Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Return Journey (Seeking First Subscription!!)

The next day, the entire schedule of the Kengan Death Match concluded.

Under the scorching sun above the sea, Kyoji Shirodo and Saeko stood at the bow of the luxurious cruise ship, the Kengan.

This world-class vessel was now less than an hour away from entering Tokyo Bay.

Nearby, several yachts, comparatively smaller, were also out at sea enjoying the day.

Meticulously dressed attendants carrying drinks and towels moved ceaselessly across the deck, mingling with guests dressed lightly for the warm weather.

Confident ladies flaunted their figures in bikinis.

The gentlemen simply indulged in the pleasures of the moment.

Everyone aboard was a member of the upper echelon—people of renown or considerable wealth. Whether in pursuit of carnal delights or business collaborations, there were countless topics to discuss, wasn’t there?

Garuda had wished to board this ship as well but was slyly sent away by Elio Go under the pretext of "school tomorrow," having been dispatched the night before.

Incidentally, to make the excuse seem less contrived, Yuta and Mitsugu were also sent back to school the next day, much to the amusement of their old friends.

The agreement with Hideki Nogi was already fulfilled yesterday, with the presidency of the Kengan Association handed over to him.

In accordance with the terms, Kyoji Shirodo, president of Shirodo Warehousing and Logistics, was promoted to vice president of the Kengan Association.

“Are you really not resentful, Kyoji?” Saeko asked softly as Kyoji held her from behind, the two standing at the ship’s railing like the iconic scene from Titanic.

The boy stole a glance at her shapely form outlined behind him and couldn’t help but smirk.

The heroine’s figure far surpassed anything normal...

“Not at all. You should have seen the looks on the faces of those internal Kengan factions present back then,” Kyoji replied.

Even a youth who could casually joke amid fierce, deadly fighters now raised an eyebrow.

“The capital ‘wolves’ who had been shackled for decades by source power—their true faces once freed from those chains were downright chilling.”

“And...”

“And?” Saeko prompted.

Kyoji shook his head as if trying to dispel a troubling thought from his mind.

When source power’s Meido lost the presidency, he showed no sign of regret.

Instead, lurking in the shadows, he emitted a harsh, grating laugh like a night owl.

“To return to the challenger’s position at this age... Hah, living longer does bring some good fortune!”

When this gaunt old man, who looked as if he wouldn’t live two more days, spoke thus to Hideki Nogi, even the capital ‘wolves’ at the pinnacle of this country, now disarmed, trembled instinctively in fear.

In terms of sheer presence, without a doubt, he was a legendary figure rivaling Genzo Kuroki.

Whenever Meido’s ghastly visage surfaced in Kyoji’s mind, he couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.

Handing over the presidency to Nogi and wisely snagging a vice presidency for himself was a truly prudent decision!

*Ding-ling-ling—*

Kyoji’s phone rang in his arms.

He took it out and saw a picture on the screen resembling the famous actor Takuya Kimura flashing.

“Hey, Yagami, have you guys returned to Tokyo yet?” Kyoji’s first words after answering were a sharp question.

He had no choice: although he had warned the other party during their last call that the situation had exceeded expectations, the chaos on the other end was far from reassuring.

“Hey! Have some faith in me!” Yagami Takayuki shouted back amid loud, chaotic noise.

“We’re all on our way back to Tokyo!”

Though their means of return was somewhat unexpected.

Yagami was currently aboard a helicopter with Haiteng, Brody, and Professor Serizawa, scouting in Tokyo’s direction.

On the day the “thing” escaped from underwater near the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, this small team was forcibly incorporated into the temporary structure of the Emperor Organization due to Mr. Brody.

They were assigned to the search mission.

Though even now Professor Serizawa had not revealed what exactly they were looking for.

But when that day he saw soldiers treating an operational nuclear power plant like a rooftop, routinely equipped with high explosives, now wandering aimlessly with vacant, panicked eyes, he knew.

This was serious!

When he saw Zener, who was utterly serious about wiping out over a thousand people in Japan just to give the base some peace—sweating profusely, kneeling and praying to God—he knew even more.

Perhaps this disappearance was even worse than a nuclear leak!

What else could they do? Follow orders.

Thus, a thorough search over the sea had lasted two days.

The group had carried Brody’s equipment along for those two days.

But they found nothing.

The atmosphere within the organization felt like a hydraulic press descending slowly above everyone’s heads.

Suffocating and terrifying.

When Professor Serizawa called the President of the United States across the ocean from the lobby without the slightest hesitation, the oppressive atmosphere drove people nearly mad.

For Yagami’s small team, this mood was even more dreadful.

Because at least the Emperor Organization people knew what they might face in the worst case.

But they knew nothing.

After combing the waters near Fukushima, even with the Self-Defense Forces involved, they were still empty-handed.

Yagami recalled his last call with Kyoji.

According to Kyoji, there was a “terrifying presence” sensed somewhere between Tokyo Bay and Fukushima.

Could it be that?

As a martial artist, Yagami could understand a warrior’s intuition.

But Professor Serizawa, a scholar of science and technology, regarded it as mere self-delusion.

On the other hand, Yagami had roughly grasped Brody’s somewhat rough theory and was preparing to release Yagami’s team from the organization as agreed.

As a scholar, he opposed violent solutions and doubted a few civilians could trouble the Emperor Organization.

If they promised to let them go, then they would.

But for now, in this aimless confusion, it was at least a search direction.

So they took a helicopter from the sea.

Aboard the luxurious Kengan cruise ship, Kyoji listened to the noise from Yagami’s end and the splash of waves beneath the ship as it carved through the water toward Tokyo Bay.

A strange feeling began to spread within him.

An inexplicable irritation.

“This noise... Yagami, you’re on a helicopter?! Are you captured?!” he demanded.

“No, no... Ah, it’s complicated, how to put it! Anyway, everyone’s okay! The nuclear plant’s fine too!” Yagami shouted.

But Kyoji could tell it wasn’t a coerced tone, just a struggle against the helicopter’s noise.

That eased him slightly.

Yet oddly, that strange irritation still lingered deep inside, growing stronger with the sound of waves as the ship neared Tokyo Bay.

“What the hell is going on? Explain yourself!” he barked.

“Huh?! Why the sudden outburst?” Yagami’s voice sounded bewildered.

Not only Yagami but even Saeko turned her head in surprise at Kyoji’s sudden flare.

She knew the young man behind her well.

Kyoji was usually calm outside of battle.

Even in combat, he was mostly excited and wild.

But this kind of uncontrolled anger... she had never seen it in the year they’d lived together.

Likewise, under the fated death of the clay Buddha, Kyoji’s self-control had lasted eight years from childhood till now; the moment the words escaped his lips, he realized something was off.

Gazing down at the murky seawater below the ship, now clouded as they approached the shore, the boy pondered deeply.