Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 334

The morning matches weren't particularly spectacular, but the afternoon freestyle combat brought out someone Stella never expected to see—Steve!

"Julius, why is Steve competing in the World Combat Championship?" Norma hadn't mentioned that this jerk was participating.

"It's not that surprising. As long as someone joins the World Combat Alliance and gets approved by their national chapter, they can represent their country."

Steve was the massive, burly guy who had been taken out in a single strike by the girl in braids at the Recess Club. That girl, of course, was Stella, and she remembered him vividly.

They discussed him as they watched the match.

"Julius, look at him, he's fighting so dirty! Why isn't the referee calling a foul? This is infuriating!"

"Look, look! Steve fouled again. He deliberately forced the Veridian fighter to land headfirst. That's a blatant violation. What is the referee even looking at?"

Stella was fuming. With fouls this obvious, what the hell was the ref doing?

Julius tried to soothe her. "Don't get upset. Maybe the referee just has a bad angle and didn't see it." Though, he too could clearly see the biased officiating.

"It's not a bad angle, he's obviously rigging the match! Look, another foul! That's three times now. I'm so mad I could scream!"

If it had been any other country competing against Mistralia Country, she might not have cared as much. But this was Veridia against Mistralia, and she couldn't stomach it.

She glanced over at the competitor seating area. The captain of the Veridia team was pacing anxiously, making frantic phone calls.

Unable to hold back, Stella stood up and roared at the top of her lungs, "The referee is rigging the match! It's completely unfair!"

In another bout later on, a different Veridian fighter successfully secured a gold medal.

"Julius, what do you think the deal was with that referee?"

"It's obvious. He was bought off."

"But is it really worth it? To pull a stunt like that at a major international event means he'll be banned for life. He'll never ref another match again. He basically threw his entire career down the drain."

Julius took her hand, holding it gently. "Some people don't care about professional ethics. As long as the price is right, that's all that matters to them. At an event this big, it's definitely going to turn into an international scandal.

They won't dare pull any more stunts for the rest of the championship. Mistralia Country is the host, and if they don't investigate this and give the other nations a proper explanation, it's not going to blow over easily. So don't be angry anymore."