From Bullets To Billions novel Chapter 461

Chapter 461: Conflicted Feelings

The crowd had gone completely silent. The cheers, the laughter, the confident shouts, everything cut off at once as every pair of eyes locked onto Ryan’s unmoving body. He lay flat on the ground, arms sprawled out, legs heavy and limp.

It had all happened so quickly. Too quickly. There had been no dramatic exchange, no dramatic back-and-forth between the fighters, just one boy dodging, moving with a calmness that didn’t match his nervous expression, and then landing a few clean strikes. At least, that’s all the crowd had been able to see.

What they didn’t understand was that every single one of Joe’s hits had been perfect. Clean. Direct. Measured. He hadn’t thrown wild punches, and he hadn’t wasted energy.

And more importantly, he had hit Ryan with his bare hands, unwrapped, unprotected. Most people, if they punched someone like that without wraps or gloves, would break their wrist or knuckles instantly. But Joe wasn’t like most people.

Part of his training, part of the foundation of who he was, involved reinforcing his body. Training until his hands were as solid as weapons, capable of striking without breaking. His fists weren’t simply fists, they were another layer of his skill, another reminder of why Joe was someone no one should underestimate.

"Erghhh, will someone help me out of here?" Joe groaned, wobbling a little as he moved to the edge of the pit. "The match is over, right?"

He reached upward, and immediately a hand reached down toward him.

Wolf.

Joe bent his knees, leapt up, and Wolf caught him by the arm, pulling him out of the sunken arena with ease. The two of them walked off together, moving past the stunned crowd still frozen in disbelief.

"You did a good job, kid," Wolf said with a rare smile. "You shut all these idiots up."

Finally, the realization of what had happened began to sink in for the spectators. The shock faded, and the complaints burst out all at once.

"What was that? Did we get scammed?"

"I seriously think we did! That young kid shouldn’t have won. It was meant to be an easy win! What the heck is going on here?"

"Hey, I made a lot of money, so I’m happy!" another person shouted, earning a few annoyed looks.

The energy shifted, shock into frustration, frustration into theories, theories into more arguing. But before the crowd could spiral too far, the giant screen changed again, flashing new faces for the next match. The organizers didn’t want them stewing, they wanted them moving on.

Two other participants appeared, and as the next match began, the tension shifted away from Joe’s upset victory. This next fight was far more even, far more balanced, and the crowd leaned forward again, getting pulled back into the excitement.

"Haha! This is great!" Chad said, practically shaking with excitement. "I actually won! That kid did better than I thought."

His grin widened as he leaned back in his VIP seat.

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