Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

Rather, they did not want to become mere slaves to power.

Moreover, the best way to maximize one's strength is not in reality, but in the game.

This is especially important.

The reward for a perfect ending might even be greater than the gains from sending all the villains in Tokyo away.

So you still need to keep a steady mindset, otherwise if you fall behind in the game, you'll be at the mercy of other players.

Iwasaki looked at the dozens of surviving guests huddled in the corner. They were trembling with fear. Even though Iwasaki's face was completely black and his eyes were indistinguishable, they still screamed when his head was pointed at them.

But his mouth was quickly covered by those around him who still had some sense, and he could only make muffled noises.

A quick glance revealed that a considerable number of these people were sinful souls.

Just as he was about to clean it up, a roar of a tiger suddenly came from behind him. Immediately afterwards, a white tiger with fangs like a saber-toothed tiger and a strong body leaped more than ten meters from the window and pounced on him.

"Roar!"

The white tiger slammed its fist into the ground, but unsurprisingly missed its target. An invisible black mist swept past between its claws, leaving it unharmed.

After Iwasaki reformed, he didn't attack the White Tiger. Instead, he immediately grabbed a truck and smashed it heavily towards the French windows.

Bang!

Just as Nobita arrived, transformed into the Red Scarf Knight, he was almost left with low health. With a roll, he barely grazed the falling truck, and then leaped to create some distance.

Nobi stared at Iwasaki warily.

This guy's perception is too strong. It was the same yesterday. He could be found even through a roof. Now it's even more outrageous. He tried to use his righteous allies to attract attention, but his location was still quickly detected.

The truck gave chase, sweeping across Nobi who had just managed to create some distance.

He rolled awkwardly on the ground, panting heavily.

He was initially worried that Iwasaki would handle those people discreetly, just like yesterday, making it difficult for him to detect any movement.

But to everyone's surprise, the other side suddenly stepped into the limelight today without any restraint, causing a commotion that affected half of Bunkyo Ward and was still spreading outwards, with a large number of combat troops surrounding them.

Alright, now I don't need to worry about not being able to find him anymore, I only need to worry about my own safety.

If it were just the ability his opponent displayed during yesterday's brief encounter, he thought he could handle it. But now, the force with which the opponent was swinging the truck like a stick was beyond his ability to deal with.

Even with my invincibility buff, I can probably only withstand three hits.

His only advantage might be that he can see the health bar of the invisible hand that the opponent is manipulating, allowing him to avoid it in advance.

"If you leave now, we may still have the possibility of cooperating in the future."

Iwasaki floated in mid-air, grabbing three trucks behind him in mid-air, blocking out the lights and casting shadows over the knights on the ground.

Nobita mounted the long-toothed white tiger, keeping a close eye on the truck that could crash down at any moment.

"Abusing power will only lead to being devoured by that power. Don't you understand such a simple truth? Wake up! I won't stop you from killing those who deserve to be killed, but look at what you're doing right now! How are you any different from a monster?"

Iwasaki didn't want to answer such a boring question.

From this moment on, Nobita no longer saw any value in him for cooperation, and he wouldn't waste his breath on such a person.

The only unspoken understanding the two can maintain now is that they won't call each other by their game nicknames in public.

Three trucks crashed down on Nobita, but the white tiger beneath him quickly dodged. After a violent tremor, the building was smashed through, and the trucks exploded, instantly igniting a large amount of flammable material.

Amidst the smoke and fire, Nobi aimed at the health bar of the invisible hand approaching the ground, leaped from the back of the White Tiger, and delivered a thrust.

brush.

Nobi could clearly sense that this hand was on a completely different level from the one he had encountered yesterday.

But perhaps due to a lack of self-control, he could still see his health bar visibly drop.

However, this had no effect on Iwasaki, so he manipulated the other two mage hands to approach and try to restrain Nobi.

"Hooo!"

Taking advantage of the moment when no one was watching, the White Tiger gathered its strength and unleashed two crescent-shaped beams of light that struck Iwasaki. Instantly, black mist churned, and Iwasaki felt a sharp pain.

This attack actually damaged him. Is this a magical attack?

The temporary strength he had drawn up was about to expire, and he had to reserve some time to prevent further unforeseen events.

So he ignored Nobita and Byakko, transformed into a cloud of black mist, and left through the window.

At this time, the entire Chunshan Manor, both on the ground and in the air, was under official control, and a large number of weapons were prepared for the black mist that Iwasaki had transformed into.

"It's already within firing range."

"Fire or not?"

The on-site commander hesitated and found it difficult to make a decision, preparing to issue a warning through the loudspeaker first and then see how things went.

But soon he wouldn't have to worry about that anymore.

Without a word or any intention to communicate, the black mist engulfed the helicopter.

In an instant, the crew lost all sight, the helicopter sounded an alarm, sparks flew from the instruments, it stalled and crashed into the courtyard with a loud bang, turning into a fireball.

Seeing that the black fog was about to attack other helicopters, the on-site commander, whose eyes were wide open, finally couldn't stand it anymore.

If there was even a sliver of possibility for communication before, now this is nothing short of blatant provocation!

"Authorize fire! Take care of this monster!"

The roar of artillery fire rang out, but most of it could only pass through the black mist without causing any damage.

Only a small amount of the aftershocks from the mid-air explosion were worth Iwasaki avoiding.

The helicopters hovering in the air were not equipped with flamethrowers, and they were powerless against Iwasaki, who was like a fog. Their only advantage was their speed, but they were not much faster than Iwasaki, who had exhausted his strength. Soon, one after another, they fell from the sky.

The scene was so heartbreaking that the commander couldn't breathe.

"Retreat! Helicopter formation, retreat! Charge with swarms of suicide drones!"

Seeing the helicopter begin to flee, Iwasaki no longer lingered, soaring into the clouds and quickly disappearing from the monitoring range of all equipment.

The arriving drones attempted to penetrate the clouds, but finding Iwasaki in the darkness was virtually impossible.

Nobita and Byakko stood on the edge of the window, looking at the dense drones in the sky, as well as another group of drones slowly approaching them. They glanced back at the survivors who were hugging each other and crying, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Is this all there is to a choice you won't regret?

He did not regret interrupting Iwasaki's attack on these people, but he could not stay in Tokyo indefinitely just to snipe Iwasaki.

Moreover, the power disparity between the two sides is too great now. If it weren't for the fact that the "ally of justice" he summoned today had magical attack capabilities, he would probably have suffered heavy losses and had to retreat halfway.

Therefore, the best approach is to strengthen our capabilities as quickly as possible, both in the game and in reality, so that we have the resources to fight against them.

Or is it that you know some of these people?

However, this place is so high-end that it's completely out of place with his original social circle.

Gathering his thoughts, he quietly activated the cards in his hand.

"Knight! Please wait!"

"I am Defense Minister Shigeru Kihara, and I hope to have the opportunity to speak with you—"

Before the drone could finish its message, the knight, just like he had been at Hibiya Station that day, transformed into strands of light and drifted into the sky, disappearing without a trace.

The white tiger beside him was too lazy to raise its head, lying on the ground, its body flickering a few times like a holographic projection before fading out of reality.

Among the survivors, Principal Asano, hiding at the very back of the crowd, struggled to his feet, his face streaked with tears.

"I survived, I'm alive, sob sob sob."

He never wants to attend any more of those damn banquets again.

Last time, after attending a banquet, a murder occurred at the school. This time it's even more outrageous; before the event even officially started, a massacre happened, and I almost lost my life there.

"Phew, thank goodness I didn't bring Xun along. Thank goodness." Asano kept wiping away sweat, clutching his wildly beating heart, savoring the fresh feeling of surviving a disaster.

But his weak legs almost gave way, and after taking only a few steps, he started to tremble and nearly fell to one side.

A woman dressed as a waitress managed to support him.

"Th-thank you." Principal Asano forced a smile and thanked the waiter.

The waitress shook her head, let go of his hand, and looked at the bloody and chaotic scene. Her blood-stained face was somewhat bewildered, and it was unclear what she was thinking.

"Is this good or bad, Xiaoya? Who else knows anything about you now? If this continues, I'll have no choice but to go find your brother."

She sighed softly, in a voice only she could hear.

Having left the battlefield, Iwasaki endured his growing fatigue and made his way to a hospital.

His sister's body is currently being stored in the morgue here.

In the same area as those corpses that have been left unclaimed for decades, there is almost no one to disturb them except for the annual inventory.

Although his ability is called Soul Sorcerer, he currently has no way to manipulate souls and can only sense the souls of living people.

He also experimented by killing villains of similar severity and then offering sacrifices at half an hour, an hour, and three hours later.

The experimental results showed that the benefits gained from sacrifices decreased over time.

However, they are few, not none.

This gave him pause for thought.

The soul slowly dissipates from the corpse over time.

Does that mean that a wisp of the younger sister's soul still remains in her body?

He knew that such hope was slim, and that it would probably take a long time and a lot of effort to find out.

But these are the two things he has plenty of now.

He didn't expect to be able to bring his sister back to life; he just wanted to tell her...

Your brother avenged you and our family.

Thank you to "乘风去万里" for the 500-coin donation!

If nothing unexpected happens, I should update once for lunch, once for dinner, and once for midnight snack. If I get writer's block, there might not be any midnight snacks _(:ι」∠)_ I really want to get that badge for 30 consecutive days of 10,000 words a day, but I feel like the chances are slim.

Chapter 133: The Official Departure

A little earlier.

"Hey?"

"Birthday banquet? I'm not going."

"Okay, I'll take care of dinner myself."

Inside the Don Quijote store, Asano Hiroshi hung up the phone, paid for his newly bought hiking backpack, and was stopped as he walked out of the store to go home.

“We are police officers from the Metropolitan Police Department. This is my identification.” Tatsumi Taira showed his identification to Asano, then pointed to the cafe next door. “We have some questions about Nobita’s disappearance and hope to get some information from you.”

To facilitate investigators' operations, the Emergency Response Department provides several convenient forms of identification, such as those for Metropolitan Police Department officers, Self-Defense Force officers, and government employees.

Asano looked at the upright man in front of him, and then at his unkempt companion beside him.

"Yes, but I have the right to remain silent when it comes to the self-proving trap."

Kurosaki, standing next to him, raised an eyebrow. "Kids these days know so much."

Unfortunately, the right to remain silent is ineffective in the face of public safety emergencies.

All cases investigated by this newly established department are classified as emergencies.

Citizens must cooperate and provide answers.

“Okay.” Ping Shenglong nodded without denying it, since his current identity was only that of a police officer investigating the missing persons case.

He didn't want to summon Asano for questioning through the school or the education committee, as that would give the other party some time to prepare. So he conducted surprise questioning of people in Nobi's social circle.

On the day Nobi ran away, the head of the investigation department was swiftly dismissed for "authoritarianism and autocracy".

As predicted by Heisei Ryū, the position of minister will be temporarily held by Defense Minister Shigeru Kihara.

The only other noteworthy development is the appointment of an additional executive minister.

He was an Amis man who spoke fluent Japanese. No, he had become a Japanese citizen two days prior, so strictly speaking, he was also Japanese.

His name is Hasegawa Leon.