Lisa tried hard to stop herself from crying as she watched Jungkook choked his opponent to death. She knew Jungkook was fighting for his own life and he would not kill an innocent person on a whim. This man probably deserved what he got.
Jeru was right, her husband could manage the fight. But she still could not stop herself from worrying.
"Hm, it looks like this General of yours could bring me a lot of money with those skills. Now I'm really doubting if I should kill him or keep him with me, so I can use him for more money in the future," Leon murmured to Thea who was now crying.
Leon's mouth twitched as he rubbed his chin. he was impressed with Jungkook's fighting skills. He considered himself a businessman, and money is his god, so in that instant, he was already raking his brain for ways to use Jungkook's fighting skills for his own gains.
"Stop crying!" Leon barked at Thea. She was crying because she was happy that Jungkook won.
"Let's see if he can still win the next one!" Leon murmured with a darkened face.
Jungkook was declared the winner of the match. After his match the tournament had been brought to a halt, in order to clean all of the blood that had been spilled of those who had died from losing the fights.
"Here, wash your eyes with this," Cobra instructed as he gave Jungkook a bottled water. "That dirty scumbag!" Riley muttered furiously as he watched Leon's men pulled Sting's lifeless body out of the ring.
The profiles of each fighter were repeatedly shown on the screen as a quick review during the break.
After a few more minutes, the roaring sound had started again, indicating that the tournament would soon recommence.
Leon did not intend for his best fighters to get killed. Tonight was just a chance for his best fighters to prove themselves. If they were truly the best of the best, then they would go far in the tournament. If they couldn't prove themselves and ended up dead instead, then he would be more than happy to be free of those worthless duds.
Drey stood up to go to the restroom with Lieutenant Jang, who had now disguised himself as one of Drey's men. They were escorted by two of Leon's men. He would proceed with plan B at the earliest opportunity with Jeru's approval.
As soon as they reached a blind spot where Lieutenant Jiang had a CCTV camera covered, Drey swiftly and discreetly made an attack on the two men. Drey and Lieutenant Jiang then immediately changed their clothes into the guard outfits that were worn by those men and hid the men's bodies in a corner where the view was obstructed.
Drey and Lieutenant Jiang's objective was to infiltrate the control room where Drey could hack into the ship's mechanical system.
Back inside the arena, two of Jeru's men had gone out when the spectators, including all of Leon's men, were all too engrossed in watching the climax of the current match. It was Cobra inside the ring.
But Draco had noticed that two of his men who had gone to escort the other two guests to the restroom were not back yet. On top of that, he noticed that Jeru was also missing two men by his side.
"He had noticed," Lana silently commented to Janus, who was sitting beside her. She saw Draco talking on his Bluetooth headset with a suspicious look.
Drey could hear that Draco was calling out to his men, who were now lying unconscious in one of the corners of the ship. Lieutenant Jiang, who was well trained at voice imitation, immediately answered his call.
"Boss, I will bring these guests to the infirmary, because they are not feeling well," he explained to Draco.
Lieutenant Jiang had been studying those men's speech mannerisms and the way they spoke to Draco through their communication device, so he managed to mimic them well.
They needed to buy more time so Lisa signaled one of Leon's men who was standing near her to relay her request to Leon. The man quickly did as he was told.
Leon had a broad smile on his face upon hearing the old lady's special request and the amount of money that she was willing to spend in order for her request to be granted.
For the next fight, Leon did not tap his screen to trigger the random selection. He went to the center of the ring instead and announced Lisa's special request to the audience through the microphone.
"One of our very special guests here has offered a generous amount of money so she could pick the particular fighters she would like to see next, instead of letting them be picked by the machine."
Then he shouted, "What do you say? Shall we grant her this request?"
Thea crumpled her face. She knew what Leon was up to. He was not asking the audience to leave the decision entirely to them. Why wouldn't he accept the old lady's request given the amount of money he would be receiving from it? There was no way he would let go of this money-making opportunity.
He was announcing it to the audience in order to let them know that such a thing is possible too. And he hoped that more guests would ask the same request in exchange for some hard cash.
Lisa also knew about this, but they did not have any other choice but to go to this extent. She was well aware of the risk of Jungkook being requested to fight again by some of the other guests.
But of course, she would not allow that to happen. She already signaled for Lana to put in the next request, immediately after her. She had brought tons of money for this and she would spend every single dime of it to make sure her husband is safe.
As expected, the bloodthirsty crowds cheered in agreement. Lisa picked two fighters whom she noticed were closed to the man called Sting who had lost from her husband. These people were obviously not good people. They were barbaric fighters who were in it only for the kill.
'Let those bloodsuckers fight against each other!' she thought.
The fight ended and Lana quickly followed after Lisa and made the request. Leon's face brightened. Lana was allowed to pick the fighters for the next match.
'Hang in there…' Lisa wanted to comfort her husband.
"Three more hours," Jeru murmured. If they were lucky, back-up would arrive in three hours.
*******
Lana was allowed to pick the fighters for the next match, and just like Lisa, she chose two fighters whose eyes reflected their thirst for blood and their desire to kill.
And true enough, the fight was savage. She had to control herself not to vomit on the spot. The fight had finished and ended in an extremely violent way that the face of the fighter who had lost was no longer recognizable.
Lisa was also horrified at the sight before her. She could not understand how the crowds could enjoy watching a spectacle as violent as this and call it entertainment. She had been sheltered her whole life, and even after having reported news from some dangerous areas, she still couldn't grasp the extent of the world's cruelty.
She was disgusted. She must let those ruthless fighters fight and kill each other.
She made another request but panicked when Leon turned her offer down, saying he would give the other guests a chance to pick some fighters as well. To her horror, the next requested fighters were Jungkook and a man called Cobra.
"That man seemed to be close with Jungkook," Lisa murmured. Jeru noticed it too. Jungkook indeed seemed to be close with the fighters whose alias are 'Cobra' and 'Pretty Boy'.
Lisa was still trying to stop the match by offering a higher bid so her wish would be accommodated first, but Leon merely apologized and said, "Madam, I'm also anticipating this fight, so let me grant you your request after this match."
Leon had indeed been anticipating for Jungkook to be picked by a guest for another round inside the ring. He wanted to see Thea get nervous so she would beg him for Jungkook's life.
Jeru held Lisa's arm, signaling her to let it go because if she didn't, it would only make Leon suspicious and it might compromise their position. Lisa was left with no choice but to accept.
They still had several hours of waiting, but hopefully, Drey would succeed in penetrating the control room and in hacking into their system so they would get tracked faster.
"That Cobra seems like he's a good fighter," Jeru heard Lisa's whisper nervously.
She did not want Jungkook to fight either Cobra or Pretty Boy because they seemed to be close with Jungkook. They had probably bonded with each other during their hard times in this ship together, and she couldn't stand the thought of Jungkook having to end the lives of the people whom he had grown to be close with. He would undoubtedly be devastated.
Jungkook and Cobra gave Riley a meaningful gaze and he seemed to understand and nodded. "I guess this is it then," Riley sighed loudly.
If things didn't go in the way they had intended to, for example in situations where they were forced to fight each other, just like now, the three of them had come up with a plan to die fighting the bad guys instead of killing each other. This way they could at least keep their dignity intact.
It was not only their fight. It was also the fight of the rest of the fighters who were there against their will and had fallen victims of this deceit and brutality. Half of the fighters had discreetly decided to ally themselves with Jungkook, Cobra, and Riley.
Then Jungkook gave Jeru a quick and meaningful glance as well. Jeru nodded and instantly signaled his men. Jungkook and him had been communicating secretly through some special codes that they had learned in the military. It was comparable to Morse code but was more unobtrusive, using various body language, as it was specifically designed for special ops soldiers when missions call for them to communicate with each other without notifying the enemies.
When Leon's men were about to assist Jungkook and Cobra towards the ring to fight, Jungkook and Cobra seized their weapons in one swift move. Riley quickly opened the locked area so the fighters who were on their side could escape and help them fight Leon's men.
Jeru shouted "Now!" His men instantly attacked Leon's men nearest to them and grabbed all the weapons they could use for the battle.
The guests panicked and were all over the place, trying to get out of the arena as soon as possible because of all the fightings and shootings inside. It was utter chaos.
Lisa immediately made her way to Jungkook, while Jeru dashed towards Thea.
Draco protected Leon while shouting, "Boss! We have to move to a safer place." Leon cursed and headed towards an escape route while dragging Thea along with him. "Fu*ck, fu*ck! How did this happen!? Stupid fu*cking system!" He kept on cursing as he ran with Draco towards another exit.
Lisa was fast and already at Jungkook's side with Lana and May closely tagging behind her.
"Why are you here!?" Jungkook scolded her as he pulled Lisa closer behind him. Lisa creased her eyebrows and pouted her lips like a sulky child as she retorted, "Why else would I be here? To bring my husband back, of course!"
"What? That's Lisa? Your wife?" Riley interrupted as he pulled a gun from one of Leon's men whom he had just knocked down. Then he added, "You were hallucinating about her? Oh man, General, you like old ladies?"
"Riley, it's not the time to be joking around! Be alert! Come here and back me up. We have to get out of here!" Cobra chided him as he exchanged fire with Leon's men.
Jungkook cursed when he saw Jeru chasing Leon by himself. Lisa saw it too, so she said, "Go and follow him."
"No! I will stay with you!" Jungkook sternly refused. Lisa turned to the man called Pretty Boy and grabbed the handgun he was holding from him and said, "Go pick up another gun, Pretty Boy… I'll take this one."
Then she turned to Jungkook and ordered him with a smug smile on her face, "Fine, since you don't want to follow them, then follow me instead!" Jungkook was caught off guard by his wife's bossy stance while she was holding a gun in her hand, but he quickly followed his wife who had run towards Jeru's direction.
Jungkook cursed as he caught up with her and immediately held her hand. "Dammit, Lisa, why are you so stubborn?" he grumbled as he led her to follow Jeru who was running after Leon who had dragged Thea along with him.
"Well, we can't let Jeru fight that evil man alone. Besides, I know what's in your mind even if you don't say it," Lisa responded.
She was beaming on cloud nine as she looked at her hand that was being held tightly by Jungkook. She was ecstatic to finally feel Jungkook's warm hand on hers again. Then she turned her gaze to Jungkook's sturdy back in front of her as they were running together.
It really did not matter how dangerous the situation they were in right now. As long as she could be together with him like this, nothing else seemed to matter...