Tokyo Detective Chronicles

Guided by the little girl, we passed through a fork in the road, and the scenery before us subtly changed.

They arrived at a completely new area, which was not much different from the previous tiled corridor. It was still dark and still had countless ropes and arms hanging down.

Not far away, the floor of the corridor began to slowly sink, like a children's swimming pool, with water up to calf level...

It also stretches as far as the eye can see.

The water was surprisingly clear, with only some indistinguishable debris floating on it, and occasionally a pale object would flash by underwater.

Fushimi carried the little girl and waded through the water.

He held the axe in his right hand and steadily cradled the little girl in his arms with his left. The little girl was surprisingly quiet, curled up in Fushimi's arms, her round eyes warily scanning her surroundings.

Fushimi noticed that her small hand was constantly pressed against the pocket of her leather jacket.

It seems like she's been eyeing the milk chocolate in her pocket, wanting to eat it but resisting the urge...

Every now and then, she would secretly touch her pocket to make sure the chocolate was still there, then purse her lips and continue to vigilantly observe her surroundings.

Even Fushimi was moved by the little guy's self-control.

It took about five minutes to walk.

The water continued to stretch forward, with no end in sight.

The walls on both sides were covered with the same white tiles, and the hanging objects overhead were identical. If it weren't for the subtle changes in the depth of the water underfoot, Fushimi would almost have thought he was standing still.

This infinitely looping threshold space is precisely the most mentally exhausting place on the outskirts of this mortal world.

There are no reference points, no changes, only endless repetition and a gradually accumulating sense of oppression.

Then...the change happened.

Ahead, in the middle of the waterway, a woman appeared.

Fushimi stopped in his tracks in surprise.

He really didn't expect that, after the man who kowtowed and the little girl in his arms, he would encounter a third human in the mortal world today.

The other party was clearly more surprised than Fu Qijian, wondering why someone would appear.

And... why was he holding that girl?

The woman wore a mask and a tattered, standard trench coat.

The hem was torn in several places, and the left sleeve was almost completely pulled off, revealing a soaking wet white shirt underneath.

The shirt clung to her body, outlining the curves of her rather full breasts. The top two buttons had popped open at some point, revealing a small patch of pale skin and a deep cleavage.

The lower body is even worse.

It was a pair of equally tattered black stockings.

Starting from the upper thigh, the stockings were torn in countless places, and in some places they were completely ripped, becoming strands hanging on the legs.

There is a noticeable wound above the right knee, which is already showing signs of ulceration...

My whole body was shaking.

Then, she raised her hand, holding a gun...

The woman's finger was on the trigger, trembling violently. The gun was aimed at Fushimi, but it kept shaking because of her trembling hand.

"Let...let her go..."

The woman's voice came from behind the mask, hoarse and dry, weak and feeble:

"Let go of that child... or I'll shoot..."

Fushimi did not move.

His gaze fell on the other man's finger on the trigger.

His fingers were white from the excessive force, and the trembling was so intense that he almost accidentally pulled the trigger. Would it go off?

Judging from her voice, she was a woman in her early twenties. Her voice was quite weak, indicating that she had just recovered from a serious illness or was currently ill.

"Calm down."

Fushimi spoke, his voice steady.

"Let her go! Now!"

The woman seemed not to hear him at all; her voice suddenly rose, becoming even hoarser than before, followed by an uncontrollable cough.

"Cough, cough cough cough..."

Do you think I'm some kind of monster from the mortal world?

That's true. Normally, there shouldn't be any humans here, let alone a man carrying a child, holding an axe, and leisurely wading through the water...

It can't be called normal no matter how you look at it.

Fushimi looked down at the little girl in his arms.

The little girl was shaking her head vigorously, looking at the woman and then at Fushimi, her small face showing anxiety.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end she only made breathy "ah, ah" sounds, as if signaling the two of them not to fight.

Do you actually know each other?

So, she's very likely a member of that cult...

Fushimi sighed, afraid that she might really go astray. In any case... he should control her first.

He lifted his foot and subtly stomped it in the water.

"Crack".

Suddenly, something resembling tentacles began to stir in the deep water beneath the woman's feet.

next second!

"Snapped!"

A dark shadow, as thick as a bowl, burst out of the clear water without warning, splashing water everywhere!

He gripped the woman's wrist tightly and pulled it upwards.

"what……"

Feeling the pain, the already weak woman instinctively loosened her grip.

The pistol flew out of his hand, and after being struck by the shadowy figure, it traced an arc in the air before falling towards Fushimi.

Fushimi stepped forward, still holding the little girl firmly in his left hand, and caught the pistol in mid-air with his right hand, then casually threw it towards the woman.

At the same time, the woman, whose vision was blurred due to a high fever, watched Fushimi's face rapidly approaching.

How...

Does it look familiar?

Her brain was sluggish due to the high fever, and her memory was shrouded in mist... but her intuition told her that she must have seen this face somewhere before...

Where is it?

Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, her pupils briefly regained some clarity.

"Wait... who are you...?"

"Bang!"

But it's too late to say anything now.

The gun butt, flying through the air, slammed into the woman's forehead, knocking her unconscious on the spot.

The woman's body stiffened, her eyes rolled back, and then she softly fell backward, splashing into the water with a "plop."

It stopped moving.

Fushimi stepped forward, bent down to pick up the gun, and noticed its weight was off... He flicked the safety with his thumb and ejected the magazine...

Sure enough, it was empty.

He paused for a moment, then pulled back the bolt and inspected the chamber.

It's empty too.

There wasn't a single bullet in that gun.

Fushimi paused for two seconds, then looked at the woman floating in the water, who had already fainted.

Considering this person's mental fortitude—even surpassing that of a five-year-old girl—he momentarily doubted his own judgment. Was this really not an ordinary person who had mistakenly entered the mortal world?

Fushimi stopped thinking about it.

He stepped forward, bent down, and pulled the woman out of the water, laying her flat on the relatively dry platform in the center.

Then he put the little girl in his arms down as well.

As soon as the little girl's feet touched the ground, she ran to the unconscious woman, squatted down, nudged her shoulder with her little hand, and looked up at Fushimi with eyes full of worry.

Fushimi didn't say anything, but squatted down and checked her breathing and pulse, confirming that she had only fainted.

My body was burning up, and I noticed a wound on my thigh, which was probably caused by an infection.

With this level of illness, plus a high fever and an infected wound...

Fushimi had that question again: how did she manage to survive in the Mortal World until now?

Then, Fushimi reached out, grabbed the woman's mask, and gently tugged... the mask fell off.

Beneath the mask was a face streaked with tears and snot.

She was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, and fairly pretty, if you ignored the grime, tear stains, and snot covering her face...

Her long, wet hair clung to her cheeks and neck, with a few strands sticking to the corners of her mouth.

Because of the fever, her cheeks were abnormally flushed, and her lips were dry, cracked, and peeling.

Fushimi stared silently at that face.

The soaked white shirt clung to his body, the fabric semi-transparent.

The stockings started to tear from the top of the thigh, revealing large patches of fair skin through the holes.

The wound on my upper right thigh is severely swollen and red, and the edges have begun to ulcerate.

Fushimi frowned.

The infection is very serious.

If this isn't treated soon, not only will this leg be in danger, but he might also lose his life.

Then, Fushimi suddenly noticed a small, stiff notebook sticking out of the inside pocket of the woman's trench coat... Curious, Fushimi reached out and took it out...

It was a dark blue document with the Yingzhou Special Incident Investigation Department's badge printed on the cover.

A raven stands on a cross, with the words "Field Affairs Department" in gold lettering below.

Turn it over.

The woman in the photo is wearing a neat uniform, her hair is combed perfectly, and she is giving the camera a standard professional smile.

Although their temperaments are completely different, they are indeed the same person.

It was a special agent from the Special Affairs Division... Looks like it was definitely an accidental shooting. I wonder if what I did counts as assaulting a police officer...

"Um?"

It's still only level two?

How could someone so incompetent be promoted to a Level 2 Specialist?

The Special Affairs Division is really getting more and more incompetent... But to be honest, no matter how useless the Special Affairs Division is, it shouldn't send someone like this to the Eternal World to carry out a mission alone.

So, when you entered the mortal world, you were forced to separate from your teammates because you were too weak?

Does this mean... the Special Affairs Division also controls other entrances to this mortal realm?

By the way, what was this guy's name again?

Fushimi's gaze shifted to the name column, and he saw her name.

Rin Miyazawa.