Infinite Chimera Creation

"There shouldn't have been any major mishaps this time. The flaws that needed to be revealed have been revealed, and the clues that needed to be left behind have been left behind. The humans who made the deal with the monsters should have been very convincing in their disguise. Those people should be able to pinpoint this body soon. The only pity is that in this battle, the Level 4 Gastrea soul used to control this body was overdrawn and consumed in the process of repairing it. Even if the souls of the people killed during this period are used to replenish it, it is probably impossible to recover it. However, a mere Level 4 Gastrea soul is insignificant compared to what I am about to obtain."

Raising his hand to gulp down the beer, the killer realized he was still wearing the blood-stained white mask. He casually removed the mask and tossed it aside, then took a large gulp of beer. Looking at the face reflected on the television screen, he gave a cold smile and slowly called out the name of the person whose face it represented.

"Rentaro Satomi, soon you will be completely plunged into the abyss of despair, I swear on the name of Byakuya."

P.S., thank you to [~%？ …：＃] and [Rainy Day] for the donations.

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Do I look like an idiot?

"Damn it, the tracker was discovered! Now all our leads are dead. We only have two days left. If that guy decides to hide and not make a move because of what happened today, wouldn't we be completely finished..."

Hongye slammed her fist on the table and shouted angrily, but in the end, she couldn't utter the word "despair".

"To say it out loud would truly be despairing," Hongye murmured, her hands supporting her on the table, her head bowed in resentment.

Just moments ago, Sumire Muroto had a grim expression, but now she seemed to have figured something out. Her expression returned to her signature languidness as she sipped her coffee and said lazily,

"Who said the trail went cold? Trails don't just disappear as easily as you think."

Judging from her relaxed demeanor, it was as if she wasn't the one who had just lost four precious mechanized warriors.

"What did you say? There are still clues? Tell me, tell me now!?"

Just as Momiji was about to sink into the abyss of despair, she saw a glimmer of hope again in an instant. She immediately forgot whether her attitude was one of begging or not, grabbed Sumire Muroto's shoulder, and asked loudly with red eyes.

Momiji's attitude made Sumire Muroto frown, a slight displeasure rising in her heart. However, considering that helping Momiji could earn her a promise from Yuan Yuan, she suppressed her displeasure and slowly began to explain.

"The technology for modifying mechanized warriors is top secret. So far, only four people, including myself, have been able to process holmium, a highly toxic metal, into mechanical organs that do not harm the human body and successfully perform modification surgeries. And when the four of us perform modification surgeries, we all habitually leave our own marks on the modified bodies. For example, that stubborn old man Rand, when creating mechanical organs, he habitually exposes the mechanical organs, and most importantly, he thickens the energy transmission line."

Sumire Muroto's fingers flew across the keyboard, bringing up the image of the mechanical eye that the culprit had peered into the camera and was clearly captured on camera. Her expression was slightly strange as she spoke.

"My mark is an energy transmission line with an arc of twenty degrees, which has no practical use, added to the center-right position of the mechanical organ. There is no doubt that I made this mechanical eye, and his mechanical hand also has this mark."

As she spoke, Sumire Muroto pulled up several close-up images of the killer's mechanical arm, pointed to an inconspicuous blue energy transmission line on it, indicating that this was the "sign" she had mentioned, and then confidently concluded...

"This person was definitely modified under my supervision."

Although Momiji's attitude towards Sumire Muroto had been extremely rude due to her intense emotional fluctuations, it was merely a result of her sudden surge in spiritual power and a significant increase in soul activity, making her prone to emotional outbursts. In reality, under Yuan Yuan's tutelage, Momiji was no longer the naive and innocent girl she once was. Therefore, she didn't rush to ask Sumire Muroto if she had already identified the culprit. Instead, she first bowed deeply to Sumire Muroto, sincerely apologizing.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Muroto. I was too emotional just now. Please forgive my mistake."

"I said, no matter what your attitude towards me is, it won't affect me at all. Let's continue talking about the murderer."

Muroto Sumire was initially surprised that Momiji would apologize, but remembering that something similar had happened not long ago, she quickly calmed down and casually steered the conversation back on track.

"I don't have many mechanized soldiers under my command who have undergone eye modifications to begin with, and the killer's mechanical eyes were captured on camera with exceptional clarity, so I can easily identify the killer."

As she finished speaking, Sumire Muroto's expression became even more bizarre. She thought to herself, "This is more than just easy. The murderer is practically afraid I'm an idiot and won't realize his identity, so he just laid the evidence right in front of me."

Although she didn't know why the murderer deliberately revealed his identity, Sumire Muroto wouldn't directly tell him. If the answer were too easy, aside from whether Koyo would believe it, even if she did, the benefits she could get from Yuan Yuan would definitely be much less.

Therefore, Sumire secretly resolved to go through all the clues left by the murderer in front of Momiji before revealing the murderer's identity.

"Clearly, the murderer, at some unknown time, through some unknown means, made a deal with some unknown monster and obtained abilities related to the soul. While this ability gave the murderer incredibly powerful regenerative abilities, it also made him arrogant and careless, leaving us with many useful clues."

Knowing the culprit's identity, Muroto Sumire wasn't nervous. She sat leisurely in the soft chair, watching the anxious Momiji. She wanted to urge her on, but feared angering her and extinguishing her last hope. Forcibly suppressing her own anxiety, she spoke slowly...

"First of all, to mock me, the murderer deliberately dug out the tracking device from his body in front of the camera, along with some flesh from his body, and threw it at the scene. I have already sent people to the scene to retrieve that piece of flesh, and by comparing DNA, we will soon be able to identify the murderer."

"Secondly, when the murderer was fighting with Number Three, that bald, burly man..."

"Also, when the murderer left..."

After rambling on and on for a while, Sumire Muroto, now transformed into a detective, finally revealed the culprit's identity under Momiji's impending glare.

"You are also familiar with that murderer. He is Rentaro Satomi, who is currently staying at Yuan Jun's place."

Instantly, Momiji's eyes widened in disbelief, and for a moment she couldn't believe what she had just heard. Although in their initial encounters, Momiji had a very bad impression of Rentaro, thinking him to be unreliable, ungrateful, and fond of talking behind people's backs.

However, after spending more than a month together, Koyo realized that Rentaro was a kind-hearted person who always had a warm smile on his face. Even when Koenju treated him roughly, he would not get angry, and even if she was not nice to him, he would often help her.

Most importantly, back then, Rentaro Satomi completely broke with Sumire Muroto because of the fate of the cursed children, who had little to do with him, and even found himself being hunted down.

How could such a person be a ruthless murderer who has taken more than three hundred lives?

Kouyou's reluctance to believe Rentaro was the murderer didn't surprise Muroto Sumire. She had focused on training Rentaro, equipping him with the best mechanical organs, and even installing a precious microcomputer in his mechanical eyes, all because she valued his charismatic personality—the kind that made others instinctively trust and admire him, surrounding them like a protagonist.

but……

"Whether you like it or not, that's the truth."

P.S. Thanks to the friend who didn't change their name for the monthly pass.

Chapter Sixty-Eight Are you kidding me?

Even though Momiji was unwilling to believe it, after Sumire Muroto produced a large amount of evidence that the murderer had "accidentally" left behind, she had no choice but to admit that Rentaro Satomi was the murderer.

Although Momiji had developed some affection for Rentaro after spending some time with him, it was easy to see at a glance which was more important when someone she had a slight liking for was placed on the scales alongside the entire Clan of Cursed Children.

After confirming the culprit's identity, Kureha didn't rush to arrest him. Given Rentaro's demonstrated strength, even if she could capture him and hand him over to the police, considering the higher-ups' current intention to expel the Cursed Children, the most likely outcome would be Rentaro's secret execution, the higher-ups still denying they'd caught the culprit, and the expulsion of all the Cursed Children after three days.

"It seems necessary to create an environment where the higher-ups have no choice but to acknowledge it."

After a moment's thought, Momiji suddenly looked up at Sumire Muroto.

"Doctor, please do me one more favor."

Sometime later, Sumire Muroto started cooking her Gastrea dumplings in a beaker again. Stirring the dumplings tumbling in the viscous purple liquid, she nodded and answered nonchalantly.

"Sure, it's just a small matter like mobilizing TV reporters, no problem. But then Mr. Yuan will owe me two promises."

Momiji nodded, her expression not pleasant. Although Yuan Yuan had said she could ask anyone for help in his name, the fact that Yuan Yuan owed Muroto Sumire two promises still made her feel uneasy. However, the situation was beyond her control; besides Muroto Sumire, Momiji couldn't find any reliable help, so she could only suppress her displeasure.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Doctor. After dawn, I'll return to Lord Yuan Yuan's residence to check if Satomi Rentaro has returned. If so, I'll lure him to the place where the battle took place last night and capture him. At the same time, I'll signal you, Doctor, to use your resources to gather reporters for a live broadcast to the entire Tokyo area. In front of all the residents of Tokyo, I'll present the evidence you just gave me, so everyone knows who the real culprit is."

Seemingly casually stirring the liquid in the beaker, Sumire Muroto asked in her still languid tone,

"So, you're planning to face Rentaro Satomi all by yourself?"

Although Sumire Muroto didn't say it explicitly, Momiji still understood the implication in her words: "How could you possibly beat Rentaro Satomi by yourself?" She nodded with a confident smile.

"That's right, I'm enough on my own."

Muroto Sumire's gaze darkened for a moment as she stared at the beaker, her mind racing with speculation. What could have given Momiji such confidence in single-handedly defeating Rentaro after witnessing his supernatural power? The most likely reason was that Yuan Yuan had modified Momiji, causing a leap in her strength. However, there were no signs of this modification in Momiji's physical manifestations. According to the information Muroto Sumire possessed, even with technology a hundred years more advanced than the most cutting-edge biological modification technology in Tokyo, it would be impossible to achieve a "leap in the leap" without altering a creature's appearance.

Could it be that the technology Yuan Jun possesses is over a hundred years ahead of the most advanced technology currently available?

Suddenly realizing a possibility, Sumire Muroto was startled by her own thoughts. Although she had long known that Yuan Yuan possessed many cutting-edge technologies, the idea that an independent researcher could have technology that surpassed the world's by a century was simply beyond her comprehension.

Sumire Muroto's mind was in turmoil, but her face remained impassive as she calmly nodded.

"Since you're confident you can handle this alone, I won't say anything more. Let's do it your way."

After they finished speaking, they both fell silent, no longer saying a word, quietly waiting for dawn.

The wait wasn't long, and soon it was dawn. As planned, Hongye returned to Yuan Yuan's residence. In order not to alert him, she didn't go to Rentaro's room to look for him, but instead sat in the living room and slowly ate her breakfast.

About half an hour later, Rentaro, who had a regular schedule, came downstairs at the same time as usual. He was slightly surprised to see Momiji sitting in the living room, then gave her his usual gentle smile.

"Didn't Miss Hongye go to investigate the murderer? Why is she still sitting here now?"

Seeing that Rentaro seemed as if nothing had happened last night, with his usual gentle smile still on his face, Koyo frowned inwardly, but didn't show it on her face, replying with her usual slightly indifferent tone.

"I'm here to ask for your help. The killer struck again last night, and it was more noisy than before. I think the nearby residents might have seen something, and I want to ask them if they have any clues, but I'm not very good at communicating with people. Aren't you very eloquent, and you also have a very useful face? So I wanted to ask you to help me ask around."

[What do you mean by a "very useful face"? Miss Kureha, you're really terrible at communicating with people!] Rentaro thought to himself helplessly, then smiled wryly and nodded.

"Alright, time is of the essence, let's get going. Anyway, I've already washed up."

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast?"

"No, time is of the essence, there's no need for breakfast. Anyway, I've never had to eat anything for a whole day when I was on a mission before."

After a brief exchange, Hongye nodded, got up, and walked outside.

"In that case, let's hurry up and catch up."

Rentaro smiled helplessly, but a look of joy appeared in his eyes, and his pale face seemed to regain some color. He quickly caught up with Momiji.

Momiji remained silent, leading Rentaro towards the site of yesterday's battle, observing his reactions along the way. However, what puzzled Momiji was that Rentaro showed no signs of tension whatsoever, seemingly unconcerned about his identity being discovered.

Is it confidence that they won't be discovered, or confidence that even if they are discovered, they won't be caught?

"Tsk, forget it, if I can't figure it out, I won't think about it anymore!!"

Scratching her hair, Momiji made a disgruntled sound, then before Rentaro could ask what she was thinking, she pointed to the ground beneath her feet and said...

"Alright, we've arrived. This is the place where the murderer committed the crime yesterday. How about it, Rentaro Satomi? Isn't it incredibly satisfying to kill four advanced mechanized soldiers all by yourself?"

Rentaro froze for a moment before realizing the meaning behind Koyo's words. An expression of disbelief crossed his face, and he pointed to himself, speaking somewhat flusteredly.

"Wait, wait, Miss Hongye, you must be joking. Do you suspect I'm the murderer? How could I? How could I do such a thing!"

Chapter Sixty-Nine: You Dare to Doubt Me!

"Yes, I was also wondering how you could do such a thing."

Hongye's right hand was crackling with electricity as she clenched and unclenched her fist repeatedly, speaking slowly.

Rentaro's face lit up with joy, thinking that Momiji trusted him. However, he immediately noticed the movement in Momiji's right hand, and his expression turned ugly again. He loudly protested,

"You don't believe me? Why? In what way did I act like a madman who kills people all night?!"

While keeping a wary eye on Rentaro, Momiji activated the device she used to control the electrical discharge, shaking her head slightly.

“I don’t believe you. All the evidence points to you. I don’t believe that all this evidence is just a coincidence that overlaps with you.”

Rentaro's expression grew even more grim. His health had been declining lately, and now, in his haste, he felt a wave of dizziness and nearly collapsed. He shook his head vigorously to clear his mind, then fixed a firm gaze on Kureha and said loudly,

"Fine! It's fine if you don't believe me! But what about Mr. Yuan Yuan? I was personally invited by Lord Yuan Yuan. Do you think Mr. Yuan Yuan wouldn't be able to tell if I really committed murder? Don't you trust Lord Yuan Yuan's judgment?"

On their very first meeting, Rentaro could see how much Kouyou trusted Yuan Yuan—a fervent, unconditional trust, almost like that of a fanatic. Therefore, he decisively invoked Yuan Yuan's name, believing that Kouyou would never doubt him.

"Of course I trust Lord Yuan Yuan. No one can hide anything from your eyes."

With all her combat-aid equipment activated, Momiji clenched her fist. Seeing no electrical surge this time, a satisfied glint flashed in her eyes. Then, she shook her head at Rentaro, who was now beaming with delight.

"But I still don't trust you."

This time, Rentaro truly couldn't hold back any longer. He clenched his fists, veins bulging on his forehead, and loudly questioned,

"Since you believe Yuan Yuan wouldn't be mistaken, why don't you believe me!"