Chapter 30: A New Will
Yako Hikoichi, Kakerou's Referee Number 2.
A "referee," by definition, is one who "bears witness."
Though their personalities and methods differ, all referees are, at their core, individuals who crave to "witness" a gamble that combines the limits of "intellect" and "force."
Intellect alone is not enough.
The "force" that corresponds to it... is the gambler's very life!
Without the "force" of law, men would commit endless crimes, stealing the lives of others for their own gain.
And surely, no one would submit to "power" that has no "force" to back it? Just as no one fears a paper tiger...
In the world of gambling, force is one of the most critical factors.
Only by possessing equal force, or operating under the order maintained by a greater force, does one earn the right to negotiate or suppress injustice.
The larger the stakes, the more likely it is that the loser, once ruined, will forget all prior agreements and morals.
Furthermore, a victorious "weakling" might even be eliminated by the loser. This is the natural law of society!
...
...
Yako continued to fulfill his duty, witnessing and refereeing the gamble.
But, in truth, he was already growing bored.
"[Usogui]'s side lacks force..." he mused.
Setting aside the team dynamic, the only person truly on [Usogui]'s side was the normal man named Kaji Takaomi.
Anyone could see that Kaji's courage and strength were nonexistent. He was, if anything, a liability.
In contrast, the other team—[The Man of the Divine Realm] Akagi Shigeru, and Shiraki Kei, the man who had defeated a Kengan fighter—was far more interesting.
Thinking of this, Yako felt a strange sense of pity.
How had [Usogui] fallen so far?
Right... it must have started that day, the day he committed Gekokujō—the ultimate act of rebellion.
...
...
Gekokujō—to challenge Kakerou itself.
In other words, to challenge the current boss of Kakerou, the 21st leader, Kiruma Souichi!
That night, on the helipad of a luxury skyscraper, Yako had witnessed that gamble.
At the time, [Usogui] Madarame Baku had bet everything he had—including his own life.
And the Kakerou leader, as was tradition in a Gekokujō, bet the full power and authority of the Kakerou organization.
However, since Kakerou's founding, no one had ever won a Gekokujō gamble.
How had [Usogui] performed that night?
It was... a complete and utter disaster.
[Usogui]'s gamble was: "Will a flying object pass over this building in the next thirty minutes?" [Usogui] bet "Yes." The Leader bet "No."
At the time, [Usogui] had been supremely confident, as if victory was assured.
However, thirty minutes passed. The sky remained silent. Not a single object flew by.
[Usogui] had prepared nearly one hundred flying objects of all sizes. But by the end of the gamble, not one had appeared.
Because the person [Usogui] had arranged to release them... was not actually loyal to him.
The Kakerou Leader had long foreseen this day and had planted his own man as a mole at [Usogui]'s side.
In other words, no flying objects were ever going to appear.
Just like that, [Usogui] had lost his "force," his "money," and even his very "meaning" for existing...
As for [Usogui]'s life, the Kakerou Leader had found it "uninteresting." He did not collect on it immediately, and so, Baku was temporarily allowed to live.
...
...
And so, [Usogui] lost everything, becoming a broken man...
But even so, Yako had never imagined [Usogui] would sink so low as to participate in this—such a low-class gamble.
To equate his irreplaceable life with a mere Kakerou membership, and to put himself in such danger... it was the height of foolishness!
"..."
Yako sighed, exasperated.
Compared to the [Usogui] of today, Yako was far more interested in seeing how the man called "Shiraki Kei" would perform against the "brutal soldier" Rodem.
But as Yako mused, his gaze drifted to the side—to a spot under the leg of the desk.
A fountain pen was lying there, as if dropped by accident.
However, Yako, with his vast experience, recognized it at a glance. That pen was a disguised "listening device"!
Q-Taro would never bug his own office. Therefore, the one who dropped it could only be one of the other four.
It wouldn't be Shiraki Kei or Kaji Takaomi. And it probably wasn't the eccentric [Man of the Divine Realm]. That left only one possibility—
Madarame Baku had planted the bug.
[Usogui] had lost everything... but he had come prepared with a listening device? Was this gamble... intentional?
Or could it be...
An absurd theory flashed through Yako's mind.
Could it be... that I... no, that the Leader... that ALL of Kakerou... has fallen into a trap [Usogui] set long ago?!
The thought was insane. Yako didn't even know why it had crossed his mind.
Perhaps... it was because of [Usogui] himself?
To think more specifically—what expression was on [Usogui]'s face right now, having met both [The Man of the Divine Realm] and "The Seeker of Strength"?
He's probably... smiling, isn't he?
...
...
"Haha..."
While running for his life, Madarame Baku suddenly laughed. He even took an umeboshi from his pocket and popped it into his mouth.
Kaji Takaomi asked, "Baku-san, what's the plan?"
Baku, chewing, said lightly, "That old man knows exactly what floor we're on. Monitors, probably, or some other trick."
"But it doesn't matter!"
Baku pulled out the M9 pistol and grinned.
"Right now, Rodem is tied up with Kei. All we have to do is rush the fifth floor—the old man's office—and put this gun to his head. We'll be in an unbeatable position!"
Kaji Takaomi was overjoyed and hurried to keep up.
But just then, Baku heard Q-Taro's voice through his earpiece—from the pen bug.
{Rodem, those guys are heading for the fifth floor. They're probably coming for my room.}
{Hurry up and kill the one in front of you, then come to the fifth floor! We'll catch the other three in a barrel!}
"...?!"
Hearing this, Baku's blood ran cold.
So it's true! Q-Taro is tracking their movements!
This was "cheating." If he didn't figure it out, they would be one step behind every time. The situation would be disastrous.
"So what is he using..."
Baku chewed his umeboshi, feeling he was on the verge of the truth.
But the one who spoke first was Akagi Shigeru.
"Heh. So that's it."
Akagi pulled some coins from his pocket—the ones Q-Taro had lost to him in the mahjong game. Kaji Takaomi and Shiraki Kei had also won a few.
Baku, on the other hand, had lost badly. The change in his pocket was borrowed from Q-Taro.
Akagi, idly flipping a coin, smiled. "It's funny. We were so focused on escaping, we completely missed the 'truth'."
"This is a gamble, right?"
Akagi shook the coins in his hand. "We're in this for the stakes—the 'money.' So we'd never be separated from the 'money'."
"If you wanted to plant trackers on us, you'd prioritize something we'd never 'leave behind,' wouldn't you?"
"..."
Akagi's words hit Baku like a lightning bolt.
The coins! The trackers are in the coins!
In the tension of the escape and the lure of the massive stakes, no one would pay attention to "pocket change." It was the perfect blind spot.
"Haha! Amazing, Gramps! Now I've got a Plan B."
Baku had been overthinking, not focusing on the game itself, and Akagi had beaten him to the answer.
He was pleased, but also a little sour. He teased, "Let's call it 'Plan Gramps.' How about that?"
"Heh. Not bad." Akagi waved his hand, unconcerned. "But whatever we call it, we need to hurry."
"Ah, right." Baku nodded.
"Wha—"
Kaji Takaomi was still confused, but a loud BOOM echoed from behind them.
THUD!
With a dull, heavy sound, Shiraki Kei came flying out of the darkness, as if he'd been hit head-on by a truck.
Swish!
He flew past the three of them and slammed hard into the wall.
"Koff—Agh!"
He spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes wide as he stared back into the darkness. He roared at the other three, "Don't get in the way!"
The three of them didn't need to be told twice. They scrambled out of the way.
From the depths of the hallway, Rodem charged, as savage as a demon, as fast as a phantom!
RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
Watching Rodem rush him, blood began to pour from Shiraki Kei's nose, mixing with the blood from his mouth and dripping down his chin.
A life-or-death moment. Under extreme pressure, Shiraki Kei's consciousness went into overdrive.
Time stretched infinitely.
In Shiraki Kei's vision, next to Ryu—that immensely tall, burly phantom—began to solidify. He could finally see his face.
Ryu raised his hand high, signaling to the burly phantom, as if asking him to take good care of his "disciple."
SMACK!
The burly phantom slapped his hand against Ryu's, a "tag-in" with a clear sense of style.
He's here!
Shiraki Kei's mind roared. He could see him clearly, could feel him...
A new master. New moves. And the will to seek strength, dwelling in a different fist!
The wrestler—
[Red Cyclone] Zangief!