Empire of Shadows

For the next period of time, Carl did not stay in the hospital. He couldn’t stand the hospital environment at all and moved back to his own villa.

Fortunately, his injuries were all superficial, not involving the bones, so the doctor did not stop him.

Compared to the hospital room, which was full of the smell of disinfectant, and the male and female nurses who walked around with cold eyes, what Carl really needed at this moment was admiration!

It was the admiration from the bottom of people’s hearts!

It was the cheers from the bottom of people’s hearts!

Cheering for him, and the admiring eyes of those young people.

The news that Carl had shot and injured a federal soldier in the military district spread quickly among the Slad community. The girls in the house brought this news outside the military district, and soon everyone knew about it.

Now, a considerable number of people relied entirely on their wives, or daughters, who worked in the relaxation building of the military district to obtain a stable source of income to live in the Federation.

Once a problem occurred on the military district’s side, it was very likely that their wives and daughters would lose their income, and the family environment, which was constantly improving, would suddenly return to its initial state.

Some families even had all the women who could go, go together. In this past year, the Slad people who had fled to the Federation had deeply realized that without money in the Federation, this place was even more terrible than hell!People who have never been hungry will never know how terrifying the feeling of hunger is, the burning sensation of the stomach seeming to be entangled and digesting each other, the pain, and also the psychological aspect.

In the end, they had chosen to compromise with life, not with dignity.

If they were given another chance to choose, most of them would not have chosen to come to this damn Federation!

However, it was a little too late for them to understand this truth, and there were no ifs in this world.

Between survival and dignity, everyone had chosen to live.

There were also some who felt that what Carl had done was wrong. His actions would intensify the conflict between the soldiers and the girls, and might even intensify the conflict between the soldiers and the Slad people.

What if the military’s side no longer needed their wives and daughters to work? Life would become a mess again.

This was the most terrible, the most disgusting, and the most speechless scene in this society.

Even if you do good deeds, you can’t make everyone say good things about you. There will still be people who will say bad things about you.

Fortunately, the development of the matter did not go in the direction they did not want to see. Admiral Miles did not end his cooperative relationship with Lance and was still continuing to maintain it.

Now the soldiers had become more polite, and not so rude. It was said to be related to the military police who were constantly patrolling downstairs.

Their wives and daughters had also not been asked by the military to leave. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The relationship between Lance and Admiral Miles was maintained in a very delicate balance. Whether it was a little to the left, or a little to the right, it was not very appropriate.

From the end of August, newspapers such as the Golden Port Today began to publicize the light heavyweight top ten ranking match that was about to be held at the Golden Port Gymnasium.

Ethan, against a boxer who was ranked ninth in the light heavyweight division.

On the Golden Port City side, they had also done enough publicity. After all, Ethan’s current nickname could be “Golden Port King Kong,” the most potential contender for the gold belt.

Mayor Williams was quite capable in his role as mayor. He knew the constructive significance of publicizing some well-known figures for a city.

With his active help, soon people also knew about this match.

Even those who had no interest in boxing matches had also begun to become a little interested.

In the words of the media, it seemed that if this match was won, the people of Golden Port City would have conquered the whole world!

Time unknowingly came to the day of the match. Two huge banners were hung outside the gymnasium. One had Ethan’s image, and the other had the image of the ninth-ranked boxer in the current boxing league’s light heavyweight division.

Lance and his group had also bought tickets for this match.

As Ethan’s best friend in the Federation, everyone would definitely come to the scene to cheer for Ethan.

Everywhere you could see, there were speculations about whether Ethan’s challenge to the ninth-ranked boxer in the light heavyweight division had a chance of victory. After all, Ethan was too young. From a technical and psychological point of view, he still had a lot of room for improvement.

Between boxers of about the same competitive level, the power of the fist, the technique of boxing, and perseverance were no longer the key to determining victory or defeat.

The key had become experience, and worldly wisdom.

Lance, sitting in the VIP box, could also hear some people’s discussions. Although they were looking forward to this match, not everyone would look forward to Ethan’s victory. There were also some who supported Mr. Ninth to win.

This was not strange.

There were always some people who had not been optimistic about him since Ethan’s second match. They always felt that this young man had to have a good fall.

The more stable Ethan’s performance, the more impatient they became, and the more they couldn’t wait to see Ethan have a good fall.

So much so that now, they were no longer purely watching boxing matches for the sake of boxing matches, but just to see if Ethan would lose this match.

Compared to these people, there were also some good people.

Many of the people in Golden Port City were talking about Ethan, calling him the “boxing king from the slums,” especially the Empire immigrants, who all felt honored because of him.

Those who were a little indifferent to the immigrant descendants were also cheering and encouraging at this moment, hoping that Golden Port City could produce a boxing king!

During wartime, people were in great need of these entertainment activities that could show the martial prowess and strength of the Federation: bodybuilding, boxing, and weightlifting.

These competitions were so popular that it was simply incomprehensible, as if overnight, people had all begun to pay attention to these competitions, and were even keen on them, and sought after them.

Some people could even name many people, and their achievements in these industries. Maybe even these people themselves did not know that they were so amazing.

The development of sports was activating the competitive and aggressive cells of the people of the Federation. At the same time, these competitions could also reduce people’s pressure. It was not surprising that people were willing to like sports.

“How long until it starts?” Lance pushed open the door of the VIP box and walked in.

For this kind of thing, Elvin would definitely be here. As Ethan’s best friend, he would attend almost every match.

During this period, including some boxing matches that Lance did not know about, he would also attend to cheer for Ethan.

“At most five minutes. You’ve come at just the right time!” Elvin said.

Not long after he had finished speaking, with the ringing of a bell, the boxing match officially began.

In that instant, the entire gymnasium seemed to have “come alive.” People stood up and loudly vented the emotions that they had been suppressing in their daily lives.

At this moment, they did not need to hide their emotions, and with the help of this sports event, they had completely vented them.

When Ethan came out from a side passage, the people who had just sat down stood up again. The people on both sides were loudly saying something to him, and some even wanted to reach out and touch him, but were stopped.

He had once tried to figure out what these people were saying, but he had failed later, so now he just took what these people said as a kind of greeting, a kind of good wish.

He took a deep breath and held it in his chest. While waving to the audience around him, he slowly moved his shoulders and came to the ring.

The commentator, through a large loudspeaker, was introducing the people in Ethan’s team that they knew, and was also guessing what tactics the coach had instructed Ethan.

Ethan’s opponent, Mr. Ninth, had also arrived at the competition site. He looked very strong, even stronger than on the poster, but he was not very tall.

As time went on, the first round began.

A glamorous girl, holding a “First Round” sign, showed it around the ring once, and then left the ring and disappeared.

Ethan focused his attention highly. The noise, at this moment, seemed to have disappeared in an instant.

In his eyes, there was only his enemy, that Mr. Ninth!

The first round had officially begun.

The two touched fists in the middle of the ring, which was a kind of understanding.

Lance sat in his chair, a little curious. “What is Ethan’s opponent saying? I see his lips are constantly moving.”

Elvin looked over carefully. “I feel like he’s probably cursing.”

In fact, he was indeed cursing. Trash talk is also a part of sports, and for a sport that requires a lot of reason, there are more people who talk trash.

Whether it’s to provoke others, or to make others troubled, and distressed, even if their plan has only half succeeded.

Ethan had a “good temper.” The other party had been spouting trash talk for a long time before he couldn’t help but complain to the referee, “His mouth is like a diarrhea-ridden asshole. It has never stopped.”

And just as he was complaining, and his attention had shifted from Mr. Ninth to the referee, Mr. Ninth suddenly rushed up and punched Ethan in the chin!

Fortunately, Ethan’s reaction was very fast. He dodged backwards. Mr. Ninth’s fist slipped past Ethan’s chin and did not really hit. Otherwise, this one punch would have been enough to make Ethan lie down.

In an instant, the entire gymnasium was filled with screams. The commentator was also talking in disbelief about Ethan’s momentary distraction, and an exciting confrontation had just appeared so bizarrely and reasonably.

A single punch had not been successful. Mr. Ninth immediately took the initiative to pull away from Ethan, instead of pressing on.

He had seen some of Ethan’s competition recordings, and also some test reports. His anti-dizziness ability was very strong.

Once you have lost the most fatal blow, to stick to him again would be very unwise.

Ethan’s footsteps were a little unsteady. Don’t be fooled by the fact that it was just a graze. The fist was really heavy.

The referee warned Mr. Ninth, “This is a boxing match. If you say trash talk again, I will directly rule that you have lost!”

Mr. Ninth grinned. “I don’t think I was talking trash. I was just giving a novice a little lesson and experience.”

“If you think that’s trash talk, then I’ll shut up!”

(End of a Chapter)