Chapter 67

Not wanting to disturb the two inside the hospital room, Uesugi Toru silently walked into an empty safety corridor.

There was no need to let them know about this sort of thing.

Zhou Zhenyu and Hoshino Yumeko's lives were truly too bitter, so at least for this moment of joy, Uesugi Toru truly couldn't bear to break it.

He took out his mobile phone and dialed Rituna Minami's number.

This time, Uesugi Toru didn't have to call many times; instead, it was connected the instant it popped up on the call screen.

Rituna Minami's cold, restrained work voice came through: "I'm at work, keep it short."

Uesugi Toru: "I've encountered the 'Seed' sown by Ai Buli, well, I suppose you could say that."

After Shizuka Mafuyu's exclamation came from the other end of the phone, it fell into a long silence.

Uesugi Toru waited patiently.

"Uesugi-kun, you really know how to bring me many surprises."

Rituna Minami's voice was no different from before, showing the good emotional management of a mature company slave.

But Uesugi Toru could hear a hint of unexpected delight in it.

He was somewhat puzzled, originally thinking that Rituna Minami would hand this news over to her superiors and ignore it after hearing it.

——Now it seemed the situation was not so?

Rituna Minami: "Tell me in detail about this 'Seed' you speak of."

Uesugi Toru quietly listened to the footsteps pacing back and forth outside the safety corridor door, and after a brief thought said: "Wait a moment."

He rubbed his forehead, feeling he had been somewhat careless.

Since Ai Buli could use a person as an emotional culture dish without the Special Affairs Division knowing, it showed she had a method to perfectly evade detection while employing these means.

Then what made him think there was no clone of Ai Buli among the pacing footsteps in the corridor?

The worst case was nothing more than the words he had just spoken to Rituna Minami having already been heard by Ai Buli.

Arriving alone before the locked rooftop door of the hospital, Uesugi Toru took out a crowbar and lightly struck the door lock.

Crack.

After a dull sound, the rusted iron chain and door lock were smashed into a lump of scrap iron.

"My apologies, my apologies."

After murmuring twice in his heart, Uesugi Toru walked onto the abandoned hospital rooftop, and after confirming no one was following behind him, he continued speaking,

"The so-called 'Seed,' I believe, is Ai Buli selecting a person, first drawing out various negative emotions, letting them be tortured to the brink of death, and finally turning extreme negative emotions into extreme positive emotions in an instant."

Uesugi Toru speculated: "As long as it is extreme emotion produced by a person, whether positive or negative, is what Ai Buli needs."

After speaking, Uesugi Toru could hear the rustling sound on the other end of the phone also stop.

"This matter is indeed recorded in ancient archives." Rituna Minami said, "In the Heian Period a thousand years ago, at least two generations ago, Ai Buli did the same thing."

"【Shindoku】."

Rituna Minami's tone was unusually heavy: "Records once called Ai Buli's ability this, and aside from the enormous harm, there are no more detailed records."

"However, what Ai Buli needs is not so-called extreme emotions."

Rituna Minami: "But rather the process of emotional transformation."

"——From the suffering of parting to the joy of reunion, glimpsing the hope of life within absolute death, in the void of lost meaning fallen into just before redemption is about to arrive."

"The more intense, the faster, the greater the amplitude of this process, the stronger the mental state and spirit of the one drawn in, the more power Ai Buli can draw from it, and thus she can plant more Shindoku, cycling in this way."

Uesugi Toru remained silent for a long time.

"Then, what was the result a thousand years ago?" he asked.

Rituna Minami sighed helplessly: "The records of this part were lost long ago; rather, it is a miracle that a small portion of the archives from a thousand years ago has been preserved to the present."

Just as Uesugi Toru was preparing to hang up the phone, Rituna Minami's voice came again——

"Besides this, there is also a Two-Star Exorcism Commission, Uesugi-kun, will you do it?"

Exorcism Commission?

Now?

For a moment, Uesugi Toru did not understand Rituna Minami's train of thought; this was too far removed from the scope of the Ai Buli incident.

He was not an employee of the Special Affairs Division, so why should he do work for the Special Affairs Division?

But Nanjo Sister would not speak nonsense during work hours, and she could not possibly do something illogical; these two points were certain.

After more than ten seconds, Uesugi Toru suddenly understood.

——The same disaster returning after a thousand years; if there was usable combat power at hand, Rituna Minami would certainly make full use of it.

And what was the definition of "combat power"? Surely they couldn't send a bunch of ordinary people to offer their heads to Ai Buli, pointlessly enhancing the other side's strength.

Rituna Minami's definition of this was——Two-Star Combat Power.

"So as long as you can complete a Two-Star Exorcism Commission alone. As for how it is completed, or whether your strength has reached Two-Star, it doesn't matter."

Uesugi Toru retorted: "The leader's meaning is truly hard to guess."

"You kid, isn't this clear." Rituna Minami laughed, a rare occurrence, "I was just about to explain."

She continued: "But I also respect personal will; if you don't want to be involved in this matter, then pretend I didn't say it."

"Whether to participate or not can be decided later." Uesugi Toru rubbed his hands beside the mobile phone microphone, "Now, how about we first discuss the commission's reward."

"Hah."

Rituna Minami coldly smiled: "Uesugi-kun, do you think unexpectedly demanding a reward can make me hesitate——don't be naive, I anticipated this long ago."

"【Essence of Sōgen Fire】."

Rituna Minami explained: "You have that imitation Kaga Kiyomitsu, don't you? It's a perfect match with this thing; you've heard of enchantments in games, right? After using this, every strike of your blade will be wreathed in flames."

This well-known concept, how could Uesugi Toru, a strength-focused powerhouse, have no impression of it.

"If you agree to the commission, I'll have Shizuka come pick you up shortly, and the reward will be given to you by her when you get in the car……"

"What time?"

Uesugi Toru interrupted her: "I'm at Futaba Hospital now. When do we start?"

"Half an hour later. The details of the commission will be told to you by the quiet room."

With a slap, Rituna Minami hung up the phone, crisp and decisive.

Uesugi Toru put the phone back into his pocket expressionlessly, returned from the rooftop to the sixth floor of the hospital, and then saw Zhou Zhenyu standing at the doorway of the hospital room.

He was slightly stunned, vaguely sensing something.

Uesugi Toru walked over quickly, but before he could speak, Zhou Zhenyu, tears streaming down his face soundlessly, turned his head to look at him,

"Yumeko... has already passed away..."

Saying this, Zhou Zhenyu fiercely wiped away the tears on his face with his sleeve: "But she left with a smile, telling me many things about the future."

"Since that's the case, I will carry Yumeko's hope and live on, climbing step by step, to make a name for myself!"

Saying this, the deep sorrow on Zhou Zhenyu's face had completely disappeared, and instead, within just a few seconds, a twisted and fanatical look appeared,

"Actually, I should thank Yumeko for dying in my arms. If she hadn't woken me up, who knows, I might have sunk for a while longer..."

"Old Zhou!"

Uesugi Toru couldn't listen anymore, and fiercely punched Zhou Zhenyu in the face.

End of Chapter