While Roberto and his men were plotting, Darnell was looking for something to eat.
After a busy morning with Jazmine and the others, the three carrots in his stomach had long been digested. Thus, Darnell chose a restaurant to have a meal.
That morning, he earned five hundred thousand dollars and a Rolex watch. Naturally, he wanted to eat well. He ordered two dishes and a soup, filling his stomach until it was round.
After paying the bill, he went to the restroom to wash off some spilled wine on his hands.
Just as he closed the door of the stall behind him, Darnell heard footsteps outside, moving stealthily.
It wasn’t unusual for people to come and go in the restroom, but the sneaky behavior made Darnell more alert. He smiled.
Darnell quickly grabbed a mop, entered another stall, dismantled the toilet pipe, used one end of the broom to block the spray nozzle, and propped the other end against the door.
Then he climbed over the toilet like a monkey into the adjacent stall and picked up a toilet lid.
Bang!
Almost as soon as he grabbed the lid, someone kicked open the closed door next to him. Three burly men started kicking around the door aggressively.
If Darnell had stayed inside, he would have been beaten badly. But unfortunately for them, there was no one inside.
“Where is he?”
The three men were shocked when they didn’t hear any screams after their aggressive kicks. They widened their eyes in surprise at Darnell’s disappearance.
Darnell was the only one who entered the restroom, and there was only one closed stall. If he wasn’t there, where could he be?
At that moment, the broken mop fell down with a crash. The spray nozzle burst open, spraying water all over the three men and blurring their vision.
Water splashed everywhere.
“I’m right here!”
Darnell cheerfully stepped out of another stall. In the next second, he smashed the ten-pound toilet lid onto one man’s head with a crisp sound, causing his head to bleed.
As the injured man screamed and fell to the ground, Darnell delivered a swift kick between another burly man’s legs, knocking him down before charging at Harry, whose face had turned grim.
Harry wiped away the water from his face but couldn’t react in time before Darnell punched him in the neck.
Harry fell heavily to the ground. He wasn’t dead or seriously injured but was in too much pain to fight back. He could only watch Darnell helplessly.
This bastard really knew no bounds.
“Didn’t you learn your lesson from last time?”
Darnell twisted his neck and smiled, “You came here just to get beaten up again?”
He shook his head and dodged past the water spray towards the door. Just as he walked a few meters away, he stopped because someone blocked his path.
A middle-aged man, around five feet tall, stood there. He wore shoes without socks and squatted at the door, smoking a cigarette with two large gold teeth in his mouth, looking very sleazy.
“Nice moves.”
The gold-toothed man laughed heartily at Darnell, showing two rows of neat teeth. “And strong fists too.”
Darnell narrowed his eyes slightly. “Thanks. Who are you?” He could already tell this guy wasn’t someone to mess with despite his sleazy smile.
“My name is Cesar Sneyd.”
He pointed at Harry and chuckled, “I’m their boss.”
“Oh, I see.”
Darnell laughed and flicked some water off his fingers. “Why didn’t you join in?”
“I thought they could handle it.”
Cesar still wore that cheerful smile as he took puffs from his nearly finished cigarette. “I didn’t expect them to fail so miserably.”
“I told them to fight fair and square, but they didn’t listen. Now look at this mess.”
He sighed deeply, exposing his two large gold teeth again. “I hate fighting.”
“They’re strong but lack experience. It’s normal for them to fall.”
Darnell shrugged. “I’ve taken them down already. Is it your turn now?”
“Let’s not waste time. Come on. I need to get home for some sleep.”
Cesar exhaled a puff of smoke and laughed heartily again. “Darnell, you’re interesting. How about you join me? I won’t fight you then.”
He slapped his thigh. “Yeah! That’s a good idea! Join me, then we won’t have to fight.”
Darnell laughed too, “You smoke ten-dollar cigarettes. If I join you, I can’t even afford carrots.”
Cesar flicked away his cigarette butt and spoke helplessly, “Tsk! This is temporary. I’ll make it big someday. Then you’ll enjoy life with me.”
Darnell nodded slightly. “You do look special, poor before forty…”
Cesar’s eyes lit up with hope as he asked, “And after forty?”
“Still poor.”
Darnell delivered another blow directly. “Following you would starve me to death. I don’t acknowledge you as my boss.”
Cesar smiled bitterly, “Then there’s no way out. You beat up my men but won’t join me. It’s hard for me.”
As the smoke cleared, he looked at Darnell while Darnell stared back at him. Their gazes clashed like metal striking metal.
The atmosphere froze, even colder than before, as if ice had formed in the air.
They both waited quietly for an opportune moment to strike.
Suddenly, a butterfly flew in through the window.
Boom!
Like a signal from above! Darnell’s body flashed forward with a punch!
Cesar was also skilled. Seeing Darnell’s move instinctively, he ducked low and delivered an abrupt sweeping kick.
Whoosh!
The kick was fast and fierce, creating a gust of wind before reaching its target, a hallmark of black-market boxing.
Darnell leaned forward, tapping his toes against Cesar’s shin, causing the sweeping leg to miss its target.
Then, without losing momentum, he struck Cesar, unleashing a surge of brute force that made him tremble slightly.
However, Cesar was no stranger to a hundred battles. He sidestepped to absorb the impact and let out a low growl, launching a rapid series of punches.
Those were a pair of iron fists! A pair capable of destroying everything in their path!
The wind from his punches raged like a storm whipping up sand, powerful and formidable.
“Impressive,” Darnell remarked with a hint of approval at the corner of his mouth, before swiftly dodging the onslaught.
Almost as soon as he shifted his stance, Cesar’s fists grazed past Darnell’s face, the forceful wind causing a sharp sting.
Not deterred by the missed blow, Cesar continued to swing his fists with the same ferocity and simplicity.
Yet, the sheer strength behind them was enough to make many a man quail in fear.
Darnell’s evasive maneuvers only seemed to enrage Cesar further, who fought like a maddened beast, relentless in his punches and roars.
Cesar’s fists rained down on a row of mirrors behind Darnell, leaving a trail of impressions that were alarming to behold.
Some even struck the walls with cracking sounds. The tiles where Cesar’s fists landed almost shattered.
It was evident the magnitude of the force in Cesar’s punches was hard to fathom.
However, Darnell’s agility was exceptional, always evading just in time, leaving Cesar’s efforts fruitless.
“Darnell, you can’t always dodge. You can’t take advantage of your youth and stamina to bully me,” Cesar complained with a troubled expression. “Can you fight me properly? If I lose, I’ll give you my life, but you must stop running.”
“Alright, no more running!”
Before Darnell could finish his sentence, he laughed and halted his steps.
In that instant, Cesar suddenly roared, stepped forward with a thunderous noise that splashed water everywhere, and lunged at Darnell.
His footwork was as swift and ferocious as a rampaging beast, blurring in the onlookers’ eyes.
At the same time, Cesar threw a punch.
Boom!
Faced with this destructive strike filled with momentum, Darnell remained unfazed, standing calmly in place.
At the last moment before the punch arrived, his eyes sparkled with energy. Darnell shifted his steps, bent his body taut as a drawn bow, and swung his fist with a force like thunder.
All the movements in their confrontation were completed in the blink of an eye.
No one could discern the origin or destination of the moves through the flurry of fists, only the muffled sounds of footsteps scraping against the floor could be heard.
Weakened, Harry looked up to see Darnell standing nonchalantly in place, as upright as ever.
Meanwhile, Cesar’s body was pressed against the wall, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
Darnell blew on his swollen fist, then crooked his finger at Cesar, saying, “Carry on…”
Thud!
Before Darnell could finish speaking, Cesar suddenly dropped to his knees, clutching Darnell’s thigh. “I lost.”
“I admit my defeat wholeheartedly. I’m no match for you even if we fight ten times. From today on, you are my boss.”
“I will not regret it.”
Cesar clung desperately to Darnell as he continued, “No matter if you are poor or rich, I will follow you. Where you live, I will live.”
What was wrong with him?
Darnell was startled. “Are you knocked silly?”
Having a follower sounded great, but it meant an extra mouth to feed.
“I truly want to follow you.”
“I don’t know you well!”
“Still, I want to follow you.”
“I have no money.”
“But I just want to follow you.”
“Get lost!”