Chapter 109: The Sound

Good books and good stories accompany you every day.

The 25th.

The physics laboratory on the first floor of the old teaching building has now been completely transformed.

The blackboard was removed, the lab bench was moved, and in its place were three rows of monitors, with their curved surfaces facing inward, forming a semicircle.

The screen is divided into dozens of images, showing every main road, intersection, and rooftop of a high-rise building in Shibuya.

There was a small television in the corner, playing a news channel at a very low volume, like white noise in the background.

Kokichi and I sat in the center of the semicircle, our fingers nimbly tapping on the keyboard, like a homebody internet addict, moving at lightning speed.

For him, these seemingly mundane things are enough to make him happy. It's not just about work; he's doing everything he can to push his body to its limits.

This is a little hobby he has suddenly acquired recently, and he enjoys this human body that can constantly improve itself immensely.

The images on the screen are playing in a loop.

There are very few people in the area in front of Shibuya Station, Hachiko Exit, 109 Building, Central Street...

I kept staring at the screen... It seemed the plan was proceeding as scheduled, and there were no major problems.

"Kokichi——!"

The sound came from the other end of the corridor; the person hadn't even arrived yet, but footsteps were already at the door.

The latter's expression unconsciously softened, revealing his best side.

When Miwa Kasumi pushed open the door, she brought a gust of wind with her, which blew up several sheets of printed paper on the table, making them somersault in the air before landing back down.

The boy's eyes lit up. She was wearing casual clothes today, a beige sweater, her hair was loose, and her cheeks were flushed from the cold wind outside.

He was carrying a paper bag, with a wisp of steam rising from the opening; I could already guess what it was.

"Why are you here?"

His voice carried a hint of embarrassment. Although they had spent enough time together that the other person was already used to this new attitude, he still felt a little nervous whenever they were in close proximity. Looking at the girl's gentle and sunny face, he sometimes felt at a loss.

Especially after you've made sure you know how you feel.

In contrast, Sanlun acted as if it were perfectly natural to be with his good friend.

"I'm bringing you food."

He waved the paper bag in his hand, placed the tricycle on the table, and took out a thermal box from it.

"You definitely didn't eat again."

Yukichi glanced at the time; it was 1:14 PM. He hadn't had lunch yet.

"I......"

"Stop talking, eat first."

The tricycle had already handed him the chopsticks.

It wasn't disposable; she brought it from home. It was made of lacquered wood, and the tip of the chopsticks was carved with a small flower.

It was obvious that this was something he had prepared carefully.

The boy, who had keenly sensed this, felt a warmth in his heart.

Kokichi took the chopsticks, picked up a piece of tamagoyaki, put it in his mouth, and chewed it a couple of times.

"Is it tasty?"

"tasty."

It tastes great, just like home cooking, so it's definitely something the girl made herself.

Sanlun smiled sweetly, pulled up a chair and sat down next to him, propped her elbows on the table, rested her chin on her hand, and looked at the screen.

"Still no movement?"

"No." Kokichi picked up another piece of tamagoyaki.

"It seems like a good thing, but it's too quiet."

Sanlun understood, and she turned her head to look at his profile, where he looked worried.

After thinking for a moment, she spoke.

"Kokichi, let's go have lunch together this afternoon."

Yukichi is very strong. Compared to her useless tricycle, he can participate in the upcoming war. However, she is not really powerless. At the very least, she can help relieve his stress.

The latter, of course, wouldn't be foolish enough to refuse the girl's invitation, and naturally responded.

"Great! There's a restaurant I've been eyeing, a BBQ place. What do you think?"

"Really? Ah, barbecue...hehehe..."

"..."

Seeing the girl's innocent and longing expression, Kokichi smiled sincerely; she was so adorable.

"Sorry, sorry, I got too excited."

"It's okay, let me set it up..."

Thanks to his improvements, the mechanical ball now has functions such as autonomous identification and remote reminders. It can obtain information even when people are not in the monitoring room, and things have been calm for a while now, so all we have to do is keep an eye on it.

The Yue people had asked him to investigate beforehand, simply to understand the situation in different areas of the city in advance, so as to facilitate the evacuation of people later.

He wanted to find more traces of the enemy, but it was clear that their methods were more sophisticated than he had imagined.

Mingming's office is on the second floor of the logistics department, with south-facing windows that are bathed in sunlight from morning till night.

As afternoon approached, she adjusted the blinds to a subtle angle, allowing the light to fall perfectly on the table without being glaring.

Leaning back in his chair with his feet propped up on the edge of the table, he held a teacup in his hand. The cup was printed with the words "World's Number One Sorcerer" and a chibi-style portrait of Gojo Satoru. The gift was a present from him, and he had found it somewhere and designed it himself.

It was a promotion gift from the most powerful person in their leadership position to these "ministers." The quality and style were quite good, and she liked it very much.

In front of me, data is jumping on the screen.

Seven out of the top ten trending topics are related to Shibuya.

#ShibuyaMonster##GunSpirit##WhatAreSoCursedSpellcasters##WhatIsTheGovernmentHiding#——Each post has hundreds of millions of views and millions of discussions.

"The fear index has risen by 300%."

She murmured to herself, put down her teacup, and swiped her finger across the touchpad to bring up another report.

"The concentration of curses has increased accordingly. The number of cursed spirits below level two has increased by 0.8 compared to last week."

Shoko stood at the door, holding two cups of coffee in her hands.

She wasn't wearing her usual white coat today; her hair was casually tied back. The dark circles under her eyes were lighter than last week; her workload had decreased recently, and her sleep quality had improved considerably.

"That sounds terrible."

She came in and placed one of the cups of coffee on the table.

Mingming took it and took a sip.

Add double the milk, no sugar... that's her favorite flavor.

"Not necessarily."

She put down the cup, tapped a few times on the keyboard, and brought up a graph.

"Look here."

She leaned closer; it was a graph.

"The number of curses that people can generate within a certain period of time is limited."

Mingming's voice was still languid and magnetic.

"The power of the curse is gathering. If we can eliminate it in one fell swoop, then there will undoubtedly be a period of peace for a considerable period of time."

"The key is to eliminate them in one fell swoop."

Shoko emphasized the words "in one fell swoop".

"That's right." Mingming turned off the graph, switched back to the trending topics list, and looked at the constantly fluctuating numbers.

"But what will be born from this sudden surge of magical power concentrated at a single point is anyone's guess—a top-tier, or even more powerful, 'Great Magical Spirit'!"

Such things have been born in the world of sorcery. For example, "Yamata no Orochi" and "Shuten-dōji" were great disasters that plagued their respective eras. Spell spirits of that level can be considered part of the world. To defeat them, one needs a "chosen one".

If such a thing really appeared in this era...

Mingming raised an eyebrow.

"Can we only give it to five people again?"

"No, this time, perhaps it should be said that I'm leaving it to them."

Shoko quickly realized who these "they" were.

In this high-level battlefield, the strongest human sorcerers, known as the Special Grade, are on the field: Gojo Satoru, Natsuyu Suguru, Otoko Yuta, Tsukumo Yuki, and two others, Kawasaki Etsuto and Fushiguro Megumi.

Four top-tier sorcerers and two sorcerers with top-tier combat power—this is undoubtedly the strongest lineup among human sorcerers. If even they fail, then the defeat of sorcerers can be declared.

Shoko immediately felt relieved; yes, this time, she didn't need to go on stage alone.

She picked up her coffee, took a sip, and it was cold, but she didn't frown; instead, a distinct smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

"That's true."

The 28th.

The basement of the old school building was originally used to store sports equipment, but it has now been requisitioned by Yuki Tsukumo.

A piece of A4 paper was pasted on the door, which read "Danger - Do Not Enter Without Permission," but the word "Danger" was circled in red pen, and next to it was a line of small writing - "Really?" The handwriting was cartoonish, like that of a high school girl.

When Yue Ren pushed open the door, he almost tripped over a petri dish.

The petri dish was as tall as a person, and inside it was a clump of something that was hard to identify, slowly rotating in a light green liquid, like a sleeping heart.

Instinct made him step aside and walk around a bunch of instruments he couldn't name, finally finding the Ninety-Nine Yugi in the "garbage dump".

She was lying on her workstation, her face buried in her arms, her hair scattered all over the table.

On the table lay a notebook, a test tube rack, several printed documents, and next to it, half a half-eaten sandwich wrapped in plastic wrap, so moldy that you couldn't tell what the filling was.

He seemed to be sleeping soundly, his shoulders rising and falling slightly with his breathing.

Yue Ren's keen eyesight immediately caught sight of the dark circles under her eyes—deeper than when he first met Xiao Zi, and a pang of guilt welled up within him.

He sighed, placed the paper bag on the corner of the table, and began to tidy up.

The movements were very gentle; the test tubes were gathered on the shelf, the documents were neatly stacked, and the sandwiches were thrown into the trash can.

He casually picked up a coat that was draped over the back of the chair and put it on her.

Within minutes, Yuki Tsukumo's nose twitched, as if she had smelled something.

She lifted her head from her arms, her eyes still closed, but her lips were already pursed.

"Limited edition?"

Yue Ren opened the paper bag and took out a white box with the shop's logo printed on it: a cartoon cat wearing a chef's hat.

"Today's limited-time offer: Strawberry Cream Cake."

Tsukumo Yuki finally opened his eyes.

"Really? Yay!"

Yue Ren pushed the box over and turned to continue tidying up.

Yuki Tsukumo unpacked the food, picked up a fork, scooped out a bite, and put it in her mouth, her eyes narrowing into slits. The way she ate didn't resemble a top-tier mage, nor a composed scientist; she was more like a little girl with little sense of etiquette. Perhaps this was the result of a youthful mindset.

"Are you all ready on your end?"

"almost."

The Yue man picked up a marker that had rolled onto the ground and put it back in the pen holder.

"We've done our best with what we could; the rest is up to fate."

Tsukumo Yuki's fork stopped in mid-air. She looked at Yue Ren with a subtle expression.

"Huh—that's really unlike you. You can be this superstitious?"

The man from Yue straightened the pen holder, turned around, and looked completely at ease.

"There shouldn't be any conflict. As long as I firmly believe there won't be any problems, that's fine."

Yuki Tsukumo put the cake from her fork into her mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it. "That's true."

She lowered her head and looked at the stack of documents neatly arranged by the Yue people on the table.

Yue Ren followed her gaze.

"What's missing?"

Yuki Tsukumo paused for a moment. "It's all still just theory."

She put down her fork and leaned back in her chair.

"If we could incorporate Lu Suo's research, we should be able to achieve a technological breakthrough. After all, he's a barrier mage, isn't he?"

"Yes, their barrier techniques are highly skilled. We've already suffered several losses, both openly and secretly."

Standing amidst the pile of instruments, hands in pockets, I looked at the contents of the research report.

The ability to block Gojo Satoru's "tent" and modify Tengen's barrier... none of these are things that an ordinary barrier mage could accomplish.

In the original work, there was a plan to have Tengen assimilate everyone, and the relevant rituals must have already been researched and completed, which would be of 'reference' value to them.

After a while, he spoke: "This battle will bring back his knowledge."

This result was not difficult for him.

"You really are..."

She shook her head, picked up her fork again, and took a bite of cake.

"They can talk about anything like buying groceries."

The Yue man's lips twitched slightly.

"That's how it is."

When your hand is completely exposed, the opponent can't think of a reason to lose in a one-on-one situation.

The 30th.

An underground base.

Su Nuo stood before a giant mirror... or perhaps not a mirror, but ice formed from condensed cursed power.

His body was reflected in the mirror: four familiar arms, four eyes, and a robust physique.

He clenched his fist, his knuckles making a crisp sound, the friction between his knuckles like the clash of a knife against its sheath.

The power surged through my veins, not the unfamiliar kind that required adaptation, but a power that was completely integrated into my body and into every nerve ending.

A thousand years ago, he stood on a small hill of corpses, looking down at the world below, and felt bored.

Now that boredom is gone, because he has finally found someone who can keep him from being bored.

"Lord Su Nuo."

Rimei's voice suddenly came from behind, still respectful.

Su Nuo did not turn around.

"explain."

"Reports from Ryousaku indicate that the battlefield is ready. The sorcerer's forces are gathering in Shibuya."

He paused.

"The leaders are Gojo Satoru and Kawasaki Etsuto."

Su Nuo's mouth stretched into a wide grin, revealing two rows of white teeth; his smile was unrestrained.

He took one last look at himself in the mirror.

"Let's go then."

He turned around, and the ground trembled slightly beneath his feet.

Rime followed behind, her head slightly bowed, like a shadow.

"Rime".

"exist."

I'm hungry.

Su Nuo's voice came from ahead, tinged with laughter.

"It's time to hunt. Let's enjoy it one last time."

Rime's lips twitched slightly.

"Yes, ma'am."

Good books and good stories accompany you every day.