Anime Crossover: Post-Apocalyptic Survival, My Stand is the World

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Silent Otaku Sanctuary

The darkness in the subway line didn't last long.

When Su Chen punched open the emergency exit iron door that was blocked by debris, the long-awaited sunlight poured in like a torrent, dispelling the rusty and musty smell that permeated the tunnel.

"arrive."

Su Chen's voice brought the girls behind him, who were still in darkness and tension, back to reality.

They followed Su Chen out of the tunnel, which reeked of rust and mildew, and onto solid ground.

Then they saw the scene that they would never forget.

The streets are wide.

High-rise buildings line both sides.

But unlike the ruins we had passed before, stained gray with blood and death, here…

It's too clean.

It was eerily clean.

Although the huge LED billboard had long been turned off, the latest game promotional images printed on it were still brightly colored.

On Animate's iconic blue building, huge anime posters fluttered in the dead of wind, as if silently telling a story.

The shop windows along the street were spotless, and rows of brand-new packaged figurines reflected a dazzling light in the sunlight, as if the apocalypse had never come.

They stood silently, gazing at the deserted street through the thin glass, like the last guardians of this forgotten civilization.

There is no blood.

There was no wreckage.

There wasn't even a trace of the existence of any monster.

The whole world was eerily quiet, like a game scene that had been paused.

"Wow!"

Looking at the bizarre scene before her, filled with "apocalyptic aesthetics," Yui Yuigahama couldn't help but let out a small sigh.

But her gaze was quickly drawn to a lifelike "Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya" figurine in a shop window facing the street.

"Su...Su Chenjun!"

She tugged at Su Chen's sleeve, her eyes sparkling.

"This Ilya piece is so exquisite! Can I... take it home?"

"..."

Kasumigaoka Utaha listened from the side and couldn't help but rub her forehead.

She looked at Yui with the kind of gaze one would give a "single-celled organism," and coldly remarked:

"Yuigahama-san, do you really have no other words in your mind besides 'cute' and 'take home'?"

"What time is it? You're still thinking about 'collecting wives'?"

'No, you're wrong, Ms. Kasumi.'

Su Chen silently retorted in his heart.

'At times like this…'

'Collecting wives is the primary source of productivity!'

He ignored the two girls' usual bickering.

His brow had been slightly furrowed ever since he stepped into this area.

Not right.

Something is wrong.

His intuition was frantically warning him.

Something far more dangerous than ordinary monsters seems to be lurking here.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something just doesn't feel right.

"Shhh."

He suddenly made a shushing gesture.

The girls fell silent instantly, gripping their weapons tightly in tension.

At the end of the street, three humanoid monsters—no, they should be called robots—that were more solid and coordinated than ordinary Black Mud Monsters, seemingly wearing some kind of "armor," were slowly "patrolling" along a straight route in an orderly queue.

They ignored everything around them and just walked mechanically.

Even as they passed by the wreckage of the car where Su Chen and the others were hiding, they ignored these living humans!

"..."

After the three "patrolmen" disappeared around the street corner, Shiwa and Yukino both breathed a long sigh of relief.

"They...can't see us?" Yui asked softly.

"No, it's not that I can't see it."

Kasumigaoka Utaha immediately switched to her "analysis mode".

She stared sharply in the direction where the monsters had disappeared.

"I suspect they follow a fixed patrol route, similar to a game NPC. As long as we don't step into their 'alert range' or do anything 'hateful,' they won't attack us."

"No, I don't agree."

Yukino Yukinoshita immediately voiced her objection.

She approached the issue from a more rational perspective.

“From an ‘energological’ perspective, this is more like a ‘minimum energy consumption standby mode’. They are not ‘patrolling’, but are just engaging in a minimum of ‘unconscious activity’ to maintain their own existence. They don’t attack because we don’t emit any specific energy fluctuations that they can identify as ‘threats’ or ‘food’.”

"Huh, energy science? Yukinoshita, have you been reading too many science fiction novels?"

"It's better than some people treating reality like a third-rate novel they're writing."

As the two genius girls were about to engage in a fascinating "live debate" about the "behavioral logic of monster AI," Su Chen sighed inwardly with a touch of helplessness.

'I said...you two, stop arguing.'

"To me, isn't this just one of those low-sighted grunts from Metal Gear Solid?"

'As long as you don't make any noise or do anything strange in front of them, even if you crawl between their legs, they won't notice...'

Just as he thought of this, the unexpected happened.

"ah!"

Yui Yuigahama, whose attention was completely drawn to the "magical girl" figure, accidentally stepped on a "Rin Tohsaka" figure that had fallen out of the display window while backing away.

Paji.

Although the sound was not loud, it sounded incredibly crisp in the deathly silence.

In that instant, Su Chen's expression changed drastically!

At the end of the street, the three "patrolmen" who had just walked by seemed to have heard some kind of divine command.

Their movements froze instantly!

Then, the three heads slowly turned around in an extremely bizarre 180-degree posture!

They suddenly turned toward the direction of the sound, and three pairs of searchlight-like scarlet lights suddenly shone from the hollows that should have been eyes!

[Intruder Detected]

"Oops!"

Without a second thought, Su Chen flashed and instantly stood in front of Yui.

The next second, the three "patrolmen" transformed into three streaks of black lightning, attacking from three different directions at a terrifying speed far exceeding that of any previous monster!

Chapter Thirty-Seven Prohibited Matters

Three black lightning bolts struck from three different directions!

The speed is amazing!

"careful!"

Yukino and Utaha both gasped in surprise.

Yui Yuigahama was so frightened that she froze on the spot, her mind going completely blank.

however--

The man standing in front of her showed not the slightest bit of panic.

Faced with this deadly combined attack that could tear steel apart, he simply raised his right hand.

Then he casually snapped his fingers.

"TheWorld!"

Om-!

Time stands still.

The menacing pouncing posture of the three "patrolmen" was frozen in time in mid-air.

"It's really..."

Su Chen sighed helplessly.

"Not a single surprise."

A golden world appeared behind him.

"Euler Euler" was not used.

He simply punched each of the three stationary targets.

Boom!Boom!Boom!

Three muffled sounds.

"Time begins to flow."

Time to restore.

Those three "patrolmen" who were just moments ago so aggressive didn't even know how they died.

Their bodies exploded in mid-air!

It turned into three wisps of black ash that drifted away in the wind.

Instant kill.

It was another instant kill, no doubt about it.

"..."

The entire street returned to its deathly silence.

"me…"

Yui Yuigahama looked at the clean and efficient scene before her, and then at the shattered "Rin Tohsaka" figure at her feet, her face filled with lingering fear and self-blame.

"I'm sorry, Su Chenjun! It's all my fault..."

"No, it's not your fault."

Su Chen shook his head, interrupting her.

"Quite the opposite."

A smile appeared on his face that was somewhat incomprehensible to everyone, a smile brimming with "golden spirit."

"You've successfully verified a very interesting hypothesis for me."

"Eh?"