Chapter Three: Three Minutes, Thirty Days

Ghost lowered Iron Dome’s shutter halfway. “Underground rule. Never close it all the way. The loser needs somewhere to crawl out.” He removed his jacket, revealing fists wrapped in old tape. More than eighty members formed a circle, their phones shining like open eyes. Tang Xiaoyu plastered RULES-BASED SPARRING—DO NOT IMITATE over the stream, which passed two hundred thousand viewers in a minute. “Refuse,” Zhou Lan whispered. “Our license is under review. A fight is exactly what Tianheng wants.” “If I refuse, he smashes the sign and we trend anyway.” Lin Ran studied the money. “And I want his employer’s name.” [Side Challenge: Last three minutes under regulated rules.] [Victory requires the target to stop attacking voluntarily, not a knockout.]