Shaitane Badi

Shaitane Badi
Author	Gen Urobuchi
Illustrator	Rei Hiroe
Release date	July 18, 2008
ISBN	978-4-09-451079-9

Black Lagoon: Shaitane Badi (ブラック・ラグーン シェイターネ・バーディ Burakku Ragūn Sheitāne Bādi; Persian: شيطان بادى) is the first Black Lagoon light novel. It was released on July 18, 2008 and written by Gen Urobuchi with illustrations by Rei Hiroe. Three years after Shaitane Badi was published, the second light novel Ballad of the Sinful Wizard was released.

Summary

Rock was just a normal Japanese businessman, but through a series of unlikely events, he found himself part of the Lagoon Company, a group of transporters who do a little pirating on the side. Together with Dutch, Revy, and Benny, he sails the seas of Asia aboard the modified torpedo boat Black Lagoon.

Their base, the lawless city of Roanapur, is just barely balanced on the brink of outright war, controlled and occupied by criminal organizations from across the globe. Standing above the rest are Balalaika of Russia and Chang of Hong Kong.

Our story finds Roanapur just a little while before Rock, with Revy in tow, is due to head back to his old home of Japan.

It is a tale about soldiers who once fought united under a cause in a land of sandy winds, the strictly personal reunion of a captain and her one-time subordinate...

Notes

As shown in the book's summary, the story takes place just before Rock returned to Japan in the "Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise" arc. For writing the novel, Rei Hiroe asked Gen Urobuchi to write the novel and have his own interpretation, even telling Urobuchi to write something that would challenge the world of Black Lagoon. Hiroe also said that he was more curious about Urobuchi's writing than he was more worried about it staying faithful to his work. Urobuchi himself stated that he felt bothered by how the anime (directed by Sunao Katabuchi) portrayed the fictional city of Roanapur but remarked that he tried to stay faithful to Black Lagoon as he wrote the first chapter, with Hiroe adding that Roanapur was quite flexible as a location due to its many nationalities and that a story there could fit well so long as it was bloody.

Plot

Chapter 1

After a job where their client got caught in a sting operation, the Lagoon Company had to leave without payment, but in Pangkalpinang, Indonesia they get a job from a redheaded woman named Jane. Although suspicious about the details surrounding the job, Dutch agrees to the job and the high pay offered. On the Black Lagoon, Jane has an assault team go on the PT boat (without her) to use as stealth transportation to attack the oil tanker Zaltzman. The various members of the assault team weird out Dutch, including a heroin user named Stan, a female pirate named Caroline Morgan, a Los Angeles-based rapper named Jake, and a silent ninja called Shadow Falcon. While Stan remains on the boat's deck with Dutch steering in the cabin and Benny in the communications room, Rock is forced to accompany Revy in the hold, where the remaining mercenaries stay.

As Caroline and Jake are talking, Revy becomes tired of their talk and is even more annoyed when Jake attempts to flirt with her, even pulling out his customized pistol. Revy in turn pulls out her Sword Cutlass pistol on Jake when he becomes distracted and continues to talk about himself and his gun. At that point, Rock interrupts them to say that they are almost near the tanker, so the assault team leaves the hold to ride several Zodiac boats. Stan reminds Dutch that the latter will stay behind to distract the tanker while they pirate the ship. A helicopter soon arrives, causing Dutch to radio to Stan about the vehicle, but Stan replies that the helicopter will not be a problem since it is the real target of their mission, discomforting Dutch. As Revy threatens the Zaltzman crew by saying she will fire an RPG at the hull, Mister Chang radios them to ask if they really want to attack him, surprising Dutch.

Now knowing that the mission is really suspicious and truly a plot to attack the Hong Kong Triad ship, Dutch orders the Lagoon Company to protect Chang instead, so Revy climbs onto the Zaltzman to aid Chang. Meanwhile, Caroline and Jake get onto the ship, and Jake kills a crew member, surprising Caroline since she does not want to kill anyone. Annoyed by her mindset, Jake shoots her in the head in response, killing her and persuading her two "pirates" to help him instead. On the Black Lagoon, the ninja Shadow Falcon stays behind to sabotage the boat, which he successfully does by breaking technology in the cabin. Avoiding his first surprise attack, Dutch and Benny manage to drive him out of the boat with grenades, thinking that Falcon got killed in the blasts off deck. On board the Zaltzman, Revy and Chang team up and managed to kill several of Caroline's pirate crew, so Jake decides that he will flee, warning Stan that they needed to abandon the mission. Adapting, Stan applied suppressive fire with his Dragunov sniper rifle for Jake to ensure his escape to their getaway ship, the Nefrit, and Stan parachutes off the top mast onto the getaway ship, disappearing into the night and enraging Revy.

Chapter 2

Due to the damage on the tanker, Chang boards the Black Lagoon back to Roanapur, and Dutch explains his circumstances along the way, so Chang calmly tells Lagoon Company that they will have to make it up to him. Thankfully, Benny manages to capture a good picture of the getaway ship Nefrit, a name which Rock recognizes as a Russian word and which Chang recognizes as a Hotel Moscow-owned ship. As they disembarked the boat, Shadow Falcon had himself hidden the entire time and eavesdropped on their conversation, disembarking from the boat afterward. At the Bougainvillea Trade Company office the subsequent morning, Dutch talks to Balalaika about the Zaltzman attack and seeing the Nefrit since the ship belonged to her company. They speak some more, and Dutch promises to relay anything that came up in his search throughout town to her, and he leaves to see an informant. Slipping by Dutch, the Hotel Moscow auditor Tatiana Yakovleva enters the room, having eavesdropped on their conversation. Tatiana smugly asks Balalaika why the latter did not inform her about the Nefrit's theft and told Balalaika that she should at least make sure Dutch would be discreet, leaving the office after Balalaika intimidates her.

Breaking his silence, Boris commends Balalaika's restraint but begrudgingly agrees with the despised Tatiana that they should make sure Dutch would be quiet. Not worried about Dutch's integrity, Balalaika replies that she trusted him. Hearing about the parachutist attacker who has great sniping abilities, both Boris and Balalaika think of the name "Stanislav Kandinsky," a fellow Vysotnik who fought with them in the Soviet-Afghan War. Elsewhere, Jake, Stan and two men survive the attack and stay at Sankan Palace Hotel to await a taxi summoned by Jane. Two Hotel Moscow men, David and Koslov, think that they recognize Stan, who rejects their friendliness. The men nonetheless give him a business card for Balalaika's business. Jake sees the card and tells him that it is the front company for the Russian mafia, surprising Stan. Not wanting to wait, Jake informs the others that he already has a hideout prepared, so they travel there to an abandoned factory instead of waiting for the taxi.

Chapter 3

At the Hot River Film Company office in Roanapur, Chang's henchman Biu Yuyun informs him that an informant provided credible information about the attempted assassins' hideout, adding that he has Triad men ready to raid the place on Chang's orders. Knowing that Lagoon Company has to earn his trust and not wanting his own men to get injured or killed, Chang calls the Lagoon Company to raid the hideout for him, providing Shenhua, Leigharch, and the Albondigas brothers as backup. At the Lagoon Company office, Rock remembers the business card that Jake tried to give to Revy on their boat, so Benny visits the URL on his computer per Dutch's recommendation. Seeing that it is a blog run by Jake where he documents people whom he killed, Revy gets mad since Jake had a photoshopped picture of her that he took with his gun's camera, enraging Revy. At that point, Chang calls them and tells them about their new mission.

At the factory hideout, Stan is using heroin and has flashbacks to his time in Afghanistan, including when he was captured by the Afghan Mujahideen and became a soldier for them in return for receiving heroin. During his hallucinations to the past, Revy and Shenhua begin to attack the building, causing Jake to try and wake Stan up. The ex-Soviet troop still has foggy stamina from the heroin, so Jake leaves him there while Pedro takes Stan's Dragunov rifle to use. Shenhua and the brothers go to the building's back while Revy enters the building without warning, but the latter woman is forced to take cover due to the shots from Pedro's Dragunov. Jake continues to taunt Revy as she hides, annoying her. Soon, Revy pinpoints Pedro's position and shoots a bullet at him since he does not change positions, killing him and removing Jake's cover.

In the back area, Shenhua prepares herself but then saw that two of the brothers were silently killed. The one remaining brother panics and tries to kill the silent assassin, but Shadow Falcon grabs him upward and throws him down, using his body to break the fall. He dodges Shenhua's corded kukri and cuts the cord, effectively destroying the weapon. He then appears in front of Shenhua, surprising her since she cannot predict his next move. She tries to throw a throwing knife but Falcon has already used a smoke bomb to disorient her sight, and he disappears after she barely dodges a shuriken he threw at her. As Jake is terrified about facing Revy head-on, Falcon appears behind him and advises him that he could escape since he had already pointed Stan to the exit, so Jake flees while Falcon trips Revy with caltrops and stops her gun from firing since he blew a dart with flammable material on it.

As Stan crawls throughout Roanapur, Balalaika and several Hotel Moscow members block his path with their cars, and the Russian captain cannot believe that the man before her is Stanislav Kandinsky. Reasoning that he is a loyal ex-comrade, she gives him an ultimatum to meet her at the docks at a certain time if he wants to flee Roanapur, or she will have to kill him herself. With her decision, she leaves Stanislav there, who also reciprocates surprise in the encounter.

Chapter 4

At sunrise, Tatiana visits Balalaika's office again, knowing about Stanislav's presence and name. Balalaika demands that she tell him how she knows Stanislav's name, and she answers that one of Balalaika's Vysotniki told her. The Russian leader is unconcerned at Tatiana's question of how she would deal with Stanislav, stating that she has a meeting with Chang the next day. Meanwhile, after hacking into Jake's website, Benny finishes his job and has a custom mold of Jake's gun for Revy, who is to perform in an S&M show for Rowan at his business that night. Rock responds that he cannot come since he has to account for items in their warehouses, and Rock goes to check one warehouse. After checking the place, Rock wonders where his key is but suddenly realizes that the warehouse was already unlocked when he got there, shocking him. He turns around and sees Shadow Falcon, who immediately recites ninja chants to hypnotize Rock and knock him unconscious.

When Stan does not show up at the harbor, Balalaika meets with Chang at the same location to inform him about Stan's background. Chang realizes that someone has tried to frame Balalaika and laughs about the debacle. Although he offers to kill the assassin, Balalaika rejects his request, claiming that she needs to put down her ex-comrade herself. At the Lafette Roanapur Hotel, Jake goes to room 509, where his contractor Jane is staying. Stan is already inside having already injected some heroin into his arm (also having a flashback to spending time in Afghanistan with his comrades like Master Sergeant Tiganov and Captain Sofia Pavlovna Irinovskaya a.k.a Balalaika). Soon, Shadow Falcon arrives by entering the balcony door. Jake argues with Jane about the suspicious circumstances of the mission, proclaiming that he quits and only has an interest in killing Revy. Shadow Falcon likewise informs Jane that he quits too, saying that Chang is a fearsome foe that only he can take on. After the two men leave, Jane calls Vasili Laptev and speaks to him in Russian about her plan to kill Chang and blame it on Balalaika, with Vasili agreeing to a new plan. After finishing the call, Jane takes off her red wig and puts on some glasses, revealing that she is actually Tatiana Yakovleva.

At a motel, Rock wakes up in a room and sees Shadow Falcon reciting a chant, and the two have a conversation about Japan and Falcon's life. Rock soon realizes that Falcon got scammed into buying mail-order ninja items, but Rock decides not to burst his bubble and keeps quiet. Falcon then explained to Rock that he needs to disguise himself as the Japanese ex-salaryman, promising not to ruin his reputation. An hour later after a makeover, Falcon is ready to confront Chang with his Rock disguise, which looks nothing like Rock.

Chapter 5

The next morning, Jake wakes up in the motel room that he has rented and checks his website to find out it has been hacked and that Revy slandered his reputation using a photograph of a large, perverted obese man and claiming it was Jake, disgusting his fans. Jake cannot log in with his credentials, being barred out of the website. Feeling dread, he exits the motel in fear that his cool persona is now destroyed, and he eventually arrives at a cemetery on Roanapur's outskirts. There, Revy meets him and happily insults him, and Jake pleads not to fight with her since he is in despair and does not want to die since he will be even more forgotten. Revy encourages a duel and allows the terrified Jake to fire when he is ready, but Revy shoots first since Jake's ridiculously customized gun is too heavy to lift in a duel, killing the wannabe celebrity.

At the Hot River Film Company building, Falcon entered inside with his Rock disguise, and the employees there recognize him and allow him to enter Chang's room. Unknown to him, Chang ordered his employees to let a suspicious individual enter and pretend that they know him so that he can find him. Entering Chang's office, Falcon greets him, and Chang greets Falcon with Falcon's name, shocking him. Roleplaying, Chang presents himself as a ninja grandmaster and commends him for "sneaking" into his fortress, forgiving him for attempting to kill him. Chang then sends Falcon to Hong Kong to be a ninja assassin for Zhuang Dai-Long there, and the Triad administrator converses with Biu Yuyun afterward to remark that Falcon had bought items from one of the Triad's front businesses, Oriental Mystic Collection, in New York.

At the nightclub where Chang is supposed to be, Stan prepares his sniper rifle to fire, but a sniper elsewhere shoots at him, with Stan dodging the shot to only get his shoulder wounded. He tries to flee the building and walk to the club bleeding, but Balalaika cuts him off there and shoots first at him, giving him a final sendoff. Frustrated that Stan got killed, Tatiana tries to flee Roanapur, but Boris intentionally crashes into her car and captures her, having her on a phone call with Balalaika revealing that the latter knew that Tatiana planned the assassination plot and lied about the Vysotnik snitch. Boris and another man take her to Don Mueang International Airport to take a flight to Japan. The next day, the newspapers report that the 31-year-old Tatiana's body was found at Narita International Airport in the women's bathroom, having her valuables and gold teeth stolen as well. Learning of the news because his boss Slevinin called him, Vasili frantically calls Balalaika about the ordeal. She casually confirms that Tatiana supposedly tried to run away after stealing money from her, but he realizes that she was most likely responsible for her death. Scoffing at him, Balalaika coldly warned Vasili to watch his back since she knows that he was involved in the plot to murder Chang.

Epilogue

While on a new mission on behalf of the Triad to attack a smuggling boat, the Lagoon Company is out at sea when another boat crosses their path and attacks them. On deck, Revy and Rock see that the enemy captain is Catherine Morgan, the twin sister of Caroline Morgan. Catherine loudly declares that she wants revenge for the Lagoon Company killing her sister (which was not the case), and a gunfight ensues between the two sides.

Trivia

• Balalaika, Mr. Chang, and Biu's respective full names originate from this novel (Sofia Pavlovna Irinovskaya, Chang Wai-San, and Biu Yuyun).