sharp short haircut spoke up, "A beast fight?"

"As expected of the eldest miss of the Rong family," he praised, raising his left hand and placing his right palm flat beneath it, then bowing his head slightly.

A ritualistic gesture.

"The Rong family has been devout for generations; that posture is the greeting ritual of their faith," Zero explained through the earpiece. "The Rong family excels at genetic cultivation and restoring extinct species. Ninety percent of the pets sold in the market today are products of the Rong family."

"More than twenty years ago, they successfully revived ancient beasts like woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers, sparking intense public debate. Riding that wave of popularity, they built massive arenas on every continent, where countless people flocked with fanatical fervor. The arenas earned them billions every year. Later, for certain humanitarian reasons, they were shut down, and now they only exist in certain black markets."

Below, the woman in black returned Pang Shixi's gesture politely. Then he turned to address the crowd, laying out his intentions.

He rambled on about this and that before finally getting to the point. "Let's see, shall we—who's stronger: our Federation's brave warriors, or the savage beasts that have crawled out of that uncivilized wasteland?"

With that, he raised his right hand high, index finger pointed to the sky, and his voice rang through the entire Wanle Temple. "Ten thousand Federation credits! Any brave soul here who can step into that cage and last ten minutes gets the money wired straight into their account!"

The so-called brave souls were none other than the Executive Department guards in attendance.

No one answered.

Ten thousand Federation credits was no small sum—it could match two months' salary for the guards present.

But it wasn't enough either. Risking your life for two months' pay just wasn't worth it.

Not a single guard moved.

"Well, it seems the Executive Department guards are all quite well paid. They've turned their noses up at my humble offer."

Pang Shixi let out an exaggerated sigh, his eyebrows drooping and the skin on his face slackening, making his age all too apparent. The data on his visor said he was sixty-four years old, but he'd taken such good care of himself that he looked like a man in his late forties at most.

His body language was grand and dramatic—one moment bursting into laughter, the next sinking into a gloomy frown. He paid no mind to his own status, nor did he seem concerned that two family heads of equal standing to himself sat among the audience below.

Tu Ran could tell from the unbothered expressions of the crowd that Pang Shixi had probably always been this unhinged.

To be honest, the public personas of the three great tycoon family heads had caught Tu Ran completely off guard.

Before this, she'd only heard of their existence, never knowing their names or faces. She'd imagined them as enigmatic, stoic figures who never cracked a smile.

But now that she'd seen all three in person—one was a gullible fool who believed anything, one was a grinning simpleton who smiled at everyone, and one was a doddering madman.

How should she put it? Her perception had been thoroughly refreshed again.

Down below, the assembled wealthy guests burst into laughter at Pang Shixi's antics. A man in a well-tailored suit rose to his feet. "Old Pang, you're richer than entire nations, and you only offer ten thousand? No wonder they're not biting. Let me sweeten the pot—I'll put up fifty thousand!"

At his words, laughter rippled through the crowd.

Ten thousand, fifty thousand—to them, there was little difference.

But that money could induce the guards to risk their lives.

That thought excited them.

Though no guard had stepped forward yet, the mood was running high, and one after another, people rose.

"I bid a hundred thousand!"

"Two hundred thousand!"

Tu Ran watched the crowd below with cold detachment, her index finger resting on the trigger of her submachine gun, tapping lightly, over and over.

When the bid climbed to three hundred thousand, a guard finally stepped forward.

"I... I'll go."

Tu Ran turned to look at him. He'd been posted outside the door, unable to see what was happening inside—he'd likely only heard the sound. As he walked in from the entrance, under the amused gazes of the onlookers, he stopped before Pang Shixi and confirmed, "Three hundred thousand, ten minutes, right?"

"Of course," Pang Shixi said with a genial smile, his tone as patient as a doting elder's. "But you can't go in armed with that. I've prepared weapons—feel free to choose one."

The attendant wheeled a cart up to the guard, draped in red cloth, upon which lay an array of weapons, all cold steel.

The guard stripped off his own gear and set it aside, then picked out a longer dagger and walked up to the iron cage.

Looking at the mutant inside, nearly three times his height, his face paled slightly, and he gripped the sole weapon in his hand tightly.

The gaps between the cage's iron bars were wide enough for a person to squeeze through, but Pang Shixi still had someone open the cage's single door.

As the door swung open, the mutant inside grew restless, slamming its body against the entrance and lowering its head, shoving toward the narrow opening.

Tu Ran heard its voice.

"Food... food... food..."

That door was used to deliver its meals.

And now, the guard walked through it.

The moment he stepped inside, the mutant lunged, and the ten-minute timer began.

The guard was agile enough, dodging the initial strike, and then he scurried frantically around the cage.

Clumsy in build, bound further by the cage and shackles, the creature couldn't immediately consume the prize it so desperately craved.

Enraged, it kept repositioning itself to lunge at the guard, who always moved away a step ahead, causing the hulk to crash heavily into the bars with resounding thuds that never ceased—yet the cage remained unyielding.

The wealthy spectators watched every moment with rapt attention.

This was the first time they'd seen a human duel a mutant.

Strength against weakness, enormity against insignificance, savagery against civilization, lumbering against nimble...

The cost of a life meant nothing at this moment.