Chapter 2

Griffin didn't need to know Evelyn's identity. When she pulled stack after stack of cash from the safe, he understood that Evelyn had no reason to lie to him.

"Lion, real name Brian Cole, from San Francisco, 40 years old this year. He won the middleweight championship at the World Championship five years ago. Three years ago, he got caught up in a doping scandal and later became addicted to drugs, being sent to rehab centers multiple times."

"A year ago, he joined the underground boxing club 'Storm' and racked up a 37-fight winning streak. He's undoubtedly Storm Club's strongest boxer and one of the most decorated fighters in Queens' underground ring."

"And you."

Evelyn's fingers tapped rhythmically on the table, "A former DEA agent who just got fired not long ago, known as 'Ace,' the king of solo operations. This match is going to be very interesting!"

"Did you just say Storm Boxing Club?"

Hearing that name seemed to trigger Griffin's muscle memory. He had seen it in classified DEA documents—this boxing club called Storm was one of the organizations under federal focus, suspected of hiding and transporting drugs.

However, over all these years, the DEA hadn't obtained enough evidence to convict Storm Boxing Club. Instead, they'd lost four elite agents in several related operations!

"Yes, I thought you might have heard of it."

"Of course." Griffin answered while applying anti-slip powder to his palms. "But as far as I know, an athlete hooked on drugs can't maintain peak condition long-term. Drugs destroy their bodies and corrode their nerves."

"There's a drug that can overdraw potential."

Griffin stopped what he was doing, "You seem to know a lot."

"Of course I do," Evelyn told Griffin, "Because the formula for this drug was leaked from my father's laboratory. I heard someone used it to create a new type of drug. And you, Mr. Ace, lost your colleague Owen during a mission investigating this new drug, and got fired by the DEA because of it."

"What are you trying to say?"

Griffin knew Evelyn's purpose in finding him definitely wasn't about that five million dollar bet.

"Mr. Ace, I'm very sorry about what happened to you. You're risking yourself in underground boxing matches to take care of Owen's widow, when federal agencies should be responsible for that. But some damn officials stole that money, and other shameless officials leaked your and Owen's whereabouts, causing the mission to fail and Owen to die."

"They're your enemies, but they're powerful. If you want to defeat them, you'll need someone to help you."

"I'm the person who can provide that help, on the condition that you do a few things for me!"

---

Queens underground boxing ring. Two shirtless men stood in opposite corners of the octagon cage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the main event—the new king 'Meteor' with an 18-fight winning streak, versus the world boxing champion and holder of this ring's consecutive win record—Lion!"

"Meteor! Meteor!"

"Lion! Lion!"

Fans of both fighters cheered loudly.

Brian's coach patted his shoulder and asked quietly, "Do you need to increase the drug dosage? Your opponent this time is really strong."

"No need!" Brian rejected his suggestion, "I've watched his fights. He's not a professional boxer, just knows some fighting techniques. Those techniques are just for show against absolute strength. I'll knock him down in front of everyone!"

"I'm confident in your strength, but Brian, Mr. Wade bet ten million dollars on you, so you can't have any accidents in this match. I suggest you take another dose of 'power serum'!"

Brian hesitated a bit but still refused in the end. "This isn't a professional match—best two out of three rounds. If I lose the first round, it's not too late to use the drug then."

The coach couldn't convince Brian and had to agree with his decision.

The boxing referee brought Griffin and Brian to the center of the ring and asked each of them, "Are you ready?"

"OK!"

"Ready!"

The referee nodded, "The rules are very simple—valid hits score points, fouls lose points, three fouls and you lose! First to ten points wins!"

With the whistle, the match officially began!

Brian didn't take the usual probing attack or defensive approach. Instead, he swung hard at Griffin's head! Worthy of being a world boxing champion—Brian's speed was incredibly fast and his power enormous! If this punch landed, even Tyson would be knocked down!

Griffin reacted even faster. After dodging Brian's heavy punch, he immediately counterattacked, targeting his chest! Hitting the chest is less common in boxing matches because opponents can easily defend it, and it does far less damage than hitting the head.

However, because Brian was eager to attack, his defense had a major gap. After throwing that punch, his hand couldn't get back in time to protect his chest. He could only use his other hand to try to block Griffin's fist.

Griffin knocked Brian down. Brian lay on the ground, painfully clutching his chest, breathing rapidly.

The whistle blew and the referee came forward to check the situation.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three..."

If he didn't get up by the count of ten, Brian would be ruled a KO.

"Damn it!" Brian's coach shouted, "Brian! You actually got knocked down by a rookie—this is disgraceful!"

"Six..."

"Seven..."

Brian endured the pain and struggled to get up.

"This round, five judges ruled—three support no score, two support scoring. Final result: the hit is invalid, no score!"

Hearing this result, Griffin got angry and questioned the referee, "Why? I clearly hit his chest!"

"Fighter Lion partially blocked it, so it's invalid!"

This was blatant cheating! Many spectators couldn't sit still and booed, mocking the referee for cheating. But in the ring, the referee's word was final. The audience's and Griffin's protests were useless.

On the other side of the stands, Evelyn immediately went to the boxing venue's backstage, then kicked the door open. Several professional bodyguards followed behind her.

After entering, Evelyn looked around, her tone ice-cold, "Where's your boss?"

"That's me," a bald man stepped forward, his eyes greedily sizing up Evelyn, "Lady, are you looking for trouble?"

"Let me remind you—those bodyguards behind you can't protect you!"