Ring, ring—
In the hotel room, Shiraishi's phone rang.
Glancing at the name on the display, Shiraishi's lips curled into a Dragon King grin...
"Hello, Mr. Washinuma. Did you remember some other detail?" Shiraishi Kuro had previously left Washinuma Noboru his number.
"No, no... I... I have something important to tell you. Could you come to the garage on the first floor of the north side?" Washinuma Noboru sounded extremely nervous.
"Alright. I'll be right there," Shiraishi Kuro said calmly.
This was the hotel arranged by the airline, and the other passengers were all staying here. Instead of asking him to come to his room, Washinuma wanted to meet in the garage?
It sounded suspicious, but...
Shiraishi Kuro pretended not to notice!
He did not even put on a jacket or tie. Wearing only a white dress shirt, he headed straight out toward the elevator.
It was four in the morning, and the hallway was completely deserted.
Without his jacket, Shiraishi's powerful upper body was even more apparent!
Before entering the elevator, Shiraishi deliberately listened carefully outside the elevator doors first—hmm, no sound of a timed bomb. The local gangsters still had some martial virtue.
When he arrived at the garage and passed a security camera, Shiraishi Kuro deliberately glanced upward...
Sure enough, from the reflection, Shiraishi Kuro keenly noticed that the camera was not operating!
In the silent garage, Shiraishi Kuro spotted "Washinuma Noboru" from behind in the distance...
After checking with Lv7 [Memory], Shiraishi Kuro confirmed it—the height was indeed close, and the clothes were the same set, but... it was not the real person!
"Mr. Washinuma, did you remember something else?" Shiraishi Kuro asked as he approached, pretending not to have noticed.
And at that moment...
Swish—
The other man suddenly turned around, slashing a blade toward Shiraishi Kuro's chest.
Already prepared, Shiraishi Kuro raised a hand and instantly seized the man's wrist. He twisted it, disarmed him, then pinned his arm behind his back, making him cry out in pain.
Clang—
"Let go of me, you bastard!"
"August 19th, 4:15 a.m. You are under arrest for assaulting a police officer!"
Before Shiraishi had even finished speaking, he heard dozens of car doors opening and closing with loud thuds. Turning around, he saw many vicious-looking men stepping out of the surrounding vehicles with weapons in hand...
Clang, clang, clang—
Swish—
Some dragged iron pipes along the ground with a scraping sound, while others held folding knives. At a glance, there were around thirty of them surrounding him!
"Police. Those holding clubs, please show identification for a routine inspection. Those holding knives have already violated the Blade Control Act. Squat down at the side and hold your heads," Shiraishi said without much sincerity, chopping the man he had just captured unconscious with the side of his hand.
Of course, no one listened to him, but...
The law enforcement procedure still had to be observed!
"Hehehe... Police? Who knows? A fool from the Metropolitan Police Department getting killed by a drunk in the middle of the night is just one of those things, right?" said a minor boss with a mohawk.
Clearly, they had already found someone to take the blame...
Whoosh—
An iron pipe swung at him, but Shiraishi Kuro merely took a slight step back and avoided it before immediately twisting around...
Someone behind him was also thrusting with a knife. Fortunately, Shiraishi Kuro reacted faster—he parried from the middle, redirected the force aside, pulled the man's arm into a defensive position, then slammed into him with an Iron Mountain Lean!
As he pulled the man's wrist aside, the folding knife in his hand also stabbed into the mohawked man's shoulder...
"Argh!"
That scream completely ignited the brawl—a melee of more than thirty against one!
As for the one hit by the Iron Mountain Lean, he had already collapsed...
After dealing with the first two attackers, Shiraishi Kuro no longer held back. He shifted into a Fighting Stance!
Facing the iron rods swinging his way, Shiraishi Kuro circled and ducked, driving punches into livers and knees into stomachs... Every strike knocked someone unconscious!
"Move aside!"
Apparently unable to stand watching these cannon fodders throw away their lives, a burly man with facial tattoos and a three-section staff stepped forward...
Shiraishi Kuro had investigated Yokohama's violent groups before, so he recognized that face—he was the wakagashira of the Oe Group, directly under the Ryumarukai, a wide-area Violent Organization.
The man first spun the staff in flourishes, flipped it behind his back, and gestured around for a while before charging in with a White Horse Crossing the River. The front section of the staff crashed down toward Shiraishi Kuro!
Yet, against the three-section staff, Shiraishi Kuro directly blocked it with his upper arm. And... his thick muscles actually did not even tremble as they took the blow. Taking advantage of the man's unstable posture, he drove a Finger Jab straight at his face. As the man dodged back, Shiraishi Kuro trapped his arm to limit his attack, then smashed a Hooking Hammer into his face!
Saliva, blood, and teeth flew through the air as he lost consciousness on the spot...
Shiraishi Kuro's [Physique] and [Spirit] were both Lv10. Naturally, he had not wasted them, and had also invested in [Combat Sports] and [Fighting], raising both to Lv8!
Finger Jabs and Hooking Hammers were both basic movements of Jeet Kune Do.
A Finger Jab used fingers like thrown darts; a Hooking Hammer swung sideways with elbow power, striking with the back of the fist.
For basic attributes, Lv1 required 3 points, Lv2 required 10, then 30, 100, 300... all the way up to Lv10, which required 100,000 points!
For techniques, however, Lv1 only required 1 point and Lv2 required 3, a full tier below the requirements for basic attributes.
Additionally, mastering related techniques or corresponding basic attributes granted "discounts" when leveling up. For example, if [Physique] was high enough, investing points into [Combat Sports] techniques would receive a discount, while [Spirit] could reduce the requirements for [Fighting].
The difference was that [Combat Sports] leaned more toward fighting techniques, while [Fighting] leaned more toward practical combat instincts.
As long as his [Combat Sports] level increased, Shiraishi Kuro could quickly master techniques from any style. As for those style-specific techniques, Shiraishi Kuro learned them himself after investing points. In the internet age, that was quite convenient.
And as [Fighting] increased, Shiraishi Kuro's bodily awareness—or rather, his combat instincts—would improve in a fight...
The reason he had not maxed either one out was that at Lv7, with the bonus from [Physique], [Combat Sports] performed at Lv7 (+3). When Shiraishi Kuro raised it to Lv8, it performed at Lv8 (+2). That led him to suspect that Lv10 might be the maximum, so he had not invested more.
As for [Fighting], it benefited from the basic attribute [Spirit]. [Spirit] was not a superpower; it was more like resilience and the degree to which one could concentrate.
Shiraishi Kuro's [Spirit] was also Lv10. It was as important as [Physique], the foundation among basic attributes. Once they were maxed out, many attributes and techniques received "discounts."
And now, it was not just Jeet Kune Do...
Mid-level front snap kick! Enemy defeated +1.
Spinning side flip...
Backfist! Enemy defeated +1.
Slap defense...
Bow stance straight punch! Enemy defeated +1.
Raised-arm block...
Tiger toe strike to the jaw!
Step-in side kick!
Jeet Kune Do, Taekwondo, karate, Muay Thai...
Enemy defeated +1, +1, +1...
Thud—
Shiraishi Kuro still took a heavy blow to the back of the head, but...
What did [Physique] Lv10 mean?
The hardness of the back of his skull and his brain's resistance to impact were also Lv10!
He merely tipped his head forward slightly, and before the other man could celebrate...
Turning elbow!
An elbow strike was already a powerful attack, and with the force of the turn behind it, Shiraishi Kuro heard bones shatter.
But...
Shiraishi Kuro shook his head and looked around, only to realize... the number of people had not decreased!
Many were already lying on the ground. After all, once they took a hit, it was difficult for them to get back up, and three hits at most would put them down. But... there seemed to be no fewer people standing. Clearly, there had been more than just the initial thirty or so.
"Don't be afraid, everyone! He... he's already done for!"
"Killer Shark is here!"
"Haha, Brother Shark used to be an underground boxing champion..."
"Confirm point allocation..."
[Combat Sports], Lv9! [Fighting], Lv9!
Shiraishi Kuro decisively raised both of them.
Just now, after the effects of his [Physique] and [Spirit] had fallen, his combat power had dropped to only [Lv8 (+1)]. Now that he had increased his techniques, it had returned to [Lv9 (+1)]!
Fortunately, Shiraishi Kuro usually kept some points in reserve...
He had originally prepared these points for when he was promoted to the National Police Agency within the next year or two and transferred to desk work—if Shiraishi had not insisted on taking on the Minister of Justice, he might have already used them.
"I'm going to crush you!"
"An underground boxing champion? Heh..."
"Hm? What's wrong with you? Don't tell me you hurt your balls? Hahaha..."
The seemingly fatigued Shiraishi Kuro suddenly abandoned his previous Fighting Stance and assumed a "strange" posture—the small opening stance of Seven Star Fist!
The instant Killer Shark, wearing brass knuckles, punched at him, Shiraishi Kuro dodged. The iron knuckles struck a square garage pillar, blasting a small crater out of the brickwork.
Killer Shark did not stop. He immediately turned and swung another punch, but Shiraishi Kuro nimbly avoided it—despite being a 226-centimeter, 159-kilogram behemoth, he was unbelievably agile...
Killer Shark's murderous punches left craters in walls and holes in cars!
As he relentlessly pursued his target, he even accidentally injured quite a few of his own cannon fodders, frightening everyone into retreating again and again...
The moment his momentum began to wane, Shiraishi Kuro suddenly switched from defense to offense. First came a Left-Right Shuttle that knocked aside his punching line. With Killer Shark's center wide open, Shiraishi Kuro launched himself upside down into a Sacrificial Kick!
The kick snapped the "boxing champion's" neck with a crack. He then fell stiffly to the ground, and it was unclear whether he would ever stand again...
At the beginning, Shiraishi had generally held back, merely taking away their ability to fight. But as his stamina declined, his blows grew heavier and heavier!
But at that moment...
Bang—
A gunshot rang out!
Shiraishi Kuro instinctively pulled someone in front of him as a shield, while understanding in his heart—the other side was about to abandon all martial virtue!
Before you continue