Jiang Jian Yue definitely couldn’t use the “Sato Aoi” alias to infiltrate the Mutual Aid Society.
So…
She’d just put another layer over Sato Aoi!
As for why she wasn’t creating a completely separate alias — because this was more interesting.
Following Sato Aoi’s appearance, Jiang Jian Yue sculpted a new puppet, except this one bore the mutation traits of a Semi-Devourer.
The puppet opened its mouth, revealing dense, tiny tentacles where teeth should have been.
It had no tongue; the entire cavity was filled with fine “fuzz” as far as the eye could see.
Its face, marked with dark spots, looked somewhat vacant. Still, it should be enough.
“Code name… let’s go with ‘Gluttony’! Off you go~”
Gluttony nodded, put on its face mask, then pulled open the door and left.
Having done all that, Jiang Jian Yue wiped her hands, collapsed onto the tatami, and stared at the ceiling with a long sigh.
“Ugh… the early days of entrepreneurship are really tough.”
“Next up, I still have to keep playing that poor working girl, Sato Aoi.”
……
“Welcome! Today’s special beef bowl is only 38 yen!”
Sato Aoi, wearing an orange apron, stood at the entrance of a chain fast-food restaurant.
She held a stack of flyers, her face wearing a slightly goofy smile.
“Sato-san, um… could you clean up that table over there?”
“Yes! Coming right up!”
Sato Aoi deftly cleared the trays, dumping leftover food into the trash.
‘This is like playing some simulation game.’
Back in the apartment, Jiang Jian Yue held a can of cola, leaning against her futon, a faint red glimmer flickering in her eyes.
Yes, the Sato Aoi working the job was also just a puppet.
However, to deal with unexpected events, the puppet was being remotely controlled by her most of the time.
Suddenly, Sato Aoi’s pants pocket vibrated — her phone was ringing.
Taking advantage of a lull in cleaning, Sato Aoi pulled out her phone and glanced at it. It was a message from Tanaka Miki.
This was the kind of unexpected event she needed to handle. If Jiang Jian Yue’s command was simply “work,” then the puppet would only deal with work-related matters.
[Miki-chan: Ai! Are you busy?]
[Sato Aoi: I’m working. What’s up?]
[Miki-chan: Well… those high school students who came to the store asking about you before… they’re back.]
Jiang Jian Yue raised an eyebrow.
‘The three little ones are still investigating Sato Aoi? Persistent.’
[Miki-chan: They said they want to meet you, ask you about some things in person. They also said they can treat you to a meal! At that really expensive family restaurant!]
[Sato Aoi: Sure! I’m about to switch shifts now. Where?]
……
In Shibuya, at a rather elegantly decorated family restaurant.
The three high schoolers were sitting in a booth by the window, their expressions tense with anticipation.
“Do you think… that Sato Aoi will actually come?” Kagegaya Tsubaki stirred her ice cream soda, asking quietly.
“This is the first in-person meeting for the search plan. Even though it’s highly likely she has nothing to do with that name, it’s the only lead we have left.”
“She should come.” Hanyu Sara adjusted his glasses. “The pet store clerk said she went to her part-time job. The timing lines up.”
Just as they were quietly discussing, a somewhat hesitant voice sounded beside their table.
“Um… Excuse me, were you looking for me?”
The three looked up abruptly.
Standing there was a girl in a cheap T-shirt and jeans, carrying a canvas bag, and wearing round-framed glasses.
She looked a bit out of breath, with beads of sweat on her forehead.
The glasses had slid down slightly due to the sweat, revealing a pair of clear eyes… filled with a strong yearning for food.
“Ah! Are you Miss Sato?”
Hanyu Sara quickly stood up, gesturing politely: “Please, have a seat.”
Jiang Jian Yue sat down “timidly,” her gaze involuntarily drifting to the menu on the table.
“So… I heard you’re treating?”
“Yes, order whatever you like, don’t hold back.” Kazama Yin said generously — it wasn’t his money anyway, it was coming from Hanyu, the rich kid.
“Then I won’t be polite!”
It was as if Jiang Jian Yue had been waiting for those exact words.
She quickly flipped open the menu and pointed at the most expensive set: “I want this deluxe hamburger steak set! And a large order of fries!”
Once the food arrived, and after watching Jiang Jian Yue wolf down half of it, Hanyu Sara cautiously steered the conversation.
“Miss Sato, actually, we wanted to ask you about your… family.”
Hanyu Sara took out the note with “Sato Aoi” written on it and placed it on the table.
“Do you really… not have an older sister or relative named Sato Aoi?”
With her mouth full of hamburger steak, Jiang Jian Yue’s cheeks puffed out like a hamster.
She swallowed the food, took a big gulp of cola, then pushed up her glasses, putting on an utterly innocent expression.
“Really, I don’t.”
“I grew up in the countryside in Akita Prefecture. It was just me, my dad, and my mom.”
“I see…” The light in Hanyu Sara’s eyes dimmed.
He knew deep down that this person probably wasn’t who they were looking for, but he clung to a sliver of hope, thinking there might be some hidden circumstances.
“Then… do you know a police officer named Hanyu Yukiki?” Kagegaya Tsubaki asked stubbornly.
“Hanyu Yukiki?”
Jiang Jian Yue tilted her head, as if trying hard to remember, then shook her head: “Nope, I’ve never even been inside a police station since I was a kid.”
Inwardly, she thought: ‘Of course I know him. Your uncle is currently in a plantation in Madagascar, directing a bunch of locals to grow vanilla. He’s tanned darker than coal and living quite comfortably.’
But she definitely couldn’t say that.
“Ugh…”
Kazama Yin sighed, leaning back in his seat: “Looks like the trail’s gone cold again.”
The atmosphere grew a bit heavy.
Jiang Jian Yue looked at the three dejected high schoolers, feeling a tiny pang of guilt — roughly the size of a fingernail clipping.
“Well…”
She poked at the remaining half of the hamburger steak with her fork, asking cautiously: “That Mr. Hanyu… is he very important to you?”
“Yeah.” Hanyu Sara looked down at his water glass: “He’s my uncle. He’s been missing for years. He was the most righteous policeman I’ve ever known… I want to know what happened to him.”
“Maybe…”
Jiang Jian Yue blinked, saying softly: “Maybe no news is good news?”
“Perhaps he’s living a peaceful life in some corner of the world, just can’t contact you for certain reasons.”
“Like in those TV dramas, where someone goes into hiding to protect their family?”
Hanyu Sara was taken aback for a moment, then gave a wry smile.
“Thanks for the comfort, Miss Sato.”
Just then.
Buzz — Buzz — Buzz —
The phones of all three simultaneously let out a shrill alarm.
It wasn’t the usual text message notification, but the sound of the specialized “Disaster Warning APP” for awakened students.
“Emergency alert! Emergency alert!”
“A superpowered riot has broken out near Shibuya’s Dogenzaka! Students nearby, please take shelter immediately or assist with evacuation if it’s safe!”
“Dogenzaka? That’s right near here!”
Kazama Yin stood up abruptly, his eyes sharpening in an instant.
The previous dejection was swept away. He quickly grabbed the Kendo sword leaning against the table.
“Let’s go!”
“Wait! What about Miss Sato…” Hanyu Sara hesitated, looking at Jiang Jian Yue.
“I… I want to see too!”
Jiang Jian Yue quickly stuffed the last few fries into her mouth, speaking indistinctly: “I’ve never seen a real superpowered fight!”
“No way! It’s too dangerous!”
“Oh, I’ll just watch from far away, I promise I won’t cause trouble!”
Before the three could refuse, Jiang Jian Yue had already grabbed her backpack and was running faster than them: “Is it over there? Wow! So much smoke!”
……
On the streets of Dogenzaka, chaos had erupted.
Screams, sirens, and the sound of heavy objects crashing into things mixed together.
A bus had overturned in the middle of the road, spewing thick black smoke.
And in the center of the chaos, a giant made of rock and asphalt was wreaking havoc.
“Why?! Why did they fire me?!”
The giant roared, swinging its massive arms, pulling up streetlights like weeds and hurling them viciously at the office buildings nearby.
“I’m an Esper! I’m New Humanity! How dare you commoners look down on me!”
This was a textbook case of a “runaway awakened.”
In today’s society, while Espers had become common, cases like this — of someone suddenly losing control due to life’s frustrations and using their abilities to retaliate against society — were anything but rare.
“Stop!”
Three figures burst through the police cordon.
Kazama Yin, though his left arm couldn’t move much yet, took point with his sword held in one hand.
Kagegaya Tsubaki spread her hands, raising several invisible ripples in front of the crowd to block the flying debris.
Hanyu Sara worked to rescue the injured on the sidelines.
The rock giant turned around, its deep, murky eyes bloodshot. “Get lost! Or I’ll kill you all too!”
Kazama Yin didn’t waste words. In an instant, he slipped into the giant’s blind spot.
Bzzzt!
A flash of steel. It left a deep gash on the giant’s thick rock armor, sparks flying.
“So hard!” Kazama Yin used the momentum to leap back, shaking his numb wrist.
“ROAR!”
Enraged, the giant slammed its fists against the ground.
BOOM!
A shockwave of earth and stone shot out low across the ground, heading straight for Kazama Yin.
“Watch out!” Kagegaya Tsubaki yelled, trying to block the impact.
Her ripple barrier shattered instantly, and both she and Kazama Yin were sent flying by the blast wave.
“Die!”
The giant raised a chunk of concrete the size of a small car, ready to smash it down on the two who were on the ground.
Hidden behind a convenience store sign, Jiang Jian Yue squinted, her fingers twitching slightly.
If that rock actually fell, she wouldn’t mind using a bit of “coincidence” to make it veer off course.
But just then.
Whoosh —
A white blur descended from the sky.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no flashy light effects.
It was a piece of paper.
An ordinary-looking sheet of A4 printer paper, which drifted gently and stuck onto the massive concrete block.
Yet, the moment the paper touched it…
That multi-ton block of stone eerily froze in mid-air, as if it had lost all gravity.
“Wh… what?”
The rock giant froze. It struggled frantically to smash the stone down, but it was as if the block was welded into space, completely immovable.
“How unsightly.” A cold, stern voice rang out.
Everyone turned to look.
A girl stood on the roof of the overturned bus.
She wore the Tokiwagi High School uniform, had short red hair cut to her ears, and wore a pair of black-framed glasses.
She was holding a stack of printer paper, her expression stern.
“That’s… President Nakajima?!”
Kagegaya Tsubaki, lying on the ground, exclaimed joyfully.
The newcomer was none other than the current President of the Supernatural Club, Nakajima Nobuko, who was ranked “Grade D” on the Assessment List.