Persona: Devil Summoner

"You, what did you say?"

Because Kitagawa's reaction was really puzzling, Ryuji couldn't help but repeat it. And Ryuji's words, like cold water poured into boiling hot oil, instantly ignited Kitagawa's emotions. This slender blue-haired man raised his eyebrows, and his narrow eyes were full of resistance.

"What's wrong with a disciple supporting his master? What's wrong with being regarded as a work of art? Madarame-sensei was just in a temporary low period. Plagiarism? Nonsense. I voluntarily dedicated it to my teacher."

Kitagawa became more and more excited as he spoke. He was thin and looked like a bean sprout, but he was so imposing that he overwhelmed him. Although Ryuji was a track and field athlete and had quite a lot of muscles, he was still overwhelmed by Kitagawa's aura and couldn't help but take a half step back.

"You outsiders, don't just impose your self-righteous justice on me! What do you guys know about me?!"

Kitagawa Yusuke was obviously furious. When he said this, he took out his cell phone, quickly pressed 110, and put his thumb on the call button: "I'm going to call the police. The charges are illegal trespassing and defamation."

"Wait a minute, we're not trespassing, are we?"

Amamiya Ren argued that he already had a criminal record, so he was naturally very sensitive to this kind of thing. Everyone was invited to be models, so it couldn't be considered illegal no matter how you looked at it, right?

Kitagawa Yusuke snorted and said, "I only invited Ms. Takamaki today. You were not invited in the first place."

"Well, well, even if Long Si's words were a little unpleasant, there's no need to call the police, right?"

When Gao Juanxing heard that they had to call the police, she panicked and quickly spoke for her companions.

She fully demonstrated what the beauty effect is. No matter what Amamiya Ren and Ryuji said just now, Kitagawa had a businesslike attitude, but as soon as Takamaki Anne opened her mouth, he immediately changed his tone: "Since Ms. Takamaki said so, it's not impossible for me to show leniency. I can not call the police, but the condition is that Ms. Takamaki must come to be a model again."

"Uh, but didn't you just say that it didn't feel right and you couldn't draw it?"

Takamaki An asked in confusion, and Kitagawa explained calmly: "That must be because I am still considering your emotions subconsciously. As expected, you can't draw an excellent nude picture with clothes on."

"Uh-huh?!"

Gao Juanxing was about to say something perfunctory when she suddenly seemed to hear some extraordinary term...

"You, what did you say?! You perverted erotic painter!!!"

Ryuji got angry on her behalf first. Just as he was about to rush forward, Amamiya Ren grabbed his shoulder. Kitagawa Yusuke showed no fear. He raised his cell phone, his thumb never leaving the 110 dial button. Seeing this, Ryuji lowered his raised fist... If he really hit her, then this intentional injury would be 100% confirmed, and there would be no way to get rid of it...

"Wait a minute. Can I ask you a few questions, Kitagawa-san?"

Despite such a chaotic scene, Jiang Tianwei still acted calmly like a good boy, sitting on the chair and raising his right hand obediently.

Kitagawa recognized at a glance that this was the brother who had given him the meal ticket before, and his tone softened slightly: "What do you want to say?"

"You said before that you never looked at Mr. Takamaki with a worldly eye, right?"

"Of course, it's all for art."

"You chose to paint this only for artistic reasons, right?"

"Yes, I swear upon my honor."

"Then you don't have to force them to take off their clothes. You can change your mindset. Your goal is to create great art, right? Since it's art, of course you have to challenge some themes that people don't usually paint. For example, during the Renaissance, everyone was painting to show the sacredness of angels, but didn't someone's Madonna deliberately paint her like a peasant woman? Wasn't it widely praised?"

"It's Raphael's Sistine Madonna, it is. It's quite heartwarming."

"Oh, yes, yes. Another similar movement is Impressionism. Before the creation of this movement, wasn't this kind of movement that only gave a rough sketch also looked down upon?"

"Indeed."

"So, naked women, something that's everywhere, can't be used as a breakthrough, right?"

After Jiang Tianwei finished speaking, he secretly winked at Gao Juanxing, who nodded gratefully. Although she couldn't understand what this man was arguing about, it was obvious that he was trying hard to defend himself, so of course she knew how to be grateful.

"I see. It is indeed a blind spot. I was shocked when I saw Ms. Takamaki, but now that I think about it, what you said does make sense. If we look at it from a novel perspective, the picture of the naked man may have an unexpected impact..."

Jiang Tianwei listened to the first half of Kitagawa's words and felt that he seemed to be really convinced by him. It was safe. No matter what landscape or scenery he was painting, he still had to match Gao Juanxing with a few different styles of clothes. It was better than nothing to wear. Unexpectedly, this kid suddenly changed the subject and jumped to this side? !

Upon hearing what Kitagawa said, Sakamoto Ryuji quickly covered his chest with both hands: "I, I, I, I, I won't take it off!!!"

Kitagawa snorted and said coldly: "Don't worry, you have nothing to do with art. I won't draw you even if you kneel down and beg me."

"What are you talking about, you guy...I don't even want you to draw!"

Kitagawa Yusuke ignored Long Si's provocation. He swept his eyes around and finally looked at Jiang Tianwei...

"Wait a minute, let me tell you first, I'm not interested in anything! I don't know anything about art or anything like that! If you, you, you, you, you must take it off, you, look over here! Look at this curly-haired guy with glasses over here! I bet you, he's definitely a super handsome guy who looks brighter when he takes off his glasses!"

Jiang Tianwei, in line with the idea of ​​"a friend dies rather than a poor Taoist", tried to sell Amamiya Ren to Kitagawa. He thought Amamiya Ren would refuse, but he lowered his head a little embarrassedly: "I don't deserve to be called a handsome guy."

"I'm not praising you!".

"No, the guy over there doesn't look as powerful as you."

Kitagawa said, took a step forward, and stretched out his hand to touch Jiang Tianwei's chest. Jiang Tianwei quickly took a big step back... "Stop it?! I'm not from that side! I'm a serious straight man who dreams of having a harem full of beautiful girls! I'm not interested in men at all!"

"Don't worry, I don't have any worldly desire for you. I can see through your clothes that your muscles are very powerful. You should be involved in fighting sports, right? You don't have to feel ashamed. Didn't you say it before? This is all art. It's like ancient Greek sculptures, such as "David" or "Resting Hercules", all of which highlight the masculine beauty of men - let's just make the theme of this exhibition "Contemporary David". Hmm, hehe..."

"The point is not gender! The point is why the premise of your discussion is not to wear clothes!"

"That's art! Would you have evil thoughts when you see the armless Venus?"

"Of course I won't!"

"Then what do you have to be ashamed of! You are Venus with both arms intact!"

"Venus is at least covered with a layer of veil!"

"Then if you insist so strongly, I will allow you to put on a veil. I will remove it subjectively anyway."

No, it doesn’t make sense. Jiang Tianwei looked at Long Si for help. Long Si quickly waved his hands, and the meaning was very clear: the other person doesn’t want him.

Amamiya Renye spread his hands and said, this is none of my business.

He looked at Gao Juanxing again. Gao Juanxing smiled awkwardly, clasped her hands together and bowed to him apologetically. The meaning was very clear: I am very grateful that you saved me, but you should feel sorry for pushing me out of the fire pit and asking me to jump back in, right?

"Okay, it's settled. The exact time is up to you. But it has to be before the end of the teacher's exhibition. Hehehe...Japan has forgotten the beauty of masculinity. Come and see the aesthetics of me, Yusuke Kitagawa."

Kitagawa was obviously immersed in his own world and couldn't extricate himself. He laughed as if he had seen that the nude male portrait he painted had once again led the trend in the Japanese painting world.

Jiang Tianwei was completely dumbfounded. He never thought that in the end, saving others would end up saving himself?!

There is a story in the Buddhist scriptures. The Buddha saw an eagle catching small animals and couldn't bear to see the lives of the animals die, so he asked the eagle to give up. However, the eagle also caught animals to fill its stomach. The Buddha was compassionate and couldn't bear to see the eagle starve, so he cut his own flesh to feed the eagle in exchange for the life of the small animal.

In ancient times, Buddha cut off his flesh to feed an eagle. Today, Tianwei takes off his clothes to save people. How good!

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 99 The Victim's Request

Several people left the dilapidated tin house, and no one spoke.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion and...couldn't help but smile.

Jiang Tianwei perfectly demonstrated what it means to play with fire. You see, he spoke up for Gao Juanxing out of righteousness, but ended up getting himself into trouble... and ended up being threatened.

Now, in Jiang Tianwei's impression, Kitagawa's image has become "Brother, you don't want the police to know about this, right?" This is a very popular plot in Japan.

"Um, brother - how about I treat you to some red bean rice?"

Long Si suppressed his smile and hooked his arms around Jiang Tianwei's neck. Jiang Tianwei replied unhappily, "I'm going to beat you up." Then he pushed him away like he was shooing away a fly.

What made Jiang Tianwei angry the most was not that he couldn't win the argument with Kitagawa, nor these indifferent companions, but... he clearly resisted deep down in his heart, but his mind was clear, and he unexpectedly understood this approach...

(I really hate myself for being so rational...)

Jiang Tianwei muttered to himself, sighed deeply, and walked towards the station with his friends... Suddenly, Amamiya Lian, who had been leading the way in front, stopped.

"What's wrong, Lianlian?"

Seeing him stop, Ryuji went over to show his concern. Amamiya Ren opened her phone and showed them a series of messages. They were messages from Mishima Yuki.

This person was originally one of the victims of the Kamoshida incident, but later, after Kamoshida changed his mind, this person keenly perceived the true identity of the thief and became a fan of the thief. The thief channel that everyone has been using was created by Mishima Yuki. He himself is also an administrator and can easily filter comments and select those that need the thief.

Now, what Yuki Mishima is talking about is the matter of the Phantom Thieves.

The general meaning is that the stalker whose heart was changed before, the one named Nakanohara, seems to have something he wants to ask the Phantom Thief to do. He himself said that the target who needs to be changed is too influential, and if he talks about it online, it may cause problems.

"You mean Madarame's matter?"

Jiang Tianwei's mind was clear, and he immediately connected the matter to Nakanohara's hysterical exposure of Madarame in the cognitive space.

"Oh? What then? Want to meet?"

Ryuji asked with interest.

"Of course I have to meet you. But not in such a direct way."

Jiang Tianwei spoke word by word.

Now, he has found a way out!

Since everything was caused by Madarame, the best way now was to make Madarame change his mind, so that he wouldn't have to worry about Kitagawa's request for a model. It would be so chaotic, who knows if Kitagawa would also be guilty of harboring the same crime? Anyway, no matter what, the police would definitely harass him for a long time, and they wouldn't have the energy to look for him.

"Let's make a promise with him and go to the Shibuya underground mall after school tomorrow."

This kind of thing is very common in spy movies. Two people agree on some special codes and use the codes to communicate when they meet. It's very interesting.

After all, although phantom thieves are not popular now, and people haven't done anything that could land them in jail, but it's better to be safe than sorry, and if you can avoid exposing your true identity, you certainly can't do it.

Even if Nakanohara was changed and trustworthy, what about other people? What about passers-by? We still have to be careful.

----------------

The next day, Natsuhiko Nakanohara arrived at the Shibuya underground shopping mall as promised.

I randomly found a store, bought a cup of milk tea, and drew a five-pointed star on the milk tea cup with a yellow marker.

As agreed, he leaned against a square pillar, waiting for someone to talk to him.

"Are you Nakanohara. The one who wants to meet the Phantom Thief?"

A male voice came from his side.

Nakanohara immediately figured out that the sound came from the other side of the square pillar.

Just as he was about to turn around to meet the other party, he heard the other party sternly say, "Stop. Let's talk here if we have something to say."

Nakanohara was startled, then he understood the other party's intention. He leaned against the pillar and said, "I, I have someone who I hope you will change your mind. You are the one who made me change my ways, right? Please, use your power to change that person's heart!"

"Who is that person?".

"You should have heard of his name. Madarame Ichiryusai. He is a famous and popular painter now. But that's all a lie! He is a great evil man without any mercy. He adopted disciples, but refused to give them normal treatment. It was just like giving alms to beggars! But the disciples must constantly submit their inspiration and works to Madarame. They must submit their works every once in a while, otherwise they will be punished by Madarame... Speaking of this, you probably guessed it... I was once one of Madarame's disciples..."

Nakanohara sighed and smiled bitterly as he spoke, as if making fun of himself, and his tone began to become aggressive and teasing.

"I once had a dream of painting, and naively thought that I could study art with Madarame and eventually become an artist who makes a living by painting. But I was wrong. Those who couldn't produce results, those who were unwilling to be plagiarized by Madarame, and those who wanted to break away from Madarame to work on their own, were all cut off from their artistic path by Madarame. That guy has connections with many organizations in the art world. With just one word from him, we, the disciples who have left Madarame, will never be able to work in this industry... I had no choice but to take the civil service exam. I thought this would make my situation better... but I guess Madarame distorted my character. I began to worry about gains and losses, had a strong desire for control, and finally became a stalker. Thank you very much."

A male student with short blond hair spotted a product he liked nearby, walked past Nakanohara, and ran to the window.

"I know that you are not the kind of chivalrous thieves who would act just on such a small matter. Madarame has done many bad things! I have a senior brother who was dissatisfied with being plagiarized by Madarame and had no power to resist him. In the end, he had no choice but to commit suicide. Even his death was suppressed by Madarame's own power. That guy is absolutely not worthy of sympathy! If we don't deal with him quickly, I don't know how many more people will have their lives ruined by him!"

A high school girl with golden twin ponytails, carrying a lot of bags in her hands, looked around as she walked, scanning the streets aimlessly, and crossed Nakanohara with brisk steps.

"Besides, I'm not doing this for myself... Now, that person should have another disciple... He is an orphan who has been adopted by Madarame. But Madarame just uses him as a source of inspiration and a tool to make money! At that time, many disciples fled, and I asked him why he didn't flee with them... But he told me, 'If I can escape, I would also like to escape...' That child, there is no place to escape! He is still wavering between repaying Madarame's kindness in raising him and realizing his own artistic path."

A man holding a cat was walking casually. The cat was lying obediently in his arms, not moving or meowing. It was very well behaved.

"I, I'm done... But, but, that little brother, Kitagawa Yusuke, he can still be saved! He still has a bright future! Please, Phantom Thieves! Please save him no matter what!"

Nakanohara was so excited talking that he didn't care about the agreement of "not meeting". He turned around and bowed deeply to the side of the pillar.

But there was no answer from the other side.

Nakanohara looked up in surprise. There was nothing behind the pillar. It was as if there had been no one there from the beginning. There was only a bustling crowd around, and everyone was doing their own thing, with no time to observe the people around them.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 100: Night Exploration of the Art Museum

Late at night, Jiang Tianwei ran out of his low-rent apartment quietly as usual.

There was only one possibility for him to leave home alone during this period of time...that was of course to go to Madarame Ikryusai's palace.

Through Nakanohara's confession during the day, it has been confirmed that Madarame is suspected of plagiarism, indirect murder, abuse of disciples, and probably bribery.

Then, he is undoubtedly an unforgivable villain and there is no problem in taking action against him.

Fang Zexia floated beside him and asked, "Aren't you going with your friends?"

"Well, I'm just going to go ahead and explore the way. And see if I can strengthen my combat power. Of course, I know very well that I won't do such a shameful thing as running over there alone and then being defeated and captured by the enemy."

"I thought you were afraid that Kitagawa-san would force you to be a model."

Jiang Tianwei was silent. Although this little girl always appeared to be cheerful and innocent on weekdays, her intuition was unexpectedly sharp sometimes.

Indeed, about 80% of the reason why Jiang Tianwei was so anxious was because of Kitagawa.