CHAPTER 80: THE ALIEN INVASION
A few days after the night on the Espoir, a young man would run into Kaji Takaomi in a quiet Ochanomizu coffee shop. Curious about the rumors circulating through the underground, the man asked about the legendary gamble between Shigeru Akagi and the "Revolutionary" Sadakuni.
"You're asking about Akagi-san? The Man of the Divine Realm?" Kaji paused, looking into his coffee as if seeing the ghosts of that night.
"His gambling isn't just about being 'Strong' or 'Smart.'"
"How do I put it? He has a magnetism that draws people in. He has worshipers, not just fans."
"To put it simply... his style is breathtakingly beautiful. It's a divine talent that no human being could ever hope to imitate."
The Grand Ballroom.
"The match is concluded," Yagyo Hikoichi declared, offering a shallow, graceful bow. "The victory belongs to Master Akagi."
"Heh... heh."
Akagi remained seated, resting his hands on his knees. He looked at Sadakuni, then shifted his gaze toward the various high-end security cameras hidden behind the ballroom's crown molding.
"I see. Your 'Miracle' was nothing more than Artificial Vision, wasn't it?"
"You are biologically blind. So you discarded your eyes and used electrical pulses to stimulate your optic nerves, linking your brain directly to the ship's surveillance network."
"If I'm not mistaken, Referee Mepu was the one who 'Synced' the ballroom cameras to your feed. You weren't playing the man; you were watching my hand through a lens from ten different angles."
Akagi stared at Sadakuni—specifically at the small, high-tech camera unit built into the Revolutionary's collar.
"A desperate, grinding way to play... but quite technical," Akagi said with a thin smile. "Sadakuni, thank you. Tonight was truly satisfying."
"..."
Sadakuni remained silent, his stone-cold face showing no emotion.
Beside them, Kaiji Itou—who had witnessed the entire impossible sequence—let out a long, shaky breath of relief.
"Yes!" Kaiji pumped a fist, his eyes wet with tears of joy. "He won! That means... according to the deal Baku made me, my debts are finally gone!"
But as the joy began to swell, Yagyo's voice continued, cold and final as the falling of a guillotine blade.
"The loser shall wear the hempen collar and perform the final dance of death."
"Per the agreement, Master Sadakuni... you have lost the ten-billion-yen stake and your own life."
"The execution by hanging shall commence immediately."
Zawazawa... zawazawa...
Kaiji froze. His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird.
Wait. Execution? Hanging? He knew the stake was high, but he'd thought it was just underworld hyperbole. Ten billion yen was already a cosmic figure—why did it have to end in murder?!
Kaiji felt a wave of nausea. He looked at Akagi. I brought him the cards. I helped him win. Does that mean... I'm a killer?
"Ugh... bleh..."
Kaiji dropped to his knees, retching into the thick carpet.
Akagi reached down and placed a hand on the youth's shoulder, his tone as calm and detached as it had been at the start of the night.
"It's natural to feel unease, Kaiji-kun. But this is the true face of the gamble."
"Winning and losing have never been about profit to me. It is the process—the fact that a human life can be discarded so 'Meaninglessly' over a few tiles or cards—that is what I seek."
"That is the essence of the Divine Realm: the Meaningless Death."
Akagi gave Kaiji's shoulder a final pat. "If you cannot accept that you might one day die for nothing, I suggest you stay away from the tables."
The Lower Deck.
The announcement of the verdict upstairs caused a ripple of panic to sweep through the lower hall.
The IDEAL mercenaries, seeing their leader was now a "Dead Man Walking," began to shift their grips on their weapons, their eyes darting around as they calculated their escape.
The debtors, meanwhile, were horrified. Like Kaiji, they hadn't truly believed that a life could be signed away on a contract.
"They're going to kill him? Right now?!"
"Is that legal? Someone call the police!"
"Someone explain what just happened upstairs!"
The murmurs grew into a roar of confusion and fear. The tension between the "Stranger" enforcers and the mercenaries hit a breaking point. One stray finger on a trigger would turn the room into a slaughterhouse.
Just as the first shot was about to be fired, Yukio Tonegawa let out a sharp, authoritative bark.
"YOU ABSOLUTE FOOLS!"
The debtors jumped, silenced by the raw pressure of the executive's voice.
"If you place a bet, you pay the stake! Even if that stake is your soul! If you can't afford the price, don't sit at the table! If you don't want to die, the answer is simple: WIN!"
The room went still. Tonegawa wiped the sweat from his brow, glancing at the IDEAL mercs. As long as the crowd was quiet, the professionals wouldn't panic. He had bought a few more minutes of peace.
But then he looked at the three "Monsters" in the center of the room.
Ren Shiroki, Marco, and Kyara.
Tonegawa felt a cold sweat. If those three started moving, a shootout would be the least of his worries.
"A clean loss. Boring," Kyara muttered.
He rolled his shoulders, pushing the bruised Marco aside. His eyes locked onto Ren Shiroki with a savage, hungry intensity.
"The cards are delivered. The gamble is settled. I no longer have a reason to play with the house-cat. It's time to move on to something that actually interests me."
Ren grinned, his "Might" humming in his veins. He stepped forward. "Perfect. Simply perfect!"
The two predators watched each other's every micro-movement. The air between them began to hum with the friction of their combined killing intent.
But for the third time tonight, a figure stepped between them.
It was Madarame Baku, sprinting from the radio room, gasping for air and looking like he was about to have a heart attack. He was so exhausted he couldn't even speak for ten seconds.
Kyara's brow furrowed as he looked at his old partner. "You pathetic ghost. I could snap your neck before you finish your next breath. Why are you here?"
"I'm here to... Win!"
Baku choked out the words, pointing a trembling finger at Kyara. "I never lose. Not against the Leader of Kakerou, and not against the future. I am the Eternal Winner."
"Kyara-san... stay your hand. Save your strength."
"Tonight, I will show you the meaning of a 'God-Tier' Gambler. I will show you the man who exists within the Myth!"
Kyara blinked. Baku was a physically weak loser, yet his words were so precise, so targeted, that they bypassed Kyara's reason and struck directly at his curiosity.
The 'Eternal Winner'? Kyara smirked. He wanted to see Baku fail. He wanted to see the moment the Lie Eater finally choked on his own hubris.
Seeing Kyara settle back into a neutral stance, Baku let out a long sigh of relief. He turned his attention to Ren.
"Ren-chin... don't be mad. I'm not stopping the fun, I'm just delaying it. You'll need your energy for the 'Main Event.'"
Ren raised an eyebrow. "What main event?"
Baku's expression went dark. He let out a bitter, nervous chuckle.
"The thing I've been dreading hasn't happened yet. And because my luck is the absolute worst... that means it's guaranteed to happen."
The Grand Ballroom.
The Kakerou staff had finished erecting the gallows. It was a beautiful, efficient structure of polished wood and silk rope.
Yagyo Hikoichi bowed to Sadakuni. It was the invitation of the Reaper. "Master Sadakuni... please."
Sadakuni remained a statue.
Behind him, the bald henchman finally snapped. "WE AREN'T DYING IN SOME BORED BILLIONAIRE'S GAME!"
"You think you're in control? LOOK OUTSIDE!"
The bald man sprinted to the balcony doors and threw them wide. The salt air and the sound of the waves rushed in. He pointed to the black silhouette of the cargo ship in the harbor.
He produced a high-frequency remote detonator.
"With one press of this button, the missiles on that ship will launch! I won't hit the city—I'll hit this ship! We all go down together!"
"If you want to live, get off the boat and let us go!"
The bald man's face was a mask of jagged, desperate madness. He was ready to flip the world's table.
But in the next microsecond—
An elegant, refined silhouette appeared on the balcony behind him. A high-line kick blurred through the air, striking the bald man's wrist.
SNAP!
The remote was kicked clean into the ballroom. The silhouette followed through with a heavy, downward stomp that drove the bald man's face into the deck.
CRUNCH.
A second silhouette stepped out of the shadows. He moved with a strange, jittery grace, his eyes darting around as if he were seeing things no one else could.
He looked at the shocked VIPs, adjusted his tie, and spoke in a voice that was intentionally distorted—a mocking, robotic pitch.
"WE... ARE... FROM... A... DISTANT... PLANET. WE... ARE... THE... ALIENS."
The Lower Deck.
Baku clapped a hand onto Ren's shoulder. His teeth were grinding together so hard they sounded like a stone mill.
"There it is. The 'Bad Luck' arrives."
Baku looked up at the ceiling, his eyes filled with a mixture of terror and awe.
"Ren-chin... that voice... that's the Leader of the Kakerou Club."