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Chapter 153: Memories

"Sos, Raul and I have some things to discuss. You can step out for a moment."

"All right, Mr. President." Sos closed the door, leaving the two middle-aged men in the room.

"Joseph, stop talking like some radical youth. I really don't know who voted for a brute like you." Beside him, Joseph's friend, the arms dealer Raul, said with a gentle smile, a pipe clenched between his teeth.

"Raul, you're not fiery enough. Those ape-monkeys stir up trouble every day, demanding equality. They won't stop until they've tasted some bullets."

"You're not fit to be a president. You should be a great dictator. Killing those who defy you until they submit, that's your style. A president in the game of democracy needs compromise and balancing various interests."

"How about I just switch to a head-of-state system in two years? I feel like I'm getting stronger every day. In another two years, I should be able to crush all dissenting forces. Raul, will you support me?" Joseph said, half-joking.

"Become a dictatorial head of state in a country that's been a democratic republic for hundreds of years, the very stronghold of the democratic camp? That plan is too insane. My old friend, how is it that after gaining superhuman strength, you've become even less sensible than Clark? While he might be a bit of a bleeding heart, at least Clark never thought of ruling the United States with love."

"Clark is an alien, after all. He can never understand humanity's innate desire to dominate our own kind, to draw lines and divide ourselves into circles," Joseph said coldly.

"Raul, do you have any wishes now?" The increasingly deranged president suddenly changed the subject.

"We both have enough money to last ten lifetimes, a single word can decide the lives and deaths of countless people, and with just a word, women waiting for us could line up for miles. We already possess everything ordinary people could ever desire. The reason I ran for president now is because I want revenge, and I want to pursue something deeper."

"You truly are the same Joseph from forty years ago, still just as crazy. Back then, the three of us were penniless youths, and a gang of thugs surrounded us in an alley. With good marksmanship, we barely managed to break through, but in the end, Morse was too gravely wounded and died from those bastards' bullets." As Raul spoke, his eyes began to redden.

If an outsider were to see this side of Raul, the great arms dealer known as the "King of War," they would probably feel it was a case of "crocodile tears."

"The two of us idiots spent half a month recuperating in a basement, then another month staking them out, picking off those thugs one by one with headshots, before escaping from Chicago to New York City, having spent all our money." Joseph recalled this memory, which belonged only to the three of them.

"I've forgotten how much money it took to erase every last trace of that incident before you decided to run for president," Raul continued. "A president elected into office is a murderer, ha ha ha."

"None of them should exist in this country!"

"In the words of those people from Yamato, isn't this what they call 'juvenile delusion'?" Raul quickly recovered, once again teasing his decades-long friend.

"Speaking of Yamato, what's the situation like over there?" Raul continued to ask.

"Nuclear bombs leveled three-quarters of Tokyo, and with the added tsunami, Yamato's population loss is estimated at around forty million."

"I wasn't asking about that. Who cares how many of them died? I was asking if their civilian armament law passed." When the topic didn't concern those close to him, Raul once again displayed the qualities of a qualified arms dealer.

"It has passed. Due to the frequent landings by the Sea Race, the Yamato government has relaxed regulations on civilian firearm ownership. To allow ordinary citizens the means to protect themselves during an invasion, most light weapons are now permitted for market sale. Your arms transport planes can depart now."

"Yamato has a very high density of volcanoes, which has led to abnormally rich Spirit Stone reserves. This time, we can make a killing through arms trade."

"Tell me, when should we propose the expulsion act?" Watching his old friend begin to pore over his business plans again, Joseph decided to steer the conversation back.

"Let's consider it after this country has been rebuilt. Anyway, the people below are already enforcing their 'expulsion act,' so why invite more criticism? Our people represent the vast majority, and the vast majority can never be wrong. It's always the minority who are wrong, especially once they're all dead."

"What?! Ying has decided to withdraw from the competition?!"

Just as the final round of the Ability User Martial Arts Tournament's Top Eight qualifiers was underway, the official organizers suddenly announced this news. The other three fellow unfortunates grouped with Ying had already prepared their tickets home, but now, one more person had to advance to the Top Eight from among them. The three, who had previously gotten along well due to being similarly crushed, instantly became hostile.

"Damn it! How could this happen!" Luo Yi, who had finally re-familiarized himself with all the ultimate moves from his memories and planned to deliver a fierce face-slapping battle in the finals, felt a deep sense of frustration, as if he had thrown a full-powered punch only to hit thin air. Helpless, he could only try to vent his anger on the upcoming matches.

"Shady dealings! It must be shady dealings! Why would he suddenly choose to withdraw!" Many furious fans began to blame the organizers, so the spokesperson for the conference had no choice but to release Ying's handwritten withdrawal letter.

"This competition has lost its meaning for me, so I choose to withdraw." This page was verified by certain Ability Users, confirming that the handwriting matched the person who filled out Ying's registration form.

It was a very concise statement, but naturally, different people had different interpretations. Some believed that Ying had, in fact, suffered some permanent injury in a previous battle that even a medical pod couldn't treat, feeling his strength had plummeted and that competing for the top spots was no longer possible, so he simply withdrew. This was also evident from his noticeably off-form performance in the previous few matches.

However, others believed that after Ying overwhelmingly defeated Luo Yi, he felt there was no longer any point in fighting the other contestants, so he chose to leave. After all, Luo Yi's combat power that day was terrifyingly evident, and Ying, having crushed him, certainly had the right to consider everyone else present as trash and not worth wasting his time on.

From then on, Ying vanished from everyone's sight, leaving behind only numerous legends about him, and the fury of Luo Yi, who served as the legend's stepping stone.

Of course, Bai Mo, the instigator of the entire affair, hadn't considered so much. He indeed didn't want to continue the competition because it had become meaningless. His objective of participating to test Luo Yi had largely been achieved, and he didn't need any prize money or rewards. He wasn't a battle maniac like Black Crow, who could break through in combat, so he simply didn't bother to waste any more time.

Because next, he had a super-massive experiment to conduct....