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Meanwhile, in a basement south of the city's outer zone, the hero was still going through the worst nightmare of his life.
He had thought that getting beaten and ridiculed was already excruciating for someone in his position, but the lunatic who had captured him in a moment of weakness seemed to have no bottom line at all!
Over the course of twenty-four hours, the man had gone from using an iron rod to break the hero's legs, to a wooden stick, and finally to a leather belt. Amos felt as if there was no part of his body that didn't hurt, both inside and out.
And as if the physical abuse wasn't enough, the bastard even forced him to eat food from a bowl on the ground, with his hands and feet still tied behind his back!
The hero could only crawl on the ground like a worm, and then plunge his face into the food like a pig. His mind buzzed from the humiliating experience, and had he not been helpless, he wanted nothing more than to fight this man to death.
At this point, the hatred he had for Braxy's father was far greater than even that ex-fiancée of his.
Once he got out of here, Amos swore that he would never spare even the most distant relatives of this man.
But no matter how the hero pleaded to be released, threatened, or offered to reward the man using money and power, nothing seemed to have any effect.
Of course, Braxy's father already knew Amos wasn't responsible for his son's misfortune, for the most part.
When he had been beating the silver-haired boy, somewhere in his heart, he did feel some pity.
After all, while he wasn't a saint by any means, the boy hadn't really done anything bad to his son. This feeling of pity slowly intensified, but there was nothing he could do.
He knew he was being monitored by the people who had his family, and any wrong move could end it all forever.
Since he had already messed up once and almost lost them, how could he possibly take such a chance again?
No matter how much pity he felt for the boy, the most he could do was not hit him as hard, but everything else would have to be according to his instructions.
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When Emilia had first gone after the hero with this plan, her primary goal had been to intensify the hatred between Crystal and Amos so she could complete her mission, and everything else was only secondary.
Dealing with the hero once and for all was impossible at this point, since if he died, the world will would be able to move to a new host, and neither Emilia nor Cynthia would know who that might be.
With her initial plan successful and mission completed, Emilia was already happy enough. And the added bonus of the hero's capture meant that she would also be able to relax and breathe freely for a while.
Of course, since the matter of his son clearly took precedence in Mr. Black's heart, small matters such as teaching Mrs. Brown a lesson were completely put aside.
Not only did this save the White Deer Corporation considerable effort, it was also a face-slap against those who supported the Black Tiger in the campaign.
The biggest impact, however, was not on one of the Black Tiger's allies, but one of White Deer's own.
Having freshly sided with them after separating from Mr. Black's side, Bianca's father had not been very optimistic about being able to overcome a campaign that was personally being led by his old pal.
It would be another matter if the White Deer was actually willing to put their own name on the line, just like Black Tiger had, but since they insisted on using only the Brown's Confectioneries as the front, the shrewd politician didn't believe they would be able to come out on top.
Reality proved otherwise, however, as the Black Tiger abruptly abandoned all efforts of besmirching the Brown's Confectioneries, leaving everyone who was supporting them hanging without a word.
To make matters worse, those who knew who stood behind the Brown's now also realized that they had to face such a behemoth with an unreliable backing, and their confidence shattered even further.
Even a fool could see that Mr. Black must have reached a deal with the White Deer, and chosen to compromise. Since in this case his side was the one who would be suffering unilaterally, it went without saying that Mr. Black had admitted defeat, and backed out while cutting his losses.
Bianca's father finally realized how terrifying White Deer had become in recent years, and decided to completely do away with his previous 'backward thinking'.
At this level, even major projects could go either way, and didn't really signify a victory or defeat of either side. However, for the past two decades, there had never been a single case of Black Tiger going after someone so aggressively… and losing.
With this event, many finally realized that the trend of the Black Tiger always coming out on top was well and truly over.
These matters didn't concern Emilia too much, however, as her focus now was mainly on developing her own strength while chipping away at the hero's power and reputation in one way or the other.
Even though it was now weaker than before, Emilia hadn't forgotten that Amos still had the world will on his side.
While she had already rubbed his face into the ground and ruined the hero's reputation at school, Emilia always kept in mind that it would take only a single positive event for Amos to turn everything around.
The annual events weak was exactly such an opportunity, as it allowed everyone a chance to show off their talents and creativity.
Had the hero not been captured and managed to pull off something well, it was entirely possible that he would be able to wash his slate clean and instantly regain all of his lost popularity.
After all, as long as someone had the smallest inkling of positive thought for the hero in their hearts, anything could happen. A spark was all that the world will needed, and then it would be able to add as much fuel to the fire as it wanted.
Of course, Emilia never intended to give the hero and the world will such a chance.
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