CHAPTER 386: CHAPTER 384: ONCE THE FLAG IS SET, CHOOSE THE PATH TO DEATH_1

BEEP, BEEP. The sound of medical equipment echoed in his ears.

Upon realizing this, Hojo Tetsuji suddenly awoke. He glanced at the pure white ceiling and blinked.

A touch of confusion emerged.

Hojo Tetsuji turned his head and saw Phoenix Academy Maggie standing by his bed. He expressed his surprise, "Miss, why are you here? I..."

He stopped mid-sentence, slapped his forehead, and finally remembered what had happened earlier. "I lost, huh..."

His expression was complex. It was the first time he had ever lost a fight to someone else.

Phoenix Academy Maggie, looking at him with irritation, said, "Of course you lost. You’re really lucky to be alive after that beating. I was about to arrange a burial for you, and all you ended up with was a broken sternum."

Amat, who had gone berserk at the time, was like an energetic demolition team. He had turned the scene into a haze of smoke and dust, shattering all the tatami mats in the ring and even leaving the ground pitted.

Phoenix Academy Maggie watched from the spectators’ seats, her hands almost crushing the armrests.

It wasn’t until the medical team carried him away that she received a detailed report: Hojo Tetsuji was fine.

Such a wild attack had only caused a minor concussion, the kind that would be alright with a bit of rest.

The most serious injury was to his chest.

His sternum was broken, but his heart was not damaged.

And there was nothing wrong with his back at all.

In the words of the doctor, in all his years of practice, he’d never encountered such a fortress-like, robust body.

"Haha, I wasn’t like this at first. Later on, as I fought with people, I became stronger," Hojo Tetsuji said with a laugh. He sat up. A slight pain in his chest made him frown momentarily, but it quickly eased. He swung his legs out of bed. "Miss, I can’t stay here any longer. I must record the inspiration in my mind. Where are my clothes?"

"In the drawer," Phoenix Academy Maggie responded, opening the bedside drawer. Hojo Tetsuji quickly grabbed a T-shirt and put it on, smiling. "Then I’ll be heading back first."

"Hmm," she replied, her expression complex.

When Hojo Tetsuji had broken the wall with a punch earlier, she hadn’t thought it was any superpower.

Martial artists could indeed do that.

But seeing his terrifying capacity to take hits and recover so quickly, Phoenix Academy Maggie couldn’t help but wonder.

Could Hojo Tetsuji have unwittingly awakened some superpower?

With the same injuries, if it were her, she would have been overwhelmed in the first round.

Yet Hojo Tetsuji had only fainted for about ten minutes before being as sprightly as ever, showing no signs of injury at all.

Phoenix Academy Maggie sighed internally. The physical constitutions of people truly are different.

She didn’t stay there any longer and walked outside.

The corridor was full of black-suited bodyguards, all armed.

Hojo Tetsuji had already run off, out of sight.

Mike came out of the neighboring ward and said with a smile, "Miss, I told you not to worry about Hojo’s health."

"Indeed. I should worry about you. Mother’s orders were for you to win the championship, yet you lost to Peter," Phoenix Academy Maggie said, casting a glance at him. "When we get back, Mother might have to reconsider your competence."

Spreading his hands, Mike responded, "There’s nothing I could do; Peter is just too strong. Look, I still have bandages around my neck."

He tugged at his collar with his left hand, revealing the bandage underneath, proving he had indeed tried his best.

Peter was strong. Mike knew he couldn’t beat him just by trying his best; he’d have to tap into the ferocity he once had in underground boxing matches to win against that man.

However, Mike hadn’t given it his all, not that beyond-the-norm effort.

He believed that winning this competition was not a good thing.

Mike understood the dark hearts of those capitalists all too well. They were willing to offer a high reward, but the price behind it would surely be too heavy for ordinary people to bear.

Fighting his way to the qualifying match for the top eight was his commitment to Kochou.

If Kochou wasn’t satisfied, there was nothing he could do.

The money was good, but one also needed to be alive to spend it.

Mike didn’t want to be sold out by the masters in a state of confusion.

"You really did have a tough time," Phoenix Academy Maggie said offhandedly, not continuing the conversation.

The match between Mike and Peter had indeed been intense.

Towards the end, not one of the competitors vying for the top eight was a weakling.

Phoenix Academy Maggie decided to put in a few good words for Mike that evening, playing the ’good cop’.

She started down the right corridor.

A familiar noise was heard around a corner.

"I’m just here to see a friend."

"No, outsiders are not allowed in."

"Don’t be so rigid. I told you, my friend is injured."

Phoenix Academy Maggie hesitated in her steps, torn between ignoring the situation and acknowledging it. She opted for the former, intending to walk straight past.

Ayatsuki Ayaka stood at the corner, her cheeks puffed out, looking like she was about to bite someone.

Seeing Phoenix Academy Maggie walking by, Ayaka’s eyes lit up, and she waved, calling out, "Phoenix Academy, I heard Hojo was badly beaten. Is he still alive?"

Phoenix Academy Maggie paused, turning her head to say, "He’s fine. He’s already gone home."

"Oh, thank you," Ayatsuki Ayaka said, a relieved smile spreading across her face. She had been genuinely afraid that Hojo Tetsuji might have been beaten to death.

If that had happened, she wouldn’t have known how to break the news to Aozawa.

But Hojo’s physical constitution was truly astounding. To be beaten up like that on site and still be able to go home and rest so quickly.

Ayatsuki Ayaka was envious, wishing her own physical condition was that good so that if her calves cramped up, they would heal just as fast.

WHOOSH. WHOOSH.

Warm water flowed from above, washing the foam from Peter’s head. Then he turned off the water.

He turned to face the full-length mirror, wiped the water from his hair and body, and examined the obvious bruise on his chest.

His index finger gently touched it.

HISS. Peter drew a sharp breath. A glint of doubt flashed through his eyes. Had Mike really lost to him?

Something felt off.

He thought for a moment, then quickly cast the doubts from his mind.

The result of the match was that he had won; that was an ironclad fact.

He put on his bathrobe and opened the bathroom door.

Sophia was sitting on the living room sofa, her right hand and left foot in casts, her neck wrapped in a bandage. She asked, "You’ve advanced to the top eight?"

"Hmm," Peter replied. Looking at her condition, he laughed. "Auntie, ever since you came to Tokyo, you’re either injured or on your way to being injured."

"You little brat! Believe it or not, I’ll whack you with this crutch?" Sophia raised her crutch with her left hand, threatening to knock him on the head.

Peter laughed and said, "Auntie, crutches are not meant for hitting people."

"Are you taking time off tomorrow?"

"Of course. The matches begin in the morning. I’ll take half a day off and go back to studying in the afternoon." Peter sat on the sofa, took a peeled peach in his right hand, and bit into it. The peach flesh was fresh, juicy, and slightly sweet.

Sophia spoke seriously, "You need to be careful with Dragon King. He’s very strong. He practices Xingyi Boxing and is adept with eagle and tiger moves. You must not let his hands grab you."

"I know. If he could beat you up like this, his strength speaks for itself," Peter said, waving his hand. He was confident but not arrogant, still able to calmly analyze the strengths of himself and his opponents.

In his view, not one of the contestants remaining in the top eight was an easy opponent.

Dragon King, who had beaten Sophia so badly, probably hadn’t even used his full strength.

And Amat, who had fought that fierce battle with Hojo Tetsuji, was even more like a humanoid Tyrannosaurus.

Having experienced Hojo Tetsuji’s power firsthand, Peter knew that Amat, who could suppress Tetsuji in strength and also possessed superb skills, was definitely a formidable rival.

But he was not afraid.

Kings never fear any challenge.

Even though failure might leave him with a mark of shame he could never wash away.

But if he feared being overwhelmed and thus shied away from fighting Amat, he might save his body, but he couldn’t save his spirit.

I must win!

The sun was about to dip below the horizon, casting twilight over the edge of the city.

In front of the floor-to-ceiling windows on the seventeenth floor of the hotel, Amat sat on a large sofa. His right eye was already bandaged, covered by a black eyepatch.

He gazed out at the sky, his face showing a reflective expression, not only savoring the battle but also the strong liquor and delicacies that followed.

This was the first time he felt so satisfied with a victory.

CLICK. The sound of a door opening came from the entrance. He didn’t turn around, identifying the newcomer by their footsteps. "Mark, is your injury healed?" he asked.

"Yeah, Takeda is a good doctor." Mark felt a tremor of fear as he looked at Amat.

Previously, to deal with Onofre, MI6 had chosen to recruit Amat, intending to use one monster to counteract another.

But the CIA had hidden Onofre too well; his whereabouts remained unknown to this day.

And there was no other monster capable of counteracting this one.

"Don’t be nervous. I’m very content right now. I’m only looking forward to tomorrow’s quarterfinals," Amat reassured.

"What’s with the corpse on the floor?"

Mark looked towards the side of the sofa, where a corpulent, headless corpse lay, its head crushed.

Amat leaned back, crossing his legs. "It’s some ’entertainment’ those guys sent over. They probably thought I had... that kind of interest, so they deliberately sent this fat pig."

Those guys really don’t understand a thing.

Amat grabbed the whiskey and drank straight from the bottle. He then crushed the bottle in his hand and said, "What I pursue are powerful, beautiful people, not a specific gender."

Mark rolled his eyes. Amat’s interests were not something a normal person could understand.

"Will your blindness affect your fighting?"

"It won’t affect me at all. If anything, I feel like I’ve gotten stronger. Even if my eye can’t see, my perception can capture attacks coming from blind spots."

It was a blessing in disguise for him.

Mark shrugged. "I really don’t know who the winner is here. You’ve gone blind in one eye, while I heard Hojo Tetsuji just broke his sternum and left after resting for about ten minutes."

Amat was silent for a moment, doubting his own ears. He hadn’t held back at all!

While his mind raced, his expression remained composed as he said, "That’s within my expectations. He’s strong and will become stronger. I’m looking forward to it."

Hojo Tetsuji.

Just thinking of the name made Amat’s blood boil; he desperately wanted another deathmatch.

No matter the place, no matter the occasion.

He watched the sun set below the horizon. A profound sense of anticipation welled within him as he made his decision.

Once he had claimed the title of the strongest on the surface, he would seek out Hojo Tetsuji again.

This time, only one would come out alive.