'This is disturbing..'.
That was the thought that kept going through Strydom's head as he strolled around the museum.
All the while the source of that thought walked beside him as they looked around at the mummified reminds of animals of all shapes and sizes, he was either not aware of it or he didn't care enough, the second being more likely considering that it was Yujiro.
"So he beat the mighty unchained by just using brute force?"
Hearing Yujiro's questions Strydom schooled himself putting aside his discomfort "maybe Oliva was weaker than we thought"
"It might have made you laugh before but Baki was prepared for that fight he trained very well…
His imagery fight with the praying mantis against your fight with the giant African elephant.
It's I think a wonderful counterattack, or should we say finally?
He crushed the number one of the USA by force or rather the strongest human in the world.
After all, Oliva was at one point almost even with your strength.
You are who you are and all, but I must admit that even I'm weaker than him.
Ogre Baki may be your greatest menace on earth by now"
When Strydom finished his speech he almost stumbled on nothing when he heard Yujiro chuckle. Causing Strydom to turn and look at him stunned.
"Has anyone ever told you you are full of shit, Strydom?" Yujiro turned to look at him as he asked with an odd relaxed smile on his face, not his usual grin or his cold impassive look.
"Baki is just the warm-up."
"Warm..up?
Do you mean to tell me that there is someone out there who is stronger than Baki right now?
And who?"
"Jack."
"Jack? Your other son Jack?" Strydom frowned as he scratched the side of his head.
"I knew that you were in a good mood Yujiro but not enough to throw around Jokes.."
Strydom didn't finish his sentence before he subconsciously straightened up as he saw Yujiro frown at him.
"Um.. I.. I mean didn't Baki beat Jack in the maximum tournament?"
"*scoff* please that monster wouldn't lose to Baki if he was asleep."
Strydom looked stunned as he stared at Yujiro who turned around and started walking away.
"Update your information before talking to me, next time".
Strydom didn't reply as he stared at where Yujiro was standing before, lost in his own thoughts.
'If Baki is this strong and Jack can beat him then..' sweat began to form on his forehead as the realisation set in and just when he thought it can't get any worse he suddenly remembered what he was feeling before as he turned to look at Yujiro.
He thought it was just him before but now he can see as clearly as the sun in the sky as Yujiro walked away. The air around him seems to twist as his aura was much stronger than it was just 3 months ago when he last met him before Baki even stepped foot into prison.
The Ogre was getting stronger and fast and that wasn't even the worst part.
No, the thing that made Strydom feel like he was about to have a heart attack was the second realisation he had.
'How strong was Jack to force the Ogre to get stronger at such a rate?'
~~~~~~{meanwhile}~~~~~~
Steam hovered in the air making the room feel like a literal sauna, the concrete walls trapping the heat inside making the temperature inside the room unbearable, even someone who spent their whole life in the Sahara would find this room uncomfortable.
Despite that, Baki stood in the middle of the room covered in sweat with steam clearly rising from his body as it evaporated with a calm look on his face as he was lost in thought.
He bent down placing his hands on the floor before sticking out his thumbs placing the weight of his whole body on them as he lifted his feet off the floor.
His eyes lost focus as he went back to autopilot again while time ticked by.
'How long have I been at it?'
Baki glanced around the room before remembering that he doesn't have a clock inside his basement.
'No widows, no clocks it feels like I have been down here for a long time, a couple of hours maybe. But…..'
Placing his feet back on the ground he straightened back up, looking at the weights strapped to his arms and legs courtesy of Jack.
Each one weighs in at around 100 kg with four one strapped on to each of his arms and legs.
Clenching his fist he felt how powerful he had gotten. Even with nearly half a tone strapped on his body moving around felt effortless.
His body has long since adapted to the extra load, even naturally adjusting to distribute the weight along the way.
It has been a month since he defeated Oliva.
The strongest in the US defeated with pure force at 18 an absolute and overwhelming victory. to the point that it felt kinda disappointing.
No one else can claim that achievement but him. But despite all of that.
'It's not enough'.
It has been like this since he got out of prison a month ago. This feeling, this voice in the back of his mind just tells him to keep getting stronger.
That it's not enough, and It just won't go away.
Baki frowned his mind wandering back to what happened to Ali jr.
His white hair and that lost distant look in his eyes as if he lost the will to live.
He heard that he has gotten better in recent days but h3 highly doubts he will ever be the same. That's just not the kind of thing you come back from.
'What did Jack do to get him like that?'
Baki had wanted to ask his brother about it, Doctor Kureha had shown him the video of Jack and jr but that gave little information as to what really happened.
He just knows it happened in the air as he knows that Jack against all logic can fly using that technique.
He tried it but he didn't quite manage to fly at most just to slow down his falling.
He quickly shook his head as he got back to training. He needs to get to exhaust himself if was going to get a good night's rest.
As for flying, if his brother can do it, so will he.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"In the most surprising news of this year the drug cartels all throughout South America have been mysteriously disappearing leaving behind destroyed drugs and equipment, with what was reported to be clear signs of combat as well as multiple sources confirming hearing the sound of gun fire in the distance from time but by the time anyone arrived the places are completely empty of people.
The reports also show that just in the past 3 months more than 80 percent of all drug related activities have been halted due to shortage in supply.
While the drug shortage has led to a spike in gang violence around the world due to infighting for what remains. We are all hopeful that this may be the beginning of a new area. A world without drugs…"
"Huh well I be damned…"
Max muttered as he took a sip from his hot chocolate as the snow storm raged outside.
The sound of the wind making him unconsciously shiver despite him sitting inside of the heated room.
"I have been in charge of the outpost here for years yet I can never get used to this kind of storm" he muttered to himself, a habit he formed due to spending most of his time alone, as he was the one to take the solo shift most of the time as it was a waste to have a whole team here when there was supposed to be no one hiking or trying to climb the mountain.
Luckily for him the radio tour that is used to get sos calls can also help him get excellent radio signal even in weather as bad as this.
"Hmmm?"
His musings stopped when he heard a faint sound of knocking. Not like the one caused by the storm, it sounded like it was coming from his door that kept getting louder.
"No way right… We saw this storm coming a week in advance. Everyone was warned and we made sure no one was out at a time like this.
It has to be something else after all no one would be stupid enou….Tourist, SHIT"
Not a second after Max sprung from His seat as he scrambled to put on the layer of clothes needed not to freeze outside.
Rushing himself to go get whomever was dumb enough to get stuck in a storm that was expected before they drop dead and add just one more corpse to the ironically mountain of them that covered mount Everest.
"Stupid tourists and their entitled Karen ass behaviour.." Max was cursing up a storm as he sprinted out medkit in hand as he opened the door the chilling winds hit in the face, but he paid it no mind as he looked around for any sign of people.
Only to find no one as he stepped out, making him frown as he scanned the area around him.
"Over here" Max spun around only to have to strain his neck looking up. As the biggest man he has ever seen in his life stood In Front of him shirtless in the middle of a snow storm.
Max was stunned. He had seen all kinds of people that come and try to climb the mountain but this was honestly his first time seeing someone try and do it shirtless.
He put all his questions and doubts aside as it was a miracle that man wasn't dead already, letting his training kick in a second later as he started inspecting Jack for frostbite while pushing him inside.
"What the…!?"
"Whoa there buddy" Jack stopped the man from his useless efforts at pushing him by just lifting him by the scarf of his neck as he struggled for a second feeling his feet leave the ground.
"Thanks for the concern and all but that not why I knocked, look there"
Jack placed the man back down on the ground this time turning him around to face where he was pointing.
"What the hell are you talking about? We need to get to a h…." Max's words got stuck in his throat as his eyes landed where Jack was pointing.
Corpses so many Corpses more than he thought he would ever see in his lifetime all Frozen stiff in different positions and lined up in rows.
The only thing in common between all of them was the fact that they were all perfectly preserved by the cold and all of them had climbing gear on them.
"Are those…."
"Every person that died climbing the mountain, yes"
Jack said as Max stepped forward to look at one of the corpses In Front of him.
One thing most people don't know or choose to ignore about Everest is that for every person that reaches the top many others die.
The sad thing being that most of those people never get a proper burial as it's simply too much of a risk to try and get their corpses back down.
So they end up being left there to the point that some of the more well known ones end up being used as landmarks with the cold persevering their bodies making it impossible for them to decay.
Max was currently looking at one such corpse as he was at a loss for words; he even forgot that he was just trying to rush Jack back inside.
"How…why?"
Jack chuckled at the questions making Max snap back and stare at him.
"A Lot of elbow grease and lifting with my legs, not my back".
Seeing Max just deadpan at him Jack rolled his eyes.
"As for why, part training and the other well…let's just say I'm balancing out my karma."
Max turned around to look at the hundreds of bodies all lined up in rows. His mind was a mess trying to comprehend this situation he was in.
"Anyways my part here is done you should probably call someone to get all of this sorted I have some sleep to catch up on"
Jack turned around and started walking away as it took a second for Max to snap out of his daze and call him "wait where are you going…HEY STOP YOU WILL DIE IN THE STORM…"
Max kept calling out as watched Jack disappear into the snow, losing sight of him he sprinted after him but soon remembered that he too would get lost if he did.
Max stood there not knowing what to do before he glanced back at the rows of bodies then ran back inside.
And just when he grabbed the phone to make a call he realised "shit no one is going to believe me…".