One-way traffic

In public, Rick had resigned from his position as the leader of the settlement, thus becoming like a dead man.

The other 170-plus ghosts were in the same situation.

As the successor, his sister—a girl known as Kron—was chosen to take over.

Up until now, it has always been the girl herself who has handled all sorts of matters for the settlement.

Where did Shubi go?

"I told her to go and make some preparations, and then we'll head out to set up the 'traffic control'."

There are no other ghosts in the secret room now, only Rick and Kron.

He picked up the water on the table, which had been cooled for who knows how long, and took a small sip.

"Ah...that feels so good."

"Oh my! My little brother looks so happy. This is such a rare sight."

"It's nothing. If I had to say what I'm happy about, I've been maintaining this state for the past few days."

Even so, this relaxed state is only displayed when Kron and Shubi appear.

When facing the other ghosts, he remained the leader of the ghosts who controlled and calculated everything.

"So... what exactly made you so happy? Is it because you've almost finished gathering intelligence?"

"Almost... right..."

Rick gulped down the water in his glass and couldn't help but make a face.

That was an uncontrollable smile.

"Using the word 'almost' to describe it is a bit outdated."

Kron paused, puzzled.

Then, Rick unfolded the map, which was located in the very center of the stone table, completely.

Above that is a red area marked with countless punctuation marks.

"Didn't I just mention that I'm going to set off with Huggies to set up the 'traffic control' system?"

Rick looked at the designated area on the map, his smile growing wider.

"All thirty-two zones, these most reasonable coordinates and the weaponry data of each race."

"I've got them all!"

Huh...? Huh—?!

Kron was so surprised because he had been visiting Rick all these days.

To achieve "traffic control" over the shift in power during the final battle, it is necessary to clearly define the weapon power of the major races and convert it into data. After determining how many "traffic controls" are needed, it is also necessary to further confirm where these devices should be placed.

A series of events have been giving Rick a major headache these past few days, because the alliance between the forest elves and goblins has begun to clash with the Skywing race to the maximum extent.

When exactly did he finish collecting this intelligence?

Or rather—how exactly did they obtain this intelligence?

——————————————————————————————————————————

"what?"

I have been living in this world for almost a week now.

Hatsune Miku and Accelerator have always lived in this cave-like area, using the modified goblin spaceship wreckage inside as their base.

There's no need to worry about any races detecting their information, because—after deliberately manipulating and concealing the surrounding spiritual energy, those monsters simply don't dare to approach this place at all.

As usual, the girl was using prepared knives and utensils to cut vegetables and cook in the slightly modified small kitchen.

She discovered something.

"This was... found by one side?"

On a polished wooden table, several stacked items resembling paper documents caught her attention.

The text above is obviously incomprehensible.

However—among them were Japanese names marked in notes.

"Void Zero Protection... Marrow Explosion... What are these?"

Although she couldn't understand the specific content of the text, she could still make out some things that looked like paper.

Even so, it is still impossible to analyze what these things actually are.

"Hey."

"—Waaaaaah!!"

The sudden sound startled her.

Hatsune Miku nearly threw the knife in her hand—no, to be precise, she actually threw it.

Then, the figure that rushed to the front caught it with its hand.

"...What exactly are you doing?"

Accelerator looked at her with an expression that suggested he didn't know what to say.

Meanwhile, he put the blade of his knife back on the table not far away and tidied up the documents that Hatsune Miku had opened.

"Oh my god, you scared me to death... When did you get back?"

"Just now, by the way, these things..."

wow-

With that movement, he threw another large stack of documents directly onto the table.

"There's no need for you to read it, because I was going to tell you verbally anyway, so whether you understand these words or not is irrelevant."

"What? What? What are these things?!"

The girl quickly waved and ran to his side.

Faced with the enthusiastic Hatsune Miku, Accelerator didn't intend to keep them in suspense.

"It took me a full week to figure out the specifics of these guys."

"what?"

"However, the initial reason for exploring these things was not for my own eyes... but for other guys to see."

Other... guys?

"Are there anyone else besides us who needs these documents?"

"Yes, and it's something those guys desperately need."

Accelerator simply stacked all the documents together, neatly arranged.

"...However, since meeting them directly would be too inconvenient, I decided to be more straightforward and directly altered their memories. While transferring these things over, I also forcibly changed their thought processes to those of people who had never seen me before."

——————————————————————————————————————————

"You mean... in just one week, everyone has already found so much information?"

"It's not just about finding them, it's about collecting everything, according to the ideal plan."

A week or so was something that would normally be almost impossible for them to change.

But the opposite is true.

According to the descriptions of the ghosts who were in charge of each investigation, the forest elves seemed to have left behind many facilities, and in those facilities, they actually stored some of the information they needed.

Meanwhile, the goblin race was engaged in battle with another race. Under these circumstances, almost all of their forces were dragged out. In fact, after the battle, the goblin forces and the other races' forces were both severely damaged, and ultimately, not a single one of them survived.

At this opportune moment, after confirming that all the goblins and other races were lifeless, the ghosts seized the opportunity to obtain the key to the facility from the goblins, as well as various paper resources left on them.

In just about a week, they searched everywhere and obtained new intelligence.

Finally, all the weaponry data that Shubi needed—for the conflict between the various factions during the final battle—had been collected.

"this…"

“I know it feels like a dream, but we…we have certainly paid a heavy price.”

The price to pay could be being forced to drink poison to lure the enemy, eating the flesh of a dead body to deceive the demons, or even deliberately allowing vampires to drink your blood, leaving you with lasting health problems so you can lure them in and obtain the information you need.

But think about it carefully.

This all happened within almost a week.

Originally, this was something that seemed almost impossible to accomplish, but in just one week, it really was done.

However, Rick still wouldn't allow himself to be happy about it.

Because it was he himself who ordered these people to mutilate their own bodies in order to lure the other race into giving him information.

"...Although I paid a heavy price to kick the final kick and completely unite the Forest Elf Alliance and the Goblin Alliance, it is still nothing compared to everyone else."

Everyone paid a bloody price.

And by putting in the effort, you will reap the rewards.

Now, it is estimated that it will happen within today—

With Rick and Schwi together, they can completely complete the resettlement work for the thirty-two "traffic control" zones.

This was something I wouldn't have dared to even imagine a week ago.

"That is to say."

After explaining the entire plan to Kron, Rick looked at the chess pieces on the board again.

It was a black king.

And what this king represents is the planet itself.

"We are about to mark the end of this game."

pat.

And so he clapped his hands together, as if he were truly declaring victory.

Meanwhile, Kron, standing to the side, was completely dumbfounded by the scene.

Because that means—

The wars in this world, the endless wars, will truly be brought to a complete end through the hands of my own younger brother and sister.

"Haha! I can't wait any longer!"

Rick forced a strong smile, imagining the moment he would actually win the Star Cup.

"No one will die in this war, and we will win because of it."

He smiled, a smile that was slightly dangerous, even ferocious.

"At that time, I really want to say to these gods—'Hey, how are you feeling right now?'"

but.

Kron knew very well that there was something wrong with Rick in front of her.

"what…"

She always knew that.

So far, who has borne so much of a burden?

"Ah..."

To date, they have been burdened with all sorts of responsibilities, while simultaneously ensuring that the death toll in the settlement is kept to a minimum, and now they even have to ensure that no one dies at all.

His own younger brother was probably already at his breaking point and could collapse at any moment.

But he persevered, in front of everyone, in front of Shubi—

In front of oneself.

“Rick…!!”

Kron opened her arms and hugged Rick tightly.