From Bullets To Billions Chapter 757: Return Of The Dead

Max turned his head towards the person who had stopped Hugo’s fist.

Standing beside him was a man almost twice his height and close to three times his width. His enormous frame made Max look small in comparison, and there was no mistaking who he was.

This was the legendary figure known as Hercules.

Hercules was infamous throughout the Underworld as a genuine superhuman. He possessed enough strength to disregard the world of gangs and business entirely, living independently without needing to answer to any organisation.

Few people would ever dare to threaten him, let alone attempt to control him.

Now, he was standing directly beside Max.

"I thought..." Max began, struggling to understand what he was seeing. "I thought you were dead."

Based on how the others had spoken about Hercules and the information Max had gathered, believing he had been killed wasn’t unreasonable.

However, Max wasn’t the only person stunned by his appearance.

"You..." Hugo said as he pulled his fist free from Hercules’s grip. "You’re still alive?"

Hugo stepped back and raised one hand to the scar covering part of his face. Judging by how it had healed, the injury was relatively recent.

From Hugo’s reaction and the way Hercules was staring at him, Max could guess who had caused it.

"Well, this is going to be troublesome, isn’t it?" Dud said.

He didn’t immediately attack. Instead, he studied Hercules carefully while reconsidering the situation.

"It took all of us to bring that giant down, including the members of the Black Hand. Yet here he is, standing in front of us again."

Dud glanced between Max and Hercules.

"Based on Max’s reaction, it’s clear the two of them know each other as well. This could become a serious problem for us."

Although Dud sounded concerned, something had caught his attention.

"Although..."

He looked more closely at Hercules’s chest.

A large scar ran slightly along the left side. Like the wound on Hugo’s face, it appeared fresh. Hercules might have survived their previous encounter, but he hadn’t escaped unharmed.

The sight of Hugo brought Hercules’s memories back to the battle on the mountain.

Hugo and the others had arrived together, accompanied by members of the Black Hand. They had surrounded Hercules before attacking him from several directions.

Hugo had grown considerably stronger.

His raw power had reached a level that was almost equal to Hercules’s own. However, Hugo still lacked the experience and technique required to use that strength properly.

Hercules had spent years learning how to control his body. He understood precisely how much force to use with each movement and when to use it.

That control was strengthened further by the nature of his Vow.

Hercules never wasted energy by applying more force than necessary. Every movement had a purpose, allowing him to fight efficiently even while surrounded by multiple opponents.

That was how he had managed to hold them off for so long.

Unfortunately, Hugo hadn’t come alone.

Every person who had accompanied him was clearly skilled. While Hugo applied pressure with his overwhelming strength, the others searched for openings in Hercules’s defence.

They attacked whenever his attention shifted, slowly creating opportunities for Hugo to land serious blows.

As the fight continued, part of Hercules began to believe he couldn’t win.

Fighting multiple opponents was the worst possible situation for him because of the restriction placed upon his Vow. If he permanently ended one of their lives, his Vow would be permanently lost as well.

The others understood that Hercules was holding himself back. They used that limitation against him, attacking without the same hesitation.

Eventually, Hercules decided that if he had only one opportunity left, he would use it against Hugo.

He managed to grab part of Hugo’s hair and scalp. Using his immense strength, Hercules tore it away, leaving behind the scar that now covered the side of Hugo’s face.

At almost the same moment, Hugo seized a large metal pole that had been brought by the Black Hand members.

He drove it directly through Hercules’s chest.

The pole passed through his body and emerged from the other side.

After receiving such a severe injury, Hercules knew continuing the fight would be nearly impossible. His strength was fading, and with so many enemies still surrounding him, remaining on his feet would only lead to complete defeat.

Especially if he intended to remain faithful to his Vow.

Rather than allow them to continue attacking, Hercules fell to the ground and forced his heart to stop.

During his earlier years, he had learned a number of unusual skills involving control over his body. One of those skills allowed him to deliberately enter a deathlike state for a short period.

For approximately one minute, his heartbeat stopped and the normal signs of life disappeared.

The members of the Black Hand examined him. They were experts in determining whether a target was dead, and everything they observed confirmed that Hercules had been killed.

There was no heartbeat.

There was no visible response from his body.

More importantly, a large metal pole had passed straight through his chest and through the area where his heart should have been. There was no reason for them to believe he could have survived.

The disturbance caused by the fight also worked in Hercules’s favour.

Their battle had caused enough shaking and rumbling to attract attention. People were already approaching the mountain, and helicopters had been sent to investigate what was happening.

Hugo and the others couldn’t remain there long enough to examine Hercules more thoroughly. Believing their mission had succeeded, they quickly fled the area.

What none of them understood was the full extent of Hercules’s physical abilities.

His strength didn’t only exist in his arms and legs. The muscles throughout his entire body had been enhanced, and that included his heart.

It was stronger and better protected than that of an ordinary person. Combined with the control Hercules had developed over his body, it allowed him to survive an injury that should have killed him.

His past training and the abilities he now understood to be superhuman had saved his life.

However, he hadn’t escaped without consequences.

Hercules’s heart had been badly damaged that day. Although he had recovered enough to stand and fight again, he didn’t know how long he could continue pushing his body at full capacity.

That uncertainty had forced him to make a decision.

If he was going to perish from his injuries, he intended to take his greatest mistake with him.

He would deal with Hugo before he died.

Even if Hercules survived the battle, permanently killing Hugo would break his Vow. He understood the price and had accepted it.

That was why, after recovering enough to move, Hercules had done everything possible to discover where Hugo had gone. He followed every piece of information he could find, tracing Hugo’s movements and investigating the places where he had last been seen.

That search had led Hercules here.

By chance, he had arrived in the middle of Max’s fight and now stood directly at his side.

Hercules looked down at Max before turning his attention back towards Hugo.

"Remember what I said when we first met?" Hercules asked. "I believed fate must have brought us together that day."

Max remained silent as he listened.

"It seems that meeting you again now, at the same time I have the chance to fulfil my final wish, is how everything was meant to be."