26 Chapter 25: The Passage of Time – Interlude 1; Dominating the Underworld

/ North America, Celaya – Mexico, 01 December 2013 /

Every year on this date, the leaders of the world's most influential criminal organizations gather. The location of the meeting always changes, alternating between different places around the world, and this time the chosen location was the city of Celaya in Mexico.

The reason for their meeting is not conspiracies or plans to rule the world; they meet for two simple reasons: one is to seek opportunities and benefits for themselves, and the other is to demonstrate and boast about their power.

The organizations participating in this event are the most powerful, dangerous, and sought-after in the world.

The Yakuza from Japan.

The Triads from China.

The Mafias from Italy.

The Mafias from Russia.

The Cartels from Mexico.

The Cartels from Colombia.

The Maras from Central and South America.

Just for this day, the leaders of the different organizations from their respective places come together to demonstrate the power of their own areas.

But on this day, there is one more organization, representing a place where they previously did not have enough power to be "invited" to an event where only the most powerful in the criminal world can participate.

The name of this organization is "The Shadow" and in recent years it has taken over the criminal world in the Republic of Korea. Its power proved sufficient to attract the attention of the previous groups, and in their curiosity and vanity to demonstrate that a new group can only fall to the lowest level of power in the underworld, they invited the new power to show off.

In a highly reinforced underground facility, which even serves as a nuclear bunker, the meeting is taking place.

The bunker is enormous, and it's even more frightening to know that such a large and reinforced place is hidden from the knowledge of the country's government authorities.

Currently, the bunker is decorated with a festive theme, but not the kind of high-class, white-collar party. Instead, it is kind of a brothel, dive bar, and illegal fight basement. All in one.

The leaders of the different organizations and their own groups of elite escorts take seats at a large semicircular table, which allows everyone to have a view of the entertainment area. The table is painted in such a way that it is divided into 8 equal-sized areas with each one having a number ranging from 1 to 8.

Based on the rules established for this meeting, throughout the event, the economic and brute power of the different organizations and their respective zones will be demonstrated. The one who wins first place in their internal ranking will have the area at the table marked with the number 1 at the next meeting, the second will have number 2, and so on. Groups belonging to the same zone will be obliged to sit at the same number.

As the different Italian mafia families have to share the same assigned number, likewise the different Maras from Central and South America also have to share the same number. As representatives of their different zones, it can be said that this is the only place where they unite as allies to demonstrate the power of their area of control.

The seats at the table are large, comfortable, and there is no difference in quality, showing that the classification numbers is only for vanity, and that among all these powers, they consider that none is far enough behind the other so as to reduce the quality of their seats.

It is 8:49 pm, and the formal start of the meeting was scheduled for 9:00 pm, but all the leaders and their elite escorts are already gathered at the table talking. The only exception is the new invited group; they are the only ones who have not yet made an appearance, which gives more reason for them to be the most common topic at the moment.

To ensure communication, all groups brought along a translator who knows both their native language and English, so everyone communicates and understands through the translators, and English was chosen as the common language because it is the dominant language globally today.

At the table, in the section assigned with the number 3, you can see the different Italian mafia families, and in what could be called the place of honor or representation of that section are two young and beautiful women. They may look harmless and young, but in the underworld, the fools who have dared to underestimate them are no longer part of this world.

The boss of their group and current leader, or Don, as they like to call their leader or head of the family in the mafia, is one of these two women. Her name is Taciana Cinzia, she is a tall woman, 175 cm in height. She has crimson red hair that reaches down to her waist, her eyes are also crimson red, and she has a scar that extends from her forehead to her cheek, crossing over her left eye. All her facial features, combined with the expression of ferocity that accompanies them give the impression that she is a fierce beast stalking her prey.

Next to Taciana Cinzia is the other woman, who is her right hand, Claire Agnes. She is also tall, 172.4 cm, her hair is blonde and tied in a bun style, her eyes are green, and she wears glasses. Unlike Cinzia, who appears to be a beast stalking her prey, Claire Agnes gives the impression of being an elegant and sophisticated woman, as if she were more business-oriented than involved in physical and violent activities. But that is just a facade, and anyone who has fallen for it has paid the price.

** Taciana Cinzia and Claire Agnes POV **

"So, any sign of the new guests? They seem to like causing drama, leaving us with increasing curiosity; they are practically the most talked-about topic at the table," said Taciana to her right hand.

"They have not yet made an appearance, Don Cinzia, but there are a few minutes left before the event begins, so it cannot yet be considered that they are delayed," replied Agnes.

"Heh, I just hope they are not just another classless scum group, but I also cannot have very high expectations, after all, in this dump, that kind of scum is what there is the most of," said Taciana with disdain.

Agnes simply nodded in response as she observed the various groups gathered. The majority were vulgar and repugnant men, but occasionally there were some with more elegant and neat appearances, though their number was obviously on the lower end. The number of women who are part of the high command of the underworld was even smaller than theirs; perhaps apart from the two of them, Agnes could only see three more women leading some small groups.

The time marked 9:00 sharp, and at that precise moment, the receptionist announced the arrival of the new invited group, apparently the last to arrive at the meeting.

When their arrival was announced, all the other groups turned their gaze to this new group about which very little was known. Only their name, domain, and their area of specialization were known, and that is neither drug trafficking, arms trafficking, nor is it human trafficking. They specialize in assassinations and information trading, at least that is all the information that could be obtained about them.

Taciana Cinzia and Claire Agnes watched the new group enter. Most criminal groups have their respective marks or signs either tattooed on their bodies or embroidered on their clothes to distinguish themselves. This new group was no different and wore matching clothes, dressed in dark black, their clothing embroidered with a scythe, and they wore balaclavas that prevented a clear view of their faces. The only one not wearing a balaclava, instead wearing a skull-shaped mask, was apparently their leader, who led them, walking three steps ahead of the rest.

For others, this presentation might not be very important, but for Taciana Cinzia who knows how to recognize discipline and respect as she has been taught since she was young in the mafia, she understands how terrifying a criminal group so disciplined can be. And her right hand Agnes is not far behind; she could see how Agnes changed her relaxed posture to a firmer and more defensive one, as if she could feel the threat emanating from this group.

They are not as numerous as the other groups, which consist of up to 30 people per zone. They are only 20 people, including their leader, but there is a key difference: the other groups belong to different organizations, but these belong to a single one.

At the main table, there are only seats for a leader, their right hand, and the translator for each group, so it is expected that they will take 3 seats: one for their leader, another for their right hand, and the last for the translator. The other subordinates have to stand and be somewhat away from the main table.

But to the surprise of all those present, the only one to sit down was the leader; none of his subordinates took another seat. All they did was remove the 2 extra seats that were where their leader was and took them away from the table.

One of the leaders of one of the Maras from Central America laughed disdainfully and said something that no one else in his zone understood, since he spoke in his native language, Spanish. But his translator translated it as, "Look at this guy, acting all high and mighty, makes us wait and doesn't even have the modesty to show us his face and sits alone on his side, all pretentious. He's occupying place number 8 and behaves as if he were in the 1st, that is why I hate Chinese, they think just because all of them know their kung fu they are invincible."

Although he is right that the newcomer is acting as if he owns the place and is superior to us, it does not change the fact that this Mara member, as they call themselves, is a complete idiot. He called a Korean a Chinese and offended all the Chinese present at the same time, and what is that stupidity about all Chinese knowing kung fu? That guy is simply an idiot.

It seems I am not the only one who thinks so; the Chinese Triads look quite offended, and the rest of the organizations from other areas just see him as an idiot. But the reaction that interests me the most is that of the new guy; he doesn't bring a translator, at least I assume he knows English and understood the translation. But his next action surprised not only me but everyone. He responded, but in the same language as the Mara leader and halfway through switched to English.

We all looked at our translators to tell us what he said, and it was, "It's not that I am acting high and mighty, I am high and mighty. I am not Chinese, I am Korean, and they are different countries, but it seems you are one of those ignorant people who think all Asians are Chinese and all know martial arts, what sad ignorance. The next thing I will say in English so that everyone understands, because this is more for everyone than just for that idiot. I don't show my face because I'm showing what I represent, I am the god of death, the one who decides who lives and who dies, I am judge, jury, and executioner, and I am here to fulfill my duty as such. From here, only those I want will leave alive."

I kept looking at my translator seriously, asking with my gaze if he translated correctly, because if he did, then that guy is crazy, he is declaring hostility and threatening the most dangerous criminal organizations in the world, it's like asking to be given the worst possible death.

It is true that for this event, no one entered armed, since the rules established to maintain our security dictate that weapons stay outside. But just because we enter unarmed doesn't mean we are defenseless; we all brought our elite forces, the strongest fighters we have in unarmed combat, and outside we have our private armies armed to the teeth. Practically none of the leaders here is foolish enough to show hostility because they know that would mean starting a war right here, and we would all lose by mutual destruction.

And the same applies to their group; none of them carry weapons, and there are only 20 of them. And they still dare to declare hostility and threaten all the other criminal elites present, yet they are easily outnumbered by 10 to 1. It seems like another idiot suffering from delusions of power, letting the little power he has gathered over the years go to his head. It seems that the Korean criminal group "The Shadow" will cease to exist after today.

All the groups saw him as an even bigger idiot than the Mara member, but that did not change the fact that they still kept their guards up; after all, none of us got to where we are without being cautious. For my part, I saw Agnes ready to attack or defend at any moment. But the guy spoke again.

He said, "Scum and criminality will continue to exist as long as this world is wild and primitive, so I will not kill you all, you are what is called a necessary evil. But those whose evil has gone beyond the limits will not leave here alive. Remember, rapists, murderers of innocents, sadistic torturers of innocents, pimps of innocents, traffickers of innocent people. None of you will leave here today. I, the god of death, decree that your judgment has come."

He said, and the lights went out after the translators finished saying the last part. Some were slower than others and didn't manage to translate everything completely before the lights went out. Agnes and I positioned ourselves back to back, ready to beat up anyone who approached. But as seconds turned into minutes, we could only hear signs of fighting that became weaker and weaker, as if the conflicts were ending.

Suddenly, I felt Agnes push me, and I heard sounds of fighting and resistance from where I was just a moment ago before hearing Agnes's voice saying, "Don, escape, I'll buy you time!" Damn, I can't leave Agnes behind, but I can't see or understand what the hell is going on. I have to get to the exit of this place and bring the rest of the armed family to put these idiots in their place.

I walked towards where I remembered the exit was, but I was knocked down. I'm a strong fighter, although not as skilled in unarmed combat as Claire, but it is not like I would be defeated by anyone who isn't an elite fighter among the elites. But I couldn't resist; this person is strong, very strong, the difference in strength is insane. I feel like when I was a child and trained with adults, that's how big the difference in strength is.

After they subdued me, the sounds of fighting faded more and more until everything was completely silent. I was tied up and dragged to a place, I don't know where. They put me on my knees and gagged my mouth so I couldn't speak, and judging by the muffled sounds I can barely hear around me, I can tell I'm not the only one.

The lights came back on, and it took me a few seconds to adjust my eyes after being in such darkness, but the sight that awaited me was beyond anything I ever thought possible. Everyone, and when I say everyone, I mean all those who participated in this party and who are considered the elites of the criminal world, are in the same condition as me, tied up and gagged.

The only ones standing are the 20 people from the group 'The Shadow'; none are armed, neither with firearms nor bladed weapons, which means they defeated more than 200 people, among whom were the best unarmed combat fighters from various groups, in just a few minutes and without showing any signs of injury or damage. This is madness, this is a nightmare, there is no way this is real.

After a while, they forced us to move and reorganized us, practically ordering us back into the original formation, and we were all with our corresponding groups. Next to me were Agnes and my translator, and behind us, the rest of my mafia.

The same was true for the other groups; we were grouped just as we had been when we arrived at the party, the only difference being that we were now tied up and gagged, while the leader of The Shadow sat in front of us. He gestured with his hand, and his henchmen moved and began to remove the gags from our translators. And he began to speak. Our translators could only do their job.

He said, "I will say it again, as it seems that the first time you wild animals who only understand force did not understand me, as you did not know my strength. Now that you do, I hope for your own good that you can understand...

I am the god of death, the one who decides who lives and who dies. I am judge, jury, and executioner, and I am here to fulfill my duty as such. From here, only those I wish will leave alive.

Scum and criminality will continue to exist as long as this world is wild and primitive, so I will not kill you all; you are what is called a necessary evil. But those whose evil has gone beyond the limits will not leave here alive, remember.

Rapists, murderers of the innocent, sadistic torturers of the innocent, pimps of the innocent, traffickers of innocent people. None of you will leave here today. I, the god of death, decree that your judgment has come."

One by one, they dragged us in front of him. He would say the person's name, their crimes, and he would kill them or let them live if they met or did not meet the criteria he had stated before. No one could resist; some tried to crawl or scream, but it was futile. We were tied up and like cattle in a slaughterhouse, just waiting for the moment.

Our numbers dwindled, and when it was my turn, Agnes writhed, trying to free herself from her bonds, but it was to no avail. They placed me in front of him, I looked him in the eyes through his mask, I would not be intimidated by this phenomenon who believes himself a god.

He laughed with amusement and began 'my judgment.' In the end, he found me 'innocent,' and I was returned to my place. Then it was Agnes's turn, and she too was spared from the judgment of this madman. I could only sigh with relief, but that was short-lived when he began to kill several members of my mafia, my family, accusing them of vile acts. I cannot believe it to be true.

He accused a number of them of being rapists. I know my people, I know we are criminals, but I don't allow my people to commit anything but robbery, murder and arms trafficking. Things like rape and human trafficking are for the low class, scum of the scum like this crazy bastard said. As much as it bothers me and I hate that bastard, I agree that there should be limits to how scum a person can be, but I can't allow him to incriminate my people and kill them just because of his whim.

But I can't do anything either, I can only just resign myself like the others when I see how he kills our people.

At the start of the meeting, we were more than 200, now we barely add up to half that number.

"You have been judged, I expect you next year for the next meeting. If you do not come, I will go to you and the consequences will be worse. So I advise you to come and remember, as long as you do not fall as low as the scum I just killed, as long as you stay within the limits I have set, you will not be executed."

He said that, then he walked out the door and his henchmen followed him. We waited a few seconds for them to leave completely and we tried to untie ourselves as best as possible. I approached my translator who was not gagged, and I turned my back to him and with his teeth, he untied my hands. Then I freed Agnes and the rest of my people who are still alive.

The rest of the groups also quickly freed themselves, then we ran out to look for the rest of our men who are waiting for us outside armed. We are going to hunt down these sons of bitches, those bastards, and wipe them off the map.

We all thought that and couldn't wait to do it, but what awaited us outside were not our groups armed to the teeth as we left them, but a tragedy worse than the one inside, no matter which of our groups it was, all were defeated.

There were signs of a small-scale war, evidence of shots fired of all calibers, small and medium, even some marks from RPGs and grenades, but that didn't matter, those who are fallen are our forces and none from The Shadow. Not all are dead, but many are, and there was a message written on a stone shaped like a tombstone with the symbol of a scythe, it was written in English, the translators read it said "This year's judgment has been completed, I await your next."

I clenched my fists so hard that my hands bled.

"Don Cinzia, what do we do?" Agnes asked me.

"Everyone who can move, get your ass up and prepare the transport, pick up the bodies of our brothers, we are going home, we have a lot to plan and prepare," I ordered. We need to gather information about these damned bastards, I need to know what happened out here and I need to know if this has to do with Lost Paradise, these were not normal people.

But first, we have to return; we can't stay any longer, this will not go unnoticed by the local government, and in our current state, it makes no sense to stay here and get into more trouble.

We returned home, the trip back from Mexico to Italy was anything but refreshing or rewarding as I originally thought it would be before going to the meeting.

I gathered my men and demanded they tell me what the hell happened outside while we were in the meeting, what they said was that The Shadow group ambushed everyone, they defended themselves and responded to the attack but the weapons were useless, they did no harm whether they were low and medium caliber, they moved on to using RPGs and grenades, that only helped a little, but in the end, they lost, they are not even sure they were able to take down a single enemy and that all the groups fought against only one and lost.

A total disaster, which reaffirms my assumption, those damned are enhanced with abilities like the inhabitants of Lost Paradise.

After that, I ordered to reinforce the family's forces and reorganize our activities, I also went to Paradise and consulted with the deities about whether it was possible to preserve the abilities of Paradise on Earth, but they said it is impossible.

First; the contract we signed to go is absolute, our superhuman abilities that we acquire in Paradise stay there when we return to Earth.

Second; the power of the gods of Paradise is only exercised there, so when we return here it is obvious that the powers they grant us are lost.

So I consulted in another direction, if they know about deities on earth, I know it's crazy, but the fact that another world exists and has deities is already crazy in itself, so I can't rule out the possibility and the answer I got left me open-mouthed.

If there are deities on earth, there are several. According to what the gods of Paradise told me, there is one called the Martial God who is even more powerful than the deities of Paradise, and even more than the leader of the enemies, the Parasite Queen.

That is why I could not help but ask why they didn't ask for help from that god, but the truth is that they did, but the Martial God doesn't seem to be very accessible and didn't act personally. Apparently he is the one responsible for the arrival of the Angels of the Federation in support of Lost Paradise, but apart from sending that reinforcement, the Martial God did nothing.

But the most important thing is that if there are deities on earth, and possibly that one who calls himself the god of death is one, and that his subordinates are awakened humans just as the deities in Paradise are capable of awakening humans there and giving them the potential to become immensely strong.

If that is the case and this god has probably awakened a group of humans on earth, then we can't even hope to oppose him. But I have to confirm it, so I waited... And finally, the day of the meeting arrived after a year. This time the meeting was held in Algiers, a city in Algeria in Africa, I attended along with Agnes and my mafia.

When we arrived we were actually one of the first. Slowly as the appointed time approached, the other groups arrived, but this time we all came armed. However, the truth is that if what happened the previous year where our armed groups lost miserably is evidence of anything, it is that weapons will not really serve any meaningful purpose.

It finally struck 9:00 pm and at last, The Shadow arrived. Although only its leader was present this time and it seems like he was not escorted or accompanied by his henchmen.

I saw many groups nodding to each other with subtle signals and they didn't delay a second in drawing their weapons and began shooting at the leader of the Shadow. The shots rained down on him from all directions.

For my part, I thought it was useless to join for two reasons; the first is that if they can kill him, then great. The second is that if the wretch is as powerful as I fear and is a deity, they will do nothing more than annoy him, and it is therefore better that my group does not participate and ends earning his wrath.

The shooting continued until they emptied their magazines, but there, to everyone's horror, was the wretch. Unscathed, his clothes not even slightly scratched, and thousands of flattened bullets of all calibers around him only proving they had impacted uselessly.

"A futile effort. If you wanted to make me laugh, instead of trying to tickle me with your toys, you would have been better off telling me a joke," that is what the translator shared with us of what he said in English.

At that moment I understood completely, he is not human. Even in Lost Paradise, to be able to withstand a hail of bullets of that caliber would require the body of a level 6 or that of an Executor who has trained their Durability as a priority. And this is the Earth where there are no enhanced humans or so it was believed, but now I know there are deities, and this man, no, this being before me is very possibly a deity or the executor of an Earth deity. It is simply futile to try to oppose.

"Well, there are several groups that did not follow my advice and did not come. If you survive today's trial, tomorrow you will be able to know about them in the news, perhaps it will serve as a lesson..."

"Now you can pass one by one before me for your trial, as long as you have behaved according to the standards I gave, you have nothing to fear, on the contrary, if you did not, you will not live beyond today. You can choose to try to escape, but I do not advise it, because I am not patient with fools, and know that trying to escape from me is stupidity," that is what the translators relayed.

It makes no sense to resist, or to prolong this shit, so I walked forward, I saw Agnes get nervous, but I ordered her not to interfere and moved on.

"Heh, a smart one, I like that. I thought I would have no volunteers and would have to bring them by force. You have not gone beyond the limits I imposed, you can live until the next trial, return to your place," he said, and to my surprise, he spoke in perfect Italian, so perfect that if he told me he was a native Italian and not Korean, I would believe him.

So it continued, with my example, all the members of my mafia followed, there were no deaths this time, and the other groups seeing this were a little encouraged and also moved forward, in some groups there were some dead, but the sum of all the dead did not even reach 10.

"Those who died are idiots who exceeded the limits I have imposed. As you can see, if you do not exceed the limit, you can survive my trial, so do not be as stupid as these. I expect you next year and if you do not show up, well tomorrow's news will clarify what will happen to you," he said in English and the translators translated for us.

We then left, and outside another war scene awaited us, but the casualties were also few compared to the last time, it seems that those who die both inside the meeting and outside are people who exceed the limits he imposed.

The proof of this is that I brought my group completely clean, I made sure of that, but among them, I sneaked in a despicable rapist that I deceived just for this test. If The Shadow killed only him, it would prove my point that they can obtain precise information about a person's actions.

If they left him alive, then they are just charlatans acting on a whim, and I would personally kill this scum of a rapist. But to my pleasant surprise, my suspicions were correct, and all my men were safe except for the rapist who was indeed killed.

The next day, on international news online, we realized that several groups of criminals around the world were found exterminated, and the only thing they had in common besides dying on the same day was that the symbol of a scythe was found at all the crime scenes. These news caused a stir on the net for the following week. In the underworld, the expression "If the god of death wants your life today, you will not live to see tomorrow" began to become popular.

And in this way, all of us in the underworld are at the mercy and authority of the one who calls himself the god of death and his group The Shadow. The only saving grace is that, except for forcing us to stay within the limits he imposed, he does not interfere in any of our affairs.

(T/N: how is the translation quality so far? Should I rush translating the chapters and decline the current standard or should I keep this pace and maintain the current translation standard? What are your thoughts?)