Chapter 100: The Man Who Descended
That roar declaring victory was truly deafening.
Listening to that sound, for some reason, the man named Itou Kaiji opened his mouth wide, gulping as hot tears streamed down his face.
"Ah... ah..."
He too once had dreams. He wanted to make a name for himself, wanted to become strong. For that, he came to Tokyo and spent over four years here.
During that time, reality dealt Kaiji a heavy blow.
Harassed by his boss, deceived by colleagues, complained about by customers, bullied by thugs... Eventually, Kaiji accepted his bad luck. After losing his job, he wandered aimlessly every day, drinking his sorrows away and gambling recklessly.
He denied his own path and stopped clinging to those difficult dreams.
But today, Kaiji witnessed a deathmatch between two warriors.
They were the truly strong ones, never giving up no matter what, throwing the final punch until the very last moment!
"The winner—is decided—!!"
The referee dropped his arm, shouting loudly.
"[The Final Weapon] Orochi Katsumi has exhausted his strength!"
"Winner—Shiraki Kei!!!"
As soon as the verdict was announced, Kure Fusu and Suedo Atsushi rushed out first, each holding first aid kits, heading straight for the two heavily injured men by the cargo container.
They placed portable oxygen masks over their mouths and noses to alleviate the hypoxia from the high-intensity battle.
Gradually, Kei and Katsumi's breathing stabilized. They regained a bit of consciousness one after another, lying on their backs on the deck to rest.
Teiai's Tonegawa immediately sent the doctors accompanying the cruise ship to check the fighters' physical condition and administer simple emergency treatment.
...
Unknowingly, the distant bystanders seemed drawn in, inching closer to the fallen pair.
People looked at those two battered bodies with admiration, fear, shock, and even a little "envy" in their eyes.
Madarame Baku, hands in his pockets, walked up slowly. Looking at Kei's half-opened eyes, he couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"Truly... a magnificent struggle..."
This [Usogui], who had seen through countless lies, couldn't find a single shred of "falsehood" in that match, no matter how hard he looked.
Such pure conflict actually gave Baku a rare sense of security.
He squatted beside Kei, chewing on a pickled plum, and comforted him, "Rest well, Kei-kun. Leave the negotiation about the match wager to me."
Kei lay on the ground, his head resting on Fusu's lap, taking deep breaths of oxygen.
Too exhausted to speak, he blinked to show his agreement.
After all, Akagi Shigeru wasn't interested in such things, and Baku excelled at them, so leaving it to him was the best choice.
"No—problem!"
Baku slapped his thigh and stood up, looking at the Kakerou Leader, rubbing his hands eagerly.
"Although my life is still lost to you, Kei-kun has worked this hard. I have no reason to back down, right? I must secure the maximum benefit for Kei-kun."
"Saying you'll definitely win... you're lying!"
Baku walked up to the Leader, tearing open a new bag of pickled plums, staring intently at him.
"Let me calculate. You owe Kei-kun a favor now, and you lost the purchasing rights to this cruise ship. So how will you handle the arms on the smuggling ship?"
"With so many 'witnesses,' you can't just pocket that shipment, right? Speaking of which, the key to the smuggling ship is still with Kei-kun. Although useless to him, what price will you pay to 'buy' it?"
Baku lifted his chin. "Let's have a tense and exciting business negotiation, 'Leader'-sama..."
"..."
The Leader narrowed his eyes slightly, thoughts unknown. Finally, he sighed helplessly. "Haggling is such a hassle. So before that, let's finish tonight's Kakerou Gamble first."
Baku remembered then that the Kakerou Gamble wasn't completely over.
Akagi Shigeru vs. Sadakuni—it was Akagi's complete victory.
In other words, Sadakuni was to be hanged. The Kengan match had only interrupted it, letting him live a little longer.
"Alright, alright..."
Baku shrugged, turning to Sadakuni. The latter didn't dodge or hide, looking completely resolved to die.
"What's wrong, pitiful worm? Thought I'd be scared?"
Sadakuni snorted disdainfully. "I wished for more people to die, to trample on more lives—that was enough!"
"My death now is also destiny. So I do not fear death!"
...
Hearing this, Baku's expression remained calm.
In his view, Sadakuni was just a fraud who used "revolution" as an excuse to satisfy his lust for killing. Sadakuni's death wasn't "destiny," but "retribution."
Compared to the "struggle" between Kei and Katsumi earlier, Sadakuni's lies weren't worth mentioning.
But just as Baku was about to speak and tear apart Sadakuni's facade, a strange noise reached his ears—
Whup-whup-whup-whup!
The sound of helicopter rotors!
"?!"
Everyone else heard it too and looked up. Another helicopter was approaching from the distance, seemingly a military model.
Baku was startled, looking at the Leader. "Your people?"
"No." The Leader frowned, equally puzzled. "It can't be Sadakuni's support either. Who is it?"
Before long, the military helicopter arrived. Instead of landing, it hovered over the Espoir.
The cabin opened, ropes were thrown out, and a robust figure jumped, rappelling down with textbook precision.
Thud!
Everyone looked closely and saw a male soldier—a foreigner with short hair, wearing fatigues and a beret.
He was somewhat older but had a very sturdy build. His rank insignia indicated "Colonel." He had scars big and small on his face, and a neatly trimmed mustache on his upper lip.
The "Colonel" looked left and right, finally locking onto the arms smuggling ship beside the cruise ship, sighing helplessly. "Hmm, this scale of arms smuggling is rare. Good thing it was discovered early."
"Hey!"
The Colonel looked at the group on the deck. "Who's in charge here?"
"..."
Many were still confused, but some had reacted.
The Leader looked at the Colonel, frowning. "Are you with the US Forces Japan?"
The Colonel shook his head. "I'm not. But I was on my way to Tokyo when I received a request from the US Forces Japan to handle this terrorist threat first. What a hassle..."
He put his hands on his hips, ignoring the strange looks from others. "I won't interfere with other matters, but this batch of arms will be taken away and handled by specialists. You don't need to worry about it."
"Oh, haven't introduced myself. I'm 'Strydum'—Colonel Strydum."
"..."
This man who suddenly descended made the atmosphere on the deck weird.
A Teiai man in black, a team leader, plucked up the courage to step forward and ask. But as soon as he raised his hand and said "Hey," Strydum threw him heavily into the distance with a shoulder throw.
The movement was extremely swift and clean—true battlefield violence!
"This isn't a negotiation..."
Strydum sighed, explaining seriously to everyone, "I just want to resolve the trouble quickly and prevent a terrorist attack. I won't manage anything else. After all, I have more important duties."
...
This statement was even harder to understand.
Most people were confused, while a few were thinking rapidly.
But regardless, in the next second, a deafening roar suddenly erupted from the helicopter cabin—
"STRYDUM! HAVEN'T YOU FINISHED YOUR PRIVATE BUSINESS YET?!"
That voice was like a nuclear bomb, freezing the thoughts of everyone present for an instant. Cold sweat broke out on everyone, and some even collapsed to the ground.
Everyone's gaze moved upward in unison, looking at that military helicopter.
Who on earth was in the cabin?
...No!
"What" on earth was in the cabin?!