On the train ride home, Jiang Jian Yue received a LINE message from Morita Aoya:
‘Ojou-sama, did you sneak out?’
‘Mmm, Yuki-kun invited me on a date.’
Jiang Jian Yue made no effort to hide her actions.
Such a trivial matter, Morita the butler probably wouldn’t report it to Otousan.
‘With Yuki?’
Morita Aoya sighed in relief. If it was with that kid, it should be fine.
Yuki Asahi was an esper, and should be able to protect Ojou-sama’s safety.
But still feeling a sense of negligence, he gave a reminder just in case:
‘Next time you go out, let Hattori-san protect you, okay?’
‘Whatever.’
Stuffing her phone back into her pocket, Jiang Jian Yue leaned against the pole by the train door.
The orange light of the sunset spilled through the window onto her face, casting deep shadows.
Somehow…
The inside of the train was eerily quiet.
She glanced around the carriage; only a few scattered people sat here and there.
An auntie with a grocery basket, two elderly couples, a girl dressed in trendy fashion, and…a suspicious man wrapped up tightly from head to toe.
So, why do stalkers always love wearing trench coats?
It’s not even France here.
Wearing a trench coat with a mask and sunglasses in Japan would just make you look like a flasher with nothing on under your coat, wouldn’t it?
Who’s behind this guy?
Would the idiots at Tokubetsu Ouyouhonbu really have the guts to follow her?
Jiang Jian Yue shoved her hand into her pocket and walked straight up to the suspicious man.
She bent down and spoke softly:
‘Hello.’
Ssshh—
A slender dagger slipped from the man’s sleeve. His gloved hand gripped it in an instant, slashing backhanded toward Jiang Jian Yue.
Jiang Jian Yue leaned back, and the blade skimmed through her fluttering hair.
Zero-frame start, huh? Did he even exhale?
‘Eh? What’s going on?’
‘Train attendant! Someone’s carrying a weapon!’
The people nearby erupted in panic, shattering the silence of the carriage.
Jiang Jian Yue ignored the commotion around her, focusing all her attention on the man before her.
The dagger was still stained with blood—obviously freshly used.
Was the opponent a regular killer, or…
The next moment, the man’s actions confirmed Jiang Jian Yue’s suspicion.
He stretched out his gloved hand; on the glove, a slit opened, and an eye snapped wide.
No laser shot out, nor did green fire spray forth. He simply glared at her with the eye on his hand.
What did it mean?
Jiang Jian Yue avoided making eye contact with the eye.
Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.
Still, she felt as if a blurry filter had covered her vision, like mild nearsightedness, and her sense of balance wavered.
Jiang Jian Yue squinted, trying to follow his movements, but having never been nearsighted before, it was uncomfortable.
The dagger suddenly stabbed into her shoulder, and pain exploded in her abdomen, slamming her body against the opposite train window.
Bang! Crash…
The window shattered instantly, tempered glass raining down on her face like hail, her upper body thrown halfway out of the train.
Damn it…
Jiang Jian Yue reacted instantly, grabbing the window frame and quickly pulling herself outside—only to feel a fresh slice across her calf.
She crashed onto the gravel beside the tracks, rolling a few times with inertia before struggling to her feet, her face smeared with dust and debris.
The train cars slid away section by section at her side as Jiang Jian Yue clutched the wound on her shoulder, vision slowly clearing.
The man’s movements were too fast—she hadn’t even had time to press her invisibility wristwatch.
She hadn’t expected this guy to attack so decisively. Did she have some grudge against him?
What a mess.
Ssshh—
A pair of leather shoes appeared in Jiang Jian Yue’s field of vision.
She stared upwards, wide-eyed, as the trench coat man jumped down from the train as well, gripping his dagger and rushing toward her.
Did he really think she couldn’t fight back?
Jiang Jian Yue had never felt so underestimated.
Her face, partly hidden by her crouched position, was now tinged with anger.
The wounds on her shoulder and calf began healing rapidly, wisps of white smoke rising.
‘I will kill you.’
***
When Yuki Asahi walked into the Tokubetsu Ouyouhonbu building, he was immediately stunned by the patches covering the entire base.
Takaguchi, leading him, sighed helplessly.
‘You should be grateful. If most people hadn’t been out that day, everyone would have died.’
Eh? Shouldn’t it be that if everyone was present, they could have defended against the attacker?
Tokubetsu Ouyouhonbu…so self-deprecating.
He was taken into a meeting room, where several staff members wearing name badges sat.
The only unique figure was a woman with light purple hair, clutching her head at the end of the table.
‘Yuki-kun has arrived.’
Everyone turned their gaze to him.
The woman lowered her hands and looked up at Yuki Asahi.
Being stared at by so many people made Yuki Asahi uncomfortable.
He gave an awkward laugh and waved.
‘So you finally came, the famous super genius.’
The woman’s tone carried a strange hint of…complaint?
Yuki Asahi obediently sat in the chair Takaguchi pulled out for him, murmuring a quiet thanks.
The man at the head of the table, clearly a supervisor or higher, introduced him:
‘This is a former GPRI member. You can call her Dream Serpent.’
GPRI?
Yuki Asahi didn’t have a great impression of GPRI.
‘Hello, I’m Yuki Asahi.’
‘Mm-hmm. Your name is well-known at our Japan Base. After all, you’re the highest escape energy in Japan in decades.’
Dream Serpent twirled a lock of her hair around her finger, speaking blandly.
‘They say the day you were born, you scared the monitoring group so badly they thought the surveillance network had malfunctioned.’
Eh? That exaggerated?
So, GPRI had targeted him for a long time?
‘Miss Dream Serpent, could you talk about the urgent matter?’
The man at the head asked nervously.
‘…If Yuki-kun is your only fighting force, you probably won’t be able to stop them.’
Dream Serpent was still being cryptic. Suddenly, she laughed lightly.
‘Unless you plan to make a big move.’
The supervisor sighed.
He knew that the last time they faced a Devouring-type G, it was only because the creature caused such a ruckus and even approached the Imperial Palace that the Self-Defense Force had taken decisive action.
Tokubetsu Ouyouhonbu and SAT-EX had light equipment, but if they needed to deploy attack helicopters or similar, they’d have to contact the Self-Defense Force.
However…
‘Let’s first discuss our mission at Kawasaki Base. Our main job is to prevent abnormal runaway incidents in the Tokyo Metropolis area.’
‘Before the Crimson Plan was executed, our base was assigned as a backup team to handle prevention of runaway incidents across all of Japan.’
‘Runaway incidents…meaning?’
Yuki Asahi blinked.
Wasn’t everything already out of control now?
‘It refers to parasites that resist joining GPRI or monitoring. We handle them with “neutralization.”’
A faint smile appeared on Dream Serpent’s face, but her words were chilling.
Yuki Asahi’s heart sank. GPRI wasn’t a pure organization at all!
‘After the Ikebukuro Incident, the supervisor said implementing the “Doomsday Hunter Protocol” was insane!’
Dream Serpent pounded her fist on the table, her expression grim.
‘Purging all espers nationwide to give GPRI a clean slate for reconstruction? What a joke!’
‘They…have already begun.’
‘The Hunters.’
So she instantly being hunted by the GPRI… Won’t that like poking a stick to a bear? They should know how vast her backup family was right? Lmao