Chapter 327: What Changed You? (Patreon)

"The result of the duel is a draw!"

The unexpected verdict left Geno and the others stunned.

A draw? Hadn't Lighter knocked everyone down? How was that a draw?

"Caesar, did you get that wrong? Didn't Lighter win?"

Geno raised the question, but Caesar shook her head, making it clear she hadn't misjudged anything.

"No. I absolutely never favor either side in a duel. The conditions for victory are that one side surrenders or the whole side goes down. And back when Barry was pounding on Lighter, Lighter had already lost consciousness."

"What? How is that possible?"

Refusing to accept it, Geno immediately probed Lighter's condition. Sure enough, he was out cold, yet still standing there ramrod straight.

"That's so weird! Why would he pass out?!"

Geno racked his brain and came up empty. It was only when Burnice and Lucy carried Lighter away that Burnice spoke up.

"Oh, that? Lighter's the type who faints at the sight of blood."

"Faints at the sight of blood?!"

Burnice's words short-circuited Geno's brain for a second.

This... this undefeated champion faints at the sight of blood? Was this a joke?

Absurd as it sounded, it was true.

Since both sides had lost consciousness at the same moment, Caesar's ruling of a draw was absolutely not wrong.

And if you wanted to be strict about it, Lighter had already lost while Barry was still swinging. It was just that he'd stayed on his feet even after fainting, so nobody noticed.

"Isn't that a kind of backbone, too? Kids these days are really something."

Piper wandered over with her languid drawl, smacking her lips idly and scratching her exposed little belly. She gave off no impression of being a young girl at all, more like a greasy middle-aged uncle.

Geno could only conclude that the Sons of Calydon really had no normal people among them.

"Anyway, it's not a bad ending, at least. We'll sort out the details once they all wake up."

Having set the tone for the matter, Piper went back to the sofa she'd been lying on and sat down. That half-asleep look combined with her cute appearance was practically an invitation to crime.

That is, if she weren't yawning and scratching her butt at the same time.

'She's getting more and more like an uncle, hey!'

Belle looked perfectly normal on the surface, but inside she'd been complaining until her energy gauge maxed out. Still, Billy beside her seemed completely unfazed, as if he'd long since gotten used to this kind of personality.

Then she turned her gaze to Geno, who was meeting these people for the first time too. Before she could even ask, though, a single line from Geno shattered her little head completely.

"Tell me, is it more satisfying to conquer a male, or to conquer a female?"

"??????"

Belle's head filled with question marks. She understood every single word Geno said, so why couldn't she make sense of them put together?

"You... you didn't switch to liking men, did you?"

Forcing herself to stay calm, Belle asked the question with a nervous heart. Only after Geno denied it did she finally settle down.

"Phew. If Twiggy found out that one trip to the Outer Ring changed your orientation, she'd probably explode on the spot."

While Belle was thinking that, Geno felt completely baffled.

What on earth made her think he'd abandon fragrant, soft, beautiful girls for the arms of stinky men?

Was it Chengdu?

He'd just wanted to see who was stronger, himself or Lighter.

Of course, that was on the condition that he didn't use his Ethereal transformation.

Otherwise it wouldn't have been a duel. It would have been a massacre.

"Now that this matter has wrapped up, Brother Billy, why don't you folks stay here tonight?"

Caesar was back to her earlier warm self, like a dependable big sister, radiating a full sense of reassurance.

Of course, it would be even better if she got her idioms right a bit more often.

"Ahem, I don't know if I should say this or not..."

Lucy, back from seeing Lighter off, cleared her throat, ready to steer the conversation her way. She hadn't gotten two sentences out before Caesar cut her off.

"Proxy, there's something I'd like you to help us with."

"Caesar!"

"Me?"

Interrupted again, Lucy got angry once more, but Belle looked even more lost than she did.

How had this suddenly landed on her?

"That's right. Actually, Lucy and I had this idea back when Brother Billy contacted me. Please, you have to accept our commission and serve as the Sons of Calydon's riding consultant."

"Riding?"

"Consultant?"

Belle blinked blankly, and Geno beside her was utterly confused.

"That's right! Consultant for the Tour de Inferno!"

Caesar snapped her fingers, her face full of excitement. Only after Caesar and Lucy's explanation did the two finally grasp the situation.

The so-called Tour de Inferno was a cross-country motorcycle race through the Hollow, held among the biker clans. The rules were quite simple: the first team to cross the Hollow and reach the finish line at Cinderglow Lake, then throw an [Sparkstone] into the lake, wins.

The format looked simple, but its main purpose was to regularly secure the safety of the oil supply. After all, in the Outer Ring, oil was practically the lifeblood of the people.

And for the bikers, the winner of this race would become the overlord of the Old Oil Field, where Caesar and her crew were based.

"The current overlord faction is called [the Vanquishers]. Their boss, the old man, has held that seat for many years. I've wanted to settle things with him for ages."

But compared to Caesar's excited, expectant face, Lucy beside her looked far more resigned.

"Sigh. Only that idiot over there would give you an answer like that. In reality, the overlord is the leader of the biker alliance. They control the right to assign transport routes. In other words, it's real, solid power."

One could say the Tour de Inferno was an important contest for the transfer of power.

Ambition glittered in Lucy's eyes. Unlike Caesar, she was no naive idiot. What she understood and what she aimed to seize went far beyond what Caesar was thinking.

After all, as the Sons of Calydon's strategist, Lucy had an awful lot to worry about.

Especially when her own boss was an idiot boar.

"Oh, I get it! The Sons of Calydon want to win this race, but since the route has to cross the Hollow, you want a Proxy's help, right?"

Geno punched his palm, and with a thud, the whole picture clicked into place.

"Exactly."

Caesar nodded. She'd heard about Belle's identity from Billy. A legendary Proxy like Phaethon would surely give her an edge in the Tour de Inferno.