Everyone was at the table. Amu had already served dinner.
There were good things everywhere, and Ramos had to admit that Amu was not joking when it came to food. Her children were well fed; that was already something.
Ramos had initially had a very different idea of this family. Given their status, their living conditions, and their reputation, he had believed they were condemned to live below the means of an ordinary human being. But he discovered that he had been bitterly mistaken, and that Niyus and Amu's children even went to school.
— Tell me, when will the children go back to school? he asked.
— As soon as the school year begins, like everyone else, my dear friend.
Ramos felt embarrassed: his question suddenly seemed a little out of place, in light of Niyus's answer.
— Sakolomé, did you clear the field as I asked you to? Amu called out.
Sakolomé made himself very small. He had not finished clearing the field, as agreed, and he feared his mother's reaction. She might very well take it badly and lose her temper.
— Sakolomé, I am talking to you. If you do not answer, I will assume that you have not fully cleared it?
He looked up at her with frightened eyes.
— No, Mom. I could not finish: I saw Ramos's plane crash!
Amu closed her eyes for a moment, as if to put the sentence back in order in her head. Then she sighed.
— Never mind. Tomorrow, you will finish it, and Bakuzan will help you.
Bakuzan, who was drinking a glass of water while listening, spat it out, caught off guard.
— But… but!
— Bakuzan, what are these manners? You do not spit at the table!
— Excuse me, Mom, but tomorrow I would like to take a day off.
— You will rest after you have cleared my land with your brother.
Bakuzan fell silent and gave Sakolomé a reproachful look, as if to tell him that all of this was his fault.
— Bakuzan, we will resume the research afterward, okay? said Niyus. You can rest after your mother's mission, if you wish. As for me, I will go hunting mutants, and you will join me once you have fully recovered.
Bakuzan nodded. Ramos, amused by these words, spoke up.
— Niyus, so you are a mutant hunter too?
— Yes. The mutants do not like us: they hate us as much as some of our fellow humans do. But just because humans do not like us does not mean we will let the mutants harm them.
Ramos, interested, continued.
— How many mutants have you killed in your lifetime?
— It is very simple. I alone have killed at least one hundred and two thousand, and my son Bakuzan nearly three thousand and seventy-seven.
Ramos's eyes widened. He had not expected such a number of victims among the mutants.
— That many? Is this a joke?
— No, unfortunately. It is very serious.
Ramos turned to Bakuzan, even more astonished.
— So Bakuzan is already at three thousand and seventy-seven? This kid must be extremely powerful to have killed that many people. I am impressed!
Niyus laughed softly.
— And you, how many have you killed?
— Not much, compared to the two of you. And yet, I have been hunting mutants for a very long time: I have killed more than a hundred and three, and I have even known defeat at their hands.
Niyus slowly nodded.
— That is already better than nothing. Mutants are creatures endowed with superhuman powers, and not just any human can kill them. The record for the number of mutants killed exceeds eight hundred and twenty million, and it was set by the entire army of the country.
— Indeed, Ramos replied confidently. But after the army, I believe that you and your son hold the record. And to think that in the city, there is a man called the hero, who has killed more than twelve hundred mutants, and who is considered the strongest man in the world, holder of the greatest record ever recorded by a single human! Ha ha! If they could only see these Satsujin Otoko, they would be stunned!
Amu then spoke.
— These things are not funny at all. Do not try to compete in this area: it is not a game. Think above all about protecting humanity. For yes, we kill, but, during the war, the mutants killed more than a billion humans. We may have won that battle, but our losses were far heavier.
— That is true, said Niyus in the tone of an expert. According to the research that Bakuzan and I are conducting, the mutants would be almost twice as numerous as humans.
— That is not surprising, Amu replied. Unlike us, they can unite and reproduce with any species: plants, animals, humans, microorganisms… It was inevitable that they would be countless.
— That is truly exasperating!
The children simply listened. All of this seemed strange to Sakolomé.
— Um… Niyus, I would like to know… My little Sako, I mean Sakolomé, has he killed mutants too?
— Of course. Sakolomé has already killed more than five hundred, Bakuran thirteen, and Salomé none. I do not think she is strong enough to face that kind of creature.
At these words, Ramos suspected Niyus of making up his numbers and throwing them about carelessly. Could children so young kill mutants? Those creatures were capable of uprooting trees with their bare hands, lifting them, and sometimes even leveling skyscrapers. During the war, they had clearly proven their physical superiority over humans.
— So Sakolomé is very strong too: he has killed far more than I have!
Sakolomé looked at him and smiled.
Ramos looked back at him and remembered their first encounter. At that moment, Sakolomé had seemed rather frail, and quite fearful. He had lost to Ramos, but they had eventually understood that he was simply hungry, and therefore had not had all of his abilities at his disposal.
What was Sakolomé's true power? Bakuzan's? Bakuran's?
To Ramos's knowledge, no ordinary child or young adult in the world, whether between one and twenty years old, or even twenty-five and older, was capable of killing a mutant.
He thought, and an idea came to him: to put the Satsujin Otoko to the test, to verify whether they were telling the truth. Face Niyus? Too risky. Bakuzan, rather: that way, he could get an idea of their power. And then Ramos felt weak before them, which, for him, was simply humiliating.
— Excuse me!
He had raised his voice to attract the attention of the whole family, who turned toward him.
— I would like to face one of you, Niyus, Bakuzan, or Sakolomé, to find out my true level.
— Mr. Ramos, I lost to you earlier, Sakolomé replied. So you have not made your choice yet?
— What? You faced my son? Amu exclaimed.
— Mom, it is nothing, it was a friendly fight!
Niyus remained silent, as if lost in thought.
— Sakolomé, I know that earlier, you were not fighting me seriously, and neither was I, probably. But I know that you were far from wanting to hurt me. When you saw me fall, I know that you held back even more.
Niyus rose from the table.
— Very well, my friend, you will face Bakuzan. Bakuzan, you will go easy, understood?
Ramos felt insulted.
— Niyus, it is you I want to face. I want to measure my level against yours, in order to see things more clearly.
Niyus remained silent for a moment, calm, then sat back down.
Ramos stood up.
— Niyus, I want to face you, now, right away!
He had almost shouted. Niyus smiled.
— Do not be in such a hurry, my friend. Very well: let us go outside.
The whole family gathered outside to watch the fight. Ramos took off his jacket and remained in a black tank top. Niyus, for his part, removed nothing, and his bearing was most assured. The two opponents faced each other without a word, while the family held its breath.
Without warning, Ramos attacked first. With a single step, he was on Niyus and sent him a lightning-fast punch.
Wham!
A sharp sound, a shockwave. Niyus had caught Ramos's fist as if it were nothing.
— Hit better, my friend.
He released the fist and performed a backflip. Ramos did not let himself be intimidated: he charged and attempted a kick, which Niyus dodged effortlessly. Ramos launched a series of attacks, and Niyus avoided them all without the slightest difficulty.
— It is impossible!
Ramos punched again, and Niyus took it squarely in the face. Ramos should have taken pride in it, but nothing of the sort happened: despite the power of the blow, Niyus had felt nothing.
— This is a joke!
Punches and kicks now mingled, and rage was beginning to make him lose control.
— Aaaaaaaah!
Each blow carried incredible force, and the shockwave around them was dazzling, a sign of Ramos's extraordinary striking power. But Niyus absorbed everything, without anything affecting him.
He then grabbed Ramos's right arm, putting an end to his outburst.
— Hit harder, a little like this.
His foot sank into Ramos's stomach. Saliva flew from his mouth, his pupils dilated, and he was thrown more than twenty meters away from Niyus. He collapsed to the ground, and this time did not get back up.
With an impassive expression, Niyus headed toward the house.
— It is over. Find a room where Ramos can rest for a while.
Ramos had been unable to withstand Niyus's kick. He had lost consciousness on the spot, without understanding what was happening to him.