Chapter Seven: Clashing Titans

[Moscow, Russia]

Russia, the largest country in the world, with a population of 144 million, is renowned for its artists and thinkers, including legendary writers such as Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Known as the Land of Vodka, Russia is also famous for one particular entity: the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti or KGB. The KGB was the main security agency for the Soviet Union from 13 March 1954 until 3 December 1991. The agency was a military service governed by army laws and regulations. Its main functions included foreign intelligence, counter-intelligence, operative-investigative activities, guarding the state border of the USSR, protecting the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Soviet Government, organizing and securing government communications, and combating nationalist, dissident, religious, and anti-Soviet activities. The failed coup d'état and the collapse of the USSR marked the end of the KGB on 3 December 1991. Or so everyone thought. It now operates under the name FSB.

Red Square, one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, is located at the historic center along the eastern wall of the Kremlin. It is the city's most prominent landmark, featuring famous buildings such as Saint Basil's Cathedral, Lenin's Mausoleum, and the GUM department store. About 900 meters northeast of Red Square lies Lubyanskaya Square, home to the FSB.

[FSB Headquarters]

Inside the FSB headquarters, various sections could be found: the Control Sector, the Intelligence Sector, and the Nuclear Sector. The Control Sector manages FSB operations, the Intelligence Sector oversees counter-intelligence, operative-investigative activities, and foreign intelligence, while the Nuclear Sector handles nuclear weapon oversight.

In the Intelligence Center, the room was large and filled with supercomputers and a big screen on the wall. Soldiers were on the ground level, while the chief in command stood on an elevated floor above them.

A Russian soldier stood up and exclaimed, "Шеф, должно произойти что-то большое!" (Chief, something big is about to happen!)

Another soldier interjected, "You f**king idiot, some of the readers cannot understand Russian. Translate it, suka blyat."

The first soldier apologized and translated, "Chief, there's something big about to happen!"

The chief glanced at him and asked, "What is it?"

The soldier replied, "The Japanese Bald Brothers were all wiped out, and the crime syndicate is making a move. Our spy there said it was Nox who wiped out the Bald Brothers."

The chief's eyes grew serious as he said, "Nox? That bastard is alive? I thought we killed him."

The Russian soldiers looked confused. To clear up their confusion, the chief began to recount an incident from ten years ago.

"Let me tell you a tale. Ten years ago, there were power imbalances between various crime organizations. The CIA, the Japanese Yakuza, the Triads of China, the Russian Mafia—all were involved in this deadly clash.

There was this crime syndicate, the Silica Familiga, one of the strongest crime syndicates in the underworld. During the power imbalances, the Silica Familiga tried to absorb all the other mafia organizations and grow their power.

The boss of the Silica Familiga, Leonarda Barone, was feared among the crime syndicates. He was 6'7" tall, with large hands and a sharp mind. Nicknamed the 'Living Guillotine,' it was said he once decapitated a man with a mere swing of his hand. With Barone at the helm, the Silica Familiga was expanding rapidly, capturing other mafia organizations—until they clashed with Samsara.

We don't have much information about Samsara, but it's believed that at that time, Samsara was still growing, with fewer than 100 members and a female boss. They were heavily underestimated.

Barone thought Samsara was just a small-time syndicate, so instead of going himself, he sent his powerful henchmen to bring back the head of Samsara's boss. Unbeknownst to him, it wasn't as easy as he thought. Standing against the Silica Familiga was one man: Nox. He had various nicknames—the Grim Reaper, the Shadow Assassin, the Living Death, and many more.

When the Silica Familiga's henchmen went to capture Samsara's boss, it's said that Nox single-handedly killed them all in a brutal manner, packed their bodies, and sent them to the Silica Familiga. After seeing the bodies of his henchmen, Barone took matters into his own hands and went to the Samsara headquarters.

Nox and Barone stood face-to-face. It's believed they fought for three days, and on the third day, Barone's decapitated head was found hanging in the center of Samsara's headquarters."

[Back at Samsara's Headquarters]

"Achoo!" Nox sneezed.

"Did you catch a cold?" Akira asked.

"I don't think so," Nox replied.

"Anyway, let's take a walk," Akira suggested.

Nox and Akira took a walk around the headquarters and came across a human skull hanging in the center. Nox looked at it and asked, "Hey, why didn't you take it down?"

"I liked it there; it's such a pleasant decoration," Akira replied.

"Gosh, you're such a lunatic," Nox retorted.

"Says the one who slayed Barone?" Akira joked.

"Shut up; it was a tough fight," Nox responded, and they walked away, chatting.

[Mount Everest, Nepal]

At the midpoint between the southeast and northeast ridges, the Yeti was seen resting on the ground. Its big ears suddenly twitched as if it had heard something, and its eyes opened wide. The Yeti looked around, trying to locate the source of an immense presence. In the far distance, at the northeast ridge, a shadowy figure emerged: Zhu and his team. As the Yeti prepared to charge, it stopped and looked toward the southeast ridge, where Sherpa, with his powerful strides, caused the ground to tremble, catching the Yeti's attention.

The red aura of Zhu and the white aura of Sherpa were intense and clashed against each other. Confused about where to charge, the Yeti stood in the middle, roaring loudly. Zhu and Sherpa came face-to-face, with the Yeti standing between them.

"Well, well, look who we have here, the dragon's son, Zhu," shouted Sherpa.

"It's an honor to meet you, the legendary berserker," replied Zhu.

"Well, I am sorry to say, but this beast here is mine," claimed Sherpa.

"I came here first, berserker. He's mine; it's first come, first served," Zhu responded.

"I'm afraid you're getting in my way, and I don't like people getting in my path," Sherpa retorted.

"Why don't we settle this then? Whoever wins takes the beast," Zhu proposed.

"Alright, then, you asked for it," Sherpa answered.

After saying that, Sherpa took a deep breath and jumped. He leaped so high that he soared above the Yeti and landed directly in front of Zhu. Zhu, unfazed, stood there as Sherpa towered over him like a giant.

Sherpa raised his hands and said, "I'm still giving you a chance. Back off right now."

Zhu smiled at him. Seeing Zhu's smile, Sherpa slammed his hand toward Zhu, as if his hand were a hammer and Zhu the nail. Sherpa's hand crashed down with a loud thud, shattering the ground and creating a massive crack. However, Zhu had already dodged and moved far away from Sherpa.

"If it had struck me, I would have definitely died," Zhu shouted.

"Nice reflexes," replied Sherpa.

Seeing the tension between Zhu and Sherpa, the Yeti couldn't stay quiet and charged toward Sherpa. Sherpa expertly utilized the Yeti's charging momentum to his advantage. As the Yeti lunged forward, Sherpa swiftly executed a harai goshi, a classic judo hip throw technique. He positioned himself perfectly, using his hip as a pivot. In one fluid motion, he swept the Yeti's leg with his own while simultaneously pulling and rotating its upper body. The result was a powerful and controlled slam, sending the Yeti crashing to the ground with a resounding impact.

With pain, the Yeti let out a thunderous roar.