Baki entered Tom Lee's office and paused, slightly surprised by the scene before him. Tom Lee sat in his chair with his back to the door.
A bottle of soju dangled from Tom Lee's hand. He gulped it down. "Hm~ Mm~ Mhm~ Uh~ I'm drunk." He muttered the words as he tossed the bottle aside, his face flushed red from the alcohol.
He laughed. "It's been a while since I've gotten this drunk. I need to piss a shit ton before I keep going..."
He stopped mid-sentence and glanced back slightly. "How long do you plan to stand there, Baki?"
Baki shook his head and smiled. "Why?"
Tom Lee raised an eyebrow. "What? You wanna go at it? Beat me up when I'm drunk? That's..."
Baki interrupted. "You sent me to my death. I trusted you."
Tom Lee fell quiet. He opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately decided against it. He shook his head and smiled. "Alright. There's no remedy for this, right? The contract between White Tiger Job Centre and Baki Hanma ends here."
Baki remained silent for a moment before speaking. "Should I thank you for it?"
Tom Lee shook his head. "No. Just let me bid you goodbye the same way we started, will you?" He gulped down another bottle of soju.
Baki smiled and vanished from his spot. His figure blurred and appeared before Tom Lee. A punch landed on Tom Lee's face, smashing through the soju bottle. "Yes. Let's do that."
Tom Lee's massive body slid back from the impact. Blood ran down his nose. He wiped it away and threw a massive fist at Baki.
Baki blocked the punch, but the impact sent him flying through the window. Tom Lee jumped through after him. Both hit the concrete street below. Rain splashed against the road as faint moonlight illuminated the scene.
The Ogre and the Ultimate King stood face to face under the dark sky. Lightning cracked behind them.
---
Big Deal Street
Several men in white suits and black suits faced off against each other. The white-suited men were clearly overwhelming the black-suited ones. The black-suited men were members of Big Deal, while the white-suited men belonged to the Workers.
Even though all of Big Deal's higher-tier fighters were missing, several higher-tier fighters from the Workers were dominating the others.
Cha Wonseok and Lee Dosoo from the Stone Head Service, Li Maeng-Ho from the now-destroyed 2nd affiliate, Ha Hushing and Hwang Ho from the now-destroyed 3rd affiliate, Noah (Oldface), the traitor of Big Deal, and Jin Jang the leader with the remaining members of K House—Lee Seunghan, Mu Baekang, and Lee Byungchan—surrounded the badly beaten Big Deal members.
Several Workers members shouted.
"Bring more gasoline!"
"Let's burn down this street!"
Suddenly, an unknown man in a hoodie squeezed through the crowd and entered the circle. "My goodness. It smells like oil in here. Let me in. I know this street very well and..." The figure looked at the beaten Big Deal members. "I know them well."
But the Workers members were too busy pouring gasoline on the shops to set them on fire.
The man said, "Don't burn that repair shop. She's a good person." Then he turned to the others. "Don't burn that soup restaurant. The food there is delicious."
The Workers surrounded him. He sighed. "No. This place doesn't belong to you."
Lee Maeng-Ho stepped forward. "Be on your toes. He's not an ordinary fighter."
The man smiled. "A fighter? I only had a nickname."
Noah recognized who the man was. His eyes widened in fear, and his body began to sweat. "He's not simply a fighter... His nickname... Protector from a distance, THE BOY OF PROMISE!"
The first wave of Workers lunged at Sinu Han from multiple directions. He didn't move until they were within striking distance, then his body blurred. His fist crashed into the first man's jaw from an angle the Worker never saw coming, the impact sending teeth and blood spraying across the wet pavement. Before that man even hit the ground, Sinu's elbow slammed into another's temple, then his knee drove into a third's ribs with enough force to crack bone. Three bodies collapsed in less than two seconds. "Fuck off!"
More Workers rushed in, but Sinu moved between them like a phantom, each strike hitting from their blind spots—a punch to the back of the head here, a kick to the knee there. Seven men went down in a heap, groaning and clutching their broken limbs. A lamppost bent from the force when Sinu grabbed one Worker and slammed him into it. "This is..."
More Workers charged. Sinu's hands moved so fast they seemed to vanish, each strike appearing from nowhere. A Worker swung a metal pipe—Sinu caught his wrist, twisted, and the man's own momentum sent him crashing through a parked car's windshield. The car alarm blared. "All for..."
Another tried to grab Sinu from behind, but an invisible elbow found his solar plexus, folding him in half. Sinu spun low, his leg sweeping out and taking down five men at once, their heads bouncing off the concrete with sickening thuds. He redirected one attacker into another, then drove both into a concrete wall with a double palm strike that left spiderweb cracks in the surface. Bodies piled up around him. The rain mixed with blood on the street. "Our street's sake!"
The remaining Workers hesitated, eyes wide with fear.
"Our Teams one and two got wiped out as soon as he arrived! He's unstoppable!"
Sinu walked forward slowly, his footsteps splashing through puddles. He stopped in front of Noah. "Old Face!" He grabbed Noah's face and smashed his head into the concrete wall. Sinu's face twisted in anger.
"You! Hey, Old Face. We've worked together for a long time."
Noah smiled nervously. "We did. You've always protected this street... But I think it's going to be hard today."
Seth Lee from K House threw a punch at Sinu. Sinu blocked it without even looking back. Then he grabbed Seth's hand and slammed his body against the street, creating a crater. "Then I'll kill you all!"
Huseong Ha punched at Sinu. "That's my word!"
Sinu easily dodged. Noah also threw a straight punch. "This is the end!"
Sinu dodged it too. Changyong Ji grabbed Sinu's collar and prepared to perform the signature headbutt of Seokdu Wang. "Sinu Han? I'm glad you're strong. I'll show you my technique!"
But Sinu redirected his headbutt midway with just his finger. The headbutt slammed into Noah's face instead.
Cha Wonseok and Lee Dosoo, Ha Hushing and Hwang Ho, Noah—everyone jumped at Sinu.
"ATTACK HIM AT ONCE!"
"THERE MUST BE A LIMIT EVEN FOR SINU HAN!"
Sinu didn't even try to dodge and stood his ground. But invisible strikes hit everyone in the head, knocking them all down at his feet.
"This is nothing. I still have a hundred lethal moves left." Sinu said as he stood surrounded by dozens of Workers' bodies. Suddenly, he jumped back. Just then, a kick landed where he'd been standing, creating a crater.
"Hahaha! Finally I get to fight with the God of Combat!" Lee Maeng-Ho laughed.
Sinu Han squinted. "Is he the strongest one here?"
Sinu blocked a roundhouse kick from Lee Maeng-Ho, but the impact left him rattled. Lee Maeng-Ho shouted at the sky. "Finally, I can fight with all my strength! Just you wait, Hanma! I'm coming for you!"
Lee Maeng-Ho spun and threw a back kick aimed at Sinu's chest. Sinu sidestepped, but the kick grazed his ribs. He gasped and immediately countered with a punch to Lee Maeng-Ho's liver from his blind spot.
Lee Maeng-Ho grunted but twisted his body, delivering an elbow that caught Sinu across the jaw.
Both men stumbled back. Lee Maeng-Ho had a crazed look on his face. "You're the God of Combat, so if I defeat you, I should be stronger than Baki Hanma, right?!"
Sinu's invisible strike landed clean. "What are you talking about?"
Lee Maeng-Ho rushed forward with a front kick. Sinu ducked under it and drove his fist into Lee Maeng-Ho's knee from the side—an invisible angle Lee Maeng-Ho couldn't track. The joint buckled slightly, but Lee Maeng-Ho used the momentum to spin and slam his heel into Sinu's shoulder. The impact sent Sinu sliding across the pavement. His shoulder screamed in pain.
Lee Maeng-Ho limped for half a second before advancing again. A street sign bent when Sinu grabbed it to pull himself up.
Sinu vanished from Lee Maeng-Ho's vision and reappeared at his flank. His fist drove into Lee Maeng-Ho's ribs with a crack. Lee Maeng-Ho coughed blood but immediately countered with a low sweep.
Sinu jumped, but Lee Maeng-Ho anticipated it and shot upward with a rising knee that caught Sinu in the stomach.
Sinu crashed through a storefront window. Glass exploded everywhere. He rolled to his feet inside the shop, blood running down his forehead. Lee Maeng-Ho stepped through the broken window frame, breathing hard.
Lee Maeng-Ho launched a spinning hook kick. Sinu caught the leg, but the rotational force dragged him sideways. He used the momentum to slam Lee Maeng-Ho into a display shelf. The entire structure collapsed.
Lee Maeng-Ho grabbed Sinu's collar and headbutted him. Sinu's nose broke. He responded with three rapid punches to Lee Maeng-Ho's face from shifting blind angles—left, right, straight. Lee Maeng-Ho's head snapped back with each hit. His grip loosened. Sinu threw him through the shop's back wall. Brick and plaster exploded outward into the alley behind.
Both fighters emerged back onto the street. Rain poured harder now. Lee Maeng-Ho's face was swelling badly, but he launched a tornado kick that Sinu barely blocked with both arms. The force lifted Sinu off his feet and sent him crashing into a parked motorcycle. The bike crumpled under his weight.
Sinu rolled and came up swinging. His invisible strike caught Lee Maeng-Ho's temple. Lee Maeng-Ho staggered but planted his foot and delivered an axe kick straight down. Sinu raised his guard—the kick smashed through and drove him to one knee. The concrete cracked under him in a spiderweb pattern.
Sinu exploded upward with an uppercut from Lee Maeng-Ho's blind spot below. It connected with his chin and lifted Lee Maeng-Ho off the ground. But mid-air, Lee Maeng-Ho twisted and brought both heels down on Sinu's collarbone. Sinu felt something crack. Both men crashed to the ground and slowly pushed themselves up.
Just then, several men wearing black jackets appeared. Sinu Han and Lee Maeng-Ho turned toward them.
"Sorry we're so late. There were too many Workers, so we had to fight our way through them. This bunch should be the only ones left." Jace said as he approached.
Vasco looked at Lee Maeng-Ho. "Are you the bad guy?"