At the Sea King’s castle.
Creak—the tall doors opened, and Mars stepped through, his eyes narrowing into a glare as he saw the person he was meeting sitting at the high back-end throne.
“You must be Mars.” Tyrannus said, his ocean-blue eyes shining like a pearl found at the bottom of the ocean.
“Sea King.” Mars put his arms behind his back and heard the doors behind him shut tightly.
Only Tyrannus and Mars were left in the throne room.
“I heard you have something belonging to me…” Tyrannus said, his eyes narrowing slightly. “I see that you didn’t bring it with you.”
“Yeah, it’s my only leverage, y’see.” Mars scoffed and turned to look at the paintings that adorned the walls. “If we come to a proper agreement, I’ll give it to you. Until then, you ain’t seeing it.”
“I see.” Tyrannus crossed his legs and tapped his finger against the throne’s arm rest. However, his second hand slowly approached his battle axe. “And what is it that you are after?”
“Hmm, I heard that you are hosting the annual auction.” Mars walked over to one of the paintings that depicted a battle that was fought a long time ago. “I want to attend it.”
“That’s it?” Tyrannus asked with a frown. ‘There is something he wants from the auction. Hah.’
“That’s right.” Mars nodded. “After the auction, I’ll return the mace to you.”
“Well, I am sure that can be arranged.” Tyrannus removed his hand from his battle axe and smiled. “The auction starts tomorrow, so until then, you may rest in one of the guest bedrooms. After all, you are my guest.”
“I appreciate it, but I do not plan to stay here.” Mars walked to one of the windows and looked towards the large bridge that led to the other island nearby. “I heard Haventown is an interesting place. I am sure there are inns.”
“As you wish.” Tyrannus lazily said. “However, your crew members were more than eager to stay here. I’ll keep them in here, just in case.”
“You think you can hold me by my balls because you threaten them?” Mars laughed. “I do not care about them. I will not be intimidated by your fruitless threats.”
“Hahaha.” Tyrannus laughed and shook his head. “Threaten? No, no. They are my guests. Also, I know that you can summon them to your side whenever you want.
“I am also a vivid user of the slave contract. I have also used that with many of my subordinates.”
“Yeah, and?” Mars crossed his arms. “Your words must have some point in them.”
“See you at the auction.” Tyrannus waved his hand, and the doors swung open.
Mars frowned and turned around to walk away.
After he left, Tyrannus grabbed the battle axe and rested it against his shoulder.
“What a bastard.” Tyrannus clenched his hands and narrowed his gaze. “Whatever you desire in the auction, you won’t get it.”
At that moment, one of his commanders, Arkham, trotted inside the throne room with a casual smile on his face.
“Are they still here?” Tyrannus asked casually.
“Yes, but how long? I wonder.” Arkham took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a puff.
He didn’t look like the gentle elves that were depicted in the murals of ancient history, but almost like a gangster with the hobby of cosplaying.
“Mars won’t teleport them away.” Tyrannus said. “It would show that my threat worked and he is threatened. That’ll put me in a higher status than him and he doesn’t want that.”
“What are we going to do about the auction?” Arkham asked.
“We’ll make sure he doesn’t win anything.” Tyrannus said. “We are also allowed to participate in the auction.
“If Mars wants to quarrel with us, he’ll be reminded that there are over a hundred strong pirate captains currently staying in Haventown. He’ll be stomped to death like a bug if he wants to try something.
“We’ll just let him participate; he then has to return the mace, and then we will make sure that he and his crew won’t leave this island in one piece.”
Arkham smiled and took a long puff.
…
“It’s time for the quarterfinals!” The announcer in the underground fighting tournament shouted loudly.
“Y’all just saw the return of the legendary Adam, and it didn’t disappoint!”
The crowd was still buzzing about it, but unfortunately, the fight ended after a single punch, and it took some time to clean the opponent’s mangled body off the cage.
However, now that it was cleaned, it was time for the quarterfinals.
“Let’s start with the first fight!”
A cage’s door opened, and a muscular man with white shorts and black stripes trotted inside.
After he appeared, the crowd turned wild as they still vividly remembered his previous fight, which ended almost instantly. It was the shortest fight beside Adam’s and also ended after one punch!
“In the white corner is another veteran of the tournament with steel fists and a reputation for never going easy on his opponents!
“The record of 49 victories and 1 loss!
“Nykholm, the Steel Fist!”
Cheer—the crowd exploded with loud applause while Nykholm raised his fist towards the ceiling. His fists were the size of bricks, and his muscles looked like they had been pumped with air to make them look even bigger, as if they were balloons.
“And then, in the black corner!” The announcer shouted and saw the cage’s door open with a slam.
“A newbie, but in his previous fight, he already defeated an underground tournament veteran, Ravenhood!
“His record is 1 victory and 0 losses.
“Ambrose!”
The crowd applauded, even though it was nowhere as loud as with Nykholm.
After that, the announcer left the cage and stood outside.
“Are the fighters ready?!”
Nykholm raised his arms high in affirmation.
Ambrose nodded.
“3… 2… 1… start!”
Smack—Nykholm slammed his fists together and approached Ambrose slowly, but each step of his looked heavy and loud, as if there was a giant stomping somewhere far away.
The sound echoed through the room, making it seem as if the ground was shaking beneath their feet.
‘He is slow, so let’s try speed.’ Ambrose suddenly started hopping around like a boxer, and it looked strange to the crowd and other fighters.
In this world, the concept of boxing wasn’t known, and its techniques were not familiar to anyone.
Therefore, it looked like he was simply cosplaying a punching rabbit’s fighting style. The punching rabbit was a creature known for hopping around and throwing punches with incredible speed and power.
In a sense, the punching rabbit’s fighting style was a nearly perfect replica of boxing.
“A tiny rabbit.” Nykholm stomped forward and delivered a slow but accurate punch that caused the air in front of it to explode.
At that moment, Ambrose quickly circled around Nykholm with neat footwork and delivered quick jabs at Nykholm’s waist and chest.
However, Nykholm didn’t even flinch and swung his arm wide, as if he were trying to knock Ambrose away like a fly.
Ambrose ducked the arm and straightened his arm, with his fist landing on Nykholm’s liver.
Nykholm, again, didn’t flinch but smirked.
At that moment, his hand moved like a lightning bolt, and he slapped Ambrose across the face, sending him flying across the cage.