Chapter 95: Flesh Over Steel

“Grock the Great!” The spectators chanted his name in excitement. Up until now the man had an unbeatable track record with more than a hundred consecutive wins!

In their eyes this was the easiest bet of their life. Even if the return wasn’t going to be big, it was easy money, nonetheless.

“Here comes Grock!” The man exclaimed before punching forward.

’There is no finesse to his movements. The only reason he has reached so far is his heavy reliance on cybernetics.’ Michael analyzed. There was no need to even use Parallel Sight, since his opponent’s attacks were so easily telegraphed by his movements.

Swush!

Grock’s fist stopped mid-air. To the surprise of the onlookers, Michael dodged the strike effortlessly!

“Come on now, don’t tell me this is the fastest you can move?” Michael taunted with a smile.

“YOU!” Grock’s face flushed red from rage. Forsaking any control over his movements, he unleashed the full potential of his cybernetic arm, his punch traveling two times faster.

“Pathetic.”

Michael scoffed. Stepping forward, he met Grock’s punch with his own.

The instant the two fists connected, the spectators that sat closest to the fight felt a strong gust of wind wash over their faces. However, no one batted an eye, as everybody was struggling to comprehend what they were looking at.

“AHHH!”

A pained scream resonated in the arena. Grock’s massive body had been propelled backward by Michael’s punch. To the horror of the man, his right cybernetic arm had exploded from the sheer force.

“If you are going to replace your body with metal parts, at least make sure that they aren’t trash.” Michael said calmly, stepping forward.

While Grock’s arm had exploded from the clash, Michael was left unharmed… With a small exception.

“My clothes are ruined.” He mumbled in dejection. Since he had wanted to catch the attention of the gangs, he had left his military attire before coming to the outer region. In order to fit in, he had bought simple clothes.

Sadly, they hadn’t been created with battles of such scale in mind. As a side result, Michael was now naked above the torso, showing his sculpted body to the world.

Somewhere in the audience Ava’s eyes began to sparkle, her face getting rosy.

“Just for this sight I am glad that I came.” She gulped with excitement, staring at his defined back.

Back at the ring, Grock managed to get his emotions under control, standing up.

He became even more confused as he gazed at Michael’s body.

’He doesn’t have a single cybernetic implant! How is it possible for a body made out of flesh to pack that much of a punch?!’ Grock wondered, now being too cautious to approach.

“Where did your confident nature go? You still have one whole arm. You can try your luck again.” Michael taunted further.

“I—I am Grock the Great for a reason!” Not willing to underestimate Michael anymore, the man went all out.

Several syringes that had been loaded in his spine entered his body, pumping it full of performance-enhancing drugs. The man’s veins turned green, his muscles expanding in size.

“Are you done?” Michael purposely waited for the transformation to conclude. The goal was to show overwhelming might after all.

“AHHHH!” Releasing a mighty roar, Grock’s movements reached new heights as he unleashed another punch.

The audience felt their spines turn cold; they instantly knew if this attack connected with their bodies, they would be reduced to guts.

BOOM!

Yet just like before, Michael’s punch overpowered Grock. Even more surprising, his power increased severalfold.

For a fraction of a second Michael had activated Berserker. The end result was Grock missing his two limbs and part of his torso.

Yet he was far away from dying. Most of his body had been metallic anyway. They could easily be replaced.

“Impossible!” Grock shouted in panic. In his life he had never seen anyone being able to overpower him so easily.

“You must have chea—”

Before he was able to finish, Michael hit him on the head, sending him sliding on the floor.

“People are here to bet on who will live and die. No one cares about our chatter.”

Slowly the realization that he was going to die filled Grock with dread.

“Wait!” The man pleaded in desperation.

“Just by looking at you, I can tell that you are young! I can give you women, regardless of your type: innocent, mature, curvy, or slim. It doesn’t matter! Heck, in a day I can get you any maiden that has caught your eye in the outer region!”

This wasn’t a baseless bet; most young men that attained power quickly often lost themselves in pleasures by taking advantage of their power.

Since Grock had seen many people similar to Michael, he was sure that he was the same way.

“Really?” Michael arched an eyebrow. “How could you promise me any woman I want? There would surely be ones that are against the idea, no?”

Grock, misreading his words, thought that he had a chance. “Their feelings don’t matter! Just tell me who you want, and you will get them. This will not be the first time I will force women, anyway. You can even say that I am a veteran—”

Before he could finish, Michael’s words silenced him.

“I have heard enough.”

Feeling the dread again, Grock shuddered.

“It’s not just one! I can give you two, three, or five! As many as y—”

Before he was able to finish, Michael kicked him in the lower jaw, breaking the cybernetic into pieces.

“Shhh.” Michael put a finger over his lips, filling his opponent with horror. Ironically enough, while he meant to silence just the man, his actions caused the whole arena to turn silent.

For the next several minutes the only thing that echoed in the silent arena was Grock’s cries; with his lower jaw missing, he couldn’t even plead for mercy.

After a certain period of time the man’s body went limp. With a satisfied sigh, Michael slowly rose to his feet, wiping the blood away from his hands.

“Dead.” He proclaimed nonchalantly. His demeanor was casual, like he had thrown away trash and not killed a person.

’Considering the man, it’s not very different.’ Michael mused inwardly, glancing around the arena.

“Who is next?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep