Chapter 1696
The Zhinoran fighters weren’t having it. Who the hell started with the personal insults? What had #3 said when he’d beaten #5 and #6? “The Koryonians are shameless, hypocritical dogs!” “You rock, kiddo! Zhinora Forever! Go Zhinora! Koryon is trash!” On the stage, #3 knelt, gasping for air. He raised a hand, intending to strike a pressure point to knock himself out. If he was unconscious, the match would be over. But Evan was quicker. He stopped him, delivered another brutal beating, and then disabled both his arms and legs. Just before he passed out, Evan kicked him like a soccer ball, sending him flying into the Koryonian audience section. The man was finally unconscious. The match was over. The crowd was dumbfounded. Even the referee stood frozen for a moment before rushing forward and shouting, “Fighter #3 is defeated! Number 9 wins!” Everyone: “—” The Zhinoran fighters went wild, leaping to their feet, applauding and chanting, “Zhinora Forever!” “Zhinora Forever!” “Zhinora Forever-” The four words, ‘Zhinora Forever,’ echoed through the entire arena. Evan let out a slow breath, feeling much more at ease. Bernard had loved to hear those words. In the future, he would stand on an even bigger stage and make those words ring out for the whole world to hear. So loud that even the distant Bernard could hear them…. In the following matches, Evan deliberately avoided fighting other Zhinorans. But every time a Zhinoran fighter was defeated, he would immediately jump in to challenge the victor, beat them, and then take a break. Soon, people noticed a pattern. He would avoid every Zhinoran fighter but wouldn’t let a single Nipponoran, Koryonian, or Thyanian fighter pass. Whenever one of them took the stage, he would follow. And he wouldn’t just KO them; he’d trap them and systematically dismantle them, leaving them on the brink of death.
The Nipponoran, Koryonian, and Thyanian teams were furious but helpless. The arena periodically erupted with chants of ‘Zhinora Forever!’ The masterminds behind the scenes had also taken notice of Evan. He was clearly the number one dark horse of the day. And hearing ‘Zhinora Forever’ over and over was starting to get on some people’s nerves. Shekao soon received an order: fight Evan directly, and knock him out of the competition. Stop him from stealing any more of the spotlight. Shekao already couldn’t stand the sight of Evan, so he immediately had the match arranged. When Evan heard that beating Shekao would get him a direct ticket to the finals, he didn’t hesitate for a second and accepted the challenge. Elliot frowned. “It looks like they’ve noticed you. They want to eliminate you early.” Evan scoffed. “They can try to kick me out, but they’ll have to have the skills to back it up.” He was determined to tear down this Thyanian school. Bernard never got the chance to do it, so he would do it in his place. Elliot hesitated for a moment, then looked at Evan. “I know something’s been on your mind lately. Whatever you do, your brother will support you, but only on the condition that you protect yourself first. You can’t risk your own safety. It’s been easy so far because the preliminaries are full of amateurs. The real experts are still to come. You’re incredibly talented, but there’s always a bigger fish. No one can guarantee you’re the best in the world right now. Before you do anything, you have to think about Mom, about us and Dad, and about our great- grandparents. If anything happened to you, we would fall apart. Especially Mom, with her personality. She wouldn’t be able to handle you getting hurt.” Evan understood what Elliot was saying. He nodded firmly, his small brow furrowed. “Don’t worry, bro. I know my limits. I won’t let anything happen to me.” Elliot let out a heavy sigh. “Okay. Then do what you have to do. I’ve got your back.” Elliot was smart. He knew Evan was brewing some kind of plan, but since Evan wouldn’t say what it was, he wouldn’t push him. As long as Evan was safe, he would support him in anything.