**In a Garage -**
Eleven bodies, including Ontor, lay on the ground, battered and bruised. Ontor thought to himself, "There is no way he is the Samiul we knew."
---
**Under the Bridge -**
Samiul walked toward Joy with a determined look. Joy screamed, "Guys, look, it's-" before he could finish, Samiul delivered a one-inch punch to Joy's chest, causing him to collapse to the ground.
The red-helmet guy behind Samiul swung a metal bat at him. Samiul caught the bat with one hand, exerting enough pressure to break it. The sound of the bat snapping echoed, leaving everyone in shock.
Samiul then broke the bat completely and punched the red-helmet guy in the face, shattering his helmet. The gang members, witnessing this, were paralyzed with fear.
One by one, the remaining guys rushed at Samiul. Using his superior fighting skills and strength, Samiul effortlessly defeated them. Each attacker fell to the ground, writhing in pain and unable to move.
Aria, watching this from the side, was stunned.
Samiul reached Aria and asked, "Are you okay?"
Aria, still in pain, replied, "Do I look like I'm okay? But thanks for saving me and asking."
Samiul extended his hand to help Aria up. Aria grabbed it, but due to the pain, he was unable to stand. Seeing this, Samiul lifted Aria onto his shoulders and picked up Aria's bag.
They walked a few meters away, out of sight from the gangsters. They found a spot in front of the river and sat down. Aria began washing his face in the river's water.
"Ahh... It's still bleeding," Aria said, wincing.
Smoke, invisible to Aria, stood beside Samiul. Samiul addressed Smoke, "Give me the Gabu fruit."
Smoke hesitated, "It's for your training today."
"I don't need it today. Just give it to me," Samiul insisted.
Smoke reluctantly handed over the Gabu fruit to Samiul.
"Who are you talking to?" Aria asked, puzzled.
"No one," Samiul replied. Suddenly, the Gabu fruit appeared in his hand as if by magic.
"Wow, what's that? How did you do that?" Aria asked, astonished.
"Eat it," Samiul said, holding out the fruit to Aria.
"What's this? I've never seen a fruit like this before," Aria replied, hesitant.
"Eat it. It will heal you," Samiul assured him.
Still hesitant, Aria watched as Samiul broke off a piece of the fruit and ate it himself. "Don't worry, it's safe," Samiul said, handing the fruit to Aria.
With a bit of hesitation, Aria took a bite. As he swallowed, a warm glow enveloped his body, and he felt the pain begin to subside. The wounds started to close, and his strength returned.
Aria, shocked, exclaimed, "Impossible, how can this be possible?"
Smoke sighed, "I told you not to do it."
"It is possible, and you can see for yourself," Samiul said.
"Yeah, I saw, but how? And who are you? You just broke a metal bat and knocked down all those people like it's nothing. You must tell me who you are," Aria insisted.
"Let's not talk about this right now. We can discuss it later," Samiul deflected.
"If you don't want to say, I won't ask, but it's impressive and impossible what you did," Aria conceded.
---
### At Zara's Home
Zara was sitting on the sofa, watching TV, while her brother ate noodles beside her.
"So you managed to complete level 4 today?" her brother asked.
"Yeah, I did. Before entering level 5, I came back from the dimension," Zara replied.
"And after that, you'll become angelic," her brother said, a bit frustrated.
"Yeah, I will," Zara said, continuing to eat her noodles.
"We'll miss you a lot. But there's nothing we can do. I think Dad should know what's happening before you leave," her brother suggested.
"No, don't do that. If you want to tell him, you can reveal it after I go, not before," Zara insisted.
"By the way, I wanted to ask you a question," her brother said.
"Yeah, go on," Zara prompted.
"I don't know how to say this, but you mentioned that in the dimension, those creatures do something like rape. As a brother, I feel that's not right. I hate that. Also, you said your body swaps with the dimension's body. Doesn't that mean those horrible things are happening to you too? I mean, it's affecting your real body as well," her brother asked, concerned.
Lu 01 became visible and explained, "Not actually what you think. The bodies on Earth and in the dimension are different but fully connected. Right now, she has two separate bodies-one in the real dimension, another here. When her real body experiences changes, that body replicates the real body. When she goes there, her soul takes over that body, and all the brutal things happen to that body. The changes there never affect the body here. But changes from reality do affect the dimension's body."
"Oh, I get it," Zara's brother said, relieved.
"Bro, don't worry. I'll be just fine," Zara reassured him.
"I lost my twin sister, and now soon you'll be a warrior and leave us. If you could sit in my shoes, you would understand how worried I am," Zara's brother said.
Zara hugged her brother and said, "Don't worry, no matter what I do, I will always be by your and Dad's side."
Samiul and Aria sat by the river talking .
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Aria asked, breaking the silence.
"No, never had one," Samiul replied.
"No way, you look like a model. There's no way you're single," Aria said, surprised.
"Well, it's a long story," Samiul said, evading the question.
"Looks like you have a lot of secrets you don't want to share," Aria remarked.
"Maybe, I'll share them in the future," Samiul responded.
"Well, I had a breakup today with my girlfriend from my previous city," Aria confessed.
"Why? What happened?" Samiul asked, genuinely curious.
"It's a long story," Aria said, laughing.
Samiul, realizing that Aria was playfully mimicking his earlier response, started laughing too.
"Okay, what's the problem with those guys? Why do they want to beat you? And don't say it's a long story and skip it," Aria insisted.
"Don't worry, since you're now involved, I'll tell you," Samiul said.
"Finally, you're going to reveal something," Aria said eagerly.
"Well, those four were my friends a month ago. They used to bully me, troll me, and use me. Despite all that, I still considered them friends. A few days ago, I realized how they truly thought about me, so I blocked them from everywhere. That's why they're angry. They were my only friends," Samiul explained.
"So you have no friends anymore?" Aria asked.
"Technically, yeah. I have no friends now," Samiul admitted.
Aria stood up and said, "It's said that men can become friends by talking for a few minutes. And I feel we can be friends, if you want."
"Are you sure?" Samiul asked, a bit surprised.
"Yeah, one hundred percent. Let's be friends, Samiul," Aria said, extending his hand for a handshake.
"Yeah, why not," Samiul replied, accepting the handshake and sealing their new friendship.
---------------------
1 hour later -
Samiul's house -
"1118... 1119... 1120," Smoke counted as Samiul did push-ups in his room.
Samiul collapsed on the floor after completing the 1120th push-up.
"Great, you did 20 extra push-ups," Smoke acknowledged.
Samiul, panting, said, "I have to push myself further," and attempted another push-up, but failed.
"Alright, now stop. Don't try to do more push-ups," Smoke advised.
"Now give me the poison. Today's time was 31 minutes, right?" Samiul asked.
"You sure you want to do that? We don't have Gabu fruit today. You gave it to Aria," Smoke reminded.
"It doesn't matter. My mom and Tanvir are out now at my aunt's house. She'll be back in an hour, so we better do it," Samiul insisted.
"Still, let's skip this. We don't have Gabu fruit," Smoke suggested.
"No, I am not skipping anything," Samiul declared.
"Alright, alright," reluctantly, Smoke handed him the poison.
Samiul took it and administered it to his body. Almost immediately, his body started to turn red, and the pain began. Despite his efforts to stifle his screams, the agony was unbearable, and Samiul couldn't help but cry out. Saliva and blood trickled from his mouth as the pain intensified.
As time passed, Samiul's screams grew louder, echoing through the house. Smoke watched anxiously as the sandwatch counted down the minutes. When 31 minutes elapsed, Samiul's body still didn't cease its torment.
Another ten minutes passed, and Samiul was still writhing in agony. Smoke began to worry, attempting desperately to summon a Gabu fruit, but to no avail.
Suddenly, Samiul's body went limp. Smoke rushed to his side, trying to wake him up, but Samiul remained unresponsive.
--
To be continued.....