“Gluttony?”
A clear young voice came from the corner, with a hint of curiosity in its tone.
A boy named Liu Ming, who always had deep dark circles under his eyes, sat on an iron chair in the corner, holding a cup of hot tea that he hadn’t touched.
“That sounds like an interesting name.”
Liu Ming’s voice was very soft, out of place in this space filled with a violent aura.
“Hmph, interesting? It’s just a stray dog fighting for scraps.”
Toudou Daigo waved his hand, signaling his men to drag away the corpse that had been beaten beyond recognition, then sat down across from Liu Ming.
“That fat guy Fukuza has the guts of a mouse. Whoever scared him is probably just a slightly stronger Semi-Devourer.”
Toudou Daigo lit a cigar and blew out a smoke ring. Through the haze, his tiger-like eyes stared at Liu Ming.
“Instead of that meaningless ‘Gluttony,’ let’s talk about your business, envoy from the Mutual Aid Society.”
“I told you, we’re not envoys. We’re inspectors.”
Liu Ming set down his teacup and tapped his fingers lightly on his knee.
“Mr. Toudou, even though your Kyokuto Construction is thriving in Tokyo, playing both sides of the law, this is still just a game for ordinary people.”
“The New Government is tightening control over unregistered Espers. Your fighting rings, your demolition crews… sooner or later, that ‘Radar’ named Yuki Asahi will sniff them out.”
Hearing the name Yuki Asahi, Toudou Daigo’s face twitched.
“Don’t try to pressure me with that half-crippled, washed-up hero.”
Toudou Daigo sneered. “I have money and the best shielding devices on the market. Even if he flies right over my head, all he’ll see is a blank.”
“A shielding device can only block his ability, not his eyes. Besides… don’t you want to take it a step further?”
Liu Ming’s eyes grew deep. “The Inferior Breed Mutual Aid Society can provide you with purer power…”
“All you have to do is join and become a new candidate…”
“No deal.”
Toudou Daigo cut him off. “I’m doing just fine as I am. I don’t want to be a dog for some rats who hide in the shadows.”
“And…” Toudou Daigo pointed at his own head. “I hate being brainwashed.”
The negotiation hit a deadlock.
Liu Ming didn’t seem surprised by this outcome. He stood up and smoothed his unwrinkled clothes.
“Since Mr. Toudou has no interest, I won’t force it.”
“But regarding that ‘Gluttony’ who cut off your cash flow…”
Liu Ming stopped at the door and turned back. “What do you plan to do about it?”
“What do I plan to do?”
Toudou Daigo’s eyes flashed with murderous intent. He crushed the cigar in his hand.
“Tomorrow night, I’ll have Ashura lead a team to tear out the Fukuza Mutual Aid Society by the roots.”
“As for that ‘Gluttony,’ I’ll pull out her teeth one by one and shove them down her throat.”
“I see.” Liu Ming nodded, a faint, almost imperceptible smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
“That Gluttony, who dares to challenge the Black Market King of the old era… she seems to have more potential to be a candidate than you.”
With that, before Toudou Daigo could lose his temper, Liu Ming’s figure melted into the shadows like ink and disappeared down the corridor.
Bang!
Toudou Daigo slammed his fist onto the table, and the custom solid wood table shattered instantly.
“Damn bastards… they all think I’m a pushover, huh?!”
“Ashura! Forget tomorrow! Go tonight! Raze that Fukuza Mutual Aid Society to the ground!”
……
Outside the Kyokuto Construction building, the night was thick.
Three figures in black tracksuits from Uniqlo were crouching suspiciously behind a hedge.
“This is the headquarters of Kyokuto Construction?”
Kagegaya Tsubaki looked up at the brightly lit building and swallowed hard. “So many cameras…”
“Relax, I’ve already taken care of the external surveillance circuits.”
Hanyū Kōra held a tablet, his fingers flying across the screen.
“We don’t need to force our way in. If we go through the ventilation duct on the side, we can reach the archive room on the second basement floor.”
“How did you take care of it? Are you a hacker?”
“Uh… I bribed the security guard on duty…”
The three fell silent for a moment.
“As long as we get the account books proving they hired illegal workers and laundered money, we can send them to jail!”
Kazama Jin cracked his knuckles and placed his hand on the kendo sword at his waist, his expression serious.
“But I have a bad feeling. This Kyokuto Construction… if it’s as dangerous as the rumors say…”
“So we need to get in and out quickly.”
Hanyū Kōra closed the tablet. “Ready? Three, two…”
Before he could say “one,” a strong wind descended from the sky, pressing down the surrounding shrubs.
There was no loud crash of a heavy object landing, only the sound of clothes flapping in the wind.
A tall, slender figure landed silently in front of the three, blocking their path.
Moonlight filtered through the clouds, illuminating the person’s pale golden eyes and flowing hair.
“Who?!” Kazama Jin instinctively drew his sword, the blade pointing at the newcomer.
But the moment he saw the person’s face, his hand trembled violently, almost dropping the sword.
“Y-Yuki… Yuki-senpai?!” The trio froze in place.
Yuki Asahi stood with his hands in the pockets of his windbreaker, just looking at them quietly.
His eyes weren’t angry or stern. Instead, they held a deep sense of helplessness and exhaustion.
“It’s late. Why aren’t you home sleeping? What are you doing here?”
His voice was calm, but it pressed down on the trio like an invisible weight.
“We… we…” Kagegaya Tsubaki stammered, unable to form a sentence.
Hanyū Kōra took a deep breath, adjusted his glasses, and stepped forward bravely.
“Yuki-senpai, we’ve found evidence that this company is involved in serious criminal activities!”
“We want to go in, collect proof, and hand it over to the police…”
“And then what?” Yuki Asahi cut him off. “Even if you collect the evidence, do you think you’d walk out of there alive?”
“With just the three of you high school students?”
Yuki Asahi’s words were like a bucket of cold water, dousing their enthusiasm.
“But…” Kazama Jin tightened his grip on the sword hilt, his knuckles turning white. “Are we just supposed to let them get away with it?”
“Whether it’s a scamming organization like the Fukuza Mutual Aid Society or a criminal syndicate like Kyokuto Construction…”
“Yuki-senpai, you clearly know they’re here. You clearly have the power to deal with them. So why…?”
Kazama Jin looked up, his eyes filled with confusion and accusation. “Why does the Management Department, and why do you, just turn a blind eye to all this?”
“Is this what adults call ‘order’?”
The air fell into a dead silence.
Only the distant sound of traffic from the streets could be heard.
Yuki Asahi looked at the angry young man before him.
“Go home.”
He opened his mouth but didn’t answer Kazama Jin’s question.
He turned his back to the three and stared at the brightly lit building.
“This isn’t the place for you.”
“This isn’t something you can handle.”
His tone softened slightly, as if coaxing disobedient children. “Don’t make the people who care about you worry…”
“Leave now, before I get angry.”
Kazama Jin gritted his teeth. He was unwilling, but he could feel Yuki Asahi’s irresistible will.
“…Let’s go.” Finally, Kazama Jin sheathed his sword.
The three bowed to Yuki Asahi, then, filled with resentment and disappointment, vanished into the night.
……
When the sound of their footsteps had completely faded.
Yuki Asahi still stood there, looking at the Kyokuto Construction building.
“Turn a blind eye…” He repeated Kazama Jin’s accusation in a low voice, a bitter smile forming on his lips.
When he first took on the role of Executioner of This Place and used his Emotional Perception Ability to scan all of Japan, it did work without obstruction.
But the next day, he was told to suspend the scan.
Supposedly, it was to protect citizens’ privacy, prevent abuse of public power, and prevent leaks.
But Yuki Asahi knew it was fear.
They needed him to deter dangerous out-of-control individuals, but they didn’t want him to know too many secrets.
As a result, Tokyo was divided into countless “Forbidden Zones.”
Parliamentarians’ private residences, corporate headquarters, and even some well-connected private clubs.
He was told to stay away from these places, never to touch them.
As for the consequences…
After he tentatively “made a mistake” trying to probe them, Saiyonji visited him that very night and told him not to touch the Forbidden Zones again.
He didn’t know how they sensed his ability’s scan.
Yuki Asahi didn’t need to provoke the New Government. Some things… just got compromised.
As for Kyokuto Construction… theoretically, it wasn’t on the core exemption list.
Yuki Asahi closed his eyes. Perception tendrils spread like a tide toward the building.
…Nothing.
There was nothing.
In his perceptual field, this building, which had hundreds of employees and was still brightly lit, was a dead, silent blank.
No fear, no greed, no anger, not even fatigue.
It was like an uninhabited haunted house.
His Emotion Perception wasn’t a full-map X-ray.
When he scanned from home before, he would naturally ignore places with blank emotions, assuming no one was there.
“They’ve shielded it pretty thoroughly.”
Yuki Asahi opened his eyes. His golden pupils reflected the building’s lights.
“Since I can’t ‘see’…”
Yuki Asahi lightly tapped his toes and instantly leaped tens of meters into the air, landing on the roof of a building across the street.
He sat down cross-legged, his gaze calmly fixed on the main entrance of Kyokuto Construction.
“Then I’ll watch with these eyes.”
“Let’s see what you’re really up to.”
……
Ten minutes later.
From the underground garage exit of Kyokuto Construction, several modified black SUVs roared out, their engines tearing through the night’s silence.
The vehicles were packed with thugs, their faces twisted, wielding clubs and knives.
In the lead car sat a burly man wearing half a Hannya mask—Kyokuto Construction’s top enforcer, Ashura.
“The boss’s orders! Tonight, we tear down Fukuza’s pigsty!”
“And that woman called Gluttony is to be taken alive!”
The convoy sped toward Arakawa Ward.
On the rooftop.
Yuki Asahi watched the departing vehicles, his brow furrowing slightly.
He stood up, and his figure instantly vanished from the roof.
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