Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 225, Section 223: The Node is Broken

Kurosaki Chimei's gaze was fixed on Heisei Ryu.

He quite trusted Ping Shenglong's intuitive judgment, at least it was more reliable than those metaphysical consultants.

So I'd really like to hear what the other person thinks of his speculation.

Ping Shenglong stared at the map, clearly digesting the content of the Nine Stars Nine Words Formation that Kurosaki had just mentioned. With the help of the basic occult knowledge he had learned in recent days, he was able to understand it.

Although he had only heard of the Big Dipper with seven stars, this was the first time he had heard of the Big Dipper with nine stars.

However, he was very clear about one thing: the Big Dipper constellations were culturally associated with exorcising demons and monsters.

A moment later, he finished mentally translating the content, raised his eyes, his gaze returning to its usual calm, and confirmed.

"Therefore, the key verification point is Fujiyoshida City. If the damaged stone Jizo statue can be found at the scene of the attack, and the remaining writing corresponds to a part of the character 'Array' that you speculated, it means that your hypothesis of the Mirrored Big Dipper Nine Stars Nine Words Jizo Array is basically valid."

He paused briefly, then pointed to several bodies of water in Yamanashi Prefecture on the map: "And the next targets will be the possible Jizo statues within Lake Motosu, Lake Yamanaka, and Lake Kawaguchi? Is that right?"

“Yes!” Kurosaki nodded vigorously and added, “Both Chen and Zhen are possible writings. In fact, it may not necessarily be the Nine Syllable Mantra, but it could also be the Nine Syllable Cut. However, I think the weight and scale of the Nine Syllable Cut should not be able to suppress the nine stars of the Big Dipper.”

"Although they look similar on the surface, they have actually branched out. If it is the Nine Syllable Mantra, it means that the arrangement was mainly carried out by Taoist priests, while if it is the Nine Cuts, it means that the arrangement was mainly carried out by Onmyoji. It is not that I look down on Onmyoji, but the Onmyoji's barrier and formation are completely different things."

"Understood." Ping Shenglong no longer hesitated, decisively picked up the phone, and dialed Leon's number.

Fujiyoshida City, near the scene of the attack.

Leon stood near the wrecked downtown park, listening to his subordinate's report.

The phone rang at that moment.

“Minister Leon,” Ping Shenglong adjusted his tone to be slightly tense, “I have a very important hypothesis that needs to be verified immediately.”

"You said."

Leon stood there, listening to Ping Shenglong concisely summarize and retell Kurosaki Chimei's deductions on the other end of the phone.

After hearing Ping Shenglong's clues, Leon couldn't help but smile.

As expected, Ping Shenglong did not disappoint him. Whether the clue was discovered by himself or provided by his subordinates, his efficiency far surpassed that of others.

“This is indeed timely news, Sheng Long.” Leon said as he walked in a certain direction. “The stone Ksitigarbha you mentioned has just been found. Only half of the base remains, while the upper half is still being searched for.”

He walked to a pile of rubble in a corner of the park, where several people in investigation uniforms were carefully cleaning and recording information.

The place they were surrounding was a half-ruined stone Ksitigarbha temple, its style basically the same as the one they had found earlier.

"So, there are fragments of Chinese characters on this?"

Leon put on gloves and, standing beside the still-connected phone call from Ping Shenglong, bent down and stretched out his fingers, carefully stroking the edge of the broken stubble with his fingertips.

A moment later, he clearly felt an unusual tactile sensation from the lingering marks.

He closed his eyes and filled in the blanks in his mind.

"found it."

Leon opened his eyes.

"You can definitely feel it; it looks like a slanted half of the Chinese character '阵' (zhèn), with only the lower right corner remaining."

The chances of this happening by sheer luck are extremely low; the current information is sufficient for Leon to make a judgment.

“Listen, Sheng Long, your judgment is very likely correct. This means that the next targets of those mutated beasts will be the Miko and Fujikawa. According to your deduction, the most critical point is Fujikawa. Take your team and immediately head discreetly to Fujikawa Town to find Ishijizo. Hirosue Eri and Talos’s team will come to support you. I will make arrangements for the other places.”

"Yes."

After hanging up the phone, Leon immediately connected to the command network and began deploying the operation.

"Himeko Minamoto, you immediately lead the extraordinary assault team to Lake Yamanaka. Conduct an in-depth exploration of the waters to find and protect any potential Jizo statues."

"Talos-E Team, target Kawaguchi Lake, mission as above: conduct a comprehensive search to ensure the safety of the waters."

"Ms. Muramasa led the Y-shaped commando team to Lake Motosu to carry out the search and protection mission for the stone Jizo statue in the water."

"Command Center Special Operations Team, follow me. The above tasks will be carried out immediately. If you encounter any force majeure obstacles, you are allowed to retreat to Fujikawa Town for assembly."

Once the order was given, the entire department began to operate.

Leon was not actually confident that he could hold the Three Lakes node; he was more interested in obtaining more information to confirm his speculation.

If it is confirmed that there are mutated beasts or stone spirits in the three lakes, then Fujikawa Town, the node of the giant gate, will be their last chance and the place of the final battle.

Leon didn't quite understand the power of "flooding," but he could understand the idea of ​​the Kofu Basin being flooded.

Kofu City is the capital of Yamanashi Prefecture. The Kofu Basin is home to more than half of Yamanashi Prefecture's population. If a major flood were to occur, it would affect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people.

With this in mind, he drafted a short report as he walked and sent it abroad via another communication device.

He received a reply very quickly.

[Normal processing]

Leon roughly knew how to handle it.

He will issue a warning to the authorities only after confirming the situation in the three lakes.

Forty minutes later.

The troops Leon had deployed were mostly in place.

Lake in the mountains.

The team quickly established four temporary positions around the lake shore in an encircling pattern and began deploying underwater drones. Several helicopters hovered in the night sky, and searchlights shone on the water.

Genji stared at the calm, deep lake surface; from the surface alone, nothing could be discerned.

"The third batch of drones has successfully entered the water."

"The sonar buoys don't seem to be very effective; there's too much interference."

Behind them, at the temporary base, most of the equipment had already been set up, and staff were analyzing various data being transmitted back.

The simplest and easiest to understand is the imagery transmitted back in real time by underwater drones.

"Wait, didn't something just fly by?" Mingli pointed at the screen.

"It seems like we're immediately replaying the footage and arranging for a drone to track the shadow." The staff member next to him immediately replayed the footage, and in slow motion, a large, dark shadow could indeed be seen swimming past at the edge where light could reach.

However, before the operator could turn the drone around, the screen suddenly went black, and then the signal was lost.

"B7 lost signal, B9 lost signal"

The lost signal quickly filled the screens, and everyone knew that an unknown entity was attacking the drones underwater.

"alert--"

No sooner had Genjiko finished speaking than the lake began to boil.

It's like a scene from feeding fish in a pond, with countless fish leaping high into the air and crashing onto the lakeside, splashing and leaping.

Logistics personnel quickly retreated, combat personnel prepared themselves, and activated the mechanical dogs around them.

Under the bright light, the fish seemed to extend from the lake, and they continued to approach them in groups.

"Fire."

Minamoto no Himeko felt that these things were a threat, so she immediately ordered them to open fire.

Gunshots rang out, muzzles flashed, and the fish frantically devoured the peanuts.

"Crack!"

Perhaps not expecting the humans to fire so decisively, the fish began to react.

Their heads swelled rapidly, and the lower half of their torso grew out of their bodies. They didn't quite resemble humans; they looked more like skinny, standing frogs wearing large fish head caps. The fish heads were unusually large, gleaming coldly, and looked very hard. They were also covered with sharp bone spikes, and every time a burst of water mist erupted from their mouths, a bone spike would shoot out to attack.

"That's why I hate eating freshwater fish!" Akari said, firing a shot from behind cover.

The fish-headed monsters quickly grew in number, braving a hail of bullets to engage in a sniper duel with the humans at the center gate.

Besides their ability to spew, they are also incredibly agile. Several fish-headed monsters with specialized legs, resembling frogs, leaped high into the air, their bodies retracting into their heads, and smashed into a sentry cannon, destroying it instantly.

Soon, several combatants were approached by the fish-headed monster, which used its specialized bone hands to slash at their arm armor, leaving deep gashes.

The situation quickly devolved into a quagmire of protracted struggle, making any progress in the exploration work impossible.

However, the more the enemy opposes it, the more it proves that they have indeed found the right place!
Lake Hekou.

As an elite force, the Talos-E squad reacted even more quickly.

The moment the underwater drone lost its signal, an aerial helicopter was immediately dispatched to drop explosives.

If depth charges weren't so difficult to deal with, they would have covered the entire lake directly.

Unsurprisingly, the fish-headed monsters emerged in swarms.

Their bone spikes clanged against the armor, but they couldn't break through the defenses.

So the fish-headed monsters worked together and actually created a wave that crashed towards the team members on the shore, trying to sweep them into the lake.

"Use the concussion weapon!"

Boom boom!

Shockwaves rippled through the water, stunning many of the fish-headed monsters before they were torn apart by machine gun fire.

However, their numbers were so great that the Talos squad could only maintain an advantage in ammunition and armor for the time being.

Motosu Lakeside.

Muramasa Taki changed into a diving suit and carried a "weapon" that resembled an anchor.

That's right!

This can also be considered a cold weapon.

Water adaptability is greatly improved!

Her gaze swept across the lake, and before the V-formation assault team could fully deploy, she jumped onto the helicopter: "You set up positions, I'll storm in from above."

The assault team members exchanged glances, and no one objected.

With Muramasa Taki's extraordinary strength, there was nothing they could do to stop him, nor could they stop him.

As the helicopter took off, the lake surface, perhaps sensing her arrival, began to churn violently.

Among them, the commotion was greatest near the center.

Without the slightest hesitation, she flung the anchor into the lake, propelling her body forward like a black javelin thrown into the water.

puff.

The lake water instantly enveloped her. Most of the fish here had not yet turned into fish monsters. The sound of the anchor hitting the ground was very loud, and a large number of fish were stunned, killed, and turned belly up.

It was very dark underwater; even with lighting, visibility was only a few meters.

In the murky light, the dark school of fish spotted the intruder and quickly swarmed to attack.

Takii's eyes were cold as she swung the anchor in her hand.

hum!
The water surged and formed a whirlpool around her.

The surrounding school of fish was caught in it and could not break free.

Taking advantage of the opening, Taki aimed downwards like a hammer and threw it suddenly.

The water was torn apart, and the anchor, carrying Takimi's body, pierced through the school of fish like a sharp sword, falling into the deep water.

Lake Motosu has an average depth of over sixty meters, with the deepest part reaching over a hundred meters. It was probably for this reason that Leon arranged for Muramasa Taki to come to this lake.

The pressure from the lake water continued to increase, and Takii sensed that something was wrong.

At a depth of only a few dozen meters, even without the anchor in her hand, the water pressure shouldn't be a problem for her, given her physical strength.

She dealt with the few fish-headed monsters that had gathered around her and continued her deep dive.

As they went deeper, something seemed to be glowing down below.

Boo!

Before even reaching the deepest, glowing spot, a tingling, energizing sensation emanated from the surrounding lake water.

Suddenly, a dark wave surged from the bottom of the water and rushed towards her.

Hold on!

With the anchor tossed, she remained motionless, continuing to slowly sink.

buzz
The golden light became increasingly conspicuous, and at the deepest part of the lake, a large, ancient stone Ksitigarbha statue, half-embedded in the bedrock of the lakebed, stood silently.

A layer covered the entire stone statue, enveloping it in a pale golden, transparent light barrier composed of countless fine runes.

But at this moment, the entire light shield fluctuated violently, like glass that had been struck to its limit, with dense cracks covering every corner.

The source of all this disaster lies outside the light shield.

It was a jet-black serpent, thick and long, tightly coiled around the light barrier, estimated to be over ten meters long.

Its body was covered in dense scales that shimmered with a dark luster. Its long neck was winding, its head was ferocious, and its eyes were eerie red, clearly resembling the rudimentary form of a dragon.

Taki tried to get closer, but it was difficult; all the surrounding water was repelling her.

Facing Taki, it merely glanced at him with cold disdain, raising its enormous head high and opening its terrifying maw, filled with fangs, towards the Jizo statue.

A viscous, black-red mixed energy stream, carrying an aura of destruction, continuously spewed from its mouth like a waterfall, fiercely washing over and corroding the already overburdened protective light shield.

Buzz—Buzz!

The cracks in the light shield spread and deepened rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Takii knew that nothing good would come of breaking through the light barrier, but she was powerless to do anything about it. Underwater, the enemy had the upper hand, and she could hardly resist.

boom! ! !
A terrifying shattering sound, detectable only by mental power, resounded throughout Lake Motosu, causing the fish monster to leap and frolic.

The golden light shield shattered instantly, turning into countless tiny golden fragments that scattered and dissipated into the cold, dark lake water.

At the very instant the light shield shattered,

The enormous snake head, like a black lightning bolt, suddenly shot out, its gaping maw slamming down with a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

The deafening roar of the landslide pierced the water, and the stone statue of Ksitigarbha's upper body broke apart under the terrifying bite force of the serpent, sending fragments of rock flying everywhere.

Before Taki could even get a good look at the head of the stone statue, the giant serpent head suddenly swung dramatically, swallowing the half of the stone statue that represented the sealing node whole.

The serpent swept past Taki with a mocking look in its eyes, its body twitching subtly a few times. The next second, its massive form showed no hesitation, ignoring Muramasa Taki who was right in front of it, and using the swirling eddies as cover, it darted away and disappeared without a trace, as if it had been dissolved into ink.

The violent vortex shoved Takii away violently.

It took her a while to regain her balance in the turbulent water.

The good news is that the serpent was in a hurry to leave and did not attack her. Moreover, as it retreated, the pressure in the lake decreased sharply, almost to nothing.

The bad news was that, through the churning mud and turbidity, Takii approached and saw only a broken base.

If even she couldn't hold out, then other places must have fallen as well.

(End of this chapter)