to take advantage of a crisis

In the split second of a lightning-fast moment, a young man snatched a cleaver from a shouting gang member beside him. His hand was cut by the blade, yet he seemed unfazed.

As the blades collided, sparks flew, and in the face of Glen's bewildered gaze, a wild roar erupted from deep within the young man's throat, and his blade rose high.

Beads of blood sprayed through the air, the torchlight casting their current appearance into sharp relief. Glen could only feel the opponent's strength was terrifying as his arm went numb, and he felt a chilling sensation in his throat...

A human head was thrown high into the air. It was Glen's head.

The young man stood up, while Glen's headless corpse collapsed, drenched in splattering blood, making him appear like a demon emerging from hell.

The entire scene fell into a deathly silence, and everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events.

The son of the Heavenly Dragon Gang's leader has actually died!

At first, the members of the Heavenly Dragon Gang were shocked and bewildered. Then, a fiery anger surged within them like flames on their faces.

Gerard was also dumbfounded. His son had an overwhelming advantage. How could this be? Howell was equally bewildered.

The person in the arena was Dale, a newcomer to the gang who had previously shown mercy by releasing someone imprisoned by him during a debt collection. This had earned him Howell's displeasure.

This time, he had been sent to his doom, and he had no idea that this kid had such abilities.

Feeling the oppressive atmosphere, Dale suddenly looked up and saw Gerard on the opposite side, his face full of anger, brandishing a seven-section staff. His hawk-like eyes were locked onto Dale. 

"This is bad! Could this guy think I deliberately sent someone to harm his son?"

Gerard had every reason to think so, as everyone knew how much he doted on his son. Glen's rise in power was largely due to Gerard's efforts, including providing drugs and finding an awakened teacher to train him as his successor.

Howell also had a motive to kill Dale. "This?" Howell knew he had to step forward and break the eerie silence of the scene. However, a sharp and angry question suddenly pierced the night sky.

"He killed the young boss! The Black Tiger Gang's people have outsmarted us, seeking revenge for our young boss!" The voice was filled with anger, as if the person killed wasn't the young boss but his own father. Hearing this, goosebumps rose on the skin of those around, and a sense of unity against a common enemy emerged.

Then, a figure rushed forward and knocked down Dale, who still seemed somewhat dazed, with a single punch.

"Kill him!"

"They plotted against us, damn it!"

In this bizarre time gap, before the two leaders could even speak, the earlier question seemed like a drop of water falling into a hot frying pan, instantly igniting the anger of the Heavenly Dragon Gang members present.

Chaos erupted in an instant.The Black Tiger Gang's members, who had initially remained calm, also became furious when they saw a few bricks thrown their way and heard various obscenities.

"Your young boss is so weak, and you blame us?"

"Do I  scared to you?"

The two groups clashed violently, descending into a chaotic brawl. Initially knocked down by Duke, Dale had been pushed to the side near a pile of disarrayed grass, and no one paid further attention to him.

Duke didn't have the time to deal with him either. Seeing the commotion in the arena, he was filled with excitement; his opportunity had come.

However, just as Duke was about to leave, a hand, covered in bloodstains, grabbed him.

Turning around, Duke locked eyes with Dale, who moved his lips but seemed unsure of what to say.

In the end, Duke broke free from Dale's grasp, looked back at him, and Dale softly said, "Thank you."

People in the arena had already started dying, but what worried Duke the most was that there was not a single green light orb appearing, not even next to Glen's lifeless body.

"This shouldn't be right. Glen's power should be similar to mine."

Furthermore, these gang members were undoubtedly more formidable in combat than ordinary people, so there should have been some light orbs from their bodies.

Duke was entangled in a fight with a member of an opposing gang within the crowd, a thin man. He could have easily used his awakened powers to defeat his opponent, but then he wouldn't be able to search for valuable items.

The thin man from the opposing side was probably dragging the fight to prolong it, and  was surprised to find himself evenly matched.

"Stop, everyone stop!"

A roar akin to a lion's suddenly resounded, and both Howell and Gerard simultaneously tried to halt the battle. Duke had assumed that stopping a brawl involving hundreds of people would take quite some time, but...

He watched as Howell suddenly transformed into what seemed like a human bulldozer, growing more than half a meter taller from his original height of 1.9 meters, reaching nearly 2.5 meters. With arms like iron barrels, he tossed the people in front of him aside as if they were chickens.

Duke grew anxious; this guy was definitely not an ordinary awakened person, and he appeared to have even more combat strength than Alexander.

Duke began to consider retreating; otherwise, he would surely be exposed when things settled down. Just then, a green light suddenly appeared!

"It's here!" This was the light emanating from Glen's body. As Duke continued to fight and back away, he reached out and scooped it up, turning it into a green crystal, which he placed in his pocket.

"So, that's how it is."

This was the first time Duke had witnessed the formation of crystals up close. He had previously thought that as soon as a person died, the light orbs would appear instantly, but he hadn't expected there to be a few seconds of delay.

Following that, green light orbs of various sizes emerged in succession from the bodies of those who had died earlier. While not on the same level as Glen's, they still made Duke's eyes shine with anticipation.

He pretended to be overwhelmed, constantly "escaping" and turning the seven or eight orbs into crystals one by one, stashing them away.

"That's about it!"

Duke watched as the fighting in front of him had been forcefully halted by the leaders of both sides. He knew it was time for him to leave.

The thin man he had been fighting with all along was overjoyed. He was one of the lowest-ranking fighters in the Black Tiger Gang and hadn't expected to push the enemy back so thoroughly. His confidence surged, and he shouted, "Don't run, let's have another round..."

Thud! The thin man fell unconscious on the spot. Duke massaged his fist and quietly slipped into the outer edge of the crowd, hiding among the bushes.

As it turned out, Duke had made the right decision not to get greedy. Almost seconds after he entered the bushes, the entire battle came to an abrupt halt.

Looking at the blood-soaked ground and the dozen or so lifeless bodies scattered around, both Howell and Gerard wore grim expressions. This was originally supposed to be a friendly arena match between the two gangs to build rapport, and neither had expected it to escalate like this.

"Who started it? Without my orders, why did you fight?" Howell roared in anger, sweeping his gaze over the crowd, sending shivers down the spines of his subordinates. Then, his subordinates suddenly realized something, "Yes, it was them who started it!"

"That's right, Glen was killed, and someone from the Heavenly Dragon Gang shouted something about avenging the young boss, and then it all started!" another gang member chimed in.

"Gerard, I'm also very sorry about what happened today, but I had no intention of scheming against you. Let's not be manipulated by schemers," Howell said.

Gerard's face darkened as he squinted his eyes. While he was deeply saddened by the events, he wasn't naive. He could see that Dale had been sent as cannon fodder. If his son had been more cautious and vigilant, he wouldn't have been killed by him.

Engaging in a fight with the Black Tiger Gang now would only benefit other forces without any gain for themselves.

"Who shouted that earlier?" Gerard squinted his eyes, his voice chillingly cold, and the entire arena fell silent. Duke, hiding in the nearby bushes, dared not make a move.