Chapter 236: Urban Steel Jungle Warzone
Outside the building.
Led by Official Mitsuo Sonoda, the elite tactical units of the Metropolitan
Police Department stood in a tight perimeter. They had the hotel completely
cordoned off, trapping the remaining terrorists within a cage of steel and
blue-and-red flashing lights. Biscuit Oliva, the "Unchained," had already made
his grand, vertical entrance.
Just moments ago, a man had come crashing through a window on the eighteenth
floor. He hit the pavement with enough force to shatter his bones into dust,
leaving his identity barely recognizable to the forensics team.
His name: Jeff Maxon.
A former New York police officer turned international fugitive, and the
architect of this terrorist strike.
However, Jeff was merely the face of the operation; the crime syndicates backing
him were still very much alive. Hitmen and mercenaries remained scattered
throughout the upper floors, entrenched and ready for a siege.
This was Sonoda's first time coordinating with Oliva. Even with the legend of
"Mr. Unchained" echoing through his files, he found it impossible to stay calm.
How can one man—bare-handed, no less—dismantle an entire skyscraper full of
armed killers?
Bound by duty, Sonoda eventually decided to lead a small squad of elite officers
into the lobby to secure a safe path for the remaining hostages.
But as they reached the threshold, the elevator doors in the lobby were suddenly
"peeled" open from the inside.
CRUNCH!
The heavy, reinforced iron gates were shredded as if they were made of damp
paper.
A hulking man with dark red hair stepped out of the black void of the elevator
shaft. He strolled toward the entrance, stopping directly in front of Sonoda and
his men.
The officers blinked. Wait... he looks familiar...
The man kept his hands in his pockets. His gaze swept over the officers, and in
that heartbeat, every man in the squad froze. They were paralyzed by a primal,
biological terror, unable to move even a finger. Their faces turned beet-red as
they struggled even to draw breath.
The next second—"Hmph."
The man suddenly snapped his right leg out. His big toe drove into the marble
tile on the left, and with a sickening CREEEEAK, he dragged his foot from left
to right. Using nothing but his toe, he carved a deep, jagged "I" into the
reinforced concrete floor.
"This is the Boundary," Yujiro Hanma stated, his voice like the low growl of a
predator. "Think carefully before you cross it."
The Ogre stepped over his mark and exited the building. He left the police with
nothing but the sight of his broad, demon-scarred back as he vanished into the
Ginza night.
Only then did the officers dare to breathe again.
Sonoda and his men looked down at the horizontal trench in the floor. Though it
was only a few centimeters deep, in their eyes, it looked like a bottomless
canyon separating two entirely different worlds.
Involuntarily, the squad began to retreat. Their faces were still flushed from
the pressure, but none of them possessed the "Guts" required to cross that line.
This stalemate lasted until Oliva, Ren Shiroki, and the group emerged from the
stairwell. Behind them followed a stream of civilians—the hostages Jeff had held
on the eighteenth floor, finally free.
"This way!" "Don't worry, you're safe now!" "Is anyone injured?"
The police units scrambled to assist the civilians, beginning a headcount to
ensure no one was left behind.
Sonoda looked at Oliva, noting the dried blood and the scabs from the shotgun
pellets covering the giant's skin. He swallowed hard. "You... you move fast."
Oliva patted Sonoda on the shoulder, his expression breezy. "Don't mention it.
Get these people back to their families."
"Of course. That is our duty."
Sonoda, a career lawman, still felt awkward standing beside the "Freest Man on
Earth." He nodded in affirmation, but then noticed another man behind Oliva had
no intention of leaving. He was turning back toward the dark interior of the
hotel.
"Hey! You—!"
Sonoda reached out to stop him, but Oliva's hand gently pressed down on the
official's arm, signaling him to let it go.
"Don't be a spoilsport, Sonoda," Oliva whispered with a smile. He looked down at
the "I" mark carved into the floor, then back at Ren Shiroki.
"That's a message from the Ogre—likely intended for his son. The meaning is
clear."
"Now that the hostages are gone, this building is no longer a crime scene. It
has transformed into a 'Warzone' manifest within this 'Urban Steel Jungle'."
"A warzone isn't a ring. It's a survival competition where the participants
wager their everything."
Oliva recalled the past, a nostalgic grin playing on his lips.
"Afghanistan, Cyprus, Mozambique..."
"Many years ago, Hanma Yujiro lived in places like this. to him, every high-risk
conflict zone was just an amusement park for his martial arts. He probably
noticed his boy's little romance and decided, on a whim, that Baki and his girl
should have a 'date' in the middle of a war."
"—I'll never understand that family."
Oliva finished his speculation and turned to Ren. "In any case...
congratulations, kid."
"Your first time stepping into a real Warzone. It should be a blast. Are you
ready?"
"Heh—!"
Hearing the provocation, Ren bared his teeth in a savage grin. He reached out
and rubbed Fusui Kure's head.
Fusui was already prepared. She pulled out a tactical radio and a micro-camera,
pinning them to Ren's collar. This would allow her to coordinate and lock onto
targets for him from the perimeter.
Fusui blinked her black-and-white eyes. "Hunting Sikorsky first, right?"
"Nice. That's perfect!"
Ren nodded and stepped back into the shadows of the hotel.
Outside the Perimeter.
The MPD had established two medical and processing zones. The larger one was for
the civilians, operating at full capacity.
The smaller zone was tucked away in a more secluded area, housing a group of
"Special Individuals." It was a crowded, high-tension gathering: the Kure Clan
led by Erio Kure, alongside Reiichi and Karura; Nozomi Tenma and her fighter
Hina Hongo; Arisa Sakurai and Marco; and finally, Sonoda and Ichika Iori.
The atmosphere was chaotic, mostly due to Erio Kure. The
"Great-Granddaughter-con" was frantically checking Karura for scratches,
swearing that he would personally re-enter the building and butcher every
terrorist left alive. It was only Karura's concern for his blood pressure that
kept the Patriarch grounded, moving him to tears of joy.
"Ohh! As expected of my Karura! So considerate...!"
On the other side, Sonoda was offering his thanks to Oliva. "We appreciate the
help. We'll take it from here and apprehend the remaining hostiles."
Oliva waved him off with a confident, mocking smile. "Don't act tough, Sonoda.
Just grab a beer and some snacks and wait for me out here."
Just as Oliva was about to head back inside, Sonoda's phone rang. It was the
Commissioner, Haru Takeyama.
Sonoda answered, his expression shifting from serious to utterly stunned. Beads
of cold sweat appeared on his brow.
"Yes... yes, sir. I understand. Understood."
Sonoda hung up and looked at Oliva with a grim expression. "Forget it. You...
and my men... we can all take a break now."
Oliva frowned. "Why?"
"I just received word," Sonoda said, his voice heavy. "A unit led by Gaia has
officially intervened in this incident!"
Oliva looked confused. "Gaia...?"
Hearing the name, the Kure Clan members nearby immediately went quiet, their
interest piqued.
Reiichi Kure arched an eyebrow. "Gaia? As in... the 'God of War' Gaia?"
"The same," Sonoda replied, his face darkening with worry. "They are a force
that can only be described as a 'Modern Army' in human form! Whoever pulled the
strings to bring them here has some terrifying connections."
Fusui Kure: "..." Fusui Kure: "Hee-hee!"
She remembered now. After the "Practical Master" Motobe Izou promised to help,
he said he'd delegate the task to some "Soldiers on vacation."
The young assassin hadn't expected the "Soldiers" to be a five-man elite squad
led by the legendary Gaia.
She tapped her radio, linking to Ren's frequency. "Ren-chin... I think I just
spent a little too much of our luck. I managed to invite him."
As a professional assassin, Fusui knew the weight of Gaia's many titles.
The God of War. The Super Soldier. Mr. War. The Deity of the Earth.
"It's a five-man spec-ops squad selected from the elite paratroopers," Fusui
briefed Ren. "Rumor has it those five men are equivalent to an entire 400-man
infantry company!"
"A 'Soldier' is a fundamentally different concept than a 'Hitman' or a
'Mercenary'."
"Gaia's squad is a force that even a battalion of tanks can't stop. They are the
ultimate specialists."
Fusui swallowed hard. Even though Gaia was technically an ally, the thought of
the "God of War" entering the building made her nervous.
"Ren-chin... don't get caught in the crossfire."
She knew Ren all too well; his obsession with "What is Strength" made him a
magnet for this kind of danger. But then, she caught herself smiling. This is
exactly why I like him.
Her eyes crinkled beautifully behind her goggles.
"Oliva-san said the building is an 'Urban Steel Jungle Warzone'."
"But now that the Gaia Squad is here..." Fusui's voice turned dead-serious. "The
building has just become a theater for Special Warfare."
(End of Chapter)
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