Sakamoto's Vs the Lab

Reuniting with Shishiba, Sakamoto meets Osaragi, who compares his round, saucer-eyed face to a stuffed teddy bear. The instant Kashima overhears the name Sakamoto, he pegs the man as the only person ever to wound X, a feat Sakamoto cannot recall performing. Peeling away the last of his stitches, Kashima announces he will haul his target back to his master and exposes the firearms hidden inside his mouth and left arm.

Two floors below, Shin sprints toward Lu only to be ambushed by Seba, once again turned invisible. He narrowly slips the strike and locates the mercenary, to the man's annoyance. Asked whether Lu is safe, Seba shrugs that he simply obeys orders for a wage and dreams of retiring on twenty million yen. He vanishes again, slices Shin's arms from behind, and Shin realizes his clairvoyance reveals a position but never the shape of an incoming blow.

Sakamoto trades blows with Kashima and doubts the cyborg is even human. When the two Order members withdraw, he waves them off without concern, and Shishiba, though admitting the fight is rough on an out-of-shape Sakamoto, cannot picture him losing. Kashima mocks his opponent for only dodging and preaches that the lab's work will reshape the killing trade, but Sakamoto counters that anyone careless of the people beside him achieves nothing. As the cyborg gloats and monologues, Sakamoto rams a pen down the barrel of the mouth gun; Kashima fires regardless, the weapon detonates, and Sakamoto adds that he despises men who run their mouths.

The duel between Shin and Seba grinds on until the mercenary buries a knife in Shin's chest. Falling, Shin smears his own blood across Seba's torso and warns that now "he" cannot miss. Before Seba can ask who, two ricocheting rounds slam into him, fired by Heisuke Mashimo, who reaches the fight just in time.

Bearing the title "Sakamoto's Vs the Lab" (Sakamoto-shōten Buiesu Rabo), this twenty-seventh chapter runs 23 pages within the Lab Arc and is gathered in the fourth volume. It first appeared on June 14, 2021, in issue 28 of that year, behind a crowded cover featuring Sakamoto, Shin, Lu Shaotang and much of the supporting cast.