I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Sanako blinked her beautiful eyes blankly a few times, her vibrant rosy cheeks showing obvious bewilderment.

As for Qingdeng...

The instant Onodera uttered the word "poppy," Aoto's eyes sharpened, veins throbbed at his temples, and his face turned ashen, as if doused with ice water.

Qing Deng's appearance startled the commander.

She rarely saw Qingdeng with such a grim expression...

Sanako was half a beat slow to realize Aoto's unusual behavior.

In the blink of an eye, she and the commander-in-chief "cooperated" to focus their puzzled and worried gazes on Qing Deng.

Because Qing Deng looked so terrifying, Souji couldn't help but ask in a tentative tone:

"Tachibana-kun...?"

The commander's call brought Aoto back to reality.

"what happened?"

The commander said irritably:

"I should be asking you 'What's wrong?' Tachibana-kun, what's wrong? You look terrible..."

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng paused for a moment.

Whether in his past life or this one, Qingdeng never carried a mirror with him, and there was nothing reflective in this thatched hut, so he had no way of seeing his facial expression.

However, he could still roughly sense that his facial features and expression at this moment must be very ferocious—after all, his emotions were still very turbulent.

"Sorry... I startled you..."

While apologizing to the two women, Qingdeng also tried to calm himself down.

Seeing that Qingdeng had returned to normal, the two women were somewhat relieved.

The commander was even more curious about Poppy, which could actually change the expression of Qing Deng, who was used to seeing all kinds of storms.

So she asked:

"Junior, what is a poppy?"

Just as Aoto was about to explain to the two women what "poppy" meant, Onodera preemptively answered:

"You can think of it as a kind of herb rich in terrible magic."

"The word 'poppy' in English is 'sombiferum,' which means 'hypnotic.' As the name suggests, it has a strong anesthetic effect."

“If used properly, poppies can be made into very effective painkillers and anesthetics, but if used for other purposes... let me put it this way—the main ingredient of opium in England is poppies.”

Souji, Sanako: "Grilled meat...!" *2

The two women exclaimed in unison in shock.

In an instant, their faces, like Qing Deng's just moments before, turned ashen and ugly.

In fact, Onodera didn't need to explain so much; his last sentence was enough.

The Edo Shogunate had been in power for seven years since the "Black Ships Incident".

From the Shogun, the daimyo of the domains, and the senior officials of the shogunate, down to ordinary lower-ranking samurai and commoners, they were no longer the "deaf" and "blind" people who were completely ignorant of the situation overseas.

Edo was the political center of Japan at the time, and it was also located at the intersection of five major roads, making the transmission of logistics and information extremely convenient.

Any news, whether domestic or international, would first spread among the common people of Edo.

Therefore, even the chief commander, who disliked reading and was unaware of politics, knew what British duck slices were.

"When you first take the drug, there will be no abnormal reaction in your body."

"Just take one pill and all your fatigue and pain will disappear without any side effects."

"The fact that the drug had only benefits and no drawbacks in its early stages deceived countless unsuspecting people."

"Those who are unaware of this medicine regard it as a miracle drug, believing that as long as they have it, they will no longer need to fear any illness."

"I was unaware that this damned pill was actually a slow-acting poison coated in sweet sugar..."

"Once ingested over a long period, the toxins contained in the pills will gradually seep into the depths of a person's body, causing great impact on their physical and mental health. The main symptoms include mental instability, irritability, and inability to control one's emotions."

[Note: "Shen Nu" refers to a person with a nervous system.]

"At the same time, you will see hallucinations more and more frequently."

"You might see deceased family members, former enemies, or tragic past experiences."

"As hallucinations occur more and more frequently, over time, one will become unable to distinguish between reality and hallucination, and the whole person will drift between reality and illusion, appearing as if insane."

"In addition, it is highly addictive."

"Once you eat too much of it, you can become addicted."

"I keep thinking about taking another one."

"After eating one pill, I wanted to eat another one soon after."

"Then they ate more and more... eventually creating a vicious cycle."

"If this continues, even the most iron-willed person with a body of steel and nerves of bronze will become a terrifying creature that is neither human nor ghost."

"After figuring out the true effects of the drug, I finally understood why Takayuki Tachibana was so determined to find out the real culprit behind its production and distribution."

"Later, with my help, Tachibana Takayuki successfully bribed another member of the Shimizu clan, Kitahara Ginzo."

"Kitahara Ginzo was simply a money-grubber."

"Patriotism, sense of national responsibility... these things that can't be converted into money are all bullshit in his eyes."

"He only helped us out of money."

I won't go into the details of the investigation.

"In short, Takayuki Tachibana and I joined forces and worked together to eliminate the strange drug."

"At first, both I and Tachibana Takayuki believed that the instigator of all these events was the leader of the Shimizu clan, namely Shimizu Eiichi."

"Anyone who has even the slightest acquaintance with Shimizu Eiichi knows that he is a ruthless character who appears gentle and humble on the outside but is vicious and cruel on the inside."

"If it were him, it wouldn't be surprising at all that he would be involved in selling dangerous drugs."

"However... to our utter surprise, the real culprit was someone else entirely!"

At this point, Onodera paused, as if gathering his emotions.

After a moment, he squeezed out the words slowly and deliberately, as if spitting out pebbles, from between his clenched teeth.

"That's the Fa-Extermination Party, which was active 60 years ago!"

“The Fa-Zhu Party is skilled in ‘intelligence control.’ Despite my best efforts to investigate carefully, I still know very little about the Fa-Zhu Party.”

"Even now, all I know is that the leader of the Fazhu Party and all its cadres give themselves a code name."

"The code names they used were all those vicious demons and monsters from mythology."

"In addition to using fierce demons as their names, they would also tattoo the demons that they used as their code names on their backs."

"As far as I know, there is a very clear hierarchy among the cadres of the Fazhu Party. The highest-ranking cadres are the three 'Great Demons' collectively known as the 'Three Great Cadres': Tamamo-no-Mae, Shuten-dōji, and Ōtakemaru."

"And these three high-ranking officials also differed in status."

"It is said that Ōtakemaru was the highest-ranking, followed by Shuten-dōji, and then Tamamo-no-Mae."

"Above these three is the leader of the Law Extermination Party: Orochi."

"Whether it's the Yamata no Orochi or the three top executives, they are all incredibly mysterious."

"No matter how hard I try or how much effort I put in, I can't find out anything about them. I have no idea about their age or gender."

"The main center of the law-punishing party's activities was the capital region."

“The Kanto and Oshu regions of eastern Japan are merely the ‘remote frontiers’ of the Fazhi Party.”

"The highest-ranking person in the Fazhu Party in the Kanto region is a cadre codenamed 'Rakshasa'."

"I have personally seen Rakshasa several times."

“He is very young, at most 25 or 6 years old.”

"Tall and slender, with fair skin and delicate features... Judging from his appearance alone, it's impossible to imagine that he is the 'Governor of the Eastern Kingdom' of the Fazhu Party, let alone that he is a battle-hardened swordsman who is especially skilled in sword-drawing techniques."

"Although I have never witnessed it with my own eyes, it is said that Rakshasa's sword-drawing skills have reached a terrifying level, capable of cleaving even a straight-flying rifle bullet in two."

Upon hearing Onodera's words, Aoto unconsciously raised an eyebrow.

Sword-drawing technique... this is also Qing Deng's most proficient martial art...

Oblivious to Aoto's changing expression, Onodera continued speaking to himself:

“A long time ago, I vaguely realized that Shimizu Eiichi, who was so arrogant in Edo, seemed to have another master above him.”

"It wasn't until I started investigating the strange medicine and figured out the relationship between the Fazhu Party and the Shimizu Clan that I was shocked to find out—it really was true."

"The master of Shimizu Eiichi is none other than the 'Governor-General of the Eastern Kingdom' of the Fa-Zhu Party: Rakshasa!"

"The Shimizu Clan is a subordinate organization of the Fazhu Party!"

"Whether it was because the Fazhu Party had done a favor for the Shimizu clan, or for some other reason, I have no way of verifying. In any case, Shimizu Eiichi obeys the Rakshasa's every word!"

"In the production and sale of the strange drugs, the Shimizu clan has always followed the orders of the Fazhi Party from beginning to end."

"Our true enemy... is not the Shimizu clan, but the Fazhu Party, which stands behind the Shimizu clan and secretly manipulates everything!"

At this moment, Qingdeng truly didn't know how to describe his feelings...

It turns out... he's been misunderstanding the relationship between the Fazhu Party and the Shimizu clan all along!

Previously, he had always thought they were equal organizations that were not subordinate to each other.

Unexpectedly... the Yakuza Group, whose influence spanned the Kanto region and was the strongest in Edo, was actually just a subordinate organization of the Hoju Party!

Qingdeng opened his mouth, as if about to say something.

However, at this moment—

"Ok?"

Qingdeng's ears twitched.