Chapter 446: Remember Me

[Proto Earth 1]

As the sunset shines brightly in their faces, Kaido closes his eyes as he felt its warmth , before clearing his throat and talking to Lilia about his nearing departure. However before he could even talk about the topic at hand, Lilia beats him to it as if she had already anticipated such words from him.

"I..."

"Let me guess, your going back to your own world right?"

"!!!"

"It's not that hard to guess Kaido, your other world companions are here, you way back to your world is secure, and somewhat all your waiting now is to enter another unranked dungeon in order to open a portal inside of it and use such rift to return to your previous world, i'm not that stupid to not notice" said by Lilia while looking at the sunset

"I see... It seems like your not, your smarter than you think you are"

"I know right? praise me more"

"Don't push it"

As Kaido said this, Lilia then stopped her teasing as she jumped over the metal railing, and sat on it as if it was the natural thing to do. On the other hand Kaido leaned on the railing as he waited for her to speak up.

"So when are you planning to enter another unranked dungeon?" asked by Lilia

"I was planning about few days from now" answered by Kaido

"That soon eh?"

"Yes..."

"Mhm... maybe we should throw a little bit of party before we see you off"

"Party?"

"Yeah! Like a farewell party"

"Isn't that Kind of excessive?"

"There's no such thing as excessive if we are sending you and your companions off"

"I see... that's a first"

"What do you mean?"

"I never had anyone send me off"

Upon hearing that, Lilia looked over at Kaido, as she somehow bewildered by what she heard and even wondered about his life experience. It may be quite rude, but Lilia is literally quite curious about Kaido's background.

"By the way, you already know my life and how i live it, would you tell me now about you?"

"Me?"

"Yes! I never so much tried to touch your background as a sign of respect and privacy, but it just got me really curious you know... I know that you came from another world, but i don't know how your world function and what its system is... i'm pretty curious"

"I see... so your worried about that, but you shouldn't have to worry about that, after all i never intended to hide my origin... all you need to do is ask"

"Then can you tell me now?"

"Well it would be quite a long story though"

"I have all the time in my hands"

The moment Kaido heard that, he then cleared his throat as he begun to tell his story and how his original world is and what is like to be transported into the world of his current companions. throughout his story telling, Lilia showcased various emotions as she listened into his words and somewhat rich reactions coming from her. It was quite a roller coaster of emotions, in the end the story telling ended the moment the sun finally disappeared in the sky and was soon replaced by the light of the stars and moon up above the heavens.

"Wow! That's your origin story? You've been through a lot, no wonder that's how you act towards the people around you... you already know what it feels like to be backstabbed, so its hard for you to trust other people easily"

"Life is not that easy... just when you thought that it was going smoothly, variable will arise and disrupt your plans... aside from returning, i don't think that i was able to accomplish my other vows... like taking revenge on the people who abandoned me"

"Of course you cant, when you got back, you realized their true feelings and why such a thing happened... do you know the reason why you made a vow like that without even seeing the full picture?"

"Why?"

"Its because your filled with rage and abandonment, but throughout your journey in another world, something changed which caused you to have a different perspective right? you learned how to trust again, how to care, and especially how to sacrifice"

"....."

"The biggest question here is, why are you designated as a villain in your original world and the world you were sent to after your first death?"

"That's because of how the society views me, i may have wanted to become a villain at first, but my deeds and acts just puts me in the category as anti-hero... however as the sole person who killed a lot of lives and caused destruction here and there, it was quite easy for my enemies to manipulate the media and let me be viewed as the villain who came to harm the world"

"That's quite fucked up"

"Well what can i do? i'm not that proficient in manipulating media... so instead of going against it, i then embraced the stigma and made that a reason for me to cause havoc as i hunt down my enemy"

Being seen as the enemy of the world. Being seen as the "enemy of the world" would indeed be an exceptionally challenging and burdensome position to find oneself in. It implies a widespread and intense negative perception of an individual, group, or entity on a global scale. To be seen as the enemy of the world suggests that the majority, if not all, of the global population perceives you negatively. Achieving such a consensus against any entity is incredibly rare and typically requires extreme and universally condemned actions.

Being the enemy of the world would likely lead to isolation on various fronts, including politically, economically, and socially. Nations, organizations, and individuals would likely distance themselves to avoid association with perceived negativity. With such widespread condemnation, security concerns would be paramount. Security risks could come from both organized entities and individuals, necessitating significant resources to mitigate potential threats. The media and information landscape could exacerbate the situation, with misinformation, propaganda, and disinformation campaigns further tarnishing the image of the perceived enemy. Lastly being universally perceived as the enemy could have profound psychological effects, including stress, anxiety, and even a sense of hopelessness.

Overall, being seen as the enemy of the world would be an incredibly daunting and challenging scenario with far-reaching implications across all aspects of life.

After quite awhile of them talking to one another, Lilia then stretched her arms upward, as she suggested for them to return back to her home. Upon hearing that, Kaido sigh for a bit, as he followed along and plans to spend the rest of the remaining time making the most of it between them. After all for some unknown reason, Kaido had grown fond of Lilia during his stay.

It took them quite awhile until they reached Lilia's home, as they were approaching her home, Kaido couldn't help but feel something was wrong, as he occasionally glance all over the place in a simple yet covert manner. But no matter how much he look for the source of his uneasiness, he cant seem to pick something up, as his own radar itself also didn't detect anything within the vicinity.

After one last look at his surrounding, before going into Lilia's home, Kaido then squinted his eyes, as he stayed vigilant until he closes the door. Once he closed the door, silence then befell the street as no signs of sound could ever be heard along the road and alleyways. In that moment unknown to him, Janus, the leader of the mercenary group under the A.L.P.H.A organization, then walked out from the shadow of the alleyway, as he was accompanied by Axel, the only person who has the capability to hide himself under Kaido's radar.

"So you was here after all, I finally found you"

*********

On the very next day, Lilia then invited her group and Kaido's group for a farewell party, in accordance to Kaido's departure with his comrades. This is also a sign of gratitude since she has spent quite awhile being with Kaido in this one month. Now that it is coming to an end, it is only appropriate to give Kaido a closure with a bang.

With it, the idea that Lilia has in order to celebrate Kaido's closure in this world, is through a eat out to one of the expensive yet popular restaurant in the city. After all this restaurant is offering Samgyeopsal. Samgyeopsal means "three layer flesh", referring to striations of lean meat and fat in the pork belly that appear as three layers when cut. It is a popular menu which enables the eater or customer to either fry, boil, toast, or steam the three layer flesh meat that will be served to them in raw. A unique you cook, you eat style of eating.

It is quite an experience since this encourage interactions with the other customers or companions and gain deeper understanding about one another while they wait for the meat to be cooked. The main type of meat the people preferred was beef, but pork and chicken meat were encouraged at a national policy level as a good alternative as most of the cattle, which was originally used for this type of eating method.

Back on earth, during the late 1980s to the 1990s, the dish became a popular menu along with Jokbal and sundae. The use of pork in traditional Korean cuisine such as Bossam or jeyuk-bokkeum focused on methods of hiding its smell with strong seasoning using spices such as ginger, garlic, and leek. After the smell problem was solved by scientific methods such as castration of pigs at the production level, the popularization of samgyeopsal became possible.

The way it is being prepared to eat is thick, fatty slices of pork belly, sometimes with the skin left on and sometimes scored on the diagonal, are grilled on a slanted metal griddle or a gridiron at the diners' table, inset with charcoal grills or convex gas burners. Usually, diners grill the meat themselves, flipping and cutting them with tongs and scissors, and eat directly from the grill.

The meat is usually neither marinated nor seasoned, although marinated samgyeopsal in flavors such as ginseng, wine, garlic, herbs, curry, doenjang, and gochujang has gained popularity since the late 2000s. Slices of garlic, onions, green chili peppers, mushrooms, and kimchi are often grilled alongside using the fat trickling from the pork belly.

Common accompaniments for samgyeopsal include vegetables such as lettuce, perilla leaves, pickled radish paper and dipping sauces such as ssamjang (made with seasoned mixture of chili paste and soy bean paste) and gireum-jang (made with sesame oil, salt, and black pepper),soy sauce-pickled vegetable such as pickled Siberian onion leaves or pickled onions, kimchi, as well as sliced garlic, onions, and seasoned shredded scallions. Garlic, onions, and kimchi can be either grilled with the meat or consumed raw with the cooked meat. Mushrooms, such as button mushrooms or oyster mushrooms, are also grilled with the meat.

Everyone was enjoying themselves, in fact they were enjoying it too much that Lilia ordered wine to be served. Since that was the case, they went all out to the point that other customers seemed bothered. But today was a joyous day so Kaido and his comrades just went along with it.

In that moment while he was enjoying his meal, one person in a hooded cloak, sat behind his chair on another table, as it then talked to him through a familiar voice.

("You seem to be having fun")

"!!!"

Hearing that voice, Kaido then begun to look all over the room as another voice spoke to him

("Don't look all over the place, especially don't look back... you just make it worse, i'm talking to you through telepathy, so you can communicate with me through your mind")

With that, a dead pan stare then emerged at Kaido's face as he stayed put and communicate with the voice inside his head.

["Do i know you?"]

("Know me? you practically Abhor me, or have you forgotten Subject no. 99?")

["You! Don't tell me your part of that G.E.N.O.S organization? After all only the members of that organization calls me subject no.99"]

("Member? I was a part of it")

["So you admit that you are one of them, you made a grave mistake by going after me"]

("You don't scare me subject no.99")

["Oh you should be, after all i will tear you apart limbs by limbs just like how you guys treated the people same as me"]

["I would love to see you try, This will be our rematch"]

["Rematch?"]

["Oh yes! i haven't introduced myself, lets say names Axel, remember now?"]

Upon hearing that name, Kaido suddenly remembered the Esper that was on the organization's side and the one he had fought back in Japan. For a fact Axel is the most troublesome opponent he had faced ever since he returned to this world, after all not only was he the no. 2 Esper that the organization had cultured, he also has the ability to rewrite reality. For Kaido, nothing more is annoying than the people who could affect reality.

["Axel... Yes! i remember you, so you survived"]

["Yes! i survived, including the man named Kojou"]

Once again Kaido was surprised to know that the head chief of Japan that caused his suffering and other Espers suffering was alive and well back on earth. For sure he thought that he had already killed the head chief from that one attack, but it seems like due to Axel's intervention, he too had survived that incident.

["So he's alive... I see... I'm glad, that only means i get a second chance to kill the both of you, you already lost to me once, i can do it again"]

["Indeed! I lost... However this time will be different, your not the only one who can grow strong"]

["I don't care, and if you think that you base your winnings on your rank, i'm afraid to say that not even a rank two like you could defeat me"]

["Rank two... looks like you don't know... I'm rank 1 now, I've improved and that man named Kojou is now the head general of the organization, we are now in a different league than you terrorist"]

["What?"]

["You heard me! i'm rank 1 now, due to unforeseen circumstances that happened in the country in the west, somehow actually barged into the main headquarters and killed everyone in it, including the head general and rank 1... with that i'm promoted and so are the rest of the numbers that were vacated due to your killings... Now that i think about it, since its been renewed, then maybe your now former no.99"]

["Former?"]

["Yes there's a new no.99 now and he is way better than you in all aspects and talent"]

["I see... your still doing that shit, your really making me want to kill you right now"]

["The feelings mutual, both of us... we got a bad blood between us, but that can wait... i don't want to involve unrelated individuals in our fight, after all i'm not as savage as you... If you want to find me, go to the coordinates that i will send to your brain"]

When Axel said that, a burst of information entered Kaido's mind, as he somewhat grot his teeth in pain, before he could process the information that was forcefully sent to his brain. But due to that transfer, he now knows where to go to find Axel.

["....."]

["I'll see you there"]

Once Axel said those words, the atmosphere in the surroundings returned to normal, as the buzzing sound in his mind finally disappeared and never returned. Remembering the place where he was told to go, Kaido couldn't help but feel restless as he really wanted to confront Axel, but since this was like an important event for Lilia and him, he then held back his urges to leave the party, and simply focused on the meal in front of him.

Time passed, while Lilia is in the ladies room, Kaido told Argos, Aileen, Fengris, and Belial about what happened to him prior their meal. Naturally each and every single one of them have different reactions and action on how to tackle this problem. For Argos he speculated that this might be a trap, Belial guessed that maybe Axel did become stronger and now is choosing you to prove his hard work is not in vain. For Aileen, she simply showed no emotions and reactions, as she sim ply advised him to break a leg. As for Fengris, he just said to confront Axel and literally try to kill him from the get go.

So despite all those warning, Kaido then decided to confront Axel, after all they do have history between them. So for some reason he needed to end everything at that moment.

Time passed, night then fell throughout the world of proto earth, as the sky dimmed and the stars appearing in the night sky. As darkness of the night covered the world, Kaido then sneaked out of Lilia's room, as he is headed for the meeting place that Axel messaged to his mind.

Not long after, Kaido then finally arrived at the empty rail yard, as the tracks and parked trains are all over the place. A rail yard, also known as a railroad yard or marshalling yard, is a complex facility where railroad trains are sorted, assembled, and dispersed for their respective destinations. Rail yards are crucial components of the railway transportation system, serving as major junction points where freight or passenger cars are organized according to their destinations or routes.

One of the primary functions of a rail yard is to sort incoming trains based on their destinations, types of cargo, or other criteria. This process involves breaking down trains into individual cars and grouping them accordingly. Rail yards have multiple tracks called classification tracks or sorting tracks. These tracks are used to store and sort railcars based on their destinations or intended routes. Rail yard personnel use switch engines or yard locomotives to move cars around the yard. Once cars are sorted, they are assembled into new trains that will continue their journey along specific routes. This assembly process involves arranging cars in the desired order and coupling them together.

Rail yards often have facilities for inspecting, repairing, and maintaining railcars and locomotives. They may also provide services such as refueling, cleaning, and changing crews. Many modern rail yards handle not only traditional railcars but also intermodal containers and trailers. This involves transferring containers between trains and trucks or ships, adding another layer of complexity to yard operations. Rail yards are important hubs in the overall transportation network, connecting various rail lines and facilitating the efficient movement of goods and passengers across long distances. Overall, rail yards play a crucial role in the logistics and operations of rail transportation, ensuring that trains are efficiently managed, organized, and dispatched to their destinations.

In that moment as Kaido was strolling around the rail yard, he then suddenly felt a presence on top of one of the trains, as he darted his sight towards such direction and saw Axel in both flesh and blood sitting on top of the train right in front of him.

"Welcome! or should i say long time no see? you actually came, I've been waiting for you Kaido"