Chapter 098: A Familiar Super Player [Tenth Update]

The tenth update is here—please send in your recommendation votes!

What Sun Houzi had never imagined was that before his slap could even land on Yang Tian’s face, Yang Tian’s right hook had already crashed hard into his jaw.

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It was only a single, simple punch, yet Sun Houzi was sent flying at once, his body lifted off the ground and thrown backward. He spewed blood, with two front teeth mixed in it.

Seeing this, Sun Big Mouth and the others were all stunned. It seemed Sun Houzi had never before been beaten so badly. Once he hit the ground, he could no longer get up.

What was even more chilling was that the one who had knocked Sun Houzi down with a single punch was only a high school student. He looked utterly ordinary, yet his strike had been as swift as lightning.

The people on Sun Houzi’s side immediately grew timid. Even Sun Houzi had been laid out; what point was there in fighting any longer? Zhou Bing and the others, on the other hand, were suddenly full of energy and gave Sun Big Mouth’s group a thorough beating to vent their anger.

Meanwhile, Zhang Zhi and the others began restoring order in the internet cafe so the tournament could continue. The situation was finally brought under control.

"Zhang Zhi, just wait. I’ll go back and bring more people. If I don’t tear down your internet cafe today, my name isn’t Sun Big Mouth!" Sun Big Mouth remained arrogantly defiant, showing no sign of backing down.

"My uncle’s friend is the chief of the Xuefu Street Police Station, so even if I beat you into a cripple, I can still get out of jail in no time!" Sun Houzi shouted weakly. Since Zhang Zhi had always kept a low profile, Sun Big Mouth and the others knew nothing of his background; otherwise they would never have dared come here and cause trouble.

Yang Tian patted Zhang Zhi on the shoulder, signaling him not to bother with them. Continuing the championship tournament was the real matter at hand.

"Xiao Tian, Zhang Zhi, Vice Mayor Lang Ping’s congratulatory call. He wants you to take it immediately!" Just as Sun Houzi and the others were about to continue behaving like thugs, Huang Juan received Vice Mayor Lang Ping’s call. She had come today specifically to help Yang Tian answer the phone.

Sun Big Mouth and the others were all shocked. Was there really some connection between Yang Tian, Zhang Zhi, and Vice Mayor Lang Ping? Could they just be bluffing, putting on a show to scare people? Doubtful, they nevertheless stopped their hands and decided to watch for a while before stirring up trouble again.

"Hello, Mayor Lang. Everything is going smoothly, very smoothly! In a little while, Directors Jiang, Yuan, Zhang, and Kong will all be here. There won’t be any problems during the competition, so please rest assured! Yes, yes, if anything comes up, I’ll call you at once!" Yang Tian took the phone and deliberately spoke very loudly. Since Zhang Zhi did not want to deal with these people, Yang Tian answered the call for him. When Yang Tian said he would contact Lang Ping if any problems arose, he glanced at Sun Big Mouth and the others.

They all shuddered unconsciously. Suspicion rose in their hearts: it seemed unlikely that Yang Tian and the others could truly have connections with the vice mayor, yet they were also unsettled, because there really was a voice on the other end of the line. And the Director Kong Yang Tian had just mentioned was none other than Kong Lei, the chief of the Binhai City Public Security Bureau.

Sun Houzi was like a mouse seeing a cat when it came to Kong Lei, so the moment he heard Kong Lei’s name, he started trembling.

At that very moment, a motorcade appeared from the distance. Leading the way was Zhang Xiuxiu’s Opel Astra, followed by three Audi A6s, then two police cars, and behind them a Jianghuai truck loaded with streamers and flower baskets.

Seeing this, Sun Houzi took off at once, because he recognized one of the police cars as Kong Lei’s.

Seeing Sun Houzi flee in panic, Sun Big Mouth and the others also ran off in disgrace. Some dashed into a nearby building, some into the alleys. Sun Big Mouth was too slow and simply jumped onto a rickshaw to escape.

The thugs cut extremely sorry figures, making Yang Tian and the others laugh until they doubled over. The people around them were also applauding with delight. The King of Fighters championship tournament suffered not the slightest disturbance and continued with tense intensity.

Sure enough, the people who came with the motorcade were Jiang Nan, Yuan Shan, Zhang Siguo, and Kong Lei. They had come at Zhang Xiuxiu’s invitation.

Though Zhang Zhi did not normally interact with them, he still received them warmly once they arrived at Hongyu Internet Cafe. He immediately handed the tournament scene over to Yang Tian and personally led Kong Lei and the others to the Golden Coast Hotel.

"I heard someone just came to make trouble?" Zhang Xiuxiu quietly moved closer to Yang Tian and asked in a low voice.

"Just a minor matter," Yang Tian said with a faint smile. He did not want to tell Zhang Xiuxiu the whole story; with her temperament, and with the Zhang family’s power behind her, she might well go and wipe out Sun Big Mouth and the others right now.

"Minor matter? Don’t hide it from me. Xia Dong saw everything! Early this morning I told him to keep an eye on things here and make sure nothing happened to Zhang Zhi. By the way, according to him, his skills are quite good. Is that true?" Zhang Xiuxiu said with confidence, then asked excitedly with a smile.

"Xia Dong saw wrong," Yang Tian said with amusement. In truth, he had noticed Xia Dong’s presence long ago. Xia Dong was a professional bodyguard; if he wanted to protect Zhang Zhi from the shadows, he would have to stay as close as possible without being discovered.

Yang Tian had already sensed that Xia Dong was hiding in the KFC shop beside Hongyu Internet Cafe. If he had not stepped forward to block that iron rod from Sun Houzi, Xia Dong would certainly have acted.

"Now I’m really curious whether Xia Dong is the better fighter or you are. Find a chance and spar with him, all right?" Zhang Xiuxiu said teasingly.

"Xia Dong is a professional bodyguard. I wouldn’t dare trade punches with him," Yang Tian said with a dismissive smile.

"But Xia Dong says your skills are no worse than his, and he would very much like to train with you. He said he hasn’t met an opponent in many years!" After a few light words with Yang Tian, Zhang Xiuxiu went off with the motorcade to the Golden Coast.

The group stage had gone on for half a month, and the matches in the eight districts had basically all concluded successfully. The top two from each district had already emerged.

To Yang Tian’s surprise, one of the two qualifiers from the Xuefu Street district was someone he knew very well: his classmate Zhao Shilei.

When Zhao Shilei walked toward him with a smug look on his face, Yang Tian could not help but smile and shake his head, thinking that no wonder he had not seen the boy around for quite some time. So he had been hiding away and secretly practicing King of Fighters.

"Zhao Shilei? You signed up too?" Huang Juan asked in delighted surprise when she saw him.

"Of course. Not bad, right? Your buddy made it through!" Zhao Shilei said as he hurried over to Yang Tian and Huang Juan, grinning with pride. "To stand out from among more than a thousand people, now that’s style, tsk tsk."

"Why didn’t you tell me beforehand? Afraid I’d give you special treatment?" Yang Tian asked with a smile.

"Exactly! I don’t want to rely on anyone. I want to reach the finals through my own strength! I want you all to see that I’m the real King of Fighters expert!" Zhao Shilei clenched his fist and spoke with great confidence.

"All right, we believe you. Good luck," Huang Juan said with a smile as she glanced at Yang Tian.

"I will. The title of Supreme King of Fighters is definitely mine, haha! Yang Tian, I’m warning you, don’t you go pulling any tricks. I’m going to win that title with my own strength, along with the three thousand yuan prize!" After laughing happily for a moment, Zhao Shilei went off to draw lots, preparing for the round of sixteen match on the twentieth.

Yang Tian smiled calmly. He would not change the tournament rules. To him, the results on the field were not the most important thing. What he wanted was the fever this tournament would ignite. In the future, Hongyu Internet Cafe’s game membership cards would surely see a dramatic rise in sales, and by then he would be able to collect a great deal more commission.