Chapter 22: Life or Death

“Boss, hurry… run! Something’s happened—something serious!”
That day, as Rod and Jim were practicing in the courtyard, the yellow-haired man’s screams came through.
“Vic… Victor has brought people. They’re outside the gate. Right now, Brother Jerome and Brother Kambi are fighting them off. The others have already been sent out!”
In an instant, he arrived at their side, breathing heavily, with a panicked expression and tone, the yellow-haired man said anxiously.
“Victor? Victor’s here? Bastard…” Hearing this, Rod frowned and roared loudly!
“Jim, let’s go! We need to check it out!” He quickly called for Jim and rushed outside. Rod never expected Victor to show up so fast.
Soon, the three of them arrived at the gate. The area outside was in chaos. Jerome was leading about thirty of his men against nearly thirty of Victor’s men.
Both sides were unyielding, filled with murderous intent, on the verge of explosion. At such a moment, any spark could ignite a massive explosion.
As the crowd parted to let Rod through, everyone instinctively made way for him. He quickly reached Jerome’s side and stood at the front, looking at Victor’s icy expression with a cold smirk.
“Boss, you’re here!” Jerome greeted Rod briefly.
“Knight Rod, are you stupid? It seems Roger really knocked you out last time. Haven’t you learned your lesson? Now you’re trying to act like a gangster here?” Victor asked disdainfully, staring coldly at Rod.
“You idiot! I’m just having some fun. What’s the problem?!” Rod retorted, looking down on Victor.
“Hmph, let’s see how long you can act tough, Knight Rod. You’ll be crying soon! If it weren’t for that mysterious man who saved you last time, do you think you’d still be alive? Today, you’ll kneel and apologize to our boss!” At that moment, that sinister guy, Ryan, stepped forward and spoke up. Rod had no good feelings toward him.

With a swift step forward, before anyone could react, two crisp sounds were heard. As the sounds faded, Rod had already quickly returned to his original position and glared coldly at Ryan: “Hmph, get on your knees over there! Stop being an eyesore. Is this the place where you can talk? Vidoc, how the hell do you discipline your subordinates? Don’t you even understand the most basic rules?”
“Get moving over there!” Vidoc growled in a stern voice, looking at Ryan, whose mouth was bleeding as he covered his face in anger and waited for Rod’s reaction.
Under Vidoc’s roar, though reluctantly, Ryan dared not resist—he knew his boss’s temper all too well!
“Heh, Vidoc. I knew you’d come, but I didn’t expect you to arrive so early. Surprising. It seems your information network is quite good. You didn’t come here just to bring this guy to slap me, did you? I won’t waste words with you. Just say what you have to say. If you’re here to take revenge, fine—I’ll take it. But if there’s nothing, I certainly don’t welcome guests like you. You can take your people and leave!”
With a slight smile, perhaps due to his promotion to a beginner warrior, his confidence after defeating Jim, and now having several powerful allies, Rod spoke with great assurance. Although the decisive battle came much earlier than he expected, he wasn’t afraid. What was meant to happen would happen, and arriving earlier might even be a good thing for him.
“Knight Rod, heh, not bad. I won’t waste words either. I’m here to give you two choices! First, submit to me obediently. By combining our territories, the entire underground forces of Blaze City will fall into our hands! Then we’ll be the kings of the underground world. As for you, I won’t treat you poorly—you’ll definitely have the most say under me!
Of course, if you reject my offer… then today will be the day you’re disbanded. As for what will become of you, I can’t guarantee it!” Vidoc said coldly, staring at Rod with an unyielding tone.
Rod’s expression darkened instantly as he glared coldly at Vidoc and his group. His eyes turned icy: “Then I’ll give it a try!”
The street was filled with tension, and the oppressive atmosphere made everyone feel uncomfortable.

“Go back and dream!” A few calm words moments later caused Victor’s expression to change drastically.
“Refusing to drink when offered, so I’ll have no choice but to force you to drink. Don’t blame me if I’m ruthless, you ignorant fool!” With a cold gaze, Victor gave a gesture, and instantly, the men he had brought with him rushed forward toward Rod and the others. Last time, those guys were lucky to encounter that mysterious person; would they have the same luck this time? At the same time, he charged forward himself, targeting Rod—the one who had brought him such shame.
Clenching his fists tightly, he watched Victor charging at him. Not taking it lightly, he gathered all his combat energy, roared, and threw a punch straight at Victor’s head.
“Death-defying!” A cold snort seemed to come from right beside him, followed by a flash of blue light and a muffled thud.
Bang… After the sound, Rod flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing heavily to the ground. He rolled a long distance before finally stabilizing himself.
Pfft… His internal organs suffered immense shock, forcing him to spit out a mouthful of blood!
Victor’s single strike had actually sent Rod flying, instantly drawing everyone’s attention.
“Bronze Warrior!”
In the next moment, cries of shock filled the air. This was the first time Victor had shown off his true strength in front of everyone. Perhaps only Ryan and a few others who had followed him for years showed no surprise; the rest, even Victor’s own subordinates, stared in disbelief at their leader.
They knew all too well what a Bronze Warrior meant. With such strength, not to mention in Flame City, but even within the empire, he would be considered a powerful warrior. In Flame City, he would undoubtedly be a figure who could dominate everything with his own power.
Seeing this, Jerome and the others’ hearts sank to rock bottom. The appearance of such a master clearly meant that the balance of power in this struggle could be controlled solely by him, leaving their side with no chance of retaliation.
Meanwhile, Victor’s underlings, those thugs, became frenzied. Their leader’s display of strength boosted their confidence to an extreme. They roared and charged at their opponents. With high morale, they quickly gained a overwhelming advantage in the fight, forcing Jerome and the others to retreat step by step.

“Hehe, your physique looks pretty good! But sadly, it’s me you’ve run into!” With a cold smirk, Vidoc stepped forward slowly toward Rod. At this moment, he wasn’t worried about any unexpected situations—given the sheer difference in strength, miracles were impossible!
Vidoc now resembled a hunter looking at a wounded rabbit lying before him, calm and unhurried.
“Cough, cough… Bronze Warrior? Hehe, I never thought Jerod would be so lucky as to encounter you!” Rod struggled to get up, using his hands for support, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth and spitting it out fiercely. His expression was somewhat mad—his pale face and disheveled appearance gave him a demonic look.
He stood straight, refusing to lower his head, especially in front of this despicable guy! He represented not just himself but also his brothers. If he fell, they would all be doomed. Under such conviction and immense pressure, Rod unleashed all his potential!
“Still so arrogant even at the brink of death!” With a slight upward curl of his lips and raised eyebrows, Vidoc took two steps in one and appeared right in front of Rod.
At that moment, Vidoc emitted the unique combat energy of a Bronze Warrior—blue combat energy flowed outward, enveloping him like armor and making him look formidable.
“Another death-defying fool!”
Just as he was about to attack again, Vidoc suddenly stopped, frowned, and muttered to himself. Then, turning abruptly, he threw a punch without warning—a fist wrapped in blue combat energy that flew backward with a whooshing sound.
“Bang…” A dull sound came.
“Ah…” Followed by a scream. A gray figure flew backward dozens of meters!
“Jem!” Rod shouted urgently upon seeing this. Indeed, the person who had been flung away was Jem. Having seen Rod in danger, Jem had dealt with the two men surrounding him before rushing toward Rod to attack Vidoc from behind. Yet, despite his caution, he was still discovered, leading to what had just happened.
The gap in levels was insurmountable—even Jem’s full-force attack was easily sent flying by Vidoc.

“Boss, hurry! Let’s go—we’re no match for him! Ignore me; otherwise, we’ll lose our chance! Go now! Come back when you’re strong enough to avenge me!”
Drawing on some unknown strength, Jim shouted loudly at Rod in such a situation. He struggled to get up and launched another attack at Vidocq with all his might, hoping that this could buy Rod some time.
“Don’t worry—none of you will get away today!” Vidocq said in a low voice, perhaps out of disdain for them.
What was supposed to be a fierce battle turned into a one-sided massacre by Vidocq. They were not even on the same level—unable to parry a single move.
His heart burned with anger and resentment. Rod’s eyes turned cold. Driven by his blazing fighting spirit, he rushed forward in an instant, attacking Vidocq from behind again in an attempt to save Jim, even though he knew the strike would likely fail.
“Bang…” A dull sound echoed, leaving everyone frozen in place.
Did he hit him? Had his punch actually landed? Rod stared at his own fist in disbelief.
Vidocq’s fist didn’t land on Jim—Jim only let out a muffled groan. Vidocq retracted his fist and turned to look at the dazed Rod.
“Too weak!” With a cold laugh, he kicked Jim, who was standing in front of him, aside, then quickly turned to grab Rod’s incoming punch with one hand. His other foot also moved swiftly—lifting his left leg and kicking Rod’s foot aimed at him with a whooshing sound.
Rod staggered, almost being kicked away again. With a muffled groan, the intense pain forced him to kneel on the ground.
“Damn it!” Roaring in fury, he spat out more blood and tried hard to get up.
“Heh, let you savor the taste of death thoroughly!”
With another cold laugh, he extended his right hand at a speed beyond ordinary perception, grabbed Rod’s neck, and slowly lifted him up!