"You!"
Raian's hand loosened imdiately after being broken, and Mokichi collapsed to the ground.
"Brother!!"
Elena rushed into the ring to catch Mokichi, only to find that his neck had been broken. Even ergency treatnt might not save him.
Several dics entered with a stretcher and carried Mokichi away, with Elena crying as she followed.
Karura originally wanted to go check on her friend's brother too, but seeing Rinji still facing off with Raian, she chose to stay where she was.
Once the injured were taken away, Rinji finally let go.
Raian quickly pulled back his hand, his white pupils within black sclera burning with rage.
"I'll overlook this since it's your first offense," Rinji said, turning away without even glancing at Raian. "Rest up. I'll look forward to your next match."
"Hey! You think you can just walk away after breaking my arm!?"
Seeing Rinji turn to leave after breaking his arm, Raian shouted in fury.
He'd always been arrogant due to his strength, but now, facing soone even more arrogant, he was infuriated.
"Don't make trouble for yourself."
Rinji glanced back at Raian.
"The match is over. You won. Be happy about it."
"How the hell can I be happy, you damn brat!" Raian roared, snapping his broken arm back into place with a crack. "I'll kill you right now!"
"Is that so?"
Rinji chuckled and turned back to him.
"You are allowed to challenge , since you've made it to the top 16. But there's one more condition: your company must issue the challenge. That ans unless UM Inc. files a formal request, you have no right to challenge ."
"Tch! Why are there so many damn rules just to fight!?"
"Wait... please wait a mont..."
A chubby middle-aged man ran up to them, clearly out of shape and wiping sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.
He was the public-facing president of UM Inc: Ohta Masahiko.
"What is it?"
"Yes, Mr. Takamine. Um... there's a call for you."
Ohta respectfully held out his phone.
Rinji glanced at the unfamiliar number and placed the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Good evening, Mr. Takamine. I'm the true president of UM Inc. My na is—"
"Yamashita Kenzo, son of Yamashita Kazuo. You're the real boss behind UM Inc, right?"
"...You're right. Impressive as always, Mr. Takamine."
Yamashita Kenzo admitted his identity without hesitation.
"What do you want?"
"I couldn't co to Ganryu Island myself, but I heard the rules, so I wanted to negotiate sothing with you," he said. "Kure Raian made it to the top 16, so I'd like your permission to challenge you."
"5% of your shares. And your brain research data."
"No problem."
"Then it's settled. Have your public president complete the deal with later."
Rinji hung up and handed the phone back to Ohta.
"I've spoken with your boss. He'll explain the details."
"Understood... Thank you, Mr. Takamine."
Rinji nodded and turned to Raian with a smile.
"Your boss agreed. Once all 16 finalists are decided, you'll be allowed to challenge ."
"I see. Then get ready to die."
Raian grinned wildly, drawing a finger across his neck in a threatening gesture.
---
For the remaining matches, Rinji didn't continue guest comntating with Sayaka.
Guest comntators had more freedom than staff, and soone as used to freedom as Rinji didn't take comntary as a serious job.
So during the next few matches, he simply wandered the ship with Karura.
"Rinji, once the preliminaries are over, you'll be dueling the other top 16 fighters, right?"
"Yep."
Rinji smiled, looking at Karura, who had her arm wrapped around his.
Karura was excited for Rinji's upcoming fights. She loved watching him shine in battle—even though for Rinji, these "highlights" didn't even qualify as playing around.
He'd already gone over intel on all the competitors. He more or less knew who the winners would be.
So before the prelims even started, he bet big money on those he thought would win—especially those with ridiculously high odds. He was expecting to make a fortune afterward.
"Hm?"
While the two were walking through a corridor, sothing up ahead made Rinji pause.
In the corner near a wall, a man in a sleeveless Chinese outfit had a short-haired woman cornered, seemingly threatening her.
Rinji recognized her. She was Togawa Yoshiko, CEO of Murder Music—one of the 32 participating companies.
And that strange guy in the Chinese outfit? If he rembered right, that was Nikaido Ren, a fighter for Byakuya News.
"Hey, you over there. Threatening a Kengan Association mber could get you disqualified."
"Who?"
Nikaido Ren, a young man with delicate features, frowned when he saw Rinji and Karura approaching.
'That's Kure Karura of the Kure Clan... and Takamine Rinji from Amano Pharma. These two caught ? According to the intel, he's also a Kengan mber... I guess I'll have to silence him for now.'
He reached into his pocket, pulling out a needle, intending to make Rinji briefly lose consciousness.
But before he could even flick it, Rinji stepped in and grabbed his wrist.
"Trying to sneak attack , punk?"
"You—"
"RINJI! Watch out!"
Karura suddenly shouted. A spiky-haired man lunged at Rinji from the side.
"..."
WHAM!
Rinji sidestepped and countered with a smashing blow to the attacker's head, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Threatening a Kengan mber... The only guy who'd pull sothing like this is Hayami Katsumasa."
Rinji looked down at the unconscious spiky-haired man and Nikaido Ren, a cruel smile forming on his lips.
Nikaido Ren didn't respond. He stood ready, eyeing Rinji cautiously.
For so reason, facing this boy triggered an intense sense of danger.
"Ever since I ca to Japan, it's been a long ti since I killed anyone," Rinji said, smiling. "I wonder why... Maybe the environnt changed ? Oh well."
"I'm just... tired of it."
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