Chapter 240: A Dangerous Bet
Dud tried his best not to show any reaction. He couldn’t afford to make it obvious to the Black Hounds that he recognized the kid, not yet, not until he knew exactly what they were planning to do with him.
Descending toward the fighting ring, Dud casually took a seat near the front. It was the same area reserved for certain guests who preferred to witness the bloodshed up close, those who wanted to see every bruise, every strike in vivid detail, as well as fighters waiting for their turn in the next match.
There was a separate locker area, of course, a space for warming up and training, but that was for the types who took these underground fights a little too seriously. Dud wasn’t concerned about his own match in the slightest. Instead, his thoughts were tangled in the information he had just stumbled upon.
’The manager... he called them Sterns. Plural. And he seemed surprised when I said I’d spoken to both of them?’ Dud mulled it over, his eyes locked on the ring but his mind racing. ’How’s that possible? Doesn’t the kid go to the same school as Dipter?’
And the way the kid fought, it wasn’t like someone born into money. Dud had met rich kids who could fight, but their style was always too clean, too hesitant. There was none of the raw, unpolished edge that Max had shown in the ring.
’And besides all that... what the hell would a Stern be doing getting involved with the Rejected Corps in the first place?’
Dud tried to come up with a reason, but nothing logical fit. Maybe Max was close to Chad, and this was some kind of revenge mission? But even if that were true, the Rejected Corps wasn’t the one who took the money. If anything, Dud remembered it was Chrono himself who had sent him to track down the man responsible for taking down Dipter. There hadn’t been any further explanation beyond that.
’The more I try to make sense of this, the more confused I get,’ Dud thought, rubbing the back of his neck. ’If I can’t understand his motives, then it means one thing, I was right. He’s dangerous. Incredibly dangerous. A type of person that needs to be taken out before he causes real trouble.’
His gaze flicked up. ’I wonder... is there a way to get rid of him here, tonight?’
The fight had just started.