Gluttony let go, and Master Fuze collapsed to the ground like a lump of mud.
“Huh? Belong… belong to you?”
Master Fuze clutched his neck, utterly dumbfounded.
“You have a problem with that?”
“No! Not at all! Absolutely not!” Master Fuze shook his head like a rattle drum. “From today on, you’re the boss! I… I’m just working for you!”
“Good.”
“One more thing.” Gluttony looked around, her nostrils twitching slightly. “What’s that smell?”
“Smell… smell?” Master Fuze froze for a second, then his face turned a bit awkward.
“Well… actually, this place used to be a cold storage…”
“Cold storage?”
“Right, the basement here… I wanted to save money, so I didn’t clean it much. I just used it as a meditation room—where I lock up the troublemakers… Maybe there are a few dead rats that weren’t cleaned out…”
Master Fuze’s eyes flickered.
‘Dead rats?’
But now wasn’t the time to dig deeper. The three kids were still waiting outside. If she disappeared too long, it would raise suspicion.
‘Anyway, I’ve got this organization under control now. There’s plenty of time to investigate later.’
“Clean it up.”
Gluttony left that cold remark and turned toward the door.
“Remember, I’m watching you at all times.”
“Yes, yes, yes! Farewell, Boss!”
Master Fuze knelt on the floor until that terrifying figure completely vanished, then collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.
“Who the hell is that… Looks like Japan ain’t easy to survive in either…”
He wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, feeling like crying but having no tears.
……
A dozen minutes later.
At the entrance of the Mutual Aid Society hall.
The three kids stood by the roadside, each holding two heavy buckets of Fukuzawa Holy Water.
“This is just regular mineral water!”
Hanyu Sara stared at the sticker on the bucket—not only was it crooked, but he could even see traces of the original factory label underneath—and his face was filled with indescribable expression.
“And they sell it for 5,000 yen a bucket. Even robbery isn’t this blatant.”
“Forget it, just consider it an entrance fee.” Kazama Yin looked at his watch impatiently. “Why isn’t Miss Sato out yet? It’s been half an hour.”
“Could she have been held back?” Kagegaya Tsubaki said worriedly. “That lecturer looked pretty fearsome…”
“Wait five more minutes. If she’s not out by then, we’ll charge in.”
Just then, a timid voice came from behind.
“Um… everyone, sorry for the wait.”
The three of them whipped around.
There stood “Sato Ai,” holding a thick copy of Quotations of Master Fukuza and two small bottles of Holy Water, her head lowered.
Her face mask was back on, and she still looked as meek as ever.
“Miss Sato!”
Kagegaya Tsubaki immediately rushed over, pulling her around to check her up and down. “Are you okay? Did that lecturer do anything to you?”
“N-no…”
“Phew… Good, good.”
The three of them let out a collective sigh of relief.
‘Looks like it was just a simple money scam, nothing involving physical restrictions or anything more dangerous.’
“Let’s go. Get out of here first.”
Kazama Yin shot a wary glance at the door with the red banner and yellow text.
He felt an uncomfortable aura emanating from the place.
The four of them walked back along the street.
The setting sun stretched their shadows long.
“Miss Sato.”
Kazama Yin, walking in front, suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at Gluttony seriously.
“I know this might be meddling, but…”
He pointed at the book and water in Gluttony’s arms. “This stuff is really a scam.”
“We were in that room just now. Those so-called mentors only used rhetoric and psychological tricks. There wasn’t any sign of superpowers.”
“They’re just parasites exploiting people’s longing for Espers.”
“I know you really want to change your situation and become an Awakened… but this path won’t work.” Kazama Yin spoke earnestly.
Gluttony—or rather, Jiang Jian Yue—looked at the child’s sincere eyes and felt a slight stir in her heart.
‘Such a good kid.’
‘Too bad the truth of this world is much more complicated than you imagine.’
Gluttony lowered her head, hugged the book tighter, and said in a small voice, “Thank you, Kazama-kun… I’ll… think about it carefully.”
“Not just think—be wary!” Hanyu Sara also came over. His tone was stiff, but it was out of goodwill.
He paused, then sighed. “If you still insist on coming next time… remember to call us.”
“We’ll come with you.”
Kagegaya Tsubaki nodded vigorously beside him. “Right, right! Even though this place is a scam, if Miss Sato wants to come play, we can be bodyguards!”
“…”
Gluttony was silent for two seconds, then slowly nodded.
“Thank you… everyone.”
Though she didn’t need protection—in fact, the most dangerous creature in that building just now was herself.
“Alright, let’s part ways here.”
At the subway station entrance, Hanyu Sara carried two buckets of water and smiled bitterly.
“I need to find a way to get rid of this stuff. If I take it home and someone sees it, I’ll be laughed to death.”
“Same here…” Kazama Yin looked at the water bucket in his hand. This was probably the most expensive tap water he’d ever bought in his life.
“Goodbye, Miss Sato!”
“Goodbye.”
Watching the trio walk into the subway station and disappear into the crowd.
Gluttony remained standing there. The timid expression on her face vanished instantly, replaced by her original dead emptiness.
And in the Happiness Village, several kilometers away.
Jiang Jian Yue stretched widely and tossed the last potato chip into her mouth.
“Ah, acting today was really tiring.”
Jiang Jian Yue switched off the monitor and opened another page on the laptop in front of her.
It was Gaojian Zongyilang’s latest announcement regarding the “Heavenly Ladder Project.”
Recruitment initiated.
“This is my real main quest.”
…
A few days later, Tokyo Bay, Harumi Wharf.
This area was originally used for hosting large exhibitions.
Now it had been completely flattened and transformed into the first-phase command center and recruitment hub for the Heavenly Ladder Project.
【Mobilizing the Nation’s Strength to Build the Tower of the Future! The Heavenly Ladder Project Recruitment Is in Full Swing!】
The recruitment site was packed. Long, winding lines stretched on, several times more crowded than the Fukuzawa Mutual Aid Society pyramid scheme earlier.
“Excuse me, coming through!”
Jiang Jian Yue squeezed through the crowd with difficulty.
Her resume, printed for two yen at a copy shop, was clutched in her hand.
Her black-rimmed glasses had been knocked askew, but she didn’t have time to fix them.
Sweating profusely, she searched for her spot.
“High-energy physics researcher… Requires doctoral degree or above, with at least three SCI first-zone papers published.”
Jiang Jian Yue glanced at that line. Everyone in it was bald, holding thick thesis collections, radiating the sour smell of academia.
“The bar is way too high…”
Sato Ai was just a high school graduate from a rural school in Akita Prefecture.
No, even Jiang Jian Yue herself hadn’t graduated from high school…
In the end, her eyes landed on an inconspicuous corner.
There stood a slightly crooked sign— 【Logistics Support & Environmental Maintenance Department】.
In plain English: a janitor.
The line here was noticeably shorter, and most of the people queuing were middle-aged men who looked strong, or plain-dressed aunties.
“That’s the one.”
Jiang Jian Yue took a deep breath and lined up.
‘Even though the position is low, as long as I can get into the construction site, with my methods, reaching the core area is only a matter of time.’
“Next!”
The interviewer was a foreman with a yellow hard hat and a face full of stubble.
He was tapping his pen impatiently on the table.
Jiang Jian Yue hurried forward, handing her resume with both hands, flashing a slightly silly smile.
“Hello! I’m Sato Ai! I want to apply!”
The foreman didn’t take the resume. He just lifted his eyelids and glanced at her, his brow immediately furrowed.
“Little girl, you’re in the wrong place, aren’t you?”
The foreman pointed behind him. “We’re hiring laborers who can carry cement, clear waste, and unclog drains. With your delicate skin, if a rebar scrapes you, I’d have to pay for medical bills.”
“No, no, no! I’m very capable!”
She suddenly rolled up her sleeves, trying to show off her non-existent biceps.
“Back home, I often help carry fertilizer! Fifty-kilogram bags! I can carry two bags up to the fifth floor in one go, no problem!”
“Really?” The foreman looked at her doubtfully.
“Really! Don’t believe me? Watch!”
Jiang Jian Yue looked around and spotted a box of unopened bottled water nearby.
She walked over, and using one hand—but to avoid being too shocking, she switched to both hands—heave-ho—she lifted the box above her head, looking strained but actually effortless.
“See? I’ve got strength!”
The foreman paused, then laughed.
“Alright.”
He took the resume and gave it a casual glance. “Sato Ai… Akita Prefecture… Hmm, clean background.”
In reality, for this kind of bottom-level grunt work, background checks were just a formality, as long as she wasn’t a wanted criminal or an undocumented immigrant.
“Fine. The cafeteria just so happens to need someone for meal delivery and swill disposal, plus cleaning some areas of the construction site.”
The foreman pulled out a form and a large reflective vest from under the table and tossed them to Jiang Jian Yue.
“Probation period is one month. Hourly wage is 55 yen. Meals provided, accommodation not—but we have shared dormitories in prefab houses. Can you accept that?”
“Yes!”
“Fill out the form, then go get your access card over there. Report for duty tomorrow at six in the morning. Late arrivals mean deducted pay.”
“Hai!”
……
Meanwhile.
Chiyoda District, Dark Crow Special Countermeasures Headquarters.
Although the “suspected Dark Crow attack incident” in Australia was causing a stir, that didn’t mean local surveillance would relax.
In a corner workstation, Nakamura Kusano stared blankly at two screens.
His eyes were bloodshot, and the coffee in his hand had long gone cold.
On the screens were dense streams of data and several photos.
Though his superiors had ordered him to focus on analyzing intelligence from Australia, his nearly obsessive intuition kept him from tearing his eyes away from the name “Sato Ai.”
“Something’s wrong… Way too wrong.” Nakamura Kusano muttered to himself.