Chapter 37: First Division, Move Out!

As the superhumans banded together and lone targets died off, opportunities for Hunters to strike became fewer and fewer.

Inside the speeding bus, Kaori Onishi looked at a Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department riot squad vehicle running parallel outside the window and murmured, “I never thought I’d get this kind of treatment one day.”

Riot squad escort, huh! And she’s just a high school girl, not some big shot or official!

Sitting beside her, Jiang Jian Yue stared intently at the live broadcast on her phone.

It was too calm—so calm it was almost aggravating.

Hundreds of targets, and maybe only a few abilities would be gained tonight?

She tried her best to avoid expecting a Hunter attack on the convoy.

That would just be too inhuman.

On the screen, Yuki Asahi’s first-person combat broadcast had already been cut off—perhaps the recording device had run out of power.

Before the feed disappeared, Yuki Asahi had already slain six Hunters.

The battle had shifted from a building in Sixth Roppongi New Town to a small nearby garden.

Cameras set up on nearby overpasses and buildings faithfully recorded the scenes of battle.

Screech—

Without warning, the bus slammed on the brakes, and Jiang Jian Yue was thrown forward, her head banging against the seat in front.

“What’s going on, what’s going on?”

Kaori Onishi clung to Jiang Jian Yue’s arm in a panic.

The superhumans on the bus instantly went into high alert. With several soft sounds, thin needles floated above one superhuman’s head.

Someone hugged themselves, a protective shield forming around their body.

Jiang Jian Yue took a deep breath, forcing down the desire to copy abilities that surged within her.

She finally understood the saying that human greed has no end.

“Don’t worry, it’s the Self-Defense Force.”

A loud voice from a riot squad officer at the front of the bus tried to calm the tense atmosphere.

No joke—if these people got agitated, they really might blow up the bus.

A military officer wearing a Self-Defense Force cap stepped steadily into the aisle from the front door.

He glanced around, exchanged a few words with the riot squad officer, then announced to the entire bus in a powerful voice, “From now on, the First Division is responsible for your safety!”

As a Tokyo University Student, Jiang Jian Yue didn’t find the Self-Defense Force stepping in strange.

If anything, it felt a bit late for them to be “disaster rescuing” now.

But Koji Hattori, a former Self-Defense Force member sitting across the aisle, looked completely stunned.

Jiang Jian Yue glanced at him, then looked down and logged into Blue Bird.

As expected, on Blue Bird, discussions about the incident were already dominating the regional trending rankings.

One post was about an intense protest erupting in Chiyoda, with core demands for the government to deploy the Self-Defense Force immediately.

The organization of the protest was so quick—was this the work of the International Development Agency?

The government couldn’t withstand the pressure from both online and offline.

According to Article 2 of the National Protection Act, which defines armed attacks,

the GPRI Hunters were designated as an armed attack from outside the country.

First Division, deploy!

When Yuki Asahi’s declaration, “GPRI, you’re really a songstress, remember what I said, I’m in Roppongi cursing you,” was broadcast, politicians had no other choice.

Damn it!

This meant she had no chance to access the corpses!

Thinking this, Jiang Jian Yue stood up.

“I’m going to Roppongi.”

***

The small garden beneath Sixth Roppongi New Town was in chaos, littered with traces of superhuman battles—frozen trees, claw-torn ravines, and the bodies of the culprits.

…The tenth.

Yuki Asahi slowly unclenched his tightly held fist.

The Face Mask Man collapsed at his feet like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Cough… ha… hahaha…”

A repressed gasp came from beneath the mask, foul blood seeping slowly at the edges.

The strange black flames that had been burning on his skin were fading beyond saving, like a gas stove that refused to ignite.

“Yuki…you have no idea…”

The voice was hoarse and torn.

He lifted his hand, clutching Yuki Asahi’s collar tightly.

“…What a foolish thing you’ve done!”

“Are lunatics like you any less foolish?”

Yuki Asahi panted heavily, his tone full of disdain.

“Lunatic? Hahaha! You’ve never seen…a true madman.”

The Face Mask Man let out a broken laugh.

“You were all fooled by that traitor Dream Serpent, idiots.”

A helicopter, engines roaring, passed overhead with a camera rig.

Yuki Asahi slightly inclined his head, looking up at the dark red sky.

His voice was resolute.

“I’m just trying to protect as many people as I can. That’s all.”

“Then…”

The Face Mask Man’s voice suddenly dropped, weighed with an unspeakable heaviness.

“I…deeply regret that.”

Yuki Asahi didn’t understand what that meant.

The hand clutching his collar suddenly lost all strength, and the Face Mask Man went completely still.

“Why does no one ever say things clearly?”

Yuki Asahi could feel it clearly.

The final emotion spreading from the body before him, just as the Face Mask Man himself had said—an utterly despairing ‘regret.’

Thud—thud—

Heavy, drum-like footsteps echoed behind him.

Yuki Asahi spun around.

At the edge of his vision, a massive figure made entirely of diamond broke through smoke and debris, advancing on him.

His battered fist clenched again, pain throbbing faintly—this guy’s tough!

Crash——

Piercing gunfire ripped through the air.

On the side of the building, a massive sheet of reinforced glass shattered under a hail of 7.62mm machine gun fire, raining down like a waterfall.

A 16-type Maneuver Combat Vehicle burst through the cascade, glass shards clattering off its armor.

The 105mm Rifled Gun locked steadily onto the dazzling, giant Diamond Man.

“Fire!”

A Multipurpose Armor-Piercing Shell fired instantly, compressed air and the high-speed shell creating a sonic boom cloud at the muzzle, followed by a brilliant, deadly flame.

Boom——

Yuki Asahi ducked, covering his ears.

All he could feel was the searing wind as the shell passed, and diamond fragments pelting his body.

What the hell?

The thunderous blast left Yuki Asahi stunned for a long time, until an armed light vehicle pulled up in front of him.

Self-Defense Force?

They actually deployed?

Several Self-Defense Force officers lined up in front of him, and the leading officer shouted, “Salute the Hero!”

Then they all saluted together—leaving Yuki Asahi bewildered and unsure how to respond.

“Thank you for your hard work, Yuki. We’ll take over from here!”

Huh?

Yuki Asahi sensed something odd in the officers’ emotions—and the officer’s words felt like a scripted speech prepared in advance.

Glancing to the side, he saw TV station staff who’d been allowed to approach, pointing cameras at them.

He understood.

The politicians clearly couldn’t sit still anymore.

It seemed his efforts hadn’t been in vain.

Suddenly, he felt emotional energy rapidly draining.

The broadcast was cut off?

The BUFF vanished, and pain stabbed through his injuries like needles.

Yuki Asahi quickly deactivated his Chantui ability to avoid further exhaustion.

He was taken by the Self-Defense Force officers to an ambulance on the street, where he sat as paramedics bandaged his wounds.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar female voice outside the vehicle.

The ambulance door opened, and Yuki Asahi turned expectantly—

Only to see a middle school girl with pale blue hair.

It wasn’t Jiang Jian-senpai…