Late at night, in that same mansion, Jonathan Black lay alone in bed, quietly asleep. Tonight, he hadn't called for any women; he wasn't in the mood for company. All he wanted was a simple, dreamless sleep.
Suddenly, Jonathan let out a loud yell, jolting awake from his dream. Gasping for breath and drenched in cold sweat, he gripped his hair tightly. "What the hell is going on? Why do I keep hearing that voice? And today, I saw those two symbols again!"
Jonathan kicked off his covers and dashed out of bed, stark naked. Grabbing pen and paper, he bit the pen and scribbled awkwardly, trying to draw the two symbols from memory. A moment later, he exhaled in relief—done. Studying the paper, he muttered to himself, "Are these... two words?"
On the paper, two crooked Chinese characters were scrawled—Susan Show.
Jonathan's eyes widened. He instinctively knew these two words had a huge connection to him. "What does this mean?" But for a boss, having questions wasn't a problem—he had subordinates. No matter the hour, his henchmen were always on standby. "Hey, Bobby, I'm sending you something. Go check it out, quick."
The next day, daytime.
"Boss, it's probably a person's name," Bobby said, appearing in Jonathan's office with dark circles under his eyes—he'd been working all night. "Since I had no clue what I was looking for, I did a wide search. Could be a Chinese name from China, Singapore, or anywhere with Chinese immigrants. Maybe a fictional character from poems or novels, or even a game NPC. Online handles, pen names, even foreigners with Chinese names—there are just too many possibilities."
"Cut out all the NPCs and stuff, those can't have anything to do with me," Jonathan rubbed his forehead. "How long will it take to check the rest?"
"Impossible to say," Bobby replied helplessly. "Since we don't know exactly what we're looking for, this kind of screening takes forever—it's almost impossible to find anything useful."
"Alright then..." Realizing this path was a dead end, Jonathan wasn't the type to force things. "Let's hold off for now. By the way, how do you pronounce these two Chinese characters?" Up to now, Jonathan didn't even know how to say them.
"Those two characters," Bobby enunciated carefully, "Susan Show."
"Huh?" Jonathan raised an eyebrow—Susan Show? Show? That sounded just like the voice in his dream. He felt something subtle stir inside. "Say it a couple more times?" Maybe hearing a familiar voice would jog his memory, like the doctor said.
Bobby repeated the name like a broken record, but Jonathan shook his head decisively. Nope. Useless. Didn't feel a thing.
"Sigh..." Jonathan pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a troubled breath. Then he asked, "By the way, when's the next match?"
"The next match starts tomorrow, and your opponent's a Thai guy." Bobby remembered something. "Oh, and boss, we got lucky—the stuff His Majesty wanted just happened to come in. You'll see it after tomorrow's match."
The next day, at another mysterious location.
"Oh my god, look! That girl just knocked Thailand's champion flat! I thought it was just a rumor, but today I see the new Queen of the Harbor District truly deserves her title! Let's cheer—The Queen! The Queen!" The host led the crowd in another wave of excitement.
Soon after, Bobby accompanied the fiery Jill Young out through a special corridor.
"You were amazing, Your Majesty! So clean and beautiful! Three punches to KO a champion—today's fight was just awesome!" Bobby showered her with praise.
"You enjoyed it? Well, I didn't."
"Uh, why aren't you happy, Your Majesty?" When the boss is in a bad mood, the underlings get nervous.
"Because that Thai guy was way too weak!" Honestly, today's opponent had decent skills—actually a bit stronger than Suchat from the World Martial Arts Tournament. If Jack Young were here, he'd be pumped, trading blows for ages, figuring out his opponent's moves, learning their strengths, then going for the KO.
But for Jill Young, this kind of match was just frustrating. The problem wasn't the fight itself, but that she had to hold back. If she went all out, one punch could probably kill the guy. Not to mention, there were hidden cameras everywhere—Jill really didn't want to show off anything too freaky.
Besides, Jill liked new experiences and big adventures, which is why she had so much fun in the Ancient Subterranean Realm. Smacking around weaklings in the ring? It was fun the first time, but after a couple more, she was over it. This just wasn't Jill's thing.
"Your Majesty, I've got two pieces of good news. You'll be thrilled!" Bobby practically bounced as he opened the car door, grinning like a palace eunuch.
"What news?" Jill hopped in, and the car rolled out discreetly.
"First bit of good news: three days from now, there's the Asia District Death Cage Tournament!" Bobby was hyped. "That's a real contest—life or death. The fighters are all gold medalists and champions from their districts, and a single match nets fifty grand, not counting gambling! The audience is all rich or powerful, and the fighters' sponsors are loaded, so the side bets are even crazier."
"Death Cage Tournament?" That sounded fresh. Jill just nodded, noncommittal.
"After the Death Cage Tournament, there's the Blood Arena—where people fight mutant beasts. It's one of the most popular shows, and everyone bets big!"
"Mutant beasts? How mutant are we talking?"
"Super—duper—mutant."
"Do I get to keep the dead mutant beasts?"
"In a word—winner takes all."
"Nice! Now that's what I'm talking about—I can't wait!" Jill's excitement shot up. "So, what's the second piece of good news?"
"Gotta keep a little suspense," Bobby grinned mysteriously. "We're almost there."
The car sped along and soon pulled into a factory yard. The sign out front read 'Dingcheng'—obviously one of Jonathan Black's businesses. After a few twists and turns inside, they stopped at a warehouse. Bobby led Jill inside, where a massive shipping container sat in the middle of the empty room.
Jonathan was waiting by the container. When he saw Jill, he smiled, snipped the seal with pliers, and yanked open the handle—
"Oh—!" Jill raised her eyebrows, stretching out the sound as she stared into the crate.
Just a quick glance inside revealed crocodiles and sharks. These fierce, savage beasts were packed in like sardines, filling the entire twelve-and-a-half-meter container!
Seeing Jill's look of anticipation, Jonathan grinned like a kid who just aced his exams. "So? Like it? Bobby did good this time—scored you the ultimate aquatic gift pack. You should give him some credit."
"Bobby, great job!" Jill was delighted, squeezing Bobby's chest. "No wonder you're called Bobby—those pecs are no joke!"
"Heh, Your Majesty, you're too kind..." Bobby wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and eagerly stepped forward. "Let me introduce: this is an Amazon giant crocodile, a rainforest killer. That's a great white shark—straight out of the movies, super scary. And this one's even crazier: a killer whale. Just the name gives you chills!"
"Hahaha, awesome work!" Jill's eyes sparkled as she turned to Jonathan. "Alright, kid, what do you want?"
"Uh, what do you mean, what do I want?" Jonathan was speechless. Why did this feel like a parent grilling their kid?
"Oh, come on," Jill nudged Jonathan with her elbow, teasing. "Nobody does favors for free—you must want something! Just say it. As long as it's not outrageous, I'll agree!"
Truth be told, Jonathan didn't really want anything right now. Sure, it didn't fit his image—boss, shady businessman, underworld kingpin—but when it came to finding mutant beasts for Jill, he hadn't thought about getting anything in return. Still, since Jill brought it up, Jonathan figured he might as well ask for another date.
"Alright, I want to ask you—" He was just about to say it, when suddenly a light bulb went off in his head. Jonathan frowned and changed his mind.
"Ask me what?"
"I want you to take a look at this," Jonathan pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Jill. "I just gave myself a Chinese name. What do you think?"
Jill took it and glanced down, amused. "Wow, this handwriting is awful—can't even read it. Wait, is that... Susan Show?"
The moment Jill spoke, Jonathan felt like he'd been struck by lightning. Her voice overlapped perfectly with the one in his dream, echoing in his head. He rolled his eyes and collapsed backward.