"Eyes down. Walk." Hayes's crystal-enhanced eyes glowed in the dim corridor. "And keep your act together. These people don't care if you're crazy. They care if you make them money."
Rhys shuffled forward, but his Gem Sense mapped every turn. Three levels below E-Block. Past maintenance tunnels. Through sections where the crystal network pulsed with irregular rhythms. Places the prison didn't officially exist.
The air changed first. Sweat. Blood. The sharp ozone tang of fusion enhancers. Then came the sounds - a crowd's roar muffled by steel and stone.
"Welcome to the real fights." Hayes gestured toward a reinforced door. "Try not to die. Paperwork's a pain."
The underground arena wasn't much - a thirty-foot circle surrounded by cargo containers. But Rhys's Gem Sense showed him more. Crystal fragments embedded in the walls. Dampening field generators modified for selective suppression. Military-grade scanning tech watching for fusion signatures.
Money moved in the shadows. Crystal shards changed hands. Fusion enhancers glowed in hidden vials. The prison's black market, wrapped around fights like a snake around prey.
"Our newest addition." Hayes addressed a figure in an expensive suit. "The mad Hunter everyone's talking about."
"Interesting." The man's eyes held crystal implants - high-end enhancement work. "Put him against Lei. Test the merchandise."
Lei waited in the circle. Tier 15 fusion capacity before prison. Now something else burned in his system - bootleg enhancers pushing him past natural limits. His skin rippled with unstable power.
"This is real product testing," Hayes whispered. "Show them something worth betting on."
Rhys swayed slightly, maintaining his mask while Gem Sense mapped the underground arena's crystal layout. Dampening fields set to seventy percent but fluctuating. Power surges every twelve seconds. Gaps in coverage near the south wall.
Lei attacked without warning.
Enhanced fusion turned his movements savage - natural technique amplified by artificial power. The crowd cheered as his first combination cracked concrete. This wasn't E-Tier's regulated combat. This was pure violence wrapped in crystal shine.
Rhys moved.
Shadow Step carried him through Lei's guard, each dodge timed to dampening field fluctuations. To the crowd, it looked like his usual mad dance. To the crystal-enhanced observers, something didn't quite add up.
"The hell?" Lei's enhancer-brightened eyes narrowed. "Stay still!"
Blood painted the floor as Rhys flowed around enhanced strikes. His Gem Sense showed him exactly where each drop would disrupt scanner coverage. Small things. Subtle things. A madman's luck rather than calculated power.
A man in white watched from above, taking notes on crystal-enhanced tablets. Someone important, based on the guards' posture. Someone interested in how bodies responded to enhancement.
Lei pressed harder, artificial fusion making his techniques wild but devastating. Power that should have been impossible at his tier. Power that came with a price - Rhys's Gem Sense showed the enhancers burning through Lei's system.
"Fight back!" Lei's frustration manifested in crystal-charged strikes. "Stop dancing!"
Rhys Shadow Stepped through another combination, letting the movement look like desperate evasion. But each step mapped scanner blind spots. Each dodge tested security coverage. Information gathered in the guise of survival.
The man in white leaned forward.
Lei's next sequence came enhanced by something stronger - fusion power that made natural bonds look dim. But Rhys's Gem Sense showed the cost. Micro-fractures spreading through Lei's fusion channels. System collapse approaching.
Time to end it.
Rhys let Resonant Strike flow through his counter, perfectly timed to when Lei's enhancers peaked. Not enough power to be obvious. Just enough to shatter already-strained fusion pathways.
Lei dropped like a puppet with cut strings.
Silence fell. Then money changed hands in the shadows. The man in white made another note. Hayes smiled like he'd just found gold.
"Impressive." The crystal-eyed man approached. "Perhaps we can discuss future opportunities."
"He needs medical." The voice came from the crowd - a scarred fighter watching with knowing eyes. Jin. Former A-Tier before something went wrong. "Enhancement rejection. Again."
The man in white signaled. Medics moved efficiently, professional gear marking them as something more than prison staff. Lei vanished through a side door.
"Walk with me." Jin's fusion scars pulsed dully. "There's things you should know about enhancement testing."
Rhys maintained his vacant smile while Gem Sense tracked Jin's fusion damage. Systematic scarring. Deliberate modification. The marks of someone who'd survived what Lei just experienced.
Hayes watched them go, crystal eyes calculating profit.
Later, in a maintenance tunnel that Gem Sense showed was scanner-blind, Jin spoke quietly. "They're not just selling enhancers. They're developing them. Testing limits. Learning how much fusion power a body can take."
Rhys let his gaze drift to crystal-lined walls, but his mind cataloged everything. Underground lab locations. Testing protocols. The man in white's connection to higher authority.
"Your act's good." Jin's ruined fusion channels pulsed weakly. "But I saw the way you moved. How you timed Lei's collapse. Whatever you're planning... be careful. They're already watching."
Rhys mumbled something about shadows. Just enough to maintain expectations.
---
Back in his cell, he organized what the night had revealed:
- Underground lab network
- Enhancement research program
- Scanner blind spots
- Modified dampening fields
- Jin's potential alliance
- Hayes's operation structure
- Higher authority involvement
---
The Wolf's presence acknowledged each detail. More pieces moving on the board.
Tomorrow would bring more fights. More tests. More opportunities to map the prison's hidden layers.
Time to see how deep the corruption went.