Chapter 98

In a fleeting instant——

That sensation arrived in a flash, then dissipated just as swiftly, retreating rapidly like the tide, as if nothing had ever happened.

Fu Yongtai stood frozen in place, bookbag in hand, momentarily plunged into blank bewilderment, staring dumbly without knowing what to say, unsure how to express the confusion in his heart.

"……"

"……"

"What's wrong, Yuta?"

Isshiki Makoto took a few steps forward, then perceived something amiss and looked back at him in puzzlement. Seeing his good friend still rooted to the spot with a baffled expression, he turned back again, patted his shoulder in concern, and asked doubtfully:

"You alright? How come you've felt…… off all afternoon today? Something wrong?"

"……"

"……"

"N-no, nothing, just stayed up late last night, didn't sleep well, been a bit tired this afternoon, no energy…… not a problem."

Fu Yongtai shook his head; some things weren't suitable to tell Isshiki Makoto, so he could only brush it off vaguely.

As for that sensation just now, he couldn't describe it either, because it was too fast, too sudden, and too brief.

It didn't even give him time to react before it had vanished completely.

In such a situation, it was very much like a sudden illusion.

However, having already witnessed the world's dark truth, Fu Yongtai, who hadn't slept peacefully these two days, didn't let his guard down because of it, but instead began vigilantly observing his surroundings, maintaining a high degree of alertness.

Yet, until they walked out the school gate and set foot on the road home……

And smoothly got off the arrived train, bid farewell to Isshiki Makoto, and walked off in different directions……

——He saw nothing unusual happen.

Before returning home, Fu Yongtai was still somewhat perplexed; he more or less couldn't figure it out.

Could it really have been just his own illusion?

————

————

The same apartment building.

The floor above Fu's.

"We're back……"

After stepping through the door, Togashi Rikka habitually blurted out this line, as natural as routine, yet never expected that upon entering, the first thing she saw was the Holy Regulator sitting on the sofa.

Toriya Satone, raven-haired with deep crimson pupils, sat quietly in the living room, absorbed in operating her phone screen. Hearing her younger sister's voice, she gently lifted her eyelids and responded: "Welcome back……"

Then, her gaze shifted to Xia Zhi following close behind the Chuunibyou Girl.

"Miss Tenka, off work?"

Xia Zhi also walked into the living room, greeting her in a very lighthearted tone; although his words were phrased as a question, his tone held no questioning intent, instead sounding quite certain.

As expected……

He definitely knew long ago……

This thought flashed through Toriya Satone's mind in an instant; she replied blandly: "Mm, off work. The restaurant had a bit of a situation today, so I simply gave everyone the day off early…… Come to think of it, I happened to win a grand prize today."

"Won a grand prize?"

Xia Zhi opportunely showed a curious expression, perfectly fulfilling the role of guiding the conversation.

"Right, a seven-day Hawaii trip, perfect for three people…… an opportunity obtained through this method——"

Miss Tenka carefully observed his expression, then produced a brand-new winning ticket, swaying it gently in mid-air a few times, her tone revealing a transcendent calm: "It should let us reasonably leave here temporarily, go dodge the limelight, right?"

She had deliberately verified it and discovered that the lottery she had almost forgotten had been launched over a month ago.

And the day the results were announced was originally scheduled for today.

It was all already settled long ago.

Just that amidst busy trivialities, she had long tossed her participation in the lottery to the back of her mind; that time was merely a casual lottery entry while shopping with a friend during leisure.

But even so, she naturally won the grand prize.

Even after today's series of developments and groundwork, when Miss Tenka learned she had won the grand prize, she could barely muster surprise…… even excitement felt feeble; she merely accepted this reality with composure.

This is also why she speaks of it so calmly now.

After all, a surprise is a surprise precisely because it is like a brilliant star in a humdrum life; it needs the ordinary everyday as a background to highlight its preciousness.

However, when surprises surge in like the tide, even seeming about to become part of life, then surprises gradually lose their original impact and freshness, becoming no longer so "surprising."

"Of course. The officials definitely don't want to make a big scene right now either; they're trying to contain the situation within a certain scope. From the information control measures, you can tell their attitude……"

Xia Zhi nodded, expressing an affirmative attitude: "Locking down the entire city, halting normal personnel flow——such extreme measures are only possible in wartime…… otherwise, extremely unrealistic."

Not to mention anything else.

Just the daily normal entry and exit of this city, the passenger volume handled by various modern transportation modes, is an enormous figure.

Moreover, large-scale screening across the whole city isn't very realistic in this country to begin with, so he didn't take it too seriously, well aware the difficulty of slipping through wasn't high.

If not for considering possible incidental factors, and the involved high school students being inexperienced, possibly exposing themselves under official pressure due to inner panic, he wouldn't even need to do much.

"Meaning it won't arouse suspicion?" Miss Tenka nodded thoughtfully.

"The whole city is their suspect pool, but they can't suspect everyone; carpet-search screening is an unrewarding effort, merely a forced measure……"

The youth laughed unconcernedly and said: "Trust me, if that thing last night hadn't refused to stay dead and stirred up a commotion, they wouldn't even have the idea of a large-scale search."

It was precisely that commotion that made those people think they saw hope——

They originally thought those things had already fled, ephemeral as a night-blooming cereus……

Result: discovered they might still be in the nearby city, very likely hiding within……

——In such a situation, of course they'd fire a few shots whether there's a target or not; they can't just watch and do nothing, right? And with absolutely no other clues, they can only choose some clumsy methods.

This wasn't Xia Zhi's imagination either; on the way back, he had already perceived that quite a few official personnel were operating in the city.

Even though those people had all disguised themselves, that "cop" aura was still very obvious.

One group started screening in that nearby residential complex, using that building as the origin point, diffusing toward the center...

Another group also started walking the streets and alleys, specifically investigating those dark corners of the city, places covered by shadows, simultaneously focusing on recent urban legends and the like...

"I understand..." Miss Tenka nodded, once again shaking the prize ticket in her hand, "Then — shall we go?"

"We can make a trip, but... not to Hawaii."

Xia Zhi had no interest in Hawaii; he didn't have any new skills to go study, so he shook his head and directly denied it: "We can take this opportunity; on the surface it seems like a vacation to Hawaii, but actually we go to Itomori Town..."

After this period of investigation...

He felt it was basically necessary to conduct an on-site survey as well.

This travel grand prize Miss Tenka drew was also a really good opportunity, just convenient for him to openly repair the plank road while secretly crossing at Chencang.

"Itomori Town..."

Toriya Satone chewed on this still not very familiar place name, then lowered her head to look at the phone in her hand, nodding to indicate she understood.

"Then I'll start preparing now, alright?"

She lifted those deep crimson pupils, as if recalling something, and looked deeply at Xia Zhi.

"That, I don't count as a person..." Xia Zhi waved his hand unconcernedly, "You just register you and Rikka."

"..."

"..."

"I'll make dinner first then, what do you want to eat?"

Miss Tenka didn't say anything more; she put away the prize ticket, stood up, and walked straight to the kitchen.

(Chapter End)