Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 301, Section 48: The End of the Disaster (One Can Be Happy Alone)

Ethan was thrown into a tree, crashing down amidst a shower of fallen leaves.

Before he could even take a proper breath of fresh air, he was forcibly pressed against the tree trunk again.

What do you want to do?

Iwasaki examined the silver cup, which was much cleaner but still had some mottled patterns, and asked a question in a calm tone.

"Cough cough." Ethan coughed a few times to relieve the discomfort in his throat.

His blood energy is now almost depleted, and he has entered a period of decline. His life and death are completely in Iwasaki's hands.

“Since I’ve been fortunate enough to be chosen as a player and become an extraordinary being, I should have some aspirations, shouldn’t I?” Ethan grinned. “Ashiya Doman could pursue immortality, and the former Knights Templar could pursue immortality, so naturally I don’t want to miss out.”

"If I have the chance, I will definitely seize it. But if I lose, I lose. It's all about ability, and I have no complaints. I'll just try harder next time."

Iwasaki looked at him carefully.

Ethan's ambition is so great that it's obvious to anyone with eyes to see.

In comparison, Iwasaki doesn't actually have much ambition, otherwise he would have already established a guild and poached players from the player mutual aid association.

But this does not mean he has no interest in improving his strength.

So after learning from Yui that Takii had gone to Ami, he used a clone doll to replace himself, and his original body followed him to Ami.

He was confident in his abilities, especially since the manor owner did not give him the same sense of oppression as Ashiya Dōman.

Furthermore, the game rewards from his Silver Cup Manor further enhanced his overdraft capabilities.

It has been changed to "Overdraft Wholesale Price: Each overdraft can reduce costs by 30%".

The name of his ability is a bit difficult to grasp, but at least it allows him to relax a little.

I wonder if there will be a factory price later.

After changing his color to match the fog using the color-changing factor, he watched from the sidelines until the two were swallowed by the fused monster.

He was quite confident in Taki's skills and game strategy, so he waited quietly outside, preparing to make a move only if necessary.

The outcome was better than he expected; the two of them defeated the manor lord and obtained the silver cup.

He had no moral qualms, so he just robbed it.

Even if he didn't actually know about the silver cup, the presence of Ethan, a guy who wouldn't get up early for nothing, meant there must be some treasure inside.

"Was the gunman in Texas recently Arthur?" Iwasaki suddenly asked.

Ethan nodded indifferently: "Yes, I'll have him divert some of the government's attention so that it will be easier for me to operate here."

Iwasaki nodded slightly and released his hand.

Ethan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This guy's strength completely overwhelms him. No wonder he's the only player to achieve a perfect ending on his first playthrough. I wonder what his potential rating is. If I could obtain his essence blood...
Ethan suppressed his greed, sat slumped on the ground, and gave Iwasaki a wry smile: "From now on, I'll be mostly active in America, doing things that can improve my strength. That shouldn't bother you, right?"

He admits defeat when necessary and has no psychological burden about it.

“I’m not interested in what you do in real life, but,” Iwasaki’s gaze turned icy, “don’t let me find out again that you’re causing trouble in the game.”

Ethan forced a smile, raised his hands, and nodded slightly: "As you wish, we won't make the same mistake again. This game's rewards are basically a waste of time."

Iwasaki ignored him, flicked his black robe, turned into black mist, and disappeared into the forest.

Ethan maintained his awkward smile until the surroundings were completely quiet and the chirping of insects resumed, then he slowly climbed up the tree trunk to his feet.

His fingers dug deep into the tree trunk, his chest heaving.

"A demonic mist!"

He staggered away from the place.

Iwasaki found a secluded spot and focused on studying the silver cup.

There were no instructions, so he could only rely on his intuition to experiment with the silver cup's functions.

It's currently speculated that the Silver Cup definitely has healing abilities, but it's unclear how to activate it.

Considering it's a cup, it must be holding something.

He tried water, but it didn't work.

Try the blood test.
A sudden change occurred!

The dripping blood transformed into tentacles, instantly sticking to Iwasaki's abdomen and forcefully burrowing inside.

Iwasaki immediately switched to an invisible state.

The silver cup also switched to an invisible state, as if it had been assimilated by him.

"This feeling." He returned to human form and looked at the wound he had just made, which was healing rapidly.

He could feel that his blood had an extra direction of flow, which was the location of the silver cup, as if he had an extra heart. As long as the blood passed through this silver cup heart, it would have a healing effect.

Strong, very strong. This effect has completely met Iwasaki's expectations.

He had no interest in becoming an immortal being like the manor lord.

His ultimate ability as a soul sorcerer is the immortality of his soul. In other words, he has a head start over most people from the very beginning, and can at least guarantee the eternal life of one soul.

People like the manor owner have lost their souls, and their bodies exist in a strange state, which, in his view, can only be described as living like a walking corpse.

After getting used to the new feeling for a while, he took out Amei's map.

Since we're already here, wouldn't it be a waste not to harvest some sinful souls?

Even with his sustainable, exploitative approach, Japan's criminals were hardly enough to be slaughtered.

But if he were to target those high-ranking officials, the already chaotic country would only descend into even greater chaos, something he did not want to see.

Let's seize this opportunity and embark on his world tour to reap the rewards.

He had been preparing for this operation for a long time, and the clone puppet was a great help.

Let's start with that.
His fingertips moved to Detroit, a city renowned for its outstanding people and beautiful scenery.

Okechobi town.

A squadron of helicopters arrived cautiously and landed on a gentle slope on the lakeshore.

The driver was drenched in sweat, feeling like he was performing a pole dance for death.

Fortunately, after the fog dissipated, the swarms of flying creatures stopped attacking humans and dispersed into large groups, posing no threat to the entire helicopter formation.

The team of experts, dressed in protective suits, quickly set up various devices and measured data.

"Thank you for your help, Ms. Muramasa. May I ask, has the source of the disaster been eliminated?"

Agent 12, who escaped from the town, was the captain of this operation. After landing, he didn't have time to reminisce about revisiting his old haunts. Following the orders on the other end of the earpiece, he walked to the front of the village, saluted, and asked.

Muramasa Taki was covered in mud; she had just spent a while groping around the wreckage on the lakebed.

"I'm not entirely sure yet how those monsters are doing." "Since the white mist started to dissipate, they've fallen into complete chaos, but their beast form hasn't been lifted. They've just lost their desire to attack in groups and their organization, but the individual danger level is still about the same."

After receiving permission from the person on the other end of the headset, he read the message aloud.

Muramasa Taki simply nodded and pointed to the wreckage at the bottom of the lake: "Arrange for someone to examine the wreckage as soon as possible to see if we can find statues of angels and demons."

Agent 12 nodded quickly: "Understood. Ms. Muramasa, shall we return to Atlanta?"

Taki shook her head: "I'll be staying here for a while. Sending my location is just to let you know I'm coming."

Although the president's order was to bring back the meritorious officials, they knew they couldn't force Chaofan's will. The president wouldn't pursue this matter; they only needed to convey Chaofan's words tactfully.

For example, if the threat has not yet been confirmed or eliminated, and for the safety of the people, it is voluntary for Chaofan to remain in place to guard the area, giving the president a way out, which he will certainly not mind.

He might then boast to outsiders, attributing the credit to himself: "For the sake of the people, Chaofan is willing to stay in America out of respect for me, until the threat is completely eliminated," and so on.

Upon receiving the instruction, 12 clearly stated: "We will restore the supply of materials here as soon as possible."

Exhaustion gradually crept into Taki's body. She had great stamina, but she still needed to rest, and this battle had given her a great warning.

Ordinary weapons are no longer enough to pose a threat to those extraordinary beings. We must acquire some extraordinary resources as soon as possible, hone our forging skills, and create truly extraordinary weapons.

Only in this way can her strength achieve a qualitative leap without unlocking new abilities.

She planned to start after she finished resting, beginning with the giant's remains.

Seeing that Takii seemed about to find an empty room to rest, 12 took a deep breath, mustered her courage, and called out to Takii, "Ms. Muramasa! Please wait a moment!"

Taki looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"12, what are you doing? We have no orders!" came a stern question from the other end of the headset.

12 pursed her lips and took out a notebook and marker that she had prepared in advance from her waist.

"Could I get your autograph? My colleague's daughter is a fan."

Taki looked at her with a strange expression, nodded slightly, took the paper and pen, and neatly signed her name.

"what is her name?"

"Alice, call her Alice."

Taki added an English sentence.

To the brave Alice.

The notebook was handed back to 12, who then carefully put it away.

11, this is the last thing I can do for you.

There was no response from the other end of the earpiece, but 12 knew that his future was probably over, but he didn't regret it.

Taki, who had been turning around, suddenly stopped and turned her head to the side: "If there's anything unusual in the ruins, call me."

"Ah? Yes, yes!"

12 nodded in agreement.

A few seconds later, a voice came from the other end of the earpiece, the tone completely devoid of its previous sternness, instead filled with gentleness: "Well done, 12. From now on, you can stay in town without worry, but remember to report before doing anything in the future, and don't be as reckless as you were just now."

Taki's words rekindled his hopes for the future.

Is this what extraordinary influence from words and actions is?

A single sentence can determine a person's future, or even their life or death.

He had nothing to envy; he only hoped to work as a secret agent until retirement.

Carefully putting the notebook into his waist bag, he took charge of the scene and set up a cordon.

This disaster has had a profound impact on Aramco and the world.

This means that the extraordinary disaster is no longer confined to Japan, but has begun to announce its recovery to the whole world.

While there have been some extraordinary events outside of Japan, such as the Park Min-woo case in the Southern Dynasty, the church ghost incident in Texas, and the bloody ritual in California.

However, those were mostly done by players, and the impact was very limited.

Compared to the recent incident in Florida where over 100,000 people have died or gone missing, this is nothing.

This number is already quite large. There are only tens of thousands of people living near Lake Okechobi, so it wouldn't be too many to wipe them all out. When the virus spread to several densely populated settlements, the authorities had already organized a large-scale evacuation.

Fortunately, the white fog didn't spread too quickly.

If the speed were any higher, the death toll would have multiplied several times over.

Of course, it still can't compare to the devastating casualties caused by the eruption of Mount Fuji, which numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and the exact number has not been fully tallied to this day—or rather, people dare not tally it.

Even a natural disaster would warrant the full attention of human society for casualties of this magnitude, let alone an extraordinary calamity that already attracts attention. The moment the unrest spread, it was closely watched by the entire world.

The Pentagon's pizza index is soaring, with ambassadors from various countries flocking out to visit top officials.

"God, have you abandoned humanity?"

People in Europe felt a deep sense of empathy as they watched the tragic scenes on television.

It's not that they don't want to gloat, but the current mainstream belief is that supernatural disasters are closely related to history. Now that even the Ami have experienced one, how can they possibly escape unscathed?
It's probably only a matter of time.

But it seems that even today, they haven't been able to find a single extraordinary individual.

Ami wanted to establish contact with the Japanese supernatural beings, but she was also very possessive of her resources, and the Japanese government was under close surveillance.

The last official who tried to use someone else's strength against him has already committed suicide at home by hanging himself after being shot six times. What a surprise (reading in a dry tone).

"Grandma! I will protect everyone!"

Lozère, France, early morning.

Inside a cozy living room of a country cottage, an elderly woman watched television, covered her mouth, and tears streamed down her face.

Seeing this, the girl next to her quickly comforted her, standing in front of the TV with her hands on her hips: "The monster is no match for me, I have an advantage—"

"Oh, my good child, little firefly, Grandma believes in you." The old woman hugged her, gently stroking her long hair, which had become much softer recently, and gazing into her beautiful emerald eyes. "But promise Grandma that when you protect others, you must also protect yourself. You must never force yourself."

The girl nodded vigorously.

"Ok!"

"Well then, future hero, finish your breakfast now and get ready for school." Grandma wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, smiled, and patted her head.

The girl looked at the slightly dry bread. She wanted to eat pasta.

She has plenty of pasta to eat, but she can't find a chance to give it to her grandmother.

What excuse should I use?

She suddenly realized that perhaps she could ask the other "chosen ones".

(End of this chapter)