From Bullets To Billions novel Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Back At School

While Max had been in the middle of his training, he couldn’t help but glance repeatedly at the two adults standing near the front of the gym.

He was deep in thought, already planning how best to use the both of them in his future endeavors.

Right now, he was tangled in the mess of Max’s life, sorting out the chaos that had spiraled too far. But once that was over, there was still something far more dangerous waiting for him, the White Tiger Gang.

Taking them on wouldn’t be something he could handle alone.

He understood the value of a reliable crew, people he could trust at his back. The problem was, he didn’t know the true strength of the two standing near him.

So he was trying to come up with a way to gauge them, test their abilities without making it obvious.

That led him to getting up and asking the question.

"Hey, kid, what do you think you’re saying?" Steven said, raising a brow. "I know you probably grew up with a silver spoon in your mouth, but you can’t just tell two adults to fight like we’re your entertainment."

"I’ll give you an extra thousand if you fight him," Max replied coolly.

In a flash, Steven was already in the ring, cracking his knuckles and starting to warm up.

"Young master, are you certain you want me to do this?" Aron asked, calmly pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"You’re supposed to be the head of my personal security, aren’t you?" Max replied. "Every now and then, it makes sense to test just how strong my security really is. Just pretend he’s trying to attack me."

Aron’s face twitched with clear reluctance, but he didn’t question the order. He stepped forward, bent between the ropes, and entered the ring.

It looked like a strange setup, one man dressed in a red tracksuit, hands wrapped, lightly shadowboxing in the corner... and the other, standing stiff in a full black suit like he was about to present a company pitch, not throw a punch.

"Alright!" Max called out. "The fight ends when one of you gets knocked out or gives up. And to keep things interesting, whoever wins gets an extra thousand."

"Yes, sir!" Steven shouted immediately, practically bouncing on his feet.

Max could already tell, if there was an easy way to control Steven, it was definitely through cash. What surprised him more was that Aron didn’t even flinch at the mention of money.

He figured that meant Aron’s salary from his grandfather had to be pretty impressive, because it clearly wasn’t the money that motivated him.

’Now this should be interesting,’ Max thought, a smirk curling on his lips. ’One’s a professional boxer, the other is the head of a private security team. Honestly... hard to say who’s gonna come out on top.’

He leaned forward slightly, enjoying the suspense before giving the signal.

"Fight!"

As soon as the word left his mouth, Steven sprang into action. He launched forward with quick footwork, his form sharp and practiced, keeping a tight, professional stance.

"I’m not gonna go easy on you!" Steven shouted, eyes locked in.

"Neither am I," Aron replied smoothly.

But something was off, Steven noticed it right away. Aron’s stance wasn’t typical. It was nothing like a trained boxer or even a brawler. Instead, he moved in an odd, almost tactical rhythm, his hand reaching for something near his waist.

"Wait... is that a—?"

Whack!

A metal baton extended from Aron’s hand and cracked hard across Steven’s face. The boxer dropped instantly, collapsing to the floor with a thud.

And Aron wasn’t done.

He calmly pulled another small device from his belt and pressed it to Steven’s neck. A sharp buzz filled the air as the stun gun jolted through Steven’s body, making his limbs twitch and spasm uncontrollably.

After a few seconds, Aron stood tall, clicked off the device, and straightened his tie. He turned to Max with a smug, satisfied expression.

"The threat has been eliminated, young master," Aron said proudly, as if expecting Max to clap for him.

Instead, Max just stood there, frozen in disbelief.

"What was that?" he snapped. "I wanted to see how strong you both were in an actual fight—not... whatever that was!"

Max let out a long sigh and shook his head. Well, that was the end of that experiment.

This place seriously needs to be fixed, Max thought as his jaw clenched. Kids shouldn’t be living like this. No wonder more and more of them end up going down the same dark road I did.

What is that? he thought, narrowing his eyes. There was something off.