บท 27: Chapter 33&34
Chapter 33 - Three Meals in One
After spending a considerable amount of time reaping the rewards across several residential areas in Yokohama, and after revealing her abilities to Dazai and releasing as much water as a Pacific Ocean to the Armed Detective Agency, Kurumi Tokisaki, having accomplished her goal for the night, returned home.
Although Mori Ougai had assigned her the task of capturing Atsushi Nakajima, she had no intention of actually completing it. After all, she still needed to rely on Atsushi Nakajima to attract the North American Alien Organization, The Guild, which had offered a bounty for his capture, in order to complete side quest two.
If she simply tied up Atsushi and sent him to the Guild in three attempts, how could she be open and honest with them? It was impossible to capture someone not in this lifetime. She could only "fish" a little and pretend to be capable of fooling her boss this way.
However, Mori Ougai wasn't a fool either.
If Tokisaki's incredibly convenient ability couldn't capture someone, he would definitely grow suspicious.
Therefore, Tokisaki had to "let loose" when dealing with the Armed Detective Agency. She intentionally revealed her powers, allowing the Armed Detective Agency to be on guard.
Although Atsushi Nakajima had no memory during his ability rampage and greeting the Moonlit Tiger was like talking to a cow, meeting the Moonlit Tiger hadn't originally been Tokisaki's intention.
After transforming into a Spirit, she had become much more sensitive to scents and sights, and naturally, she detected another presence hiding at the corner of the alley's exit.
After confirming that Dazai was there, Tokisaki used the method of greeting the tiger under the moon to relay the information she wanted to pass on to Dazai.
Dazai wasn't an idiot either. Quite the opposite, as Mori Ougai's former right-hand man, his dark heart and intelligence were no less than Mori's. Tokisaki wasn't worried that he would ignore the message she was trying to convey.
She had almost fed the information directly into Dazai's mouth, and if he didn't understand it, it could only mean that Dazai had been taken over by some traveler. But that couldn't possibly have happened. Dazai was still Dazai.
The message Tokisaki had conveyed must have been understood by him as well. So, the next time Mori Ougai asked why she hadn't captured Atsushi Nakajima yet, she would have an excuse to delay.
"You see, it's not that I'm not trying hard, it's that the Armed Detective Agency is defending me, and I can't do anything about it."
Moreover, in the current Port Mafia, it was without a doubt that only Tokisaki Kurumi was the most suitable for the capture mission. Even if Mori Ougai grew impatient, he could only let her continue with the task.
This way, Tokisaki could maintain the fragile balance between the Armed Detective Agency and the Port Mafia until The Guild arrived. Before the Guild showed up, while the Armed Detective Agency and the Port Mafia were once again in quantum entanglement where neither could interfere with the other, she could continue harvesting time, summoning large numbers of doppelgangers, and preparing for the next battle where one person could take on the entire Guild.
Once the Guild appeared in Yokohama, it would be like a tiger falling in the plains. Tokisaki would simply close the door and release her doppelgangers, not even needing to step outside. With a sea of people, she would overwhelm them.
The Guild was indeed powerful—stronger than either the Armed Detective Agency or the Port Mafia in terms of raw power. But so what? As long as Tokisaki Kurumi had enough doppelgangers, even if she stood still and let them kill, she could wait until they were exhausted, then grab the heads.
Completing the side quests wouldn't be difficult at all.
Thinking about the future, Tokisaki Kurumi's mood lightened.
The main quest was to play as Tokisaki Kurumi and become the nightmare feared by all of Yokohama. She had already worked hard to recreate the character, and if the final level of playability wasn't high enough, well... she'd just have to accept it.
Side quest one was to join the three major Supernatural organizations in Yokohama. The more she joined, the more generous the rewards would be.
Side quest two was to defeat the members of the Guild. The more she defeated, the more generous the rewards.
Side quest three was to keep her identity as an otherworldly visitor undetected. The deeper her identity remained hidden, the more generous the rewards.
"Of the three side quests, side quest two will have to wait a while before it can begin, and side quest three won't be settled until I leave this world. There's still plenty of time now. Should I work harder to improve the completion level of side quest one?"
Lying on her new bed in her small villa in the city center, the somewhat insomniac Tokisaki Kurumi thought to herself.
Although she had already joined the Port Mafia, which had provided her with an identity and funds to solve her immediate needs, securing a firm foothold in this world, now that there wasn't much else to do, she might as well think about ways to join the other two Supernatural organizations.
If she could truly join the Armed Detective Agency and the Supernatural Special Agency, not only would she raise the completion level of side quest one and earn the highest level rewards, but she'd also be able to find a reliable place for Quan Jinghua to land when she left this world—just in case she needed to return to the Port Mafia.
It was a win-win situation.
Of course, the difficulty would increase drastically. Joining three different organizations would be like working three jobs.
Not to mention whether or not she would be exposed just managing time between three busy Supernatural organizations would be impossible.
She couldn't split herself...
"Wait." Tokisaki Kurumi's eyes lit up. "It seems like I can split."
As her main body stayed with the Port Mafia, she could send two doppelgangers to join the Armed Detective Agency and the Supernatural Special Agency, then pocket the delicious mission rewards?
She suddenly sat up from her bed, thinking through the feasibility of this plan.
It sounded wonderful.
But of course, implementing it would be extremely difficult.
None of the three organizations were easy to fool. One was the Port Mafia, which had risen to be Japan's largest underworld group through blackmail. Another was the Armed Detective Agency, home to some of the strongest detectives of this century. The third was the Supernatural Special Agency, which controlled everything in the country.
Trying to "eat three bowls of rice" at once was akin to dancing on the edge of a knife.
Especially when all three organizations were keeping a close eye on the number and abilities of the other two sides' abnormal individuals.
After all, Yokohama's ruling philosophy of the "Three Moments Concept" required the three Supernatural organizations to maintain a certain degree of balance and mutual restriction. If one side suddenly increased in strength, the balance would be disrupted, and chaos would inevitably follow.
Therefore, all three parties were very sensitive to the number of abnormal individuals from the other two sides.
Even now, the name of Nightmare Tokisaki Kurumi might not have spread within the Port Mafia, but both the Armed Detective Agency and the Supernatural Special Agency had probably already heard rumors and were preparing to investigate.
Tokisaki Kurumi's narrowed eyes gleamed with thought as countless scenarios played out in her mind.
A bold idea gradually took shape.
Chapter 34 - The Hiding Place of the Alien Special Agency
The next day, at the headquarters of the Port Mafia, Boss Tower.
In order to achieve her grand goal of "three meals in one," Tokisaki Kurumi visited Mori Ougai's office. Upon seeing Tokisaki Kurumi, who arrived early in the morning to clock in, Mori Ougai looked as though he had seen a ghost.
Although she was the leader of the guerilla squad directly under the Boss, Mori Ougai knew that, unlike Akutagawa Ryunosuke, his control over Tokisaki Kurumi was almost nonexistent, and she was hardly loyal to him. As long as she could complete her tasks on time, he was already grateful. Expecting her to even come to work on time was beyond unreasonable.
While Mori Ougai wondered what Tokisaki Kurumi was here for, she spoke up.
"I met Atsushi Nakajima last night," she said.
Mori Ougai was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Tokisaki Kurumi to take action so quickly, and he asked with interest, "You started acting last night? Why didn't you send some Black Lizards to assist in the capture?"
The Black Lizards were a special unit of the Port Mafia's Combat Group. Unlike regular members, every Black Lizard was an elite trained by the higher-ups. With the Port Mafia's enormous financial backing, once the Black Lizards were equipped with top-tier gear, they could rival the government's special forces.
Among the Black Lizards, the three squad leaders were the backbone of the Combat Group. They were well-known figures on the government's wanted list, each with exceptional talents or abilities beyond the average person's reach.
Of the three, only one was an ability user, while the other two relied purely on their physical prowess, which was powerful enough to be on par with abilities.
Although they were part of the Combat Group, Tokisaki Kurumi, as the leader of the guerilla squad under the Boss, had a high-ranking position within the organization, and thus had the authority to call on the Black Lizards to execute tasks.
"I wasn't carrying out a mission. I just happened to encounter Nakajima while I was out walking," Tokisaki Kurumi explained. "Although I've already reviewed the file you gave me on Nakajima Atsushi, I still wanted to see his ability with my own eyes, so I followed him for a while."
"Did you discover anything new?"
"Fortunately, last night I witnessed Atsushi Nakajima's ability going out of control, and I saw the form of the Moonlit Tiger," she said. "It's indeed an extremely powerful combat-type ability. Even though I didn't directly engage with it, I can easily guess why Akutagawa has failed to capture him multiple times."
"The main reason for the failure is still due to interference from other members of the Armed Detective Agency," Mori Ougai said fairly. "With Akutagawa's strength, even an out-of-control Nakajima Atsushi wouldn't be his match."
Then, he gave a slight amused smile. "Or are you saying that someone like you, who can defeat Akutagawa, can't handle a large cat?"
"Of course not," Tokisaki Kurumi said, her expression unchanged as she shook her head slightly. "Nakajima's ability does have high potential, but it's not yet fully developed. If I step in, capturing him will be a piece of cake."
"Then why don't I see Nakajima Atsushi bound up and brought to me?"
"Because last night, other members of the Detective Agency intervened, so I didn't take action."
"Who?"
"Dazai Osamu."
Mori Ougai nodded slightly, understanding why Tokisaki Kurumi hadn't acted.
Dazai Osamu. His former right-hand man. The designated next Boss of the Port Mafia. In a certain sense, his student.
Mori Ougai knew Dazai Osamu well, and because of that, he understood how troublesome Dazai was when he became an enemy. It seemed that even the mysterious Tokisaki Kurumi had some reservations about his student.
"I reassessed the difficulty of this capture mission. I believe the reward doesn't justify the effort required."
"Oh? Is one percent of the bounty not enough to satisfy you?" Mori Ougai raised an eyebrow.
The reward for the capture mission posted by the organization was a staggering seventy billion dollars, a figure that would make any organization envious. Even just one percent of it would amount to seventy million dollars, more than enough for an ordinary person to live comfortably for a lifetime without working a day.
"Mori-san, do you think I'm someone in need of money?" Tokisaki Kurumi asked.
Mori Ougai thought for a moment. She was indeed right.
She didn't even need to work. With her ability to sneak around, she could easily break into the national treasury and steal a few tons of gold bricks to amass vast amounts of cash.
He didn't know why she didn't do that, but one thing was certain: as long as she wanted, Tokisaki Kurumi would never lack for money.
"Then, what do you need?" Mori Ougai leaned forward, knowing that this was the real reason Tokisaki Kurumi had come to see him today, and he paid close attention.
"Quite simple. Just an address."
"An address? Whose?"
"The address of the Supernatural Special Agency's Yokohama branch."
The Supernatural Special Agency was arguably the most mysterious of the three major alien organizations.
As a special government department, the existence and activities of the Supernatural Special Agency were known only to high-ranking officials within the government. Ordinary people had only heard rumors of such a department existing.
The headquarters of the Port Mafia was easily visible upon entering Yokohama, and the Armed Detective Agency's headquarters could be found with a simple phone call, but the headquarters of the Alien Special Agency was known by very few.
Even Tokisaki Kurumi, as someone who traveled from another world, didn't know its location. After all, it hadn't appeared much in the original story.
Of course, with Tokisaki Kurumi's reconnaissance ability, even if she didn't know the location now, if she seriously investigated, she could eventually figure it out. While other Supernatural organizations might take years to find any clues, she would probably need only a few weeks, or at most a few months.
However, whether it was weeks or months, that was still too long.
She didn't have the time to waste tracking the Alien Special Agency.
It was far better to simply ask Mori Ougai, since the Port Mafia had already been quietly investigating for a long time and had already obtained the exact address of the Alien Special Agency.
Upon hearing Tokisaki Kurumi's request, Mori Ougai narrowed his eyes and casually said, "The Supernatural Special Agency is protected by the government. I only know that it's somewhere in Yokohama, but I don't know exactly which corner of the city they are hiding in and monitoring."
"Don't joke with me, Mori-san. The Port Mafia is the local overlord of Yokohama. How could there be something you don't know?" Tokisaki Kurumi said.
"Even the Port Mafia isn't all-knowing," Mori Ougai said.
"But I am," Tokisaki Kurumi smiled. "Did you forget that one of my abilities is to read memories? Everything you know, I mostly know."
"Then why are you asking me again?"
"Because you know the location of the Alien Special Agency, but you just didn't remember it," Tokisaki Kurumi shrugged. "But just because Mori Ougai doesn't remember doesn't mean the Port Mafia doesn't remember. I'm sure the intelligence division knows the location of the Supernatural Special Agency, right?"
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