El Baile de la muerte Part 13, also called Chapter 56, is the fifty-seventh chapter of the Black Lagoon manga. It was originally released in September 2007.
Summary[]
Walking to the Rip-Off Church, Mister Chang finishes his cigarette and stands outside the chapel. He then enters and is greeted by Rico, who reminds him that no one will disturb him inside the confessional booth. In the booth, Chang picks up the ringing cellphone and wants the details from the caller. Disguising her voice as an anonymous CIA agent, Eda informs Chang that her organization is displeased with the NSA's plans in Southeast Asia and therefore will disclose information about them to Chang. Beginning to summarize, Eda states that the particular group is the Grey Fox Commando Group, the 9th Special Operations Group founded in 1994 belonging to the Pentagon's SOCOM, and their principled tasks are political destabilization operations and tactical missions.
Although Roberta is after the "foxes," Eda clarifies that Grey Fox only wants to capture Khun Sa's general Shue Yan, whose poppy farms are essential to the Hong Kong Triad's heroin refineries. Smoking a cigarette, Eda says that the general is constantly on the move but is scheduled to inspect four villages in the Monparyo region with his two lieutenants Ru Donshi and Lao Jeng sometime later in the month. The nun finishes by specifying that the Grey Fox soldiers are disguising themselves as backpackers in Roanapur's red-light district in several motels, saying that the assault team is three groups led by Major Shane J. Caxton and Captain Raymond McDougal in the Tokaīna Hotel, Blue Moon Motel, and Ramsap Inn. Thanking her for the info, Chang replies that he will contact her again after the predicament ends, but she orders him to tell her what the Triad's course of action will be.
His upper lip moving in contempt, Chang answers that he has no obligation to tell her since he is only working with the CIA out of mutual interest, angrily stating that he is not her lapdog. Laughing, Eda tells him that he is mistaken since the United States is a hydra with many heads, and the CIA is one of those heads that is capable of toppling governments in contrast to the Triad that can only control individuals and businesses. Smirking to herself, she tells the "punk" Chang not to underestimate them. Angrily hanging up the phone, Chang exits the chapel. Elsewhere in the city, Revy thanks Doctor Hartland for confirming that Leroy visited him for buying medication. In the car as Rock drives, Fabiola confesses that she knew that Roberta had taken the medication for some time, shocking Garcia.
When Revy casually states that the medication could turn Roberta into a paranoid drug user, Garcia bites his thumb and loudly asks why they have not found her yet. As Fabiola consoles the bawling Garcia, Rock stops the car and calmly tells Garcia that they have gotten closer to finding Roberta in just one day. He then declares that he and Revy cannot catch the maid and only the young boy is capable of saving her and cannot mess things up. Preparing a cigarette, Revy tells Rock to head to Leroy's office since it should be their last stop. At the Roanapur Harbor, Balalaika faces the sea and asks Chang why he has informed her of everything he has learned. Reminding her that Roberta will try to settle her score with Grey Fox in the city, Chang states that such a fight will devastate Roanapur and the only way to prevent that is to get the Americans out of the city alive and then Roberta can try and kill them.
Although silent for a bit, Balalaika rejects his plan and prefers her own plan to attack the Americans, replying that she and her men are not deserters or former soldiers but ex-military after the Soviet Union abandoned them and the Russian Federation betrayed them. Reasoning that she and her men are only loyal to themselves and not to any country, Balalaika says that she wants the chance to fight the military whom she was meant to fight before. Finding her reasoning to be ignorant, Chang responds that living by a code is a rigid lifestyle that controls the person. As she walks away, Chang reminds her that she still owes him for taking four rounds in their fight in November 1993, and Balalaika remembers that she took three rounds too. Commenting that they somehow both survived that night, Chang wonders why they survived and asks Balalaika if she will use her one life to live or die.
Notes[]
- This chapter marks the first time that the Buddha carving in the bay is visible in the manga.