Great, we're doomed now!

How could such a thing be allowed? As Fujiwara Chika's best friend, I certainly can't watch her fall into depravity. I must push her onto that supreme throne!

As for Japan's future?

Compared to Lord Ye Shou, it's nothing!

Of course, Ye Shou couldn't know about this little scheme, otherwise he might misunderstand her as intolerant of others.

Actually, she's a very magnanimous woman, and everything she does is aboveboard.

"Hello Mr. Kuze, I am Megumi Iruma. My teacher often mentions you, and I hope we can have a pleasant collaboration this time."

"Hello, Miss Intermediary."

Ye Shou looked at the familiar but much younger face in front of him, which might have even been enhanced with an anime-style beauty filter, and couldn't help but smile with relief.

Regardless of how the Japanese kanji are written, whether it's Iruma Megumi or Iruma Megumi, the pronunciation is the same. Ye Shou doesn't care about such trivial matters as translation. As long as the person in front of him is the backbone of the GUTS team—Iruma Megumi herself—everything else is minor.

Seeing this intermediary captain, I truly felt that this was the world of Ultraman—

"Hello, I'm Shinjo. It'll be nice to meet you in the future!"

—Oh, and you too, hero of the Victory Team.

"You two can just call me Ye Shou."

Ye Shou shook hands and greeted the team members warmly, showing no discriminatory views towards them.

Just kidding, besides the human host, who else can survive so many plane crashes unscathed like this?

That person is clearly a very skilled driver—and incredibly lucky!

Chapter 159 The Girl About to Be Possessed by an Evil Spirit

In the world where Ye Shou lives, due to the merging of worldviews, the birth times and life experiences of many characters have changed accordingly.

For example, Megumi Iruma, who was born in 1971 in the original work, should be close to fifty years old now, but she is actually only twenty-three or twenty-four years old. She is at an age where she has acquired enough knowledge and skills, but lacks enough experience, and is eager to prove herself and look forward to the future.

She doesn't yet have the ability to coordinate the overall situation. Her dispatch to Japan as Sawai's disciple is primarily to represent Sawai's position and also to gain experience. The real backbone will be another veteran TPC member—

"Hello, Mr. Yoshioka. It's nice to see you again. I'm glad to see you still look as energetic as ever."

“I’m also very happy. I didn’t expect to be able to start working with you so soon.”

Tetsuji Yoshioka, a middle-aged man in his late forties whose fighting spirit had not diminished in the slightest, gave Ye Shoujing a military salute before extending his hand to shake hands with him.

When Ye Shou went to teach Sawai about Ripple before, he had met Yoshioka, and now they seemed to be quite familiar with each other.

Captain Yoshioka has military experience and has served in UN peacekeeping forces. He is Sawai's right-hand man and the first person Sawai thinks of in this situation, someone she can entrust with important responsibilities.

(Although Yoshioka is a radical, he is not a fanatic; he just has a tough stance.)

Yoshioka and his men are mainly retired peacekeeping troops from various countries. They are elite in both training and equipment. What is rare is that they also agree with the TPC's philosophy that it is a military force that serves humanity collectively, not for the country or individuals.

Of course, the human collective is an abstract concept; in practice, they are under the command of Sawai and Yoshioka.

A special operations team plus the logistics personnel of the Kuze Group, a total of 1,300 people, may not seem like many, but considering the width of the battlefield, it was quite sufficient. Probably no one would believe that such a large force was only to deal with an "individual creature"!

Even more outrageous is that the role of this unit is merely to maintain order. If the plan goes smoothly, they won't need to be involved, and if the plan fails... their mission is simply to delay until the Self-Defense Forces and US forces stationed in Japan arrive.

—That's not what Yoshioka wanted to see.

We are currently at a critical juncture in establishing the "Earth Defense Force" and the "Extraterrestrial Life Negotiation Program," with various major powers willing to delegate authority to the TPC to deal with enemies that defy common sense.

After all, when it comes to fighting monsters, men can't just say, "If you don't do it, there are plenty of others who will"—this is something not just anyone can do!

...If they fail in battle against monsters or aliens, they can shift the blame to the TPC, and the leaders of various countries will not bear too much responsibility.

Therefore, this operation was led by TPC, which formed a special force to subdue Sukuna-ki.

This can be seen as a test for TPC: it needs to demonstrate its value in order to increase its standing in the eyes of high-level officials in various countries. With this achievement, it can have a greater say in the "Earth Defense Force".

Otherwise, why would those countries that truly control the world believe that you can defeat aliens?

Therefore, Yoshioka treated Yoshou very kindly, regarding him as a nephew or niece—he was Yoshou's father's junior from school, so that's certainly a fair assessment.

Kuze and TPC have always had a good working relationship, especially in Japan. All the logistical support and the most crucial weapon for this operation were provided by Kuze, and Yoshioka naturally made the corresponding gesture to accommodate them.

So, immediately after meeting Ye Shou, he went to visit his senior, the current head of the Jiu Shi family, leaving Ju Jian Hui and Xin Cheng to accompany Ye Shou, letting the young people talk to each other on their own.

Amidst the busy preparations, several days passed by in a flash...

On Mount Sukuna, the once bustling shrine has gradually become deserted due to the deliberate control of visitor flow. There are only a few dozen people on the mountain path from the torii gate to the worship hall. Ye Shou and Liu Li have just climbed up the slope.

Ye Shou was alright, but the maid had a light sweat on her face, her fair skin glowing with a healthy red. A mint-colored parasol twirled on her shoulder, showing that she was in a pretty good mood.

"...That's all for now. Is there anything I've overlooked?"

"I never expected this. If something unexpected happens... then it's fate, and there's no need to dwell on it."

Ye Shoujiang scrolled through the list page by page, nodding in approval as he did so.

He now felt that what the maid said wasn't entirely unreasonable; it was time to support a prime minister and let the government take the blame.

For example, this operation required a large-scale blockade beforehand, the deployment of campaign-level manpower and resources, and even the use of laser cannons, making intelligence control extremely difficult. Moreover, once the Sukuna Oni appears, that mountain-sized monster can be seen from thousands of meters away, making concealment impossible.

Currently, the operation is being carried out under the name of TPC. On the surface, it appears that the head of the Kuze family has chosen to support Sawai and has therefore invested heavily. However, a careful investigation would reveal that the Kuze Group's involvement is so deep that it is not simply a matter of providing funds... Moreover, it involves the extremely sensitive military field.

In the future, TPC will ride the wave of the "frequent monster events" to gain immense influence worldwide, and perhaps then we won't need to worry about so much, but for now, we do have some concerns.

Then the pretext of "Japanese government" is perfect:

First, the Kuze Group has sufficient power to interfere in Japanese politics, whereas it would not be able to do so with other major powers.

Secondly, Japan is a country with inherent flaws, and its international standing has never been high. Therefore, it is very keen on expanding its influence, such as by holding various large-scale events... even if it often turns into clownish behavior.

Even if it gets exposed later, the Kuze Group will say that it came forward to support TPC "under the government's instruction," which ultimately means that the Japanese government is once again being restless... This is too much in line with traditional impressions!

The two major powers in the East and West will likely put pressure on Japan as a result—but what does that have to do with Ye Shou?

In a few years, we might face Golza and Melba, and enter the countdown to the end of the world. He has too many things on his mind, and there is no place for a government at all!

In East Asian politics, businessmen are often the dumping ground for politicians, but in Ye Shou's case, it's the other way around.

"But if that's the case, this position is cursed, and it's not convenient to push Chika's father to the position... Let's find someone else."

“Okay, I’ll have people keep a close eye on political developments.” Liuli nodded, offering no objections.

She had her own little schemes, but her professionalism dictated that they wouldn't affect her work; everything was based on Ye Shou's instructions.

Furthermore, she clearly understands the difference between a "little devil" and a "poisonous woman," and that men will only like the former.

"Even so, we can still appoint Ms. Fujiwara as an environmental ambassador. She has a great appearance and knows how to please the public, which will bring us a lot of prestige."

Ruri casually said, "For example, this winter break, [Blue Dream] has a promotional project called 'Pure World'. Isn't she short of pocket money? Besides, the Fujiwara family won't object to her participating in charity activities."

"Um, how long will this event last?"

"About two weeks."

Japan's winter break is basically only two weeks long—Ye Shou glanced at Liu Li.

"Do you really want to kick her out?"

"How could that be? She's my dearest friend and family. It's just a coincidence."

"..."

Ye Shouzhen was about to examine Liuli carefully to see if she was feeling guilty when a familiar voice rang out.

"Huh? Kuze-kun... and Ruri-chan too."

"Ok?"

Ye Shou turned his head and found that one of the tourists was Yotsuya Miko, and the girl was accompanied by her blonde best friend, Xiaohua.

"Kiko-chan... what's wrong?"

"Oh, the Cat Priest is quite famous lately, huh? We got a commission from a classmate." Miko scratched her nose sheepishly. "A limited edition mascot, we can sell it to classmates in class..."

"This is all we'll have for our winter break activities!" Xiao Hua laughed frankly.

You have a good business sense!

Ye Shou chuckled and waved casually, intending to tell the staff to take care of them.

Strictly speaking, Jianzi's mother-in-law owns a copyright stake in the image of Xiao Hei, so it's not surprising that Jianzi enjoys some "benefits".

But just as he walked past the girl, he suddenly felt a warmth on the back of his hand. Ye Shou looked down and his eyes narrowed instantly—

An arrow emblem appeared on the back of his hand!

Ye Shou couldn't help but turn around and look at Jian Zi: She has the talent to become a Stand user!

Chapter 160 Now the offense and defense are reversed.

"Mom, I'm home!"

Seeing that Zi had changed into slippers in the entryway, said goodbye to her family, and then went back to her room, she was quite tired from visiting Su Na Mountain today. After taking off her coat, she lay on the bed and stretched.

"I can't stand it, it's a rare Saturday... why is Xiaohua so energetic? Hmm~"

I closed my eyes for a short rest and suddenly felt a slight warmth on the back of my hand. I looked up and saw a small golden emblem appear on my skin, but it gradually disappeared after a moment. On the way home, that warmth would appear from time to time, but the intervals were getting longer, as if it was about to stabilize.

...To be honest, I'm a little uneasy.

The thought that some kind of energy she didn't understand was flowing through her body made Jianzi feel a little scared.

"Since it's Kuze-kun's suggestion, there shouldn't be any problem, right?"

Seeing this, Zi couldn't help but recall her conversation with Ye Shou earlier that day:

Knowing that Jianzi was suffering from the ability to see ghosts, he wanted to help her as a friend, so he offered two solutions.

One method is to use virtual technology, such as wearing VR glasses, to observe the outside world. What you see is all "projection," but the realism is close to 100%, so you can't see ghosts.

To avoid disrupting Miko's daily life and causing her any further trouble, the virtual reality device should ideally resemble regular glasses. There aren't any similar products on the market yet, but there's a concept device in the lab. Ye Shou had been concerned about this for Miko's sake, and now was the perfect time to tell her.

The second method is more challenging:

Ye Shou will stimulate her potential, and there is a certain probability that she will awaken a supernatural power that can protect her—Ye Shou will let her understand it as a kind of "guardian spirit".

Although the process was theoretically quite dangerous, Ye Shou had mastered the technique to stably stimulate it, and in reality, no accidents occurred.

"The injury... it's really gone."

The girl examined her palm repeatedly, still finding it unbelievable even though some time had passed.

The wound that was "pierced" disappeared in the blink of an eye after Ye Shou touched it, as if it left some kind of mark... I don't understand.