Ethan also noticed Adrian never wasted deception on the crowd.
He performed for them, yes.
But his lies were always aimed at Rex.
The audience saw fear.
Rex had to believe it.
The audience saw surrender.
Rex had to want it.
The crowd could be fooled or not; it did not matter.
That distinction impressed Ethan.
Bad manipulation sought universal belief.
Good manipulation needed only one person to make one wrong decision at one important moment.
Adrian understood targeting.
Ethan understood targeting too.
Different product.
Same principle.
Chloe watched Adrian wipe blood from his mouth.
“If he ever becomes your enemy, don’t talk to him.”
“Hard in a fight.”
“Then assume every sentence is an attack.”
Ethan nodded.
“And every silence.”
She looked at him.
“Good.”
They both watched Adrian smile at Rex.
A weapon with teeth and no edge.
Rex had one major advantage Adrian could not fake away.
Pain tolerance.
The first eye jab should have broken his rhythm.
It did not.
The shoulder dislocation should have made him cautious.
It made him angrier.
Adrian’s tricks relied on emotional prediction, but emotion was not always rational.
Rex crossed the ring with one arm hanging uselessly and still tried to tear Adrian in half.
Chloe watched closely.
“That’s the weakness.”
“What?”
“Adrian assumes people protect themselves.”
Ethan nodded.
“Most do.”
“Observer didn’t.”
That gave Ethan pause.
The projection had no survival instinct because death cost nothing.
Chloe learned against an opponent who would trade injury freely if it taught her a lesson.
Adrian learned against normal humans who avoided pain.
Different teachers created different blind spots.
Rex charged through a kick that should have stopped him.
Adrian’s face showed real surprise.
There.
For half a second, the Beautiful Beast lost the story.
Ethan leaned forward.
“What does he do when prediction fails?”
The answer came immediately.
Adrian created distance.
Not elegantly.
He ran.
Reset information.
Bought seconds.
Forced Rex to make new choices.
Chloe nodded.
“Smart.”
Ethan watched Adrian circle.
“He doesn’t need the first trick to work.”
“No.”
“He only needs enough time to build another.”
That was more dangerous than any single deception.
A liar who depended on one lie eventually got caught.
Adrian depended on adaptation.
Adrian’s case file also explained why wealthy victims hated him personally.
He had not targeted desperate people.
He targeted powerful ones.
Men who built fortunes on complexity.
Families who paid consultants to hide risk.
Executives who believed intelligence made them immune to manipulation.
Adrian sold them products designed to flatter that belief.
He made every victim feel like an insider.
Special terms.
Private access.
Confidential models.
The more sophisticated they considered themselves, the more exclusive he made the lie.
Then he let greed do the rest.
When the scheme collapsed, several victims testified that losing the money hurt less than realizing Adrian had understood them better than they understood themselves.
Ethan read that sentence twice.
That was the Beautiful Beast.
Not because he deceived people.
Because he made them participate in the deception.
Rex was doing the same thing in miniature.
Every charge.
Every angry swing.
Every humiliating mistake.
Adrian offered the door.
Rex kept walking through it.
Adrian’s trial records explained the nickname too.
Not officially.
Lakeview did not record Beautiful Beast in legal metadata.
The name appeared in audience comments.
His first three Deathmatches had been losses.
Not close losses.
Ugly ones.
Adrian entered with no combat background and discovered, predictably, that fraud did not strengthen ribs.
On the fourth fight he changed.
He stopped trying to win physically.
He studied opponents before the match.
Their habits.
Crimes.
Relationships.
Previous injuries.
Preferred strategies.
What made them angry.
What made them proud.
The fifth opponent had a gambling problem.
Adrian offered odds during the fight.
The sixth hated being laughed at.
Adrian laughed.
The seventh had a reputation for never refusing a challenge.
Adrian baited him into a higher-risk class and won on a technicality after provoking prohibited spirit use.
By the tenth match, prisoners attended specifically to watch the setup.
They knew a trick was coming.
Not what trick.
That became the entertainment.
Beauty made people underestimate him.
Weakness made them aggressive.
His smile made them suspicious.
Adrian learned to weaponize all three.
The beast was never the body.
It was the part of him that looked at another human being and immediately asked: What rule do you live inside?
And how do I make that rule hurt you?
Adrian Morgan had stolen forty-three million crowns without carrying a weapon.
That was the version prison rumor preferred.
The truth, Adrian would later explain, was more insulting.
He had not stolen forty-three million.
He had convinced other people to transfer forty-three million voluntarily.
Insurance.
Private wealth protection.
Estate shielding.
Disaster bonds.
Risk pools.
Adrian built instruments wealthy people barely understood and sold them the feeling that complexity was intelligence.
For six years, he made rich men feel smarter after speaking with him.
Then he made their money disappear.
His official charges included fraud, identity manipulation, falsified civic contracts, unauthorized prediction models, conspiracy, bribery, and something called malicious actuarial architecture.
Ethan had laughed at that one.
Until Adrian explained it carried a maximum sentence of ninety years.
Lakeview called him the Fraudster.
The Deathmatch crowd called him something else.
The Beautiful Beast.
Ethan understood the first word.
Adrian was unfairly attractive for a man serving decades in prison.
Fine features.
Calm gray eyes.
Blond hair that looked good even in institutional lighting.
The beast part seemed less obvious.
Especially when his opponent entered.
Rex Moreno.
Six-foot-three.
Two hundred sixty pounds.
Former dock enforcer.
Twelve wins.
Four losses.
Arms like construction equipment.
Adrian looked like he had arrived to discuss refinancing.
Chloe stood beside Ethan.
“Body difference is absurd.”
“Yes.”
“Why accept?”
“Adrian likes bad ideas.”
“You joined his escape group.”
“I also like bad ideas.”
The stake appeared.
ADRIAN: 40 contribution.
REX: 40.
Audience odds:
Rex 82%.
Adrian 18%.
Ethan frowned.
“That low?”
Tucker sat behind him.
“Public loves muscle.”
“Is public wrong?”
“Frequently.”
The barrier rose.
He did not adopt a stance.
Hands loose.
Shoulders relaxed.
Rex smiled.
“You gonna talk me to death?”
Adrian returned the smile.
“If you’re willing.”
Bell.
Rex charged.
Adrian ran.
The crowd booed.
Not tactical retreat.
Full retreat.
He circled the arena.
Rex chased.
Adrian stayed just far enough away to be irritating.
“Fight!”
“Pretty boy’s scared!”
“Beautiful Beast my ass!”
Adrian ignored them.
Rex did not.
That mattered.
His expression changed.
Annoyance.
Then anger.
He accelerated.
Adrian glanced backward.
Tripped.
Actually tripped.
His foot caught.
He stumbled.
The crowd laughed.
Rex lunged.
Ethan leaned forward.
Chloe said, “Trap.”
“How?”
“Don’t know.”
Rex reached Adrian.
Adrian tried to rise.
Too slow.
Rex swung.
Adrian barely avoided it.
The fist scraped his cheek.
He staggered.
Rex laughed.
“There you are.”
Adrian backed toward the barrier.
Fear entered his face.
Good fear.
Convincing fear.
Ethan watched.
Something felt wrong.
Adrian had invited him into a jailbreak group in a camera-filled common room without blinking.
He had calmly asked Ethan to punch him to demonstrate a neural control implant.
Now his hands shook.
Too much.
“He’s acting.”
Tucker smiled.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The Beautiful Beast’s trick.”
Rex swung again.
Adrian ducked.
Clumsy.
Late.
His shoulder clipped.
He spun.
Hit the barrier.
Rex crowded him.
No escape.
The crowd stood.
Rex drew back his fist.
Adrian raised both hands.
“Wait.”
Rex grinned.
“What?”
“I surrender.”
Boos.
Rex laughed.
“You know I don’t have to take that.”
Adrian’s breathing came fast.
“Then why say it?”
“Because you wanted me to.”
Rex frowned.
Adrian looked at his right foot.
Ethan followed the gaze.
Rex followed too.
Nothing there.
That was the trick.
The instant Rex looked down, Adrian moved.
Not fast.
Efficient.
Thumb to eye.
Rex screamed.
Adrian stepped across his body.
Knee behind knee.
One hand pulled the blinded man’s wrist.
Rex fell forward.
Adrian used the barrier as a third hand.
Rex’s arm hit at a terrible angle.
Pop.
Shoulder dislocated.
The arena exploded.
Rex roared.
Swung with the other hand.
Adrian was already gone.
He backed away.
Rex stood.
One eye closed.
One arm hanging.
Now furious.
Adrian looked terrified again.
Chloe whispered, “He changes emotional temperature on purpose.” Ethan nodded.
“He tells the opponent what fight they’re in.”
Rex thought he was hunting a coward.
Then thought he had been cheated.
Now he wanted revenge.
Each emotional frame made his choices narrower.
Adrian did not need to be stronger.
He needed Rex predictable.
Rex charged.
Adrian stumbled again.
Rex did not believe it this time.
He stopped short.
Adrian smiled.
That stop was what Adrian wanted.
He kicked the damaged shoulder.
Rex screamed.
Then Adrian ran.
The crowd laughed.
Not at Adrian now.
At Rex.
Humiliation entered the ring.
Rex heard it.
Bad.
He abandoned caution.
Adrian kept retreating.
Rex followed.
Adrian’s back reached the barrier.
Same position as before.
Rex slowed.
He expected another eye attack.
Guarded high.
Adrian kicked low.
Not leg.
Ankle.
Rex shifted.
Adrian attacked high.
Rex blocked.
Adrian stopped.
Rex countered.
Adrian dropped flat.
Rex’s fist struck the barrier.
Bones cracked.
He recoiled.
Adrian rolled behind him.
Both hands around Rex’s neck.
Not choking.
Guiding.
He drove Rex’s face into the barrier.
Once.
Twice.
Third time, Rex caught him.
Finally.
One huge hand closed around Adrian’s wrist.
Ethan’s stomach sank.
Rex turned.
His good hand hit Adrian in the chest.
Adrian flew.
Actually flew.
He landed six feet away and rolled.
Chloe winced.
“That’s what happens when the trick fails.”
Adrian tried to stand.
Rex reached him.
Kicked his ribs.
Ethan heard one break. Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
Adrian collapsed.
Rex kicked again.
The crowd changed.
Now some screamed for Adrian.
Come on.
Get up.
Beautiful Beast.
Ethan stared.
Adrian’s physical ability was ordinary.
Maybe slightly trained.
But nothing special.
He did not have Tucker’s mass.
Lucas’s sword foundation.
Chloe’s monstrous learning ability.
Against a random strong man, if strength alone decided the outcome, Adrian lost.
Rex lifted him by the shirt.
Blood ran from Adrian’s mouth.
“Any more tricks?”
Adrian’s eyes fluttered.
“No.”
Rex smiled.
He pulled back his fist.
Adrian whispered something.
Rex paused.
“What?”
Adrian whispered again.
Too quiet.
Rex leaned closer.
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Oh, come on.”
Chloe laughed.
Rex said, “What did you say?” Adrian’s head snapped forward.
Forehead into broken nose.
Rex reeled.
Adrian bit his ear.
The crowd lost its mind.
Rex screamed and shoved him away.
Adrian kept a piece of ear.
He spat it.
“Sorry.”
Rex charged.
Adrian moved sideways.
Rex slipped.
Not randomly.
Blood.
The same blood Adrian had spat and smeared while crawling after the kicks.
A thin slick on concrete.
Rex’s injured ankle went out.
He crashed.
Adrian was on him immediately.
Good arm captured.
Leg across neck.
Not strength.
Structure.
Rex fought.
Adrian adjusted.
Rex tried to rise.
Adrian used the dislocated arm as leverage.
Rex’s face changed.
Pain.
Fear.
Then calculation.
He realized Adrian would break more.
“Stop.”
Adrian said nothing.
“Stop!”
The barrier remained.
Adrian tightened.
Rex’s face darkened.
“Adrian!”
No response.
Rex slapped the floor.
Once.
Twice.
Tap-out.
Meaningless.
The crowd knew.
The barrier did not care.
Adrian leaned close.
“Do you surrender?”
“Yes!”
“Say the full sentence.”
“What?”
“You called me a coward.”
Rex’s eyes bulged.
Adrian tightened the hold.
“I surrender to Adrian Morgan!”
The crowd roared.
Adrian smiled.
“Thank you.”
Then he choked Rex unconscious.
Verification light red.
Barrier down.
Adrian released immediately.
Medical entered.
He stood slowly.
One arm around his ribs.
Face bruised.
Still beautiful enough to irritate.
Audience engagement bonus flashed.
Ethan stared.
Chloe did too.
“That man is awful.”
“Yes.”
“I like him.”
“Unfortunately, so do I.”
Adrian walked out of the ring.
The crowd chanted:
BEAU-TI-FUL BEAST.
BEAU-TI-FUL BEAST.
He gave them a shallow bow.
Then immediately winced because of the broken ribs.
Tucker laughed.
Ethan met Adrian in the corridor.
“You got kicked half to death.”
“Half.”
“Your plan involved biting him.”
“Improvisation.”
“You spread blood on the floor.”
“Preparation.”
“You pretended to surrender.”
“Communication.”
“You are the reason contracts have footnotes.”
Adrian smiled.
“I was literally in insurance.”
A medic tried to lead him away.
Adrian raised a finger.
“Tomorrow.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
“You need a second match.”
“Against who?”
Adrian pointed at himself.
Ethan stared.
Chloe’s smile appeared instantly.
“Yes.”
“No.”
Adrian said, “You joined my research group.”
“That did not include beating each other to death.”
“Team building.”
“You are using prison LinkedIn language.”
“I need to understand your combat ability.”
“You just watched it.”
“I watched you fight Miles.”
“Miles wanted to hurt you.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“I want to fool you.”
Ethan glanced at Chloe.
She was already excited.
Traitor.
“What stake?”
Adrian said, “Everything you won.”
“Twenty-three?”
“Twenty.”
“Why?”
“Because stakes create attention.”
“You could just ask me to focus.”
“I don’t trust requests.”
Ethan looked at Adrian’s broken ribs.
“You’ll be healed?”
“By morning.”
“This prison is ridiculous.”
“Eight p.m.”
Adrian offered his hand.
Ethan did not take it.
“Why do I feel like shaking your hand creates another clause?”
Adrian smiled.
“Growth.”
Ethan sighed.
Then shook.
MATCH REQUEST CREATED.
ETHAN HAYES vs.
ADRIAN MORGAN.
Chloe read the notification.
Her eyes gleamed.
Ethan pointed at her.
“If I get bitten, I’m blaming you.”
She smiled.
“Try not to look delicious.”