Shin opened the money bag, announcing that he would divide it among them. Then, he turned to Lu and asked, “Isn’t gambling just about luck?”
Lu shook her head. “Not at all,” she replied. “Wuang is my adviser, and I doubt he even believes in luck.”
Wuang smirked. “Well said, Lu.” He then explained, “Many people think gambling is just luck, but in reality, it’s all about psychological battles.”
As Sakamoto and his team approached Wuang, they saw him winning effortlessly.
Lu sighed. “I wish I hadn’t agreed to this contest…”
Shin muttered, “This scoundrel is going to crush us.”
Sakamoto, completely unbothered, reassured them. “Don’t worry. People who rely on luck are doomed.”
Wuang grinned. “Do your best, because no matter what, I’m taking Lu back to the clan.”
Shin stepped up to a gambling table, ready to play—until he realized he had no clue how the game worked. As he sat there, he began hearing the thoughts of the players around him—some were nervous amateurs, while others were determined to win.
Lu approached him. “Did you even read the rules?”
Shin rubbed the back of his head. “Uh… no. They took my phone outside.”
Lu facepalmed. “You’re going to waste all your money!”
As they argued, Shin accidentally dropped his cards, revealing them to everyone. One of his opponents, seeing Shin’s strong hand, offered to swap cards, pretending to help.
Shin scoffed. “Nice try, you scoundrel. You’re not fooling me.” He then went all in, shocking everyone at the table.
“Deal me the next cards face-up,” Shin declared confidently, making his opponents furious.
Meanwhile, at Sakamoto’s table, he bet all his money on red, keeping just one coin. As the roulette wheel spun, he casually flicked his coin, hitting the control device, causing the ball to land on red. Victory.
One of Wuang’s men approached him. “Boss, they’re winning… They must be cheating too!”
Wuang smirked. “I already knew that.”
He returned to his own game, drawing a winning card while thinking to himself, “I’ll win by any means necessary.”
At that moment, he recalled a memory: as a child, he was being beaten by bullies when Lu stepped in to defend him. Later, she asked him, “Why didn’t you fight back?”
Wuang had simply replied, “I don’t respond to violence with violence. The clan will punish them.”
Lu had nodded. “That’s smart. My father taught me that not everything is about physical strength. Your strength is your intelligence.”
Determined, Wuang had vowed to rise to the top of the clan and match Lu one day.
Back in the present, the results were in. Wuang and Sakamoto’s team had the same amount of money. It was a tie.
Wuang smirked. “Well done. I didn’t expect that from you.”
Sakamoto calmly said, “So, we’re done here?”
Wuang shook his head. “Not yet.”
One of his men whispered, “Boss, should we just get rid of them?”
Wuang glared at him. “Step back. Don’t speak again.”
Then, he turned to Sakamoto. “Do you know how to play poker?”
Sakamoto blinked. “Not really.”
Shin admitted, “Never played it.”
Wuang looked at them, dumbfounded. “Then what do you even know how to play?!”
Lu smirked. “I have a simple game in mind.”
They moved to a new table, and Wuang called over two of his men to even the teams.
“The rules are simple,” Wuang explained. “Whoever holds the losing card at the end… loses everything.”
Lu nodded. “Easy game.”
Shin grinned. “Piece of cake.”
Sakamoto shrugged. “I play this with my family all the time.”
Wuang stared at them. “Why do they look so relaxed?!”
Shin thought, “Alright, Wuang. Time to impress Sakamoto with my mind-reading skills.”
He scanned the players and realized Lu had the losing card. His eye twitched. “Seriously?!”
Before she could panic, Wuang took the card from her.
When it was Shin’s turn to draw from Wuang, he asked, “Wait… you can read minds, can’t you?”
Wuang smirked and performed mental calculations, completely blocking Shin’s ability.
Shin froze. “What…?”
And just like that, Shin was eliminated.
The game continued until only Sakamoto and Wuang remained. The final showdown was set.
Wuang approached Sakamoto for the final draw, but Sakamoto had the winning card and tried to trick Wuang into swapping. Wuang instantly realized what was happening—and it pissed him off.
Before anything else could happen, Wuang’s gang suddenly raised their weapons at Sakamoto.
Wuang snapped. “What are you doing?! I never ordered this!”
One of the gang members turned on Wuang himself, aiming a gun at him. “We didn’t come all the way from Japan just to play your silly games,” he sneered. “You’re worthless. We’re the mafia—if we want something, we take it immediately.”
Wuang’s eyes narrowed as he recalled past betrayals. “So this is a rebellion… I should’ve seen this coming.”
Just as he accepted his fate, Sakamoto tilted his head. “Wow. You’re surrendering already?”
Wuang glanced at him.
Sakamoto smirked. “Aren’t you going to have fun with your beloved tomorrow?”
That hit Wuang hard. He looked at something—a memory of Lu as a child flashed in his mind. His expression hardened.
“You’re right, Sakamoto.” Then, with a wicked grin, he added, “What these fools don’t know is… I set up devices that’ll cut off their hands if they pull the trigger.”
The gang members suddenly hesitated.
Wuang turned back to Sakamoto. “Now, it’s your turn.”
Sakamoto wasted no time—he lunged at the gang members, throwing playing cards at them with pinpoint precision. The force was so strong that it ripped their clothes off.
Lu joined the fight, delivering a devastating kick that sent one guy flying.
Sakamoto then grabbed another thug and slammed him into an arcade machine.
Lu followed up by knocking out three gangsters at once.
Then, in a completely absurd moment, Sakamoto hurled billiard balls like bullets, taking out multiple enemies.
Lu blinked. “Did he just… use billiard balls as projectiles?”
Meanwhile, one of the gang members made a run for it.
Wuang fired a shot at him—but missed.
The fleeing thug scoffed. “Hah! You suck at shooting!”
Wuang grinned. “Deception is the first skill in gambling, idiot.”
Realizing he had fallen into a trap, the thug paled.
Wuang turned to Sakamoto, suddenly serious. “I lost because I put Lu in danger. I failed to protect her.”
Sakamoto nodded. “I understand. When you care about someone, you’ll do anything to keep them safe.”
Back at Sakamoto’s Shop…
Wuang sat across from Sakamoto. “Alright. I’ll tell you who put a bounty on your head. Listen closely.”
Sakamoto leaned in. “It’s someone named ‘Slower.’ And judging by your face, I’d say you know him.”
Shin scoffed. “Yeah, we’ve known that for a while.”
Lu and Wuang exchanged glances. “Do you know his real name? Or his location?”
Wuang sighed. “Unfortunately, no one does.”
Lu groaned. “So we went through all that for nothing?!”
Sakamoto shrugged. “Looks like we wasted our time with you.”
Wuang held up a hand. “Wait! Let me finish. Slower is mysterious, but I know something important.”
He took a deep breath before explaining:
“A few days ago, a prison in Southeast Asia reported a series of murders. Four death-row inmates were supposedly executed… but their bodies were found mutilated. There were axes drawn in blood on the walls.”
Sakamoto frowned. “What’s the connection?”
Wuang continued. “A friend of mine who works with corpses said the bodies they received were… off. Some were skinned. Some were full of holes. Others had missing limbs. But the disturbing part?” He paused. “The methods of torture matched those of the inmates who were supposed to be dead.”
Shin’s eyes widened. “Wait… Are you saying they faked their deaths and escaped?”
Wuang nodded grimly. “And they’re hiding in Japan.”
Cut to Japan—Inside a Restaurant…
Four dangerous-looking individuals sat at a table. Three men and one woman—each sentenced to death for brutal crimes.
A mysterious boss approached them. “Thank you for waiting. Let’s get straight to the point.”
The woman raised an eyebrow. “And what’s that?”
The boss smirked. “I need you to eliminate some people for me.”
The tall, muscular black man chuckled. “I don’t care who they are. I just love killing.”
Another man grinned. “They look strong… Maybe one of them will finally be able to kill me.”
The third man, wearing glasses, glanced at a photo. “Wait… Is this big guy really a threat?”
The boss narrowed his eyes. “Don’t underestimate anyone. If you do, you’ll be dead before you know it.”
The black man laughed and suddenly crushed the table into a tiny ball with his bare hands. “Fine, then. Let’s hurry up and get rid of these targets before we wipe out all of Japan.”
As they left, the boss murmured, “For them, killing isn’t a job—it’s a way of life. True, unfiltered evil. But… everything is for my leader’s sake.”
Back at Sakamoto’s Shop…
Wuang’s voice was filled with urgency. “I don’t know the full extent of the danger, but I do know one thing—I have to protect my lady, Lu. You all need to escape. Now.”
Sakamoto, completely unfazed, leaned back. “Actually, if we confront them, we might gather intel on Slower.”
Shin nodded. “Yeah, and we need to get to them before the GM does.”
Lu added, “I’ll leave a message for Haki too.”
Wuang slammed his hand on the table. “Didn’t you hear me?! These four aren’t just criminals—they’re monsters. They’re nothing like the people you’ve fought before! You don’t understand how dangerous they are!”
Sakamoto, calm as ever, adjusted his glasses. “If they’re that dangerous… then we definitely can’t let them roam free.”
Wuang stared at him—realizing that, despite the insanity, Sakamoto had no intention of backing down.
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