Chapter 174: Bajiquan, Makino Yuzuha!

After an unknown amount of time, a sharp, piercing pain pulled Hanyu Yukiki from his unconscious state.

“Cough… Cough, cough…”

Every time he coughed, a heart-wrenching agony radiated from his chest.

Struggling to his feet, he leaned his back against the cold wall.

The alley was empty, save for his police manual scattered on the ground.

Was that child taken away?

Hanyu Yukiki gritted his teeth, ignoring his own injuries as he stumbled out of the alley, running desperately back to “Kawakaen.”

“Bang!”

He threw the door open.

“Welcome… Officer?”

Lin Xiumei was startled to see Hanyu Yukiki covered in dust, blood staining the corner of his mouth and his face deathly pale.

“Yuzuha… Has Yuzuha come back?!”

Hanyu Yukiki asked urgently, gasping for air.

“Yuzuha? She… Didn’t she go to see you off? She hasn’t come back yet…”

Lin Xiumei’s heart leaped into her throat instantly.

“Did… Did something happen?”

Hanyu Yukiki felt the world go dark before his eyes.

Leaning against the door frame, he pulled out his mobile phone, enduring the intense pain as he dialed the emergency number for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

“This is Hanyu Yukiki from the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters Fourth Investigation Division. I am currently in Lianma District, Tokyo… I need emergency backup! A violent kidnapping involving a Superpower User has occurred!”

“The victim is Makino Yuzuha, female, high school student… The suspect is highly likely the rising Violence Group—the Dragonno Association!”

“Dragonno Association”—he had heard this name from his Tokyo colleagues; they were currently the primary target of surveillance.

It was a new Yakuza Organization that had risen rapidly.

Unlike the traditional gangs that maintained a modicum of “Ninkyo” and had recently fallen into decline, the Dragonno Association’s style of operation was extremely arrogant and brutal.

Its chairman, a man named Oowada Toshihiro, was originally just a low-level Yakuza.

However, during the “Ability Awakening Event” several months ago, he unexpectedly gained a powerful Superpower.

Having obtained strength, Oowada Toshihiro participated in the GPRI Hunter Incident, and his prestige spread throughout the Extreme Path world.

Not content with that, he quickly consolidated several nearby small gangs and established the “Dragonno Association.”

During the recent economic fluctuations and wave of unemployment, the Dragonno Association had been in its element, expanding frantically and constantly eating away at the territory of local Tokyo gangs, causing several bloody conflicts.

Additionally, with the Heart Worms accelerating their awakening, it was heard that new Superpower Users had joined the Dragonno Association…

Hanyu Yukiki leaned against the wall, cold sweat soaking his back.

He knew that this time, he hadn’t just run into big trouble… he had pushed an innocent girl into the abyss.

“Dammit…”

Although his body was still suffering from intense pain, Hanyu Yukiki forced himself to stay conscious and comforted Lin Xiumei.

“Trust the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. We will bring your daughter back safe and sound!”

After leaving the Zhong restaurant, he intended to take a taxi directly to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

Suddenly, a black car driving past him slammed on its brakes, then reversed on the spot and stopped in front of him.

It was a black Mercedes-Benz S-Class; the passenger was clearly someone of significant status.

The rear window slid down slowly, revealing a pair of cold, blood-colored eyes.

***

Jiang Jian Yue recognized the young man with blood on his face—from the anime.

Wasn’t this the Osaka police officer, Hanyu Yukiki?

How had he been beaten like this?

Thus, Jiang Jian Yue, who had just left The Light Extinguishers’ base and was preparing to return to Toshima, told her driver Sasaki to stop the car.

She was somewhat curious about this matter.

After all, he was a man who appeared in the silhouette of the Protagonist Group; they would surely become acquaintances in the future.

“Huh? Officer Hanyu?”

Hattori Koji opened the front passenger door and popped his head out, asking in surprise, “What happened to you? How did you get injured like this!”

“It’s an emergency, no time to explain. I need to get to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.”

Hanyu Yukiki was about to flag down a taxi.

“We will take you,”

Jiang Jian Yue said softly to Hattori Koji.

Hattori Koji quickly left the front seat and ushered the somewhat bewildered Hanyu Yukiki into the car.

After several days, Hattori Koji squeezed back into the rear seat.

“Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.”

“Yes, Missy.”

Hanyu Yukiki was a bit constrained.

Was the person sitting in the back seat the legendary, mysterious… Missy of the Jiang Family?

Jiang Jian Yue raised her hand and lightly tapped Hattori Koji’s shoulder.

He understood immediately and asked, “How did you get those injuries on your body?”

“…A Violence Group called the Dragonno Association.”

Enduring the sharp pain in his chest, Hanyu Yukiki spoke rapidly, summarizing the conflict at the Zhong restaurant, the alley encounter, and the situation of a high school girl being abducted by a Superpower User.

Hattori Koji frowned.

“Dragonno Association? You mean the one where the chairman is that Superpower User named Oowada Toshihiro? I heard they’ve recruited a lot of Superpower Users.”

Oowada Toshihiro?

Him again?

“Yes!”

Hanyu Yukiki nodded urgently.

“The teenager wearing the Face Mask… he only used a wave of his hand! I didn’t even have time to react… Yuzuha, she…”

Self-reproach and worry almost overwhelmed him.

Yuzuha?

“Makino Yuzuha?”

Jiang Jian Yue suddenly asked.

“Yes! How do you know?”

“Classmate.”

As expected?

In this world that likely followed a script, characters would coincidentally meet even among a vast sea of people.

“That’s right!”

Hanyu Yukiki suddenly remembered something.

His lowered head snapped up as he hurriedly pulled out his mobile phone to make a call.

“What’s wrong?”

Hattori Koji asked.

Taking advantage of the moment before the call connected, Hanyu Yukiki explained, “When I was in Osaka, there was an incident where a boy could obtain a person’s location through his ability. Isn’t now the perfect time?”

He was referring to Saori Saiyonji.

“No need to call,”

Jiang Jian Yue said, taking out her own mobile phone and seeing the message in the chat group.

“They are already looking for her.”

On the LINE group screen, the last message from Makino Yuzuha was a voice message.

***

The vehicle came to a steady halt.

The two Yakuza guarding the rear compartment got out.

Before leaving, one of them patted Makino Yuzuha’s face and threatened, “You’d better stay quiet.”

The car door closed, plunging the interior into darkness.

Makino Yuzuha could feel the outline of the mobile phone in her pocket.

These Yakuza didn’t care about this girl in her dorky round-frame glasses at all; they hadn’t even bothered to frisk her.

Her hands were bound, but her body was flexible.

By rubbing against the floor, she managed to squeeze the mobile phone out bit by bit.

Then, she adjusted her position and used her chin to press the side button—thankfully, the phone didn’t have a password lock or fingerprint lock set.

The screen lit up instantly, its stinging light flashing through the dark compartment.

On the screen was the LINE chat group interface.

Kaori Onishi was currently chatting about a popular TV drama; clearly, the matter of the GSAC candidates had been temporarily set aside.

Tears welled up in Makino Yuzuha’s eyes.

Using all her strength, she used her lips to press the voice message button: “Help! I’ve been kidnapped!”

Just as she sent it, before she could switch to the dialer to call the police—Clang!

The rear door of the van was suddenly pulled open.

“You brat! What are you doing… Hey! She has a mobile phone!”

A tattooed man’s face appeared at the door.

He saw the glowing screen at once.

Makino Yuzuha glared fiercely at the tattooed man.

He rushed in furiously, snatched the mobile phone, and smashed it hard against the wall of the compartment.

“You little bitch!”

He raised his palm and swung it hard toward Makino Yuzuha’s face—but his movements immediately became sluggish, and he was kicked in the abdomen by Makino Yuzuha.

The changing expression on his face was also in Slow Motion.

Makino Yuzuha moved her shoulders against the compartment wall to stand up.

Because her glasses were long gone, she could only squint her eyes due to her severe nearsightedness, which made her look extremely fierce.

Two more Yakuza climbed into the compartment.

One of them, brandishing a crowbar, rushed to the front.

Makino Yuzuha shifted her focus to him, and he was instantly slowed down as well.

Once she shifted her target, the tattooed man, who had been posing in Slow Motion mid-air, returned to normal and crashed into the Yakuza behind him.

“Aaargh!”

Although Makino Yuzuha’s hands were bound, her Shoveling Kick was completely unaffected.

Her force was perfect, striking the shin of the Yakuza swinging the crowbar with speed and ruthlessness.

She remembered the instructions of her father, who had taught her Bajiquan: “Daughter… the Shoveling Kick is very destructive. Don’t use it under normal circumstances.”

She was using it specifically because it was destructive!

Snap—

A crisp sound came from the Yakuza’s shin—it had clearly snapped.

His slowed face began to twitch; based on the degree of distortion, it was even more painful than the tattooed man’s hit.

“Ugh, hng… Aaaaahhhhh!”

Once she shifted her ability away from him, the Yakuza immediately collapsed, screaming in heart-wrenching agony.

“Enough!”

Outside the compartment, the teenager wearing a Face Mask frowned and reached out, giving a gentle push.

Bang—

Before Makino Yuzuha could use her ability, she suddenly felt as if her entire body had been struck by an invisible Sledgehammer.

The girl spat out blood as the sheet metal was easily smashed through.

She was thrown into the driver’s seat, shattered glass spraying over her.

That’s just cheating…

Makino Yuzuha struggled to raise her hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth.

The intense physical pain she felt now was something a sixteen-year-old girl had never experienced.

She was dragged out of the driver’s cab by her messy hair like a dead dog.

***

The Warehouse was filled with the cold scent of dust and rust, with only a few faint rays of light filtering through the small windows high above.

Makino Yuzuha was curled up on the cold concrete floor, every breath pulling at the tearing pain in her chest and abdomen.

Sweat, blood, and tears mixed together, clinging to her face.

Without her glasses, the world was nothing more than blurred and distorted outlines of light and shadow, heightening her helplessness.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of footsteps approached from a distance.

The tattooed man’s face, fierce even in her blurred vision, squatted down in front of her.

He was playing with a mobile phone with a shattered screen—Makino Yuzuha’s phone.

“Hmph, you can fight, huh? Still thinking about calling the police?”

The tattooed man used the edge of the phone to roughly poke Yuzuha’s bruised face.

She hissed in pain but bit her lip hard and didn’t make a sound.

“Originally, the boss just told us to go to that crappy Zhong restaurant to ‘say hello’ and make them understand the situation. Who would have thought… We’d catch a little fish with ‘special value.'”

The tattooed man leaned closer, his breath smelling of stale cigarettes blowing in Yuzuha’s face.

“Do you know what our Dragonno Association lacks most right now? It’s ‘talented people’ with gifts like yours. Chairman Oowada likes recruiting people like you the most.”

“So, the plan has changed.”

The tattooed man turned his head, gesturing for another Yakuza to step forward.

That man, wearing a lewd smile, reached out roughly to grab Makino Yuzuha’s collar, holding a mobile phone that was already recording.

“No… No!”

Boom!

Outside the high window, a bolt of lightning capable of illuminating the entire sky flashed and vanished, followed by an Explosion of thunder so loud it made their eardrums ache.

“…Thunder?”

The tattooed man was startled.

Then, he saw something, and a hint of panic surfaced on his face.