Chapter 145: No One Can Bargain With Me

"Mr. Takamine, so you've already arrived?"

A voice sounded behind Takamine Rinji. He turned around and saw a woman in an office suit—Akiyama Kaede.

"Miss Akiyama, you're already here?"

"Yes... I came with President Nogi."

Akiyama kept her distance from Rinji—not out of fear of him, but of the old man standing beside him: Katahara Metsudo.

Rinji followed her gaze and saw Nogi Hideki and Yamashita Kazuo finally arriving a little late.

"Mr. Takamine…"

"Mr. Yamashita, huh. Honestly, I thought you wouldn't come." Rinji smiled. "But if you're here, that must mean Tokita Ohma is here too, right?"

"Uh... yes, Mr. Ohma is here," Yamashita replied awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

"Where is he?"

"He hasn't boarded yet," Yamashita said. "Seems like the fighters for the elimination round are boarding a different ship."

"Elimination round?"

Rinji looked slightly surprised.

The fighters participating in the pre-tournament eliminations were generally representatives of newer companies without any established track record. But the Nogi Group was an old, veteran member of the Kengan Association—there shouldn't be any need for them to participate in preliminaries.

"Tokita Ohma is no longer my company's fighter."

The one who answered was Nogi Hideki, who was smoking a cigar.

"He's not your fighter anymore?"

"Yeah. I fired him right after he beat Kanoh Agito," Nogi said with a grin. "I have a new fighter now."

"...What a pity. I was thinking I might recruit him as Amano Pharmaceuticals' representative. Which company does he belong to now?"

Nogi chuckled and pointed at the man shivering beside him—Yamashita Kazuo.

"Mr. Yamashita? You started a company?"

"N-not exactly... because of various circumstances..."

Yamashita laughed nervously, then drooped his head in defeat.

"I was forced to establish 'Yamashita Trading Company.'"

"I see."

Rinji understood Nogi's intentions.

A company may only register one fighter for the Kengan matches. The winner of the tournament can appoint the next chairman of the Kengan Association. So, if a sponsor values two fighters, the best strategy is to split them between two companies—one for each fighter.

Since Yamashita was Nogi's subordinate, it meant that no matter whether Nogi Group or Yamashita Trading won, Nogi Hideki could still designate himself as chairman—raising his odds of winning.

This was the true face of Kengan matches. While it appeared to be a battle between fighters, the scheming among companies started long before the matches even began.

"The elimination round is on another ship? Then that means..."

Standing on the deck, Rinji looked toward the coastline—and indeed saw another vessel.

A much smaller, older, even somewhat dilapidated ship that looked like it could sink any moment.

"That ship is the elimination round venue. We call it the 'S.S. Annihilation'"

Katahara Metsudo explained.

"The newer, unproven companies need to win in the preliminaries aboard that ship to qualify for the main tournament."

"I see."

Seeing Rinji's calm expression, Metsudo let out a chuckle.

"There are 151 companies in total. Though that sounds like a lot, all of them are fairly well-known in Japan. After all, just to participate in the Kengan Elimination Tournament I'm hosting, each company must pay an entry fee of 5 billion yen. If they win, great. If they lose, they kiss that money goodbye."

"I see." Rinji laughed. "Looks like 28 companies go directly into the main tournament, while 151 go through prelims. That's 179 companies total. Only one will be the final winner. So even if you lose your position as chairman of the Kengan Association, you'll still net 890 billion yen in entry fees."

"If I win, then not only do I keep my position as chairman, I also walk away with all that money. But of course, a portion of it will go to you," Metsudo said with a grin, stroking his beard.

"So..."

Takamine Rinji looked toward the "Annihilation" ship and asked,

"What do you want me to do?"

"Thin out the number of participants. Only a few need to make it through the preliminary round," Katahara Metsudou said as he raised three fingers. "Take out one person, and we'll divert 2 billion yen out of the 5 billion bounty to your company, Amano Pharmaceuticals."

"Make it 3 billion."

"That's too much. 2.5 billion, max."

"No one negotiates with me."

"Fine~ 3 billion it is."

"Deal."

Rinji stretched lazily, preparing to leave the ship and head to the other one.

"So how many of the 151 companies do you want to leave for the main event?"

"Let me think… Might as well make it a clean number. Let's have 32 companies in the main event, and leave just four from the prelims."

"Sounds good."

Out of the 151 participating companies in the preliminaries, only 4 would make it through.

"Oh, right."

Katahara Metsudou suddenly thought of something and stopped Rinji.

"What is it?"

"Hold back your strength a bit. After all, your 'performance' is scheduled for the main event."

Hearing that, Rinji chuckled and waved casually.

"Don't worry. I won't even show half my strength."

After disembarking from the "Kengan" ship, Rinji made his way to the decrepit "Annihilation" vessel.

Outside the hatch, combatants representing their companies were steadily entering.

"Hm? Mr. Takamine?"

"Oh, Miss Akiyama? What are you doing here instead of staying on the 'Kengan'?"

"I'm delivering something to Tokita."

Akiyama Kaede shook a bottle of canned tea in front of him.

"I see. I'll deliver it for you—I'm heading there anyway."

"Much appreciated."

Taking the drink from her, Rinji jogged up onto the "Annihilation."

Inside the cabin was a vast open space, already packed with fighters. Monitors were mounted up above.

The matches that happened here would likely be streamed live to the spectators on the "Kengan."

"Yo, didn't expect to see you here."

From the crowd, Tokita Ohma walked over to him.

Several other fighters looked over as well, puzzled by the presence of someone who looked so thin and out of place.

"Brought you a drink."

Rinji tossed the canned tea to Tokita Ohma.

"Thanks," Ohma said, cracking it open and taking a swig.

After wiping his mouth, he said, "Too bad—I was hoping you'd be joining the tournament."

"If you want to fight me, now's your chance."

Bang!