Chapter 128 The Combat Arena

At this moment, the surrounding audience first burst into a wave of cheers, but upon catching sight of Yang Jiekai, those cheers swiftly turned into a chorus of jeers and mocking laughter.

The burly man standing in the fighting arena was an expert who had already won three consecutive matches. As for Yang Jiekai, standing a little over one meter seventy tall with a somewhat slender build, he looked like a mere child standing before that giant.

However, Yang Jiekai's mind was entirely consumed by thoughts of Han Ning, leaving him with no time to care about any of this. He simply barked at the dumbfounded Jera standing by the ring, "Go place the bets right now!"

Jera's reaction was much the same as the rest of the audience. Although he had witnessed Yang Jiekai's marksmanship, he was entirely clueless about his hand-to-hand combat skills, and simply assumed this Chinese man had lost his mind out of sheer desperation.

"Go place the bets!"

Yang Jiekai roared at Jera once more. Glaring at the "brain-damaged" Yang Jiekai up on the fighting platform, Jera let out a helpless sigh and hurriedly withdrew all the cash from his card to bet on Yang Jiekai to win.

The bets were placed, and the stakes were locked in. At the sound of the master of ceremonies' command, the fight commenced.

The surrounding audience instantly erupted into a deafening roar of cheers, the majority of them having wagered on the burly man to win.

"Go on! Beat him to death! Crush this little ant!"

"Tear him to pieces!"

Jera's jaw dropped as well, not holding out the slightest hope for Yang Jiekai. By the time he thought to dissuade him, it was already too late, leaving him to silently pray that the giant wouldn't show zero mercy.

"Little ant, go to hell!"

The massive man slapped his own thick chest twice with both giant arms, then charged directly at Yang Jiekai like a human tank.

The crowd's shouting grew even more ferocious, everyone eagerly anticipating how this death-defying little ant would be torn to shreds.

Yet in the very next second, the entire venue fell into absolute silence.

The surrounding spectators dropped their jaws, suspecting they might be dreaming or experiencing hallucinations.

Because they were witnessing an utterly unbelievable sight: that human-tank of a giant had actually... collapsed onto the floor!

What unnerved everyone most was that not a single person had managed to catch a glimpse of how that so-called "little ant" had even made his move!

As for Yang Jiekai himself, he didn't take this feat seriously at all. Although the brute was built like an ox, in Yang Jiekai's eyes, he was merely a savage with nothing but brute force. Dealing with such people required virtually no effort whatsoever.

Seeing everyone staring at him with dropped jaws, Yang Jiekai frowned and barked at the host, "Next! Hurry up, I'm in a rush!"

The host snapped back to reality and hurriedly announced whether there were any challengers willing to step up.

Immediately afterward, a heavily-muscled Black man vaulted onto the fighting stage, pointed at Yang Jiekai, and roared, "Let me beat him to death!"

"Cut the damn crap and make it quick!"

Yang Jiekai's mind was completely occupied by Han Ning, and he only wanted to win the match as fast as possible to track down her whereabouts, leaving him zero time to exchange idle chatter with anyone.

The Black man was instantly infuriated by Yang Jiekai's attitude, raised his massive fist, and smashed it fiercely toward Yang Jiekai.

With a single glance, Yang Jiekai recognized that this Black man practiced Western boxing. Stepping back to evade the blow, he delivered a fierce low whip kick straight into the opponent's knee, followed swiftly by a ruthless palm strike right to the Black man's temple.

Boom!

Before the Black man even had time to react, his entire muscular frame crashed heavily to the ground, instantly knocked cold and unconscious.

This time, the audience fell completely silent.

Several more challengers mounted the stage in succession, only to be knocked flat by Yang Jiekai within three moves every single time.

Just at that moment, seeing Jera making animated, beaming winks and gestures from beneath the stage, Yang Jiekai promptly leaped down from the fighting platform.

"Oh, my most precious friend! Your valor has conquered everyone here, and I am so proud to have a friend like you..."

Jera began his endless rambling once again.

Yang Jiekai furrowed his brow. "Cut to the point!"

Frightened by Yang Jiekai's piercing gaze, Jera took a step back, swallowed hard, and dared not babble any further. "The boss of this underground fighting arena, Mr. Pato, wants to see you."

Shortly after, Yang Jiekai and Jera followed two attendants to an unassuming little door tucked away in the corner of the stairwell.

"Please go right in, gentlemen. Mr. Pato is inside," the attendant said respectfully.

Yang Jiekai nodded, pushed the door open, and stepped inside. Just as Jera made to follow him in, he was blocked by the attendant. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant Jera, Mr. Pato did not invite you in."

Jera rolled his eyes and merely flashed a helpless expression at Yang Jiekai. "I'll wait for you at the door then."

Upon stepping through the small door, Yang Jiekai found himself inside a lavishly decorated private suite. Seated on a sofa in the very center of the room was a middle-aged man of about forty. Flanking him stood two guards armed with AK assault rifles, and roughly a dozen bodyguards in black suits were positioned around the perimeter.

"Ah, my most precious warrior! I've already heard about your performance outside just now. Please allow me to invite you to share a fine glass of wine."

Catching sight of Yang Jiekai, the middle-aged man smiled and raised his wine glass.

Yang Jiekai frowned, figuring this man must be Pato. He waved a hand dismissively and said, "I'll pass on the drink. Where is my friend!"

"Audacious!"

The two bodyguards standing behind Pato instantly raised their AK rifles, aiming them straight at Yang Jiekai. One of them barked angrily, "Are you deaf? Our boss invited you to drink, and you actually dare to refuse?"

Yang Jiekai didn't pay those two AKs the slightest regard. He merely frowned at Pato and repeated, "I'll ask you one more time: where is my friend?"

"You're courting death!"

Hearing Yang Jiekai speak in such a tone, the two armed guards flew into a rage, raising their weapons ready to fire.

"Lower your weapons!"

After barking a reprimand, Pato turned a smiling gaze toward Yang Jiekai. "Although I don't know who your friend is, if she is on Pearl Island, I can help you find her even if she's inside the presidential palace."

With that, he paused and added with a meaningful look, "It's just a matter of whether I'm willing to do so or not."

Yang Jiekai furrowed his brow. "If you help me find my friend, every single cent of the prize money I won outside just now is yours."

Taking a gentle sip of his wine, Pato chuckled softly, "That money was won by your own hands, and I have no use for it. I simply wish to ask you for a favor."

"Name it!" Yang Jiekai forced down the rising fury in his chest. If he weren't currently dependent on someone else's help, he would have already rushed forward and delivered a hard slap across this fellow's face.

"Help me kill someone."

"Who!"

Pato casually stretched his neck and said nonchalantly, "Your next opponent."

Without uttering another word, Yang Jiekai turned around and walked straight out of the room.

At that moment, two fighters were locked in a fierce battle upon the stage. Deeply anxious, Yang Jiekai could no longer spare any patience. He vaulted directly onto the fighting platform and, in a flash of motion, knocked both men flat to the ground together.

Right then, a man of a build similar to Yang Jiekai's stepped up onto the stage, sporting East Asian facial features as well.

Catching sight of this person from the sidelines, Jera began frantically making frantic, exaggerated winks at Yang Jiekai, but Yang Jiekai didn't even spare him a single glance.

The moment that man stepped onto the stage, Yang Jiekai darted forward suddenly like a hunting leopard.

Whoosh—

Because his intent this time was to take the opponent's life, Yang Jiekai unleashed a lethal strike right from the start, hurtling a direct palm chop straight toward the man's neck.

The opponent side-stepped to evade the blow and was just preparing to counterattack when Yang Jiekai's second wave of assault descended upon him.

Before the man could even recover his senses, Yang Jiekai's fists and feet flew in a blur, his offensive sweeping over the man like a relentless storm of raindrops, every single move being a fiercely lethal strike.

After enduring for a short while, the man finally reached his breaking point. A powerful, heavy hook punch from Yang Jiekai smashed mercilessly into his jaw, plunging his vision into instant blackness as he tipped backward and crashed to the floor.

Yang Jiekai took a step forward, seized the man's neck in his grip, and twisted it violently to the side. A sharp crunch echoed through the air as he snapped the man's neck right then and there...

As he stepped down from the fighting arena, Jera came running over drenched in sweat. Looking thoroughly panicked and discarding his usual verbosity, he blurted out anxiously to Yang Jiekai, "Are you out of your mind? Didn't you see me making signals to you from down here just now!"

Yang Jiekai frowned. "What is it!"

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Jera stammered, "You've fallen right into Pato's trap! Do you have any idea who the man you just beat to death was?"

Glancing around nervously, Jera added with a horrified expression, "That man was a member of the island nation's Soul Syndicate! Since you dared to kill one of their members, you aren't far from death's door!"

Consumed by a blazing sense of urgency and thinking only of Han Ning, Yang Jiekai completely ignored Jera's warnings. He strode straight back to the private suite and confronted Pato. "I've done what you asked. Now fulfill your end and help me find my friend."

Already well aware of what had transpired in the arena, Pato wore a pleased expression as he said, "Good. A man of my word is as good as gold. Now give me the physical description and details of your friend, and I'll have her found immediately."

Yang Jiekai proceeded to describe Han Ning's height, appearance, and other identifying details. Upon hearing the description, Pato made several phone calls back-to-back.

A moment later, Pato hung up the phone and looked up at Yang Jiekai. "Mr. Yang, I'm afraid your friend has run into some trouble."

Hearing this, Yang Jiekai's heart leapt straight into his throat. "What happened to my friend?!"

Pato heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry, I don't know the specifics. I can only give you an address; you'll have to go look for her yourself."

Without hesitation, Yang Jiekai dragged Jera along to drive him straight to the address provided by Pato.

Along the way, noticing that Jera's expression looked rather peculiar, Yang Jiekai pressed, "What's wrong?"

Jera let out a soft sigh. "Mr. Yang, my most precious friend, I must warn you to steel yourself mentally."

Yang Jiekai's heart tightened further. "Stop dawdling and spit it out!"

Taking a deep breath, Jera sighed, "That address belongs to the headquarters of another criminal gang on Pearl Island. Their boss is notoriously brutal. Since you mentioned your friend is a great beauty, if she has fallen into his hands, I'm afraid..."

A cold sweat broke out across Yang Jiekai's forehead in an instant. If any misfortune had befell Han Ning, he wouldn't even have tears left to shed.