Manager Kim approached Johan Seong, hoisted him over his shoulder, and placed him inside his car. Then he walked to the vehicle where Eugene was held captive. He opened the door and found Eugene had already regained consciousness.
Eugene's face was badly bruised and swollen from the beating he'd endured. He spoke through the pain: "I didn't expect the White Tiger forces to be so efficient."
Manager Kim slowly untied Eugene. "Protecting our clients is the utmost priority of White Tiger Job Centre. I hope you don't mind that we didn't save you sooner. You've made many powerful enemies, President Eugene."
Eugene rolled his wrists, which had gone numb from being bound. "I don't mind at all. After all, you saved me in the end, didn't you?"
Manager Kim was about to nod when a voice called out from behind.
"Ajusshi? What do you think you're doing?"
Warren emerged from a car, with Eli stepping out from the other side. Eli's eyes scanned the destruction around them.
Seeing Warren about to approach Manager Kim, Eli stopped him. "Warren, he isn't here as a friend. I don't see Johan—he might've been taken out."
Warren's eyes widened in disappointment. "I didn't expect to face you as an enemy again."
Manager Kim's expression grew complicated, but he stood protectively in front of Eugene.
Eli and Warren advanced with clear intent to fight. Just then, Manager Kim's phone rang. He answered, pressing it to his ear and listening intently.
He asked in surprise, "Major General, are you sure that's what you want me to do? Understood."
Manager Kim ended the call and turned to Eugene.
"President Eugene, it seems all your misdeeds have caught up to you. White Tiger Job Centre is terminating its contract with the Workers. All Workers forces have been eliminated, and you're the only one remaining."
Eugene's eyes widened in shock. "What are you talking about?!"
But Manager Kim didn't wait for a response. He got into his car and started the engine. Through the rearview mirror, he looked at Warren. "Warren, grow a lot stronger. So that, even this ajusshi can't afford to stand against you."
Eli and Warren watched as Manager Kim drove away. Eli wore a thoughtful expression. "So the Workers are truly finished? We just need to capture Eugene. As long as we can deliver him to the chairman of HNH Group like Jake instructed, the Workers will finally end once and for all."
---
Meanwhile, Tom Lee lay in a crater, his left fist missing. He glanced at his phone as blood ran down his mouth. Everything around him was destroyed.
Half an hour earlier
Baki and Tom Lee stood face to face.
Tom Lee charged forward like a raging bull, his massive fist swinging toward Baki's head with enough force to shatter concrete.
Baki ducked under the blow, feeling the air pressure ruffle his hair as Tom's knuckles smashed into a metal shipping container behind him, leaving a massive dent. "Oi, Baki. Entertain me!"
"Don't worry, I plan to." Baki retaliated with a lightning-fast roundhouse kick to Tom's ribs using his right leg, the impact echoing like a gunshot. Tom barely flinched.
Instead, Tom grabbed for Baki's extended leg, but Baki was already spinning away, his heel clipping Tom's jaw hard enough to draw blood. Tom spat and grinned, then rushed forward again, his footsteps cracking the pavement. "Now that's more like it!"
Tom swung a brutal hook aimed at Baki's midsection, but Baki jumped and drove his right knee into Tom's face mid-air. Tom's head snapped back, but he caught Baki's leg with both hands and slammed him into the ground so hard the concrete spiderwebbed beneath them.
Baki rolled away just as Tom's fist came down where his head had been, punching clean through the pavement and creating a small crater.
Baki sprang up and delivered a back kick that caught Tom square in the chest, sending the giant man sliding backward through a chain-link fence, tearing it down completely.
Tom laughed through bloody teeth, grabbed a chunk of broken concrete, and hurled it at Baki like a cannonball. "What's this? Why aren't you using your hands?"
Baki deflected it with a crescent kick from his right leg, the concrete exploding into dust. "My legs are enough for you."
Tom closed the distance in two powerful strides and caught Baki with a backhand that sent him crashing through a parked car's windshield. "Are you looking down on me?!"
Baki rolled off the hood and immediately countered with a flash kick, his right leg moving so fast it was almost invisible, catching Tom under the chin and lifting the massive man off his feet. "I'm just that confident."
Tom landed hard but rolled with the momentum, coming up and tackling Baki through a brick wall. They tumbled into an alley, debris raining down around them. Baki twisted his body and landed a devastating axe kick with his right leg onto Tom's shoulder, the force driving Tom to one knee and cracking the asphalt beneath him. "What, you don't like getting kicked?"
Tom roared and swung wildly, his fist demolishing a dumpster that Baki had just dodged behind. "Is that so? But why does it seem like you can't use your left hand?"
Baki shook his head. "You figured it out too quickly." He ripped off the clothing covering his left hand, revealing a severely burned limb. It looked grotesque.
Tom Lee's eyes widened. "Who on earth did that?!"
Baki chuckled as he rushed at Tom. "Weren't you the one who sent me to my death? Why so shocked by this?"
Tom Lee barely had time to process Baki's words before Baki launched himself into the air, his body spinning like a tornado.
Baki's right leg whipped around once, twice, three times, building momentum with each rotation—a full 1440 degrees of pure spinning force. The kick connected with Tom Lee's skull like a sledgehammer, sending a shockwave through the air.
Tom's massive body lifted off the ground and flew backward, crashing through a concrete pillar that supported a warehouse awning, bringing the entire structure down in a cascade of twisted metal and rubble. He tumbled across the ground, plowing through parked motorcycles and a fire hydrant that exploded in a geyser of water.
When Tom finally stopped sliding fifty feet away, he was half-buried in broken concrete and bent steel beams. Blood poured from a deep gash across his forehead as he slowly pushed himself up on one arm, his vision swimming.
Baki landed in a crouch where Tom had been standing, breathing hard. The entire area looked like a disaster zone—craters in the pavement, collapsed structures, and debris scattered everywhere.
Tom Lee laughed. "Is this what you learned from the Legend of Taekwondo? It's thrilling. Let's go one more round!"
Baki chuckled. "What's this? Wasn't that enough for you?"
Tom Lee rushed at him. "You think you can take me down that easily? What happened at the 4th affiliate won't repeat itself!"
Tom Lee grabbed Baki by the collar and smashed him into the ground, forming a crater. Before Baki could react, he began stomping down on him. Once. Twice. Three times. The crater grew larger with each stomp. "If you want to defeat me, you need to come at me like you're trying to kill me!"
Baki sprang from the crater and threw an uppercut with his right hand. Tom Lee lifted off his feet and flew backward. "I'd like to ask you the same thing, old man. Are you even trying to kill me?"
"I am!" Tom Lee charged like a freight train, his fists hammering down in wild overhead strikes. Baki weaved between the blows, each missed punch cratering the asphalt and sending chunks of pavement flying.
Tom caught Baki with a brutal shoulder tackle that sent him smashing through a parked delivery truck, the metal frame crumpling like paper.
Baki kicked off the wreckage, launching himself at Tom's face with a flying knee that connected with a sickening crack. Tom's head snapped back, but he grabbed Baki mid-air with both hands and pile-drove him into the ground so hard the street split open.
Baki rolled away as Tom's boot stomped down, the impact creating a crater where his head had been. He swept Tom's legs with a low roundhouse kick, but Tom barely stumbled, countering with a wild backhand that Baki ducked under.
Baki's right fist shot up in a hook that caught Tom's ribs, the impact echoing like a gunshot, but Tom just grinned and grabbed Baki by the throat, lifting him off the ground.
Baki drove his right knee into Tom's elbow joint, forcing the grip to loosen, then twisted his body and slammed both heels into Tom's chest in a devastating double kick.
Tom flew backward through a brick wall, disappearing into a cloud of dust and rubble.
Baki landed and immediately rushed forward, his right leg whipping out in a side kick that caught Tom as he emerged from the debris, sending him crashing through another wall.
Tom roared and grabbed a steel beam from the wreckage, swinging it like a bat. Baki ducked under the first swing, the beam whistling over his head and demolishing a concrete pillar behind him. The second swing came faster—Baki blocked it with a crescent kick from his right leg, his shin meeting the steel with enough force to bend it completely.
Tom dropped the beam and lunged forward with a massive haymaker. Baki sidestepped and countered with a hook kick that caught Tom's temple, spinning the giant man around. But Tom used the momentum to swing his elbow back, catching Baki in the ribs and sending him tumbling across the broken pavement.
Both fighters rushed at each other simultaneously.
"Are you losing now, Baki?!" Tom swung a devastating right hook while Baki launched a spinning back kick with his right leg. Tom's fist connected with Baki's shoulder just as Baki's heel slammed into Tom's jaw. The double impact sent both men flying backward—Tom crashed through a chain-link fence and rolled across a parking lot, while Baki smashed through a wooden fence and landed hard on concrete.
Tom got up first, blood pouring from his mouth, and charged again with a running clothesline. Baki jumped and used Tom's extended arm as a platform, launching himself higher and bringing his right leg down in a brutal axe kick onto Tom's skull. The force drove Tom to his knees, cracking the pavement beneath him in a spiderweb pattern.
Tom grabbed Baki's leg before he could pull away and swung him like a club into a nearby car, denting the frame and shattering all the windows. Baki used the car's roof to spring off, his right fist catching Tom square in the face with an uppercut that lifted the massive man off the ground.
Tom landed on his back but immediately rolled forward, grabbing Baki's ankle and slamming him repeatedly into the ground—left, right, left, right—each impact creating deeper craters until the entire street looked like a war zone. Finally, he tossed Baki aside.
Baki barely had time to catch his breath before Tom charged again, his massive fists swinging like wrecking balls.
Tom's right hook demolished a concrete support beam where Baki had been standing a split second before.
Baki retaliated with a back kick from his right leg that caught Tom in the sternum, the impact echoing like thunder and sending Tom sliding backward through a pile of wooden pallets that exploded into splinters.
Tom didn't even slow down—he grabbed a metal garbage bin and hurled it at Baki's head.
Baki ducked and the bin crashed through a brick wall behind him, leaving a gaping hole.
Tom was already there, his elbow smashing down toward Baki's skull. Baki rolled sideways and sprang up with a hook kick from his right leg that connected with Tom's ribs, cracking at least two with an audible snap.
Tom grunted but immediately countered with a backhand that caught Baki across the chest, sending him crashing through a parked van's side panel. The metal crumpled inward like aluminum foil.
Baki kicked off the wreckage and launched himself at Tom with a flying knee strike that caught Tom under the chin, snapping his head back and spraying blood from his mouth.
Tom stumbled but didn't fall—instead he grabbed Baki mid-air by the leg and swung him in a full arc, smashing him through a street lamp that bent completely in half before slamming Baki into the pavement so hard the asphalt shattered in a ten-foot radius.
Baki coughed up blood but immediately swept Tom's legs with a low roundhouse kick. Tom crashed down hard, the impact cracking the ground beneath him. Both men rolled to their feet simultaneously. Tom charged like a raging bull, his shoulder aimed at Baki's chest.
Baki sidestepped at the last second and Tom crashed through a concrete barrier, chunks of debris flying everywhere.
Baki didn't give him a moment—his right leg whipped out in a crescent kick that caught Tom's temple, spinning his head around violently. Blood flew from Tom's mouth but he twisted with the momentum and caught Baki with a brutal elbow to the ribs. Baki heard them crack inside his own chest.
The pain was blinding but Baki gritted his teeth and drove his right fist into Tom's liver with a hook punch. Tom's body seized up for a split second and Baki followed with a side kick to Tom's knee that buckled the joint with a sickening pop.
Tom roared and grabbed Baki by the throat with one massive hand, lifting him off the ground and slamming him into a brick wall so hard the entire structure collapsed on top of them both.
They emerged from the rubble at the same time, both bleeding heavily. Tom's left arm hung at an odd angle and Baki's ribs were clearly broken.
Tom laughed and charged again, throwing wild haymakers that demolished everything they touched—a fire hydrant exploded in a geyser of water, a mailbox was flattened completely, a parked motorcycle was reduced to twisted metal.
Baki weaved between the strikes, his right leg snapping out in a flash kick so fast it was almost invisible, catching Tom's jaw and spinning him around.
Tom used the momentum to swing his other arm in a backhand that Baki blocked with his right forearm, the impact numbing his entire arm. They broke apart, both breathing hard. Tom's face was a mask of blood and bruises. Baki's ribs were cracked, his prosthetic left hand lost somewhere in the rubble, and blood poured from cuts all over his body.
Tom charged one more time, his arm cocked back for a final devastating punch.
Baki planted his feet and began to stiffen his entire body, every muscle tensing to its absolute limit. His joints locked into place as he drew his right fist back, his breathing synchronized with his heartbeat.
Tom's fist came forward like a cannonball. At the last possible moment, Tom's fingers spread into claws aimed directly at Baki's face, the tips inches from tearing through flesh and bone.
But something changed in Tom's eyes—they softened, lost their killing intent. A single tear formed and fell, instantly washed away by the rain.
Tom's hand relaxed completely as Baki's right fist shot forward in a perfect punch, his entire body rigid as steel at the moment of impact.
The Goutaijutsu punch connected with Tom's chest with the force of a car crash, every ounce of Baki's strength and body weight concentrated into that single point.
The shockwave rippled visibly through Tom's massive body. The ground beneath them exploded outward in a crater fifteen feet wide. Tom's eyes went wide as blood erupted from his mouth. His body lifted off the ground and flew backward like a ragdoll, crashing through two more brick walls before finally slamming into a concrete foundation hard enough to crack it down the middle.
The entire building above groaned and partially collapsed, burying Tom under tons of rubble. Baki stood in the rain, his right arm still extended, breathing hard through broken ribs.
The destruction around them looked like a bomb had gone off—craters everywhere, collapsed buildings, twisted metal, and debris scattered across the landscape. He lowered his fist slowly as the rain continued to fall, washing the blood from his face. "Old man... I did it... But you didn't follow through. Why?"
Tom Lee lay buried in the rubble. "Becoming an adult means getting used to saying goodbye. Life is an endless cycle of goodbyes. All meetings are preparations for parting. But Baki Hanma, you're someone I can never forget. Live well."