Last Contract.

[Back to the current time]

Jessica Kazuma, the daughter of two of the most feared black market dealers in the underworld. The client wants an artifact that Jessica has in her possession. Allegedly, the artifact grants the deepest wishes of whoever it deems worthy, whether the target is good or evil, as long as they fulfill a certain condition their wish could be granted.

Eight o'clock. The time was here. Jin put his manga back into his jacket pocket and went to the side of the rooftop, using a zip line that he connected when he came up to zip down to the bottom. Of course, the handle on the zip line was specially made for one-armed individuals as using a normal one would've just spelled his death.

The zip line led to another rooftop behind it, much much lower than the first that had some stairs leading down to the bottom. The lower building in question was abandoned and had the ease of use to anyone. Homeless folks had been living in there but Jin had paid them off for the night to lend him the building. The building only had two stories and it wasn't that wide at all, in fact Jin could confidently. clear the whole building in half a step with his speed. He stood by the window and looked out of it, waiting for his target to arrive at the spot.

About 5 minutes later, four cars pulled into the alleyway behind the Shinjuku building. The alleyway was in between the abandoned building and the Shinjuku so it was extremely enclosed. The cars drove up and parked in such a way that both sides of the alley were closed off. Four people came out of each car, 7 of them encircled around a woman that came out of the first car and 7 of them encircled around another woman that came out of the second car.

The first woman, who had blonde hair, voluptuous curves, pale skin, and looked like a mix between American and Asian was holding a large box in her hands. Every move she made was followed by the men around her that were each wielding large automatic weapons, ranging from Ak47's to M-16's to even some Remington R4's. As she saw one of the men of the other woman bring a briefcase out of the car, she said to her men:

"Spread out! 3 of you go into that abandoned building over there and case it out, make sure no one's in there. When you're done, each of you stands at 3 different windows inside and whistle so that I know you're alive. Two of you who stand guard by the cars and make sure no one comes in from this side of the alley, the last one will remain next to me."

The woman was smart and decisive with her orders. She couldn't leave any space for errors especially if the man she heard was coming for her head tonight was indeed coming. Rumors were always spread in the underworld so she couldn't be too careful.

"You're still paranoid about this so-called Martial Arts underworld called the Murim or something like that Jessica-chan? You know, this one-armed lizard or whatever you call him doesn't exist right? Even if he did, what is he going to do with one arm? Hehe, the great Jessica Kazuma is scared of a handicapped 'legend', I never thought I would see the day."

Jessica was slightly annoyed by the woman's taunts but she didn't pay it any mind. Every time she did a deal with this woman it was the same thing with her. Jessica knew that she had to learn her lesson someday.

"Leito-san, I would ask that you keep this meeting short and professional, I would like to leave this place."

Jessica wasn't stupid. She knew that if she kept stealing these artifacts and selling them to the black market, eventually someone is gonna send a real assassin after her for their items. If in fact the One-Armed Dragon was coming tonight, she knew she was doomed.

Not long after three whistles rang out from the abandoned building, from three different locations like how she specified. Using that as her confirmation to start the deal, she walked forward with the large box and Leito walked forward with the briefcase in hand.

"5 million dollars in the briefcase?"

"Yes, Jessica-chan.~"

"Wishing artifact in the box?~"

"Confirmed, Leito-san."

The deal was made right there and as they were going to leave, Jessica noticed something wrong. The two men who were supposed to be at guarding the cars weren't there. The only one outside with her was the man closest to her.

"Guards, come out!!"

The guards in the building weren't coming out. There weren't any sounds coming from the building at all.

"Shit! Leito-san! Take your men and let's and get out of here! We're being ambushed!"

But it was too late. BOOMMM! A figure landed on Leito who was standing in between her men. Her men fanned out and surrounded the place where the impact was and they were waiting until the smoke cleared to have a clear view of the assailant and their mistress inside.

Jin wasn't about to wait for the smoke to clear. He trained his eyes and ears to the point that he could hear the slightest of breaths in the air and see the darkest of shadows in the night, so the smoke couldn't block his vision at all. He folded his fists behind his back and closed his eyes.

"Nine of them left. Two trying to escape in a car and seven surrounding me. One dead under me. The artifact is secured. My needles are already poisoned with Sage's Demise. Targets ready to be executed."

Jin circulated a strange energy throughout his body and exerted it out of his feet causing the smoke to be blown outwards, temporarily blinding the vision of the men around him. At the same time, the smoke went outwards, Jin threw one needle at every target he locked onto.

Pshhhh! Pshhhh!

Each needle went into the necks of their targets, if they weren't dead on impact, the poison quickly degenerated their muscles, causing them to be paralyzed. Their only choice would be to wait for their death. Jessica was the only one left alive though, she tried to drive away in one of the cars but her feet weren't moving at all.

"Shit! Shit! Sh..it...Sh..."

And that was the death of Jessica Kazuma. To make sure the target was dead, Jin pulled her out of the car, extracted the needle, and broke her neck. Jin then took out his silenced pistol and shot her twice in the head.

"That old bastard always did say to double-tap my targets."

Jin then went around to retrieve all his needles, the zip line, the suitcase of money, the artifact, doubled tapped everyone there, retrieved his shells, and left in one of their cars, making sure he checked the car for bugs before leaving. Such was the life of an assassin, he could never afford to be too careful about anything.

About half an hour later, Jin got home on foot as he had trashed the car a fair way away from his house. It didn't take too long for him to get home, as his body was trained to the absolute maximum and he was trained in the martial art known as the Way of Heaven. It allowed a practitioner to utilize every single part of their body as a weapon, from the hair on their heads to the nails on their toes. Everywhere had to be hardened to the absolute apex as a practitioner of the style wasn't allowed to have any weaknesses whatsoever. There was also never supposed to be more than one practitioner of the style in each generation as the past master had to pass on all his Chi to the new one as soon as he finished training him, effectively killing the former.

Volatile areas of the body, for example, the eyes were protected by a thick layer of the strange energy, or in better terms Chi. Chi is used as a kind of breathing technique, pushing more oxygen through the body and allowing the heart to beat faster, therefore pushing more blood through the body and causing the body to burn the life force of the user, creating energy out of that force. It could be used for many things, including enhancing your martial arts and the control of the elements to a certain degree. It could not produce the element though.

Jin walked into a seemingly dilapidated shack and closed the door behind him. As soon as he did metal shutters fell down on the windows and multiple electronic locks started clicking on the door. The shack wasn't dilapidated at all as the wall was made of thick slabs of enhanced steel and the glass windows were bulletproof. The shutters were also made of steel. Jin couldn't afford to let his guard down even when he was sleeping.

He then put down the artifact, sat on his bed, and picked up an old cell phone from under his pillow to call his employer.

"Target eliminated. Multiple targets were caught in the crossfire but were also eliminated. Artifact secure. It will be delivered at the drop off point tomorrow. That will be 25 million. Yes, in US currency. See you at the drop off point."

Jin cut the call and crushed the phone in his hands, turning every part of it into bits with his monstrous strength. He then took off his leather jacket and a light blue Hawaiian shirt, only leaving his pants on. He then got up and walked to a shrine that had the picture of a familiar old man on it. Bowing to it, one could see for the first time he had a hint of emotion in his eyes as he did.

"Old bastard, every time I complete a mission you told me that I had to pay respects to you. Shameless old dog. Here I am, once again. This one today would make my 500th successful mission. You must be gloating to the devil himself about how wonderful your disciple is in hell huh? Hahaha, old man. I..miss you. I only knew you for 10 years, but everything you gave was more than I could ask for. To me, you are my true father. When I was 16 years old taking my revenge on my father and the dogs who assaulted me and my mother, you waited outside with some ice cream and a basket for me to put their heads in. It's funny, I call you my father but you never told me your real name. All you ever said was to call you Master Tendo. That will be my memento of you. If I am reincarnated, I'll take that name or if I happen to have a son in this life, I'll give him that name. Old man, I lo...sigh, it's like I can hear the tears dropping from your eyes already. You know what I mean to say so I don't think I have to say it."

In truth, Jin was just feeling nervous saying such a thing. He had only said it once before and that was to the old man when he died. Although he was still talking to the old man, he couldn't find it in himself to say it again. Returning to his bed, Jin took out his manga, which so happened to be one punch man at the time, and laid down on the bed, reading himself to sleep that night.

It wasn't too long after that Jin felt a strange sensation in his mind. Something was telling him to open his eyes. As soon as he did, he found himself in a blank white room in front of a familiar statue. It was the artifact he just collected. That didn't phase him though as he immediately tried reaching for his pistol to let the statue have it.

"Young one! Your weapons didn't come here with you. We are in a space between dimensions. I am here to grant your deepest desires!"