American homeless people, surviving in the city

Leaving the two black thugs behind, Lynch strode into the factory.

As soon as he stepped inside, a strong smell, a mixture of sweat, smoke, alcohol, blood, and rust, hit him, making Lin Qi stagger.

Lin Qi instinctively frowned, but when he saw the scene around him, he couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.

As the designated dueling ground for various gangs in Seattle, this abandoned factory in Maple Valley was a wilder place than he had imagined.

The roof of this abandoned factory has long since collapsed, leaving only four broken concrete walls with exposed, twisted steel bars that pierce the night sky like spears.

However, the factory collapse seemed to have happened a long time ago. Apart from the condition of the factory building itself, Lin Qi could not see any trace of the collapse.

The factory, which should have been a mess due to the collapse, filled with broken concrete and abandoned machinery, has been completely cleaned up. The entire factory has been emptied, and on the large open space made of cement, there is only a circular area about ten meters in diameter enclosed by wire mesh in the very center.

That might be the ring tonight.

The factory was even more lively than Lin Qi had imagined. Dozens of people had gathered outside the barbed wire fence. These people were divided into several groups of different sizes, each occupying a different area outside the fence, clearly separated.

Some people were coughing violently, some were spitting on the ground, some were urinating in the corner, and shouting, laughter and cursing were everywhere.

Lynch saw them smoking heavily, drinking, and even doing things that would be banned if written down. The noisy commotion gave the whole place a primitive and wild atmosphere.

"This is the boxing ring, you can call it an arena if you want."

Sanjar didn't go far, waiting for Lin Qi at the factory gate. As Lin Qi approached, he led the way and explained, "A long time ago, this was a proper auto parts processing factory. After it went bankrupt, we took over the place and transformed it into this."

"According to Seattle tradition, whenever there is a dispute between gangs, we come here and settle the conflict with our fists. Therefore, this place is of great significance to all the gangs in Seattle."

"Those groups around us are from different gangs, but most of them are here to gamble and make money. Ignore them. We only have one opponent today—oh, we're here. This is the Razor Gang's territory. Follow me."

...Is such a significant place really this wild? No wonder it's a gangster hotspot...

While grumbling to himself, Lin Qi followed Sanjar through the crowded and noisy crowd and soon arrived at the area occupied by the Razor Gang.

The area occupied by the Razor Gang was significantly larger than that of other gangs in the vicinity. The area was quite spacious, with portable plastic tables and chairs, a water dispenser against the wall, and even a cot in the corner.

Cigarettes and beer were laid out on the table, and a dozen burly men sat or stood around it, making a racket. When they saw Sanjar and Lynch approaching, they all cast curious glances at them.

"Big brother, who is he?" someone asked curiously.

"Lynch, our new boxer for today," Sanjar introduced briefly before walking to the table and sitting down himself.

Lin Qi stared at the curious, scrutinizing, or disdainful looks from the people around him, and reluctantly followed, standing beside Sanjar.

In this arena, Sanjar no longer looked as calm as he had in front of Vesario. He had a gloomy face from beginning to end, exuding an imposing aura.

However, seeing that it was Lin Qi's first time here, he still began to explain to Lin Qi:

"Tonight's match isn't against the Stallion Gang. Our opponent is a small gang with only a few dozen members. They're fighting us over the 'ownership' of a street full of Italian-owned restaurants, which is why we're in this match."

"The enemy won't be very strong, so you don't need to be nervous."

Lin Qi nodded without saying anything.

Sanjar glanced at him and continued:

"As for the reason why we asked you to play in this match, I think you know, right?"

Lin Qi nodded and said in a deep voice, "To test my strength, I suppose."

"Not bad." Sanjar gave a satisfied "humph." "After all, you surely know that the Razor Clan isn't some kind of charity. Since your relationship with the Razor Clan is merely a partnership, we won't wait for you to slowly grow. I need to see your strength in this competition and confirm that your performance is truly as we've seen before."

"The boss specifically arranged for you to play in this less important match so that you wouldn't be too nervous and could try your best to show your strength, understand?"

...Not only that, but they're also afraid that if I were to play in an important match, I would just underperform on the spot, right?

Although they are a gang, their ideas are anything but simple.

Lynch had already figured out the whole story and fully understood Sanjar's request, so he simply nodded even more earnestly:

"Understood. I won't let Vesalio down."

"You'd better be aware of that."

Sanjar nodded slightly, then pulled a long, narrow object wrapped in black cloth from under the table and tossed it to Lynch.

"Catch!"

Lin Qi hurriedly caught what Sanjar threw at him, grabbed the bottom, and ripped off the black cloth. A cold light suddenly flashed in his hand.

As he had requested, it was a well-made hunting knife, about 30 centimeters long, with an extremely sharp blade that reflected a bright, cold light even under the dim moonlight in the factory. The handle was thoughtfully wrapped with black anti-slip tape.

Just by holding the knife in his hand, Lin Qi felt a strange sense of familiarity—he had never actually used this kind of weapon before, but the first time he held the knife, he felt that he could almost "understand" it completely.

In Lin Qi's hands, the knife was like an extension of his arm, allowing him to use it freely and without any burden.

"How's this knife?" Sanjar forced an ugly smile.

"It's very handy and more than enough." Lin Qi weighed the hunting knife in his hand, feeling its heavy weight, which made him feel more at ease.

With this knife, he was confident that he could unleash the full power of the Kanto Hunting Knife Technique!

Seeing that Lynch was very satisfied with the knife, Sanjar said no more and changed the subject to a more important topic:

"If you feel comfortable with it, then let's get used to the feel of this knife while I explain the rules of the competition."

Lynch nodded. Then Sanjar continued:

"You've already heard the basic rules from Boss Vesalio before, but I'll repeat them again in case you forget."

"In this underground boxing match, each gang sent four fighters, and then each side selected one person to fight without restrictions inside the barbed wire. The way to determine the winner was simple: if one side conceded, lost consciousness, or was thrown out of the ring, the other side was considered the winner."

"The use of firearms is not allowed, but there are no restrictions on the use of melee weapons or the wearing of any equipment."

"But there's one thing—"