2026-08-22 20:57:50
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Chapter 317
"He is not in the waiting pens," Evan said, pointing at the giant screen. "He is fighting next."Rell cursed loudly. "Orion owes a lot of money to the Syndicate bosses. He must have bet his own life to pay off his debt. If he loses this fight, he hits zero. The house takes his soul. We will lose our pilot.""Then we have to stop the fight," Evan said immediately. "We cannot stop the fight!" Marco argued. "Look around you, kid! There are two hundred heavily armed guards in this room! If we jump into the pit, they will shoot us instantly!""Marco is right," Glitch squeaked, hiding behind Evan’s leg. "We cannot fight a whole army."Evan stared at the glass pit. The first fight ended. The bleeding man fell to the floor. The crowd roared with laughter and applause. The heavy metal doors in the pit opened, and automated cleaning robots rolled out to drag the loser away and scrub the blood off the floor. "I am not going to jump into the pit," Evan said. His eyes narrowed. He watched the gl
Chapter 316
One of the massive guards stepped forward and blocked Evan’s path. "Private club," the guard rumbled. His voice was deep and robotic. "Show your Platinum membership, or step away from the doors."Evan did not step away. He looked the giant guard right in the black metal mask. Evan reached into the heavy leather bag. He pulled out one solid gold time-token. It was worth ten years of human life. Evan did not hand the coin to the guard. He simply tossed it onto the red carpet at the guard’s feet. "I do not need a membership," Evan said coldly. His voice carried the fierce, undeniable authority of a leader. "I am here to spend money. Pick that up and open the door."The rich people waiting in line gasped. Nobody threw gold on the ground. Nobody talked to the Colosseum guards like that. The guard looked down at the pure gold token shining on the red carpet. The guard slowly bent down and picked it up. He inspected the heavy coin. He nodded his massive head. He stepped aside and pushe
Chapter 315
The dark, wet alleys of Neon City felt like a giant maze. Evan Kennedy ran as fast as his tired legs could carry him. He held tightly to Glitch’s small hand. Marco ran behind them, holding his broken ribs, panting heavily. Rell led the way. The scavenger girl moved like a shadow, taking them through broken fences, down narrow stairs, and across old, rusted bridges. Behind them, the angry shouts of Vargas’s smugglers slowly faded away. The flash-bang grenades had worked. They had escaped the Rust Pit. Evan held a heavy leather bag in his right hand. The bag was filled with fifty solid gold time-tokens. In his left pocket, he felt the cold, smooth weight of the Black Key. It was the glowing black glass token that would open the door to Sector Zero. Finally, Rell stopped. She leaned against a dirty brick wall in a quiet, empty street. "We lost them," Rell gasped, wiping the cold rain from her forehead. "Vargas will look for us all night. But he will not find us here."Marco leaned
Chapter 314
Evan did not move his hands. "I have fifty gold tokens," Evan said, his voice dropping an octave. "And I bet my life."The crowd around the table gasped loudly.In the Rust Pit, betting your life was a blood oath. If you lost, you did not just go into debt. The winner owned your body. The winner owned your soul.Vargas stopped laughing. His eyes narrowed. He looked at Evan’s fierce, determined face. Vargas licked his lips greedily."Your life?" Vargas whispered. "I accept. Deal the cards."The dealer’s hands were shaking violently. He shuffled the deck.Evan fought the terrible pain in his skull. He slowed time for one final, agonizing second.He watched the dealer’s hands. He saw the scuff marks. He read the top four cards in the deck.Evan snapped back to normal time. He gasped, gripping the edge of the wooden table to keep from passing out. Blood poured freely from his no
Chapter 313
"Place your bets," the dealer said nervously. Vargas tossed a gold token into the center. The other men matched it. Evan pushed his single, free gold token into the center of the wooden table. The dealer handed out the cards. Two cards face down for Vargas. Two cards for Evan. Evan did not even look at his own cards. He did not need to. He had seen the dealer’s thumb slide over the top card. He had seen the tiny smudge of grease. He knew he had a Ten. He knew his second card was an Ace. He had exactly twenty-one. Perfect Blood-Jack. "I will stay," Evan said, leaving his cards face down on the table. Vargas laughed loudly. "You do not even look at your cards, boy? You are a fool."Vargas flipped his cards over. He had a King and a Nine. Nineteen. It was a very strong hand. "I stay," Vargas grinned, showing his silver metal teeth. "Beat nineteen, street rat."Evan slowly reached out. He flipped his two cards over. Ten of Clubs. Ace of Spades. Twenty-one. The men at the table ga
Chapter 312
The dealer, a thin, nervous man wearing a dirty white shirt, was shuffling a deck of real, physical paper cards. The sound of the cards snapping together was sharp and crisp.Marco stepped up to the empty chair across from Vargas. "Is this seat open, gentlemen?" Marco asked loudly. Vargas slowly looked up. His silver metal jaw glinted in the dim yellow light. He looked at Marco’s dirty clothes. He looked at Evan’s torn suit. He let out a harsh, metallic laugh. "This is a high-stakes table, old man," Vargas said. His voice was deep and terrifying. "We play Blood-Jack here. The minimum bet is one gold token. If you do not have gold, go back to the garbage bins outside."Marco did not flinch. He leaned his one good arm on the table. "My young boss here wants to play," Marco said, pointing his thumb at Evan. "We just arrived in the city. We heard Vargas was the only man brave enough to play real stakes. But maybe we were wrong. Maybe you only play with children."The other men at the
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