Chapter 734

PS: Yes, kids, I'm back, your favorite prison warden is back!

PS2: Starting tomorrow, we resume two updates per day!

"Yes, kids, I'm back."

Takakura's transformation was completed in just a few seconds.

His clothing was torn apart by his swelling body, revealing not human skin, but a bluish-gray substance resembling aged bark mixed with damp stone, its surface covered in twisted veins and moss-like dark green patches.

His limbs elongated, joints reversed, and the tips of his fingers and toes extended into sharp, root-like black claws. The deformation of his skull was most horrifying—his facial features nearly vanished, leaving only a massive maw filled with spiral-shaped teeth, capable of splitting vertically down to his chest, and three asymmetrically arranged compound eyes on his forehead, flickering with eerie green phosphorescence.

His back bulged as numerous thick, vine-like appendages, tipped with suckers and spines, burst through his flesh, swaying slowly in the air and emitting a pungent odor blending decay and mutation.

Inner world creature.

This is exactly what Uesugi Munetaka feared most: only a thousand days of being a thief, not a thousand days of guarding against thieves!

Inner world creatures almost certainly cannot defeat a U. S. M1A1 tank, but they don't need to—they only need to arrange an unmanned East Wind Nissan to come and send someone to the afterlife, just like Mai Sakurajima!

So he must test this guy out! Otherwise, even if Takakura is arrested, he doesn't necessarily have to transform—indeed, in Japan's rule-of-law society, where criminal treatment is relatively lenient, even such a major malignant offender cannot be tortured, so he can simply refrain from transforming and wait for a solitary opportunity to flee, without ever revealing himself.

"Hoh… hoh hoh…" A non-human hiss echoed from that massive maw, carrying a metallic resonance: "Did you see that? The pitiful weapons of mortals are meaningless against our 'evolved' forms!"

"Prepare, witness, transcend evolution!"

Honda Atsumu witnessed this surreal scene, his mind going blank—his sixty-year-old worldview, built on real-world struggle and violence logic, shattered before his eyes.

He may have heard urban legends or scattered ghost stories before, even heard of monsters appearing in ancient tombs in Nagano Prefecture, but never imagined such power could truly exist!

At this moment, he suddenly understood why Takakura could so easily rebuild an active extremist organization under police pressure and societal change—why they could obtain untraceable supplies and information? Surely, behind it all lurked the shadow of these non-human entities, offering convenience or bewitching the human heart!

Fear and absurdity overwhelmed him, but years of knife-licking instinct drove him to react.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" He raised the replica gun he had just picked up and fired repeatedly at the terrifying torso.

The bullets struck the creature's bluish-gray torso, producing a muffled "puff-puff" sound, like shooting into rotten wood—only leaving a few shallow pits, some flaking debris, but failing to penetrate at all.

The creature didn't even flinch; the compound eyes on its forehead mocked him with a gleeful stare.

"Serving an older, greater existence, we have transcended mortal life and physics!" The creature's voice boomed with condescending arrogance: "Clear out these pesky bugs, then I'll personally detonate the explosives, letting this iron tower's collapse serve as a salute to the great god of divergence and unity!"

Having spoken, it took heavy steps, the ground trembling slightly as a vine-like tendril, whip-like, cracked through the air and lashed toward the injured Honda Atsumu, who could not move quickly.

The spines on the tendril flashed with an ominous cold light.

Honda Atsumu's pupils contracted as he immediately rolled sideways—the tendril whipped the ground where he had just stood, shattering concrete and sending stone fragments flying. Impressive strength! Uesugi Munetaka couldn't help but admire: though a terrorist, the body is the foundation of revolution. Honda Atsumu, in Brazil's eyes, never abandoned training—though it's unclear whether that discipline was voluntary or forced.

After all, not everyone is willing to risk danger for the so-called "freedom"!

The wound in his internal organs was tugged, Honda Atsumu groaned in pain, his movement slowed by a beat—he reflexively raised his replica gun again, but the memory of his earlier futile shots flashed through his mind; his trigger finger twitched, and he instinctively looked toward Uesugi Munetaka. Uesugi Munetaka! Quickly use your omnipotent forensic skills to think of a solution!

Otherwise, we'll all die here today!

You promised me!

At this moment, Uesugi Munetaka's expression also changed.

Before Takakura transformed, he was very heavy, even slightly tense.

But after Takakura transformed, Uesugi Munetaka relaxed considerably—he calmly adjusted his posture, stood at a slightly safer distance, and…

He neither fled nor sought weapons, but instead calmly raised his right hand: thumb up, index finger straight, the other three curled—forming a classic, childlike "hand gun" gesture.

He aimed the "barrel" at the creature's seemingly sturdiest point—the center of its chest.

Then he slightly tilted his head, lips parting, emitting a clear, slightly playful sound effect: "Biang"

The air seemed to freeze for an instant.

The creature's three compound eyes appeared to freeze simultaneously, as if utterly bewildered by Uesugi Munetaka's reaction.

An utterly absurd feeling surged through it—this Brahmin… was he scared silly? Or having a chuunibyou episode before death? Doesn't he fear me?

Even Honda Atsumu stared in disbelief, thinking Uesugi Munetaka was employing some psychological tactic or merely acting out in desperation. But then, the next second—

The tip of Uesugi Munetaka's index finger, mimicking a gun, suddenly erupted with a highly condensed, blazing white sphere of energy, within which faint mystical light swirled.

As the sphere appeared, the surrounding air emitted a faint ionization "hiss," and dust was pushed aside by an invisible force field.

No earth-shaking charge, no lengthy incantation—only a thought, and spiritual power exploded!

Spirit Bullet!

"Whoosh!!!"

A pure white beam, only as thick as a finger yet seemingly capable of piercing space itself, shot from the sphere! So fast it exceeded retinal perception limits, leaving only a fleeting light trace!

"Pfft!!!"

The beam pierced through the creature's chest—where bullets had only left shallow marks—without resistance!!

Positioned precisely, near where bullets had struck before, but the damage was worlds apart!

「Bang！」

A bowl-sized wound appeared on the creature's chest, its edges showing signs of burning, carbonization, and crystallization.

Bluish-gray fragments, dark green viscous fluid, and twisted tissue resembling plant meridians or metallic wires sprayed from the wound's front and back!

"Ugh ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

A non-human scream erupted from the maw—filled with agony, shock, and incomprehension!

The creature's massive body convulsed violently, staggering backward several steps before slamming into a concrete wall, leaving cracks.

"No, this is impossible! My body should be able to withstand Old Man Le's existence!"

It stared in disbelief at its chest wound, the green light in its compound eyes flashing wildly.

Honda Atsumu's mouth hung open, nearly forgetting to breathe or feel his internal pain—the sight before him shattered his cognition even more than the creature's transformation had. Uesugi Munetaka… you too…

No wonder—I'd always felt something off about Uesugi Munetaka. Japanese forensic science isn't exactly top-tier, but his rise is too bizarre; Japanese investigative ability may have flaws in some areas, yet his case-solving methods remain utterly incomprehensible. Especially these past two days, we met secretly once, and he brought along an adorable girl like a little flying bird. When I asked him to save my daughter and atone for the past, he believed me easily—making me feel strange at the time.

Now I understand: Takakura isn't human, and Uesugi isn't human either!

No one here is human!

Got it, got it!

Honda Atsuhito felt his spirit vision had heightened.

"You think only you'll change, huh?" Uesugi Muneyuki glanced at Honda Atsuhito, smirked, and nodded, indicating everything was under his control, then looked toward Takakura: "You think only you're not afraid of bullets, huh?"

He took a step forward, as if an invisible aura spread around him, stirring the hair strands on his forehead.

Those eyes, always calm in analyzing evidence and corpses, now seemed to have hellish blood-red light swirling deep within, and behind him, the shadow of Aizen Myōō glowed.

"I'm not afraid you'll change, I'm afraid you won't change; I'm not afraid you'll strike, I'm afraid you won't strike."

At the moment Uesugi Muneyuki's words fell, his aura underwent a drastic transformation.

No longer the scholar's calm, nor the police's sharpness, but a majestic aura blending sacred dignity and demon-subduing wrath. He did not undergo Takakura's terrifying physical mutation, yet behind him, in the void, a colossal, flickering phantom suddenly appeared!

That phantom was the legendary divine dharma image—Ichiran—multi-headed and multi-armed, face either compassionate or wrathful, body crimson, as if condensed from purest flame and light.

Most striking was one arm, posed in drawing a bow and nocking an arrow, bow and arrow both forged from brilliant spiritual light, the arrowhead pointing straight at the demon ahead! This is the shadow of Aizen Myōō, symbolizing the purification of all obsessions and evil obstacles through fervent compassion.

"Believe in the holy light!" Uesugi Muneyuki whispered softly, not chanting, but as if calling forth power aligned with his origin.

He pressed his right index and middle fingers together, held before his chest; a string of spirit spheres flew from his fingertips, then coalesced into one mass. The highly concentrated spirit power at his fingertip was no longer a simple white light ball, but transformed into a point blazing like molten gold, its core swirling with the crimson patterns of Aizen Myōō's phantom—a special spirit sphere! "Vaisravana descends, evil spirits retreat!"

He pointed his fingertip forward!!

"Boom!!!"

That molten-gold crimson spirit sphere left his hand, initially only the size of a bead, but upon release instantly expanded, becoming a roaring torrent of crimson energy forged from pure spirit fire and anti-evil will!

Wherever it passed, residual gunpowder smoke, dust, and even the corrupt aura emitted by the "strange ones" were instantly vaporized and purified! The crimson torrent, with the force to shatter rotten timber, easily melted through layer after layer of dark wooden shields, violently striking the strange one's massive body!

"Not one!!!"

This time, it was no longer a simple piercing wound.

The crimson spirit light, like the most domineering purifying fire, spread from the impact point instantly across the strange one's entire body!

Its stone-gray, rock-bark-like body emitted a "hiss-hiss" wail in the spirit light, rapidly disintegrating, carbonizing, turning to flying ash! Those wildly dancing tendons broke inch by inch, equally burned to nothing in the spirit fire.

The light faded.

Honda Atsuhito slumped to the ground, back against the cold concrete pillar, having completely lost his ability to think. He had witnessed firsthand the bulletproof monster, then seen the young forensic doctor summon a divine shadow and unleash a blow beyond imagination, turning the monster to ash. The information he received in these few minutes was more absurd and shocking than his entire sixty-plus years of life combined.

I got up, was I insta-killed by a bullet? Or was it the gun I was gesturing with?

Does the Uesugi Kenshin family really have some kind of inheritance?

Who summoned Vaisravana? Aizen Myōō?

Behind Uesugi Muneyuki, the majestic shadow of Aizen Myōō gradually faded, and the awe-inspiring majestic aura around him receded like a tide, returning him to the appearance of a handsome, calm young scholar.

"You..." Honda Atsuhito opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Uesugi Muneyuki gestured for him to be silent.

Takakura was indeed tested, but this is still not enough...

He had created an extremely extreme environment artificially, wanting to test whether the police system on this side... had also been tested on him? He immediately released Hironaka Mariko.

Almost simultaneously, the mid-to-high levels of Tokyo Chūjō Building.

Several fortunate "Red Goldfinch" remnants who had escaped the SAT assault and ensuing chaos were using their familiarity with the building's internal maintenance passages to try to descend to lower levels, seeking opportunities to blend into the evacuation crowd or find another escape route. They were still shaken, their weapons few. Just as they turned a hallway corner, thinking they were temporarily safe,

at the emergency exit ahead, a figure stood silently, unknown when it had appeared.

The person stood backlit, upright in posture.

Standing there without a word, yet naturally emanating an aura that was both reassuring and too sacred to violate, like a judge descended into the world.

And most importantly, his belt was very bright, extremely bright, bright enough to blind these few people's dog eyes, bright enough that they couldn't see clearly who this person actually was.

"Who are you?!"

"Damn high-beam dog! Where'd you get that searchlight?"

"A cop? Doesn't seem like..."

"Ah, so bright! What kind of industrial-grade light?"

"You're not allowed to come closer! Come any closer and we'll open fire!"

The remnants panicked, raised their remaining handguns, and fired wildly.

While this "high-beam dog" slightly tilted his head, as if confirming their identity and malice. The next second, his figure suddenly blurred! "So fast!"

"Where is he?!"

The remnants only saw golden light and shadow flickering and reversing in the narrow corridor, unable to discern movements, they fired wildly a few shots, not knowing if they hit anything, and accompanied by light tapping and metallic clanging sounds, their weapons were easily knocked from their hands, each feeling precise, restraining force at joints or vital points, then the world spun, they fell heavily to the ground, instantly losing resistance, falling into brief unconsciousness or paralysis.

Finally, the golden retriever who wanted to eat Kendōngjī, before collapsing, only vaguely saw the opponent's head—Ichiran—not a non-human face, but a smoothly shaped helmet with sharp golden angles, like some kind of sacred armor, the compound-eye part emitting a soft yet firm red glow.

This, this is unscientific...

This was the last reaction of this group of bandits before losing consciousness.

Inside the Metropolitan Police Department, there shouldn't be such an awesome existence, right?

And this "high-beam dog" remained silent throughout, the whole process quiet and efficient, using no lethal weapons or overtly superhuman power, purely the pinnacle of martial technique.

He raised his head and glanced toward the 36th floor direction, obviously feeling Uesugi Muneyuki's spirit power fluctuation, but did not linger, his form flickered, like merging into light, silently vanishing from the emergency exit, as if he had never appeared.

Only near the Chūjō Building, an unknown entity in splendid miko robes slowly lowered the large bow in her hands, she smiled charmingly, her magnificent eyes slightly proud.

"Looks like I don't need to appear after all!"

"Indeed, they tested Muneyuki, matched up, all matched!"