From Bullets To Billions novel Chapter 676

Chapter 676: The Hero

The basketball hall was filled with people paralyzed by surprise, each for vastly different reasons. Donto himself stood in a state of amused disbelief. He had never expected the "Max Smith" who had been causing ripples of trouble across the department to actually be Max Stern—a relative he had long since written off as a parasitic footnote in the family tree.

In Donto’s memory, Max was nothing more than the useless member of the family, a weak-willed boy who lacked the grit to amount to anything. He was completely unaware of the metamorphosis that had taken place in the shadows of the city, largely because Donto’s world began and ended with his own reflection. To him, anyone not currently in the spotlight was irrelevant.

As for the others at the observation table, including Rick and Aki, they were hearing the name "Stern" attached to Max for the very first time. The weight of that revelation hit the freshmen like a physical blow.

"Wait a second," Yovan whispered, her voice trembling as she tried to process the information. "Based on that name... are these two actually related? Donto is from that family, right? The Billionaire Sterns who own half the city?"

Due to Donto’s high-profile status as an athlete and socialite, there wasn’t a soul at the university who didn’t know his background. Hearing that the quiet, brooding Max shared that bloodline was like finding out a common house cat was actually a dormant lion.

"Are you talking about the family of billionaires?" Steve asked, his eyes wide. "Wait, but that makes no sense. If they’re related, how did it ever come to this? Why is Donto treating his own family like a common enemy?"

"Who knows," Yovan muttered, her cynicism returning. "Maybe the two of them were in on it together from the beginning. Maybe this whole ’hero’ act was just a play for power."

For Aki and Rick, however, the pieces of the puzzle were finally clicking into place with terrifying speed. They began to realize how the Billion Bloodline group had been funded, where the capital for the high-end gyms had come from, and how Max had possessed the resources to unify the high schools. It wasn’t just the grit of the underworld; it was backed by the bottomless pockets of a dynasty. What interested them more, however, was still the "how"—how a scion of such wealth had turned into the cold, lethal commander they knew.

"Crap, now I know what probably happened," Yovan hissed, her voice filled with a desperate need to rationalize the impossible. "This rich kid... he was probably bullied in high school or something. So he used his daddy’s money to hire everyone to make up rumors about how strong he was. He probably paid off the gangs, or even paid people to look weak in a fight against him. And all of you idiots fell for it."

The others didn’t bother replying to Yovan. Their eyes were fixed on the center of the court, wondering just what kind of explosion was about to occur.

"I never thought we would be meeting like this, and certainly not so soon," Max said, his voice carrying with a cold, absolute confidence as he walked into the center of the court.

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