Hawks from the Land of Light are calling me a dove and an undercover agent in the chat group.

Is this what you call a hawk?

Let alone hawks, he'd never seen a dove so kind, saintly, and pedantic!

A project with such a high level of secrecy that it only has two participants must at least be comparable to a nuclear weapon still in the development phase in its first country, or even surpass it.

And what about Kasa's so-called punishment? Compared to the responsibility for the thief's crime, it's practically child's play.

This kind of classified case is no exception. If some mercenary were to sneak into Bruce's Batcave and spy on information that even Alfred doesn't know about...

No matter how much he swears not to kill, he will still take the most vicious measures.

Even if the other party fails completely, just to be on the safe side, he would probably make them into a vegetable, break their limbs, and send them to a Wayne Enterprises-owned hospital for lifelong care until their death—that's the bare minimum.

Before turning the other person into a vegetable, one must first use all the psychological interrogation skills learned in one's life to ensure that the other person forgets everything they saw.

This is the proper way to do it.

In contrast, consider Kasa.

Is there any high-ranking official in the world who would be so kind as to be naive and dreamlike?

Politicians are no longer needed; even children now know the phrase "cut the weeds and eliminate the roots."

Bruce sighed, his brow furrowing slightly, a look of pressure and gloom appearing on his face: "This is about building a persona!"

Hit it.

While he was acting, the other side was also putting on a show, both trying to complete a character setting that would benefit them in front of the two innocent young men.

But this is really too exaggerated, really.

Who would believe, be able to believe, or even believe what Kassapa is saying?

This is so stupid that even a three-year-old wouldn't be fooled!

Going too far will not only fail to achieve the goal, but will also backfire and become disgusting. Such exaggerated forgery is so obvious that even a blind person would see through it and feel nauseous and disgusted—that's how it should be according to common sense.

But who can tell him why... even Bruce Wayne is almost fooled by a lie that no fool would believe?

This shouldn't be!

Looking at Kasa's words, he rationally knew they were lies and an act, but he wasn't particularly disgusted. For a moment, a tiny, almost imperceptible thought even crossed his mind to believe these absurd words.

I really don't know why.

It's as if it's just simple... sincerity? These words, coming from Kasa, always seem exceptionally sincere.

Are you kidding me? Impossible, absolutely impossible!

"Could it be psychological suggestion? Or demonic magic?"

As Bruce pondered this, he decided that as soon as he returned to the Batcave, he would get a full medical check-up, this time including all his mysterious collections, so as not to fall into a trap without realizing it.

At the same time, they became even more secretive about it.

He had originally wanted to probe into Kasa's background and technology, but now that topic was off-limits. Kasa's acting skills were beyond his comprehension; he was too cunning. If he tried to spy on him now, it might be useless and he might even get himself into trouble.

[Dead Fish Eyes]: "I don't even know how to complain anymore."

[Coward]: "Me too, isn't this absurd?"

[Dead Fish Eyes]: "But although I really want to say that Uncle Casa is just joking with us, I always feel like he's serious."

Without realizing it, Hachiman Hikigaya had already sat up straight and was deep in thought.

His intuition told him that Kasa's words were not false at all and were full of the essence of reality.

Only a fool would believe such absurd words. This country is so naive and righteous... do they really think it's the Land of Light? He knew at the age of three that Ultraman doesn't actually exist in the world.

But it doesn't seem so bad to be a fool once in a while.

[Dead Fish Eyes]: "Let me ask you, Uncle Casa, how does your country compare to other countries? Are other places as tolerant as yours?"

[Pro-war faction]: "Maybe it's an isolated case? Other places are indeed quite strict."

The Land of Light is much kinder and more tolerant than any other civilization in the universe—that's what everyone says, and Kasa doesn't deny it, but he's even more aware that many of his actions are quite ruthless.

He didn't understand why everyone was trying to strip him of his hawkish heritage!

In the past, the Land of Light would observe people who sneaked in to steal but failed, and who actively admitted their mistakes after being discovered, for a few days, and release them directly after confirming that they were not vicious cosmic criminals.

Even after going to such lengths, they're still being treated as doves; it's really frustrating.

Kassa tapped his head, thinking about how to explain in a way that would make everyone understand how tyrannical his behavior was.

Now is not the time to worry about scaring children; he must defend this reputation!

[Pro-war faction]: "Alright, let me tell you something else. Be prepared, this is related to war."

Inside the classroom, Hibiki Yuta swallowed hard, shielding his eyes with his hands, afraid of seeing the several bloody pictures that were being sent out in the chat group.

[Pro-war faction]: "To this day, I have experienced more than fifty large-scale battles in various places, and countless small-scale battles."

[Pro-war faction]: "In large-scale battles, our side has a clear advantage. Before the enemy's defeat is certain, even if a single enemy tries to surrender, I have never accepted it and still kill them."

[I am Batman]: "And then?"

[Pro-war faction]: "I don't understand, what 'then'?"

[Dead Fish Eyes]: "Uh... so that's what you wanted to say?"

[Pro-war faction]: "It really is terrifying, isn't it? Were you scared? Sorry."

[Dead Fish Eyes]: "No, not at all. By the way, why do you always treat me like a child? I'm already a high school student!"

[Pro-war faction]: "So high school students aren't considered children anymore? It seems my understanding was too shallow. Okay, I'll remember that. You two young men are already old enough to be men."

Chapter 9: The debt of gratitude to the instructors can never be repaid; loyalty and honesty are paramount!

A smile unconsciously crept onto Hachiman Hikigaya's lips, and he felt a strange sensation he had never experienced before.

The second piece of hawkish evidence that Kassadin mentioned is entirely self-evident.

It's perfectly understandable that surrender is not accepted on the battlefield of a large-scale battle. There's simply no room for that. The fighting is still going on. If you say you're surrendering, who knows if it's true or not?

Does that mean if someone on the other side shouts "I surrender," you just skip them and stop fighting?

What if the other side shouts and then launches a sneak attack and fires?

Even if someone seemingly surrenders their weapons with sincerity, who will supervise them? Everyone is charging forward; diverting manpower to monitor these "I surrender" individuals in real time is a major taboo.

That might lead to their defeat and a comeback victory.

But if we don't send someone to supervise, it's so easy for the other side to stab us in the back.

So is this excessive? Even the gentlest warrior would do the same on the battlefield.

It's hard to believe that Kassadin actually feels guilty about this...

For some reason, he felt that Kassa had an extraordinary sincerity, so much so that even though Kassa's words revealed a character that could not possibly exist, he couldn't help but believe in him.

Now, recognized by such a genuine object, he is no longer seen as a child, but as a man...

He was more overjoyed than if he had been praised by ten thousand parents, a thousand Hiratsuka teachers, a hundred Yukinoshitas, and ten Komachis; he could hardly contain his excitement and almost jumped for joy.

—Hachiman Hikigaya really couldn't resist.

"Yeah!" He clenched his fist, bit his lip to suppress the barely suppressed urge, and jumped up from the chair, his dead fish eyes seemingly filled with dazzling light.

Yui Yuigahama and Yukino Yukinoshita exchanged glances, then stared intently at him. Yui's eyes were filled with worry, fearing that Xiaoqi might be unable to withstand the pressure of the Service Club and develop mental problems.

Yukinoshita is like watching a high school sophomore still acting like a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) Hachiman Hikigaya.

"The implication is too obvious, you know! I'm not having a chuunibyou phase! Uh, although I still secretly fantasize about it... Anyway, I'm perfectly fine!"

Hachiman Hikigaya scratched his head, coughed twice to hide his excitement, and moved his chair to the side next to Yukinoshita. "I want to drink black tea too. I haven't even bought coffee after school these past few days. I've been waiting to drink it. It's too much of you not to give me a cup."

As soon as he finished speaking, he was already seated, but Hachiman Hikigaya's expression froze.

Ruined.

I was so happy that I didn't think before I acted.

He had thought that one day he could communicate with Yukinoshita so openly and without any reservations, but let alone the fact that they were still in a cold war, even when they weren't, his relationship with Yukinoshita was nowhere near this close.

Gudong.

Hachiman Hikigaya's throat bobbed, and cold sweat slowly trickled down his forehead. He was prepared to be sentenced to death.

It wouldn't be surprising if Yukinoshita were to expel him from the Service Club the very next second.

Yukino Yukinoshita stared at him without moving.

One second, two seconds.

The air was stagnant.

Just when even Yui Yuigahama, who was just watching, was about to run away in fright by the oppressive atmosphere, the atmosphere suddenly cleared up. Yukino Yukinoshita, with her long, straight black hair, didn't say anything. She just stretched out her hands and carefully boiled water to make tea, poured it into a cup, and placed it in front of Hachiman Hikigaya.

And without realizing it, the corners of her mouth began to curve upwards slightly, just like Hachiman Hikigaya's.

"Huh?"

The Cold War seems to have ended inexplicably?

……

The Cold War began.

On the spacious Ultraman training ground, the preliminary assessment, which had been suspended for a year, was restarted.

Fearing that even if he adopted the ruthless approach of not accepting surrender in a large-scale war, he would still be insulted as a dove spy, and also because he had indeed arrived at the location, Kasa pulled his attention away from the chat group.

His face was cold, and his silvery features exuded a terrifying aura, as if a hundred Zettons were standing there, all shouting "Zetton!"

Born year-round in the warmth of the plasma spark tower, where it's springtime all year round, the immature young men feel a bone-chilling cold as the north wind howls, scraping their hands and feet until they're icy.

"Look at you all! Your forehand is weak, your backhand is ineffective, your lower body is unstable, you fly slowly, and you don't even have any awareness of dodging. You're so slow, you won't even know when you're going to die!"

"This beam of light is just water, can't you use some real power? If you use a guillotine like this, even if you're turned into an ice sculpture by a Super Beast outside the Land of Light, don't bother putting on your Ultra Signature. Nobody will come to collect your corpses, and don't say you're my students. I can't afford to lose face like that!"

"I've been on duty for a year and you haven't seen the slightest improvement? If you were on Earth, a sixteen-year-old would already be a mature high school boy. Aren't you ashamed?!"

Ah, they're back, they're all back.

The thousands of Ultraman trainees were both surprised and frightened by the familiar shouts, but they dared not let their hands tremble even a little, for if they did, they would be singled out for a lecture.

"Instructor, please tell us about your mission to Tianji Star. I really want to hear it!" Someone in the crowd raised their hand in a flash.