Huh, there seems to be a problem on the field."

  Just as Jude and Leah were looking forward to the clash between Gideon King and Fly, several staff members dressed in black suits walked onto the arena.

  They seemed prepared to say something to Fly and Referee Carlos.

  "What exactly is happening down there? Are they going to penalize Fly?" Leah couldn't help but sweat for Fly.

  Not only was Fly's strength extraordinary, but his methods were also extremely fierce.

  His behavior at the end—insisting on destroying Skaar's Warrior Gear despite Skaar having already announced his surrender—would indeed cause controversy.

  Especially since the captain of Ironpeak Academy was Gideon King, who was no ordinary person. His mother was the Vice-Principal of Ironpeak Academy and had significant connections within the city government. It could be said that she had

  Leah just didn't know if Gideon King's mother, Vice-Principal King, would use her personal network to have Fly directly judged as the loser.

  "I don't think so," the veteran commentator Jude shook his head. "A direct disqualification is a very serious situation. Although Vice-Principal King has immense influence, as an old-established Martial Academy in Star City, Star City High isn't exactly a 'pushover' either. Its school leaders also have deep connections within the city government. They probably wouldn't just swallow their pride if their own student was being bullied."

  "However, Fly's behavior just now did violate the regulations to a certain extent."

  "It is reasonable to issue him some warnings or penalties."

  "But this rule is set more to prevent one side from hurting the surrendering party after they have announced their surrender on the competition field."

  "Judging from the result just now, Fly did not harm Contestant Skaar himself, so a direct disqualification would be too heavy a punishment."

  "Indeed." Leah let out a long sigh of relief. "Reasonable punishment is fine, but excessive punishment won't do. The leaders of Star City High aren't people to be trifled with either."

  Fly and Gideon King were the aces of their respective schools and the last members standing of their respective freshman teams.

  The victory or defeat between the two of them would determine who would take the crown of this year's Freshman Invitational.

  This championship was not only about honor but also about the future development of the schools.

  Faced with this situation, if Ironpeak Academy could play dirty tricks, couldn't Star City High do the same?

  So in Jude's view, Fly would at most receive a warning penalty in the end; there was no need to worry too much.

  On the competition field, next to the huge black pit of the arena.

  Staff from the Competition Committee arrived at Fly's side.

  "You are Student Fly, right? We received a report from Ironpeak Academy alleging that you were suspected of going out of bounds in the match just now," a staff member wearing a suit said with a solemn face.

  "Out of bounds?" Fly raised an eyebrow. He didn't expect they would come up with this angle.

  He made a "please" gesture, indicating he was all ears.

  "In the match just now, we noticed that you seemed to have left the range of the arena while underground," the man in the suit said. "According to the competition rules, falling out of the arena is judged as a loss, so we will rule that you lost the match just now."

  "Do you have any objections?"

  The man in the suit looked at Fly solemnly, as if looking at a wild hare about to walk into a trap.

  "What if I say I do have objections?" Fly looked at the man in the suit with a faint smile.

  "You can protest by forfeiting the match," the man in the suit whispered in a low voice, as if everything was just a matter of course.

  "Say what???"

  Fly's face was full of question marks.

  Although he had heard from Jett Gale that Gideon King's mother was the Vice-Principal of Ironpeak Academy and knew quite a few big leaders.

  But making things difficult for him to this extent still exceeded Fly's expectations.

  The rule of the competition was clearly that "falling out of the arena" counts as a loss. Does me leaving the "arena" while underground also count as "falling out of the arena"?

  Fly was almost rendered speechless.

  "Uh..." Hearing Fly's argument, the man in the suit was also tongue-tied for a moment.

  However, the man in the suit touched the bank card in his pocket that he had just received from Vice-Principal King, then turned to look in the direction of the Ironpeak Academy contestant rest area. His throat bobbed as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

  He wasn't here to reason; he was here to make Fly lose the match directly. Otherwise, how could he be worthy of Vice-Principal King's "meticulous greasing of his palms"?

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Thinking of this, evil grew from his guts. He planned to disregard Fly's argument and judge it as a loss directly.

  At this moment, Referee Carlos spoke up. "Fly indeed has a point. Commissioner Cillian, the committee should discuss this again."

  These words directly annoyed Commissioner Cillian. He glared fiercely at Carlos. "Is it your turn to speak? Do you outrank me or do I outrank you? You refuse to accept the committee's resolution, is that it?"

  Indeed, he was one of the commissioners of the Competition Committee, while Carlos was just an executive referee. In terms of official position and seniority, Cillian held the advantage. At this moment, Commissioner Cillian's bureaucratic tone and air of authority were fully revealed.

  "This..." Carlos opened his mouth, but the words on the tip of his tongue were ultimately not spoken. In terms of position, he was indeed subject to Commissioner Cillian's control. Even if he wanted to continue speaking up for Fly, his spirit was willing but his flesh was weak.

  "Heh heh," Commissioner Cillian smiled smugly, with an expression of a successful conspiracy on his face. "In that case, Student Fly, I regret to inform you that both you and Star City High have lost this competition. But it doesn't matter; it's just a Freshman Invitational after all. You still have a broad future ahead of you. Keep working hard in the future!"

  As expected of a slippery old bureaucrat who had been in the officialdom for a long time; after plotting to harm someone, he didn't forget to offer kind words of encouragement. This "carrot and stick" approach bore the style of a superior's management.

  "Hold on, I have something to say!"

  A voice like thunder came from the left, and the smug expression on Commissioner Cillian's face instantly froze.

  "Who? Who is it! Which guy dares to dictate terms to the resolution of the Competition Committee?" Commissioner Cillian turned his head furiously towards the direction of the sound.

  He had been a leader for a long time and was used to bossing people around. This voice openly contradicting him in public greatly damaged his prestige and made him feel his dignity had been violated, so he couldn't help but be furious.

  A middle-aged man wearing a traditional Tang suit was seen walking over gracefully from the left. He was around forty years old, his complexion warm and without a single wrinkle. His forehead was full, showing a look of good fortune, and his highly bulging temples indicated that he was a Beast Warrior with quite a background.

  "Daniel Gale!" Commissioner Cillian blurted out.

  This was Jett's father, the renowned Beast Warrior Daniel Gale—also known as Master Gale—who had opened a martial arts gym in Star City for many years.

  Fly sized up Master Gale's figure and found that his essence was restrained and his edge concealed. Yet, upon careful sensing, he seemed to contain a vast ocean, deep and immeasurable. Obviously, he was a Beast Warrior of a much higher level than himself, likely having already reached Tier 6, the Grandmaster Realm.

  (Actually, Jett Gale was really not weak; it was just that Fly and his group were too freakish.)

  "Commissioner Cillian, isn't what you're doing a bit too improper? Aren't you afraid of smashing the golden signboard of the Star City Freshman Invitational?" Master Gale said with words that carried weight.

  As an official sponsor of this Freshman Invitational, Master Gale's words still carried some weight. After all, he was the financier. If even such a major sponsor couldn't be treated well, others would have to weigh things carefully before wanting to sponsor the Freshman Invitational in the future.

  So for a moment, Commissioner Cillian didn't refute loudly like he did with Carlos.

  However, after thinking about it, he still felt that the benefits from Vice-Principal King were more important. So he stiffened his neck and said, "Daniel Gale, don't use your status as a sponsor to interfere with the fairness of the competition! The decision to judge Fly as the loser was unanimously agreed upon by the Competition Committee; you have no right to interfere!"

  "Fairness? Hmph!" Master Gale's face was stern. "You are worthy of mentioning the word 'fairness'? That bank card in your pocket—do you dare to take it out and show everyone?"

  "You..." Commissioner Cillian's petty scheme was exposed, and he was tongue-tied for a moment.

  It turned out that when Gareth used an excuse to hurt Jett Gale earlier, Master Gale was already very unhappy. As a high-level Beast Warrior, how could he not see through the tricks within? It was just that it counted as normal competition behavior, so he endured it for a while.

  Since then, Master Gale had been keeping an eye on the movements of Vice-Principal King from Ironpeak Academy. He didn't believe that a teenage student could openly do such a thing without any connection to the teachers. Sure enough, Vice-Principal King's move to leave her seat and bribe the commissioner of the Competition Committee later was clearly seen by Master Gale who followed behind.

  Now that Ironpeak Academy was using such moves outside the board, he decided not to tolerate it anymore.

  Carlos on the side also spoke up, "Exactly. This 'underground out of bounds, therefore a loss' is too unreasonable. If you want to do this, you can issue a new rule restriction after the match. Only with clear clauses can it be convincing."

  Commissioner Cillian looked at Carlos, then at Master Gale, and his tone finally softened.

  "Fine!" He said through gritted teeth. "But on the other point, Fly, you continued to attack after Student Skaar announced his surrender. This indeed violated the competition rules, right? The Competition Committee has decided to issue you a severe warning! You have nothing to say about this point, right?"

  "Mn." Master Gale nodded. He was an upright person and wouldn't blindly favor his own side.

  "The Competition Committee has decided that after the match, the prize money obtained by Contestant Fly will be halved," Commissioner Cillian added.

  "Huh?" This made Fly unsettled. He came here for the prize money in the first place. Now that the prize money was halved, who could stand this?

  Just as Fly wanted to argue something, Master Gale gently pulled Fly's sleeve. "Fly, let it be."

  Fly turned his head to look at Master Gale, gritted his teeth and thought for a moment, then nodded.

  In this matter, he indeed violated the competition rules. In this situation, he was in the wrong, and he couldn't completely blame the other party. Besides, the other party also had considerable power; it was already very good to secure such a situation. Who knew what changes would happen if they continued to wrangle? He should quit while he was ahead to avoid further complications.

  Seeing that Fly had no objection to the punishment result, Commissioner Cillian and the other staff members turned and left.

  Master Gale walked up and gently patted Fly's back. "I know, you might feel very unconvinced in your heart, but this world is sometimes like this."

  "Without enough power, and failing to be born into a wealthy family, one will suffer a lot of unfair treatment."

  As he spoke, Master Gale looked into the distance, his eyes hazy, as if recalling his own past.

  "But..."

  "With your talent, Student Fly, one day you will walk to the heights, shock everyone, and say to all unfair phenomena: No!"

  Master Gale comforted Fly with warm words, hoping he could adjust his mindset and fully deal with the upcoming final decisive battle.

  "Forget it..." Fly waved his hand, signaling Master Gale not to say more. As a transmigrator who had lived two lives, he wasn't a child; his actual mental age might be older than this Master Gale. With his mature thinking, he didn't need too much comfort.

  "Let Gideon King prepare to fight," Fly said to Referee Carlos.

  In any case, Fly didn't want to lose to someone like Gideon King.

  Seeing Fly adjust so quickly, Master Gale nodded appreciatively.

  Soon, the handling result was transmitted to Jude and Leah's ears through Bluetooth headsets.

  They looked at each other, somewhat surprised, but also somewhat relieved.

  The prize money being cut in half was indeed a considerable punishment, but compared to a direct disqualification, this was already very good.

  "Audience members, let us look forward to the exciting match coming up!" The experienced Jude immediately adjusted his mindset and began to heat up the atmosphere at the scene.

  The engineering team entered the field and added a layer of metal cover over the bottomless hole in the center of the venue to act as the arena for the subsequent match.

  Fly saw the intention of doing this at a glance. Want to restrict me from digging holes? Hmph, then let's try it!

  Soon, the construction was completed, and the competition continued.

  Amidst the cheers of the audience, Fly entered the field again and walked onto the arena.

  In contrast, Gideon King's appearance caused the whole venue to erupt in a burst of boos.

  After all, Ironpeak Academy's previous performance had seriously aroused the disgust of the audience. It was reasonable for the audience to boo him like this.

  However, Gideon King's mindset was quite good. He looked calm and didn't take the overwhelming boos of the audience to heart.