I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

After thoroughly examining the contents of the bento box, Uesugi Tetsu's gaze towards the desolate landscape on the gacha page instantly turned fervent.

Five hundred Soul Ashes can be exchanged for a super epic quality item...

Aside from the special two-and-a-half-star salvage: The Demon King's Earthly Paradise, where else would you find such a great opportunity to snag a bargain?

Although the "specific candidate" was not specified or given any clues, it would still be worth it even if we treated it as pure poison!

As he ran his fingers over the rough, chipped edges of the bento box, Uesugi Tetsu's gaze became subtle.

The name of this new pool sounds impressive but doesn't look very appealing, yet it actually has some real substance.

How about we try one more time?

Before Uesugi Tetsuya could make a decision, his itchy hand clicked the salvage button on its own.

Snapped!

Another floating, ball-shaped object exploded, and the card-drawing animation was exactly the same as before.

But this time, the props that appeared were completely different.

[The broken large red button]

[Quality: Deteriorated]

[Effect: None]

[—A red button made of ordinary engineering plastic; pressing it will not do anything.]

Uesugi Tetsu placed the red button, which was about half the size of his palm, in his hand and examined it closely several times, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

Even though he risked pressing the button twice with all his might, until the center of the button was completely crushed, nothing happened.

Uesugi Che was speechless for a while.

Kids probably wouldn't buy this kind of toy even at a 100-yen store.

Looking at the number of soul ash that had changed again as a result, Uesugi Tetsu grinned.

What a loss.

He glanced at the remaining Soul Ash—he still had 3,400 white Soul Ash points left, and he would need them for quite some time.

It's better to stop for now and restrain your urge to draw cards.

After all, if you continue to do single draws, you might end up with six "big red buttons" in a row, resulting in a complete loss.

Even if you're going to pull, it's more cost-effective to save up for a 10-pull before going into the gacha pool.

If you ask Uesugi Tetsu, this Demon King gacha pool should be renamed the Gambling Monster gacha pool.

"You can't afford to offend."

After struggling to close the Demon King gacha pool, Uesugi Tetsu realized that there was no prompt to learn Yaegaki.

He recalled Shi Fandai's ghostly steps once more and fell into deep thought.

This footwork is indeed very difficult.

Before entering the special salvage operation, Uesugi Tetsu had only learned the basics of this step.

It's likely that the proficiency panel will only appear after he completes this first step.

this is nothing.

The footwork was already deeply imprinted in his memory; he only needed to observe and study it further to learn it.

It's just a matter of two or three portions of incense ash for soothing the soul.

After taking a few steps, he picked up his phone from next to the fruit plate and unlocked it. Uesugi Tetsuya didn't forget to clear the red dots on his LINE account as usual.

In these turbulent times, it's always good to pay more attention to and respond to other people's messages.

Skipping over a bunch of meaningless messages and emojis, Uesugi Tetsuya looked at the puppy avatar.

The message above was sent a day ago.

[Tamamo's sister!: Uesugi-kun! You were right, those two lurking in the shadows were definitely bad guys!]

[Tamamo's sister!: The operator said they aren't "little old men," but rather machines disguised as little old men.]

[Tamamo's younger sister! : Hehe, thanks to you, I've done it again!]

The message from Chisa was very simple, just a report on the progress of the matter concerning the little old man.

However, the amount of information conveyed in his words was explosive.

mechanical……?

Uesugi Tetsuya keenly grasped the keyword and immediately associated it with "Tokoyo Factory".

As Sheng Hai had said before, the owners of the eternal world factories would take advantage of the aftermath of the wave to test the real world, and this machine disguised as a harmless little ghost story might just be their advance scout.

More importantly, these scouts managed to sneak into the headquarters of the Special Affairs Department without anyone noticing—even if it was just the headquarters in Shizuoka City!

"We definitely need to be careful about this."

After immediately discussing the issue with Nanjo Aimi, Kitano Runa, Tamamo, and other personnel from the Special Affairs Department, Uesugi Tetsuya replied with an "Awesome!" and put down his phone.

Feeling the increasingly intense "qi" surging between heaven and earth, Uesugi Tetsu couldn't help but exhale.

"The Demon Guide Association, the Sengoku Daimyo, the Tokoyo Factory Owner... and perhaps there are many more forces I don't yet know about that are secretly reaching out into the mortal world."

After a simple sigh, Uesugi Tetsu's eyes did not waver in the slightest; on the contrary, they became even more resolute.

The world is experiencing frequent unrest, and a crisis may have already arrived.

But beneath the chaos lies a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that never existed before and was almost monopolized.

To seize opportunities amidst such turmoil... the only way is to move forward!

Only a power greater than anyone else's can stand firm amidst the chaos and waves.

Within the barrier of the Yagyu Dojo, which covers an area of ​​tens of thousands of square meters, most of the spiritual energy changed its flow in an instant, rushing madly towards the same point on the ground.

Like being swallowed by a whale and sucked into the sea.

Many disciples from the dojo drew their sharp swords, their eyes gleaming.

"Don't be impatient."

The aged voice of the teacher appeared in the ears of each disciple. He glanced in a certain direction and smiled with a hint of surprise: "This is normal."

……

The next day.

[You have mastered the secret technique, Eightfold Wall!]

【Yaegaki (entry 0/800)】

[Effect: Swift as lightning, ghostly as a phantom.]

Those who achieve one-eighth of the result have already distinguished themselves from the crowd.

Wow!

A sudden gust of wind arose, scattering fallen leaves across the floor.

Only the equally thin, bluish-green leaf ten meters away from Uesugi Tetsuya remained unmoved.

It might have been a fleeting moment, or it might have been Uesugi Tetsuya who was always there.

Without making a sound, Uesugi Tetsuya had already stepped on the base of the green leaf with his toes.

Bending down, I picked it up.

"Yaegaki is worthy of the word 'secret method'."

Examining the veins on the leaf, Uesugi Tetsu used his inner energy to wrap it around his finger and flicked it towards Yagyu Akira, who was not far away.

But before the leaf had flown halfway, it was pinched back down by the two fingers that had flung it out.

As always, without warning or any sign of trouble.

Uesugi Tetsu breathed a slight sigh of relief and exclaimed, "As expected, it lives up to its reputation."

He nodded toward Yagyu Akira, who had instinctively reached out but grasped nothing.

"Yagyu-kun, let's go."

"it is good."

Amidst the whistling wind, Yagyu Akira, who had also only mastered the first step of the Yaegaki technique, secretly clenched his fist.

……

After being taken to the Special Affairs Department's shuttle bus by Tamamo, Uesugi Tetsuya and his two companions arrived at a relatively deserted mountain forest in less than two hours.

Upon getting off the car, Uesugi Tetsuya immediately noticed the Special Affairs Bureau's sign hanging high above.

The surrounding trees were cleared clean, and dozens of tents were erected on the open ground. The complex aura of shikigami and barriers permeated Uesugi Tetsuya's senses.

There are many shikigami, and the types of barriers are equally numerous.

Tamamo followed behind and jumped out of the car: "This is our temporary camp for the maze walkthrough!"

Tamamo shouted towards the camp and waved.

Immediately, a female agent from the Special Affairs Department who looked slightly older than Tamamo and wore black-rimmed glasses walked over.

"Tamamo, Yagyu-kun, it's been a long time! And this is..."

The operator, who had only practiced some basic breathing techniques, looked at Uesugi Tetsuya, who showed no signs of strength, and asked with slight hesitation.

"This is the Uesugi brother who single-handedly chopped down the illegal phone booth!"

Tamamo patted Uesugi Tetsuya's back hard, but the shockwave from the circulating qi made her little hand ache.

She hissed through her teeth in pain.

"Same, and also the absolute main force in this raid on the Mumu Lian Maze!"

"Operator Uesugi!"

Upon hearing the name, the operative, whose eyes had been filled with worry, raised his voice excitedly.

She immediately turned to the side: "Please come into the camp first, meet all the operators for this mission, and then let us explain the current maze to you."

"Thank you."

Uesugi Tetsu nodded, and seeing the barrier open, he followed her into the largest tent in the camp.

As the tent opened, a dozen or so pairs of eyes, some scrutinizing and some filled with surprise, fell upon Uesugi Tetsuya, who was walking in the middle.

His gaze swept across these faces in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, he gained a general understanding of everyone's strength.

It's neither strong nor weak; it's passable, albeit barely.

Two or three main operators, and the rest are roughly the same as Tamamo, used to gather information and prepare for battle.

So, Uesugi Tetsu walked to the table, meeting their gazes, and withdrew his Jade Heart Technique and Spirit Condensation Technique, allowing his aura to fill the tent. He spoke softly.

"I am Uesugi Tetsu, an operator from the Arakawa District. From now on, I will be fully responsible for the strategy of conquering the Mumuren Maze."

After looking around, Uesugi Tetsu tapped the table with his knuckles.

"Gentlemen, do you have any objections?"

No one spoke; everyone's gazes spoke volumes.

Given the vast disparity in strength, all Special Affairs officers familiar with the basic regulations knew what to do.

Uesugi Tetsu nodded in satisfaction.

"Let's synchronize our information first."

Fifteen minutes later.

"--This is roughly all the information in the original maze."

The middle-aged man with slicked-back hair paused for a moment before continuing, "But under the influence of the impending wave, no one knows how the labyrinth of the new kind of ghost stories will change."

Uesugi Tetsu nodded: "The sooner the better to remove the maze, the better?"

The middle-aged man nodded.

"Let's do it now." Uesugi Tetsuya concealed his aura once more. "Take a headcount, then set off."