Taking into account the withdrawal of those two people, it’s clear that someone is scheming against Louise Lyndon, making the situation even less optimistic.

At this moment, Brian Carter had already walked back to his side. William immediately grinned and threw an arm around his shoulders: “Hey! You lucky bastard, you actually made it to the next round. I guess now I should call you Lucky Andrew? No, it’s Lucky Ethan!”

Brian Carter glanced at him indifferently. “You’re mistaken. This has nothing to do with luck.”

But William just burst out laughing, pounding him hard on the chest. “What, are you saying you sent him flying with a single strike? Alright, buddy, wait for me a bit longer. It’ll be my turn in a few minutes. Once I win this match, we’ll head back together.”

After that, he paid no more attention to Brian Carter, striding alone toward another ring marked with the number 15, his face full of confidence, as if victory was already in his grasp.

Chapter 3: Testing

At 9 p.m., the cold weapons mixed martial arts tournament was still ongoing inside the Storm Sports Arena.

Meanwhile, in the control room, a middle-aged white man in a referee’s uniform was sitting in front of a monitor, watching a certain video clip over and over again.

If Brian Carter were here, he would recognize this man as the chief referee who presided over his match with Ichabod Wood.

“Sampson, you’re still watching that footage?”

Beside him, another middle-aged man of similar age, holding a cup of coffee, looked over in puzzlement. “Didn’t the investigation already conclude it was an armor malfunction that caused the explosion?”

“That was just the preliminary conclusion. The appraiser at the time didn’t sound very certain.”

Sampson frowned, deep lines creasing his forehead. “According to his initial assessment, the armor shouldn’t have exploded for no reason. The neck component of Ichabod’s armor must have suffered at least ten tons of impact in an instant, exceeding the armor’s tolerance, which is why Ichabod was sent flying and the armor was completely destroyed.”

The other man couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you kidding me? Ten tons of impact? That would mean Ichabod’s opponent would have to be at least level six or above, right? Do you have any evidence? Didn’t you notice anything at the time?”

“First, I have to admit, I was a bit distracted then, so I can’t rule out the possibility.”

Sampson looked helpless. “And that’s exactly what the appraiser told me. Since there was no supporting evidence, the conclusion was armor malfunction. But the appraiser insisted on sending the armor to the Exxon Magitek Lab for a detailed third-party analysis, and Nathan Sports Group supported his decision.”

“Nathan Group is the NHSAA’s armor sponsor. Of course they don’t want their product to have issues. This could turn into a huge scandal.”

The middle-aged man spoke with a hint of sarcasm, then asked, “So what about you? After watching the footage so many times, did you find anything?”

“Nothing! From the footage at the time, there was no contact between anyone or anything and Ichabod.”

Sampson crossed his arms. “That’s the result of me rewinding and checking frame by frame, and I stand by it. Unless—”

“Unless what?” The other man took a sip of coffee, unconcerned.

“Unless his opponent, that is, Andrew Thompson Weldon, struck with a speed of at least 320 kilometers per hour, fast enough to evade our specialized cameras.”

Sampson shook his head. “But isn’t that even more unbelievable? Even a level seven Magitek Shadow couldn’t do that.”

“So why are you hung up on this?”

The other man chuckled. “The tournament’s almost over. I think we should find a bar and relax a bit. Right, Sampson?”

……

The school bus carrying Brian Carter and William York had already arrived at their residence in the Wanderers’ District.

Unlike an hour ago when he was full of spirit, William York got off the bus looking completely deflated, his face as bitter as a gourd, muttering to himself, “Why? Why? This shouldn’t have happened. That guy shouldn’t have been my match. Why was I the one who lost in the end? Eliminated in the first round, oh god! What will Louise think of me? Unreliable William?”

“You were overconfident and attacked too aggressively.”

Brian Carter commented dispassionately, “You ran out of steam. It would have been strange if you hadn’t lost. In short, you underestimated your opponent.”

As he spoke, he covertly glanced to the side, his gaze lingering on a young woman who had also gotten off the bus.

Brian Carter guessed she was about twenty, with delicate features and fair skin. She wore a tight white T-shirt and hot pants, accentuating her curvy figure.

—If someone dressed like this in the original Sky Domain, it would be considered outrageously indecent. Even among the most open-minded female disciples of the Hehuan Sect, no one dressed like this.

Even in this world, it was quite bold. This was the Wanderers’ District, one of the top three neighborhoods in Atlanta for assault cases. A girl dressed like this was just asking for trouble.