Brazil: Criminal Empire - Chapter 142: The Highest Tribute (Patreon)

The instant the starting bell rang, Black Tiger raised his boxing guard and strode aggressively toward Rock.

Then...

That was it.

Rock suddenly dropped his center of gravity. His long leg blurred through the air as he spun and drove a vicious roundhouse kick into Black Tiger's neck.

The impact was far beyond what the human body could withstand.

Blood sprayed from Black Tiger's mouth and nose as he pitched forward onto the canvas.

He didn't even twitch.

For a moment, the entire arena seemed to freeze.

Then the crowd erupted with a roar so deafening it felt as though the roof might come off.

They could hardly believe what they had just seen.

Two fighters with a huge difference in size had closed the distance. Everyone had expected the smaller man to be overwhelmed.

Instead, Rock had dropped his much larger opponent with a single kick.

Under the arena lights, the mist of blood even caught the light in a strange rainbow shimmer.

The ringside doctor rushed in immediately after the referee.

After a quick examination, he gave the signal.

Dead.

The smaller fighter possessed power completely out of proportion to his size.

One kick had ended Black Tiger so decisively that there wasn't even a reason to attempt resuscitation.

It had been a long time since this arena had seen such a dominant newcomer.

"Inferno."

That was the newcomer's nickname.

After a kick that brutal, the name suddenly seemed fitting.

He looked like something that had walked straight out of hell.

Many of the spectators had also recognized traces of Capoeira in that kick.

The VIPs closest to the cage were already on their feet, shouting wildly.

Some were ecstatic.

Others were furious.

Those who loved betting on newcomers did it precisely because the odds could be enormous.

Anyone who had backed Rock this time had just won big.

And they had watched it happen right in front of them.

One wealthy spectator became so excited that he tore off his companion's bra, took a huge swig of liquor, then grabbed her and kissed her passionately in full view of everyone.

On another VIP sofa, a wealthy woman in her forties sat flushed, her body trembling with excitement.

Up in the stands behind them, Rafael was practically screaming himself hoarse.

Never in his wildest dreams had he expected a fight he considered nearly hopeless to end so quickly.

That hadn't been a victory.

It had been a complete demolition.

Apparently Rock wasn't only ruthless when dealing with the Gracie family.

He was just as ruthless with everyone else.

Thinking about the Gracie family's bets on the dark web livestream, Rafael suddenly felt optimistic again.

Back in the fighters' room, Ezio and Christina were equally stunned.

Before Rock entered the cage, Ezio had confidently analyzed the difference between Rock's physical stats and Black Tiger's.

He had even suggested that Rock might have a chance if he kept moving, avoided direct exchanges, and gradually wore Black Tiger down.

Maybe then he could pull off an upset against the larger fighter.

The problem was that such a strategy would consume enormous amounts of stamina, leaving little hope for the fights afterward.

The opening exchange immediately made Ezio shut his mouth.

Christina, meanwhile, stared at Rock standing calmly in the cage, a strange light appearing in her eyes.

A man this powerful...

She found herself unexpectedly drawn to him.

If he could keep winning...

Years of carefully cultivated restraint forced Christina to suppress the thought before it went any further.

Raised Catholic and closely protected by her family, Christina had never been intimate with a man.

To the Gracie family, every young woman in the family represented a valuable asset.

Before they were ever used to secure some future advantage, the family expected them to remain untouched.

But being handed over today had shattered much of Christina's previous understanding of her family and the world around her.

Combined with everything Ezio had just told her, her outlook was beginning to change.

She found herself increasingly drawn to Rock's overwhelming strength and brutality.

And the idea of accepting him no longer felt as impossible as it had before.

Rock remained quietly in the center of the cage while the staff carried Black Tiger's body away and hurried to clean the floor.

To everyone else, it looked as if he were using the brief pause to recover before his next opponent arrived.

In reality, Rock was looking at the system display.

Experience Card: 100 EXP x1

Boxing: Advanced (603/1000)

Coming to this underground fighting event had definitely been the right decision.

These fighters had spent years training in combat, so most of them possessed at least one, and often several, advanced fighting Skills.

Even the experience rewards were better than what he usually got from ordinary favela gunmen.

Black Tiger had undoubtedly dropped one of his strongest fighting Skills.

Boxing might not look particularly flashy, and punches alone couldn't bring out every ounce of destructive power the human body was capable of.

But when it came to stand-up fighting, boxing remained one of the simplest and most effective systems in existence.

It was also one of the most commonly used striking foundations in mixed martial arts.

Master a handful of basic punches and learn to combine them properly, and a fighter could unleash an overwhelming barrage.

Black Tiger simply hadn't been given the chance.

A faint warmth spread through Rock's body.

He was now an Advanced boxer, fully comfortable with the fundamentals and combinations of boxing.

Almost instinctively, he took a few light boxing steps across the canvas.

The movements came naturally and smoothly.

He immediately poured the 100 experience points into Kung Fu.

Kung Fu: Advanced (835/1000)

At this rate, there was a real chance he could push Kung Fu to the Master level right here in the cage.

Breaking through to a new level in the middle of a deadly underground fighting event had a certain appeal to it.

As the 100 experience points took effect, Rock felt his muscles, tendons, bones, and connective tissues strengthen once again.

He had the distinct feeling that even if he had taken one of Black Tiger's punches head-on, it probably wouldn't have caused much trouble.

That was the frightening potential of a fighting system that strengthened both technique and the body itself.

The problem was that hardly anyone could truly develop both sides to such an extreme.

That was why so many mediocre performers ended up damaging the reputation of traditional martial arts with empty displays.

In the end, ability was what mattered.

If someone couldn't actually fight, then all the performance in the world meant nothing.

Rock quickly adjusted to his strengthened body.

By then, the announcer was already introducing the next fighter in an excited voice.

It was the Black man with short dreadlocks Rock had seen earlier in the fighters' tunnel.

His nickname was "Hurricane."

Height: 184 centimeters

Weight: 87 kilograms

Reach: 190 centimeters

Professional record: 12 wins, 8 opponents killed in the ring. Specializes in Capoeira, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

The crowd erupted again as the announcer finished.

The audience quickly split into two camps.

Some believed Rock could continue the incredible performance he had just shown.

Others thought Hurricane would fight the way he always did and finish the newcomer as quickly as possible.

Some spectators had already started betting on how long Rock's winning streak would last.

Every kind of greed, excitement, fear, and cruelty was on display.

This arena brought out some of the darkest sides of human nature.

At the referee's instruction, Hurricane and Rock stepped forward and stared each other down.

They were nearly the same height, and only a few kilograms separated them in weight.

Hurricane's lean, heavily conditioned build and dark brown skin gave him a particularly imposing presence.

After the face-off, the referee ordered them back to their starting positions.

Then he called for the fight to begin.

The bell rang throughout the arena.

The instant it sounded, Hurricane charged forward, spun, and launched himself into the air.

As a dedicated Capoeira practitioner, he intended to reproduce the exact kind of opening finish Rock had just used.

It was one of Hurricane's favorite ways to end a fight.

Defeating another Capoeira practitioner with Capoeira was, in his eyes, the highest tribute he could offer.