Inside the room, Ilyas saw many monster heads such as Demigon, Crawler, and Gargantuar displayed on every corner of the room's walls.
At the end of the room, there was a grand chair, adorned with valuable ornaments like gold and others, serving as the throne of the Iron Fist gang leader.
The leader of the Iron Fist gang was being entertained by several women who were prisoners in this place.
"Ah… So you've arrived."
The Iron Fist leader ordered the women to leave the room.
He then began to introduce himself to Ilyas.
"Hey, kid. You must be the new prisoner here. My name is Ivan, the most feared leader of the Iron Fist gang in this place..."
"... I heard that among all the useless prisoners, your group is the one that brings back the most useful items here. That's why…"
"... I'll grant you one request. So… what do you want?"
Ilyas had already thought of something he wanted to ask.
"Can I hold onto my request for now?"
"What do you mean?" Ivan asked, puzzled by Ilyas's answer.
"I want to save my request until one day, when I truly need something—I can use all the requests I've gathered."
Hearing that, Ivan fell silent for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I thought you were just an ordinary kid. Turns out, you're quite an interesting one!" Ivan praised.
"So… is that alright?"
"Very well, I accept your request, kid. Your wish will be kept until you decide to use it."
"Thank you."
Before Ilyas could leave the room, Ivan called out to him with a question.
"Hey, kid. What's your name?"
"Ilyas."
"Have you ever thought about joining the Iron Fist gang? I'll give you special treatment if you join me," Ivan offered.
Hearing that, Ilyas's expression shifted to one of anger and disgust. His face flushed red, his brows arched high, a cynical smile tugged at his lips, and his eyes burned with hatred—as if he wanted nothing more than to destroy this vile place.
But he forced himself to hide that expression, knowing his plan depended on it.
"I'll think about it later," Ilyas replied calmly, trying to regain control of his thoughts.
Ilyas left Ivan's room. Ivan seemed very intrigued by him.
"Ho… Ilyas, huh? An interesting kid. I'll make sure he won't be able to leave this place for a long time."
Ilyas returned to the cell block. Khai, who had been waiting for him, immediately asked about the meeting with Ivan.
"Hey Il. What did you ask for back there?"
"How did you know I was given a request?" Ilyas asked.
"Oh come on, you think I'm that dumb?"
"He called you into his private room—obviously he was going to offer you something. It's not like he was planning to make you become his stripper." Khai replied, half-jokingly.
"It was nothing."
"Tch. Why's it so hard for you to just tell me?"
"Instead of asking me pointless stuff, you should go to sleep. It's already late. We don't know what they'll make us do tomorrow," said Ilyas.
"Sigh… Fine. You sound just like my sister," Khai teased.
Khai headed to his bed and went to sleep. Meanwhile, Ilyas checked his surroundings to see if the guards and other prisoners were asleep.
After making sure everyone was, Ilyas began meditating in his cell.
His mind drifted back to his earlier encounter with Ivan.
"So that bastard has already received a 'gift', huh."
One week had passed. During that week, Ilyas and Khai worked to gather useful items along with Tok Chen and Ira.
In addition, Ilyas and Khai began getting to know the other prisoners. Throughout that week, only Ilyas's group had received requests from Ivan.
During their meetings, Ilyas only asked to collect the requests he had earned. Occasionally, Ilyas would ask Ivan for useful information.
The next day, Khai saw Ilyas and asked about something he had been meaning to ask for a while.
"Il."
"What?"
"Do you hold a grudge against the Iron Fist gang?"
"Why are you asking that?"
"Nothing. It's just, every time you come back after meeting with the Iron Fist gang leader, your face looks like you want to kill someone."
Ilyas recalled a past memory, when he and his classmates, including Teacher Suhaimi, were walking north.
Unbeknownst to them, they had already reached Kuala Kubu Bharu.
As they were about to take the food from the Esave, they were intercepted by the Iron Fist gang and robbed.
They tried to escape but failed, and several of them were brutally killed by the Iron Fist gang, including Kamal and Teacher Suhaimi.
A few surviving male students, including Ilyas and Ammar, were imprisoned, while the surviving female students, including Aira and Lilia, were placed in a room near the prison.
A few members of the Iron Fist gang, including their leader Ivan, entered the room where the female students were held.
Ilyas could not forget the screams of pain from the female students who were brutally assaulted by the Iron Fist gang, including Aira and Lilia.
Ilyas could only hold back his anger as he watched Aira and the other female students being taken out, lifeless.
"Ilyas, Ilyas, ILYAS!" Khai shouted, seeing Ilyas lost in thought again.
Ilyas snapped out of his memories when he heard Khai calling him repeatedly.
"Are you okay? I ask you, and you're daydreaming. Did you do drugs or what?"
"I'm fine."
They were silent for a moment before Ilyas asked Khai.
"Khai, do you want to get out of here?"
"Why are you suddenly asking that?"
"I'm asking if you want to or not?"
"Of course I want to. After I get out of here, I want to beat up all the gang members who did this to us, especially that bald-headed one."
"I have a plan for us to get out of here. But you have to remember everything I'm about to tell you. If we fail, it's over for us."
"What is it?"
Ilyas whispered his plan into Khai's ear, causing Khai to be both shocked and intrigued.
"How did you find out about that?"
"I used some of the requests I've collected to ask for some important information," Ilyas replied.
"If what you're saying is true, isn't that extremely dangerous?" Khai asked.
"Do you have any other suggestions for getting out of here? Just shut up and follow my plan."
A few minutes later, a prison guard came in holding a piece of paper. Seeing this, several of the older prisoners, including Grandpa Chen, looked fearful.
The guard walked to the cells and called out the numbers on each prisoner's uniform.
"The numbers I call, please step out of your cells. 106, 179, 180, 149, and 141."
Ilyas, Khai, and Grandpa Chen's numbers were called. They were taken to a location where they changed into clothes provided by the prison guards.
The clothes were covered in fresh flesh and blood. After changing, they were then taken to a massive cage in the middle of the Esave.
They were then forced into the cage. The Iron Fist gang members gathered outside the cage cheered for the prisoners inside.
The leader of the Iron Fist gang, Ivan, arrived and sat in the most luxurious chair on the first level.
"Ladies and gentlemen! This is what you've been waiting for, a game that has existed since the leadership of the first generation of the Iron Fist gang, BATTLE ROYAL!!!"
The crowd cheered and excitedly watched the game.
"Il, what you said earlier in the cell, it's true," Khai whispered.
"The rules of the game are simple. The participants must survive for 30 minutes inside this cage…"
"… Whoever exits the cage, loses. Whoever dies, loses…"
"… There can only be one winner who survives. If more than one person is still alive after 30 minutes, they will fight each other barehanded until one of them dies."
The announcer pulled out a spinning wheel with three colors. Each color had a piece of paper covered.
"Alright, this spinning wheel will determine the fate of the participants in this cage. Is everyone ready?"
The entire audience cheered loudly, making the entire shopping center echo.
"IT'S WHEELY TIME!!"
The wheel spun rapidly, causing both the prisoners and the audience to hold their breath in anticipation. Slowly, it began to stop at one color.
"Alright. The spinning wheel has selected a color. And the choice is…!"
The announcer opened the paper on the chosen color.
"GIANT MONSTER!!"
"Giant monster? What's that?" Khai asked.
"Oh, you've never seen one before?"
"No."
"Long story short—it's a monster the size of a truck."
"WHAT?!"
The members of the Iron Fist gang brought out the Gargantuar from a room near the cage where the prisoners were. The Gargantuar's eyes were covered with a thick cloth to prevent it from going wild.
"Without further delay, ladies and gentlemen, LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!"