“Lord!” A large-waisted man with a bushy beard humbly bowed in front of the three-meter-tall man.
He was the organizer of the underground fighting tournament and possessed quite a bit of influence. He was a former pirate of the B-ranked crew, but after getting defeated by Adam’s Slash Pirates, he struck a deal with his golden tongue and managed to get a job at Haventown.
Slowly, he rose in rank until he reached his current status.
“Norman.” Adam took a seat, but the chair could barely handle his weight. It was also quite small for someone of his stature.
“What is it, Lord Adam?” Norman, the large-waisted man, asked humbly while rubbing his hands like a sneaky merchant.
“I’ve come to register for the tournament.” Adam said and looked over at the walls that had pictures of half-naked women and a few maps of the surrounding area. “Also, add a person called Ambrose to the registration list.”
“Uh, I would have to kick out someone to have this Ambrose a spot.” Norman said with a sigh and humbly smiled. “Please, don’t put me in that position.”
Adam stood up and walked over to a large rectangle window that showed the entirety of the basement. There were currently two people having a bloody fist fight inside the cage, and it looked like they were dead even.
“Replace him with whoever wins this next fight.” Adam said and crossed his arms. “Don’t fucking say you can’t. You can. This wouldn’t be the first time either.”
“Ah…” Norman scratched his greasy hair. “Fine, but he better perform. I’ll lose face if I replace someone with a weaker fighter.”
Cheer—as one of the fighters fell inside the cage, loud cheers filled the basement. The fighter that was left standing raised his fists high and smashed them against his chest as if he were a gorilla.
He roared with triumph and excitement to reach the top 16.
Whoever managed to win the whole tournament, their lives would be forever changed, and they might even be allowed to join Sea King’s fleet, which would be an unimaginable honor.
The highest-ranking officers of the Sea King’s fleet were even allowed to live inside the black castle, which was the goal of many, as they wouldn’t have any more worries and could have whatever they wanted.
Adam pointed at the fighter and said. “Kick him out.”
“Damn, fine.” Norman walked over to the door and whispered something to his subordinate. His subordinate nodded and went to fetch the fighter.
After a short while, the fighter, who was still bloodied and bruised, entered the office and stood proudly with his chin high.
He expected to be praised for his victory, but then he saw a tall figure standing at the corner of the office, and his eyes almost shone like stars.
‘Adam Slasher!’ He thought with excitement, like a little kid. ‘The First Commander of the Sea King fleet!’
Afterward, he began thinking of reasons for Adam to be here and why he was invited here.
‘C-could it be…’ His eyes widened in shock. ‘Is he here to recruit me? The First Commander himself is here to recruit me!’
His face turned red with excitement, and he forced himself not to burst into laughter.
“Here.” Norman placed a pouch of silver coins on the desk and waved his hand. “Good fight, but you are replaced. Take this money; you earned it.”
“Huh?” His excitement vanished like a fart in the wind. “What the fuck? Replaced? But I fucking won!”
“Yeah, congra-fucking-tulations, now piss of.” Norman angrily spat back and turned back to the parchment paper on the desk.
It was the tournament bracket, and instead of adding the current fighter’s name to the top 16 spot, he added a person named Ambrose, who was due to fight a person called Ravenhood.
“This is bullshit!” The enraged figher slammed his fist on the desk and caused a jar of black ink to fall and splatter across expensive-looking carpet.
“What the fuck!” Norman angrily shouted. “That’ll never be cleaned up!”
“Who is this fucker you are replacing me with, huh?!” The fighter asked angrily and glanced at Adam, who was casually smoking a cigarette while gazing out towards the cage. “He is replacing me?”
“No.” Norman said and crossed his legs. “A guy called Ambrose.”
“Ambrose?” The fighter frowned and laughed. “Hah, with some fucking nobody? I have never heard of ‘im before. Are you making fun of me or what?!”
“Piss off, or you’ll be banned from future fights.” Norman said and leaned on his chair with a smug expression. “Well then, hop hop and fuck off.”
The fighter clenched his fist and said, “I’ve been practicing day and night for this tournament. This is my final chance of getting fuck out of the shithole I call home!”
“Well, I don’t give a fuck.” Norman pointed toward the door. “Fuck off, or I’ll call someone to throw you out.”
“Let me fight this guy called Ambrose!” He shouted. “If he wins, sure, I’ll leave, but if I win, you’ll let me fight!”
Norman frowned and looked towards Adam like he was waiting for an answer from the real boss.
“Huh…” Adam took a long drag and dropped the cigarette before stomping it out with his boot. He then looked towards the angry-faced fighter and said, “Nah, if I say you are fucking replaced, then you are replaced.”
“This is unfair!” The fighter screamed and pointed at Adam with a shaky index finger. “I am stronger than anyone else in here!”
“Is that so?” Adam chuckled and pulled up his sleeves.
Seeing that, the fighter took a step backward, and most of his anger vanished just like that. He had heard some legendary tales of Adam Slasher and how he had reached his current status as First Commander.
However, after a slightly longer contemplation, he scoffed and took a step forward.
“I ain’t afraid of ya!”
In his mind, Adam Slasher was always mentioned alongside his peerless swordsmanship. However, this was bare-knuckle fighting!
‘In brawling, no one can defeat me!’ The fighter put his arms up in front of him and tightened his muscles.
“You should…” Adam formed a fist on his right hand and reeled in his arm way back.
He then rotated his shoulder as if he were shifting gears, and then he moved forward with a long stride.
As Adam’s tall shadow engulfed him, the fighter opened his tightened fists and pointed his open palms towards Adam’s reeled-in fist.
‘My martial arts is called All-Weaving. I can redirect and nullify every attack with my unique techniques. A mere strength-based attack has no effect on me!’
Adam narrowed his eyes and threw a straight punch. However, because of his long limbs, his range of attack was two meters!
It even took the master of All-Weaving by surprise. However, he already took note of his enormous armspan and knew that fighting Adam directly would be an instant defeat.
However, he had already planned for that!
“All-Weaving, Redirect of Calm Lake.”
The fighter moved his palms and unleashed invisible energy that struck Adam’s fist. He then rotated his wrists around and jabbed his fingers into Adam’s wrist.
At that point, the fist should have been redirected, allowing the All-Weaving Master to counter-attack with a powerful strike.
“Eh?” However, he let out a short exclamation of surprise as the fist smashed into his palm, as if the redirection had no effect.
The fist, once landing on the open palm, sent tremors throughout the fighter’s arm.
The palm twisted around, and all its fingers broke from the impact. Then, immediately afterward, the palm exploded like a balloon and burst into a shower of blood and shattered bone.
The fist struck the fighter’s face with a sickening crunch.
As soon as the fist landed on the face, the fighter’s eyes widened in terror, but it was already too late.
Spurt—the head exploded, and the blood splattered across the walls like a splash painting.
The fighter’s body crumpled to the ground, lifeless. His legacy, which he thought would be one of greatness, was, in the end, nothing but a bloody mess across the walls of the office, which would be rather bothersome to clean.
“Ah, man.” Norman scratched his hair. “Lord Adam, do you have any idea how hard it is to clean the blood off these walls? The smell will never be gone.”
“It’s time to move this organization, don’t you think?”
“Hmm, what do you mean by that?” Norman raised his eyebrow.
“This organization has been profitable, and the Sea King has been pleased.” Adam crossed his arms. “We’ll have a better arena built for the tournament, and it will be more public. You’ll be in control of that.”
Norman’s eyes widened in shock, and then he showed his most genuine smile so far.
“That is a great honor; thank you!”
Adam slipped his hands inside his pocket and scanned the room with his blind eyes.
“Start the next round. This fight didn’t satisfy me.”
“Of course, sir!” Norman bowed respectfully.