I planted a sacred tree in Tokyo.

Chapter 498 Conspiring to Defeat 'Heaven'

"They're out,"

Heian-kyo, a room belonging to a military base of the island nation's government.

From within the pitch-black vortex, Yura, transformed into a 'mature and aloof Grand Onmyoji,' emerged. Her white Onmyoji robes were stained with smoke and fire, clearly indicating that she had also endured a fierce battle.

"Not even Lady Yuluo?"

The group of army officers and special police officers waiting nearby could not hide their disappointment.

Initially, they were very excited after discovering that this demiplane could be used to "become gods," especially after the successful case of Mayi.

Because these people are all stuck at the Tiger level—that's right, no matter how much they train or fight, their progress has become very slow, and some have even suffered injuries and regressed: reality is not a game, and you can't level up just by constantly fighting monsters.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Tiger level is the ceiling of their talent.

Therefore, the 'deification' of the demiplane is extremely attractive to the mid-to-high-level combat forces of these army units and the Metropolitan Police Department.

On the one hand, with greater strength, they can better protect others; on the other hand, they may also have the idea of ​​taking the opportunity to advance further, after all, that is a 'god'!

The God of Calamity is also a god.

Even without mentioning the special abilities of 'gods',

Even with demon-level strength, one could be a guest of honor in any major power.

"no,"

After dissolving her combined form and reverting to her middle school student appearance, Yura Hanakain shook her head.

"Those 'gods' had no intention of communicating at all; they only cared about shouting and killing. And there were so many of them, they were throwing away their spiritual energy like it was free."

Even Yura, who is also skilled in wide-range attacks, was forced out.

"Can't those guys just sit down and talk?"

Kafka Lu couldn't help but frown. Judging from the information gathered by the ordinary agents they sent out, it was very easy to 'become a god' in that world.

Virtual idols, or even trending cats, can become 'gods'. Although such gods don't last long and are forgotten by their followers, the gods themselves seem completely indifferent and let things take their course.

Why doesn't it work for them?
They don't want to invade that world; they just want to use its characteristics to increase their strength.
"Speaking of this,"

Yuluo raised her hand and pulled a paper figure from her sleeve.

“I encountered an ‘interloper’ during the battle,”

"Perhaps she can answer our questions."

As Yura threw the paper doll, a burst of smoke rose up, transforming it into a short-haired girl wearing a white kimono.

No, this is not an ordinary kimono; her lapels are the opposite of a normal kimono, and she is wearing a triangular 'tenkan' on her head. This outfit is: mourning attire!

"Nice to meet you all from the main world."

The obedient young girl bowed gracefully, revealing the dense text covering her neck.

"Artifact?"

Kafka raised an eyebrow.
The 'gods' of this demiplane all fight using 'divine artifacts,' and the human souls and bodies of these 'divine artifacts' are all inscribed with 'pseudonyms' bestowed by the gods. To facilitate summoning the artifacts in battle, these 'pseudonyms' are all single characters.

“You can call me 'Nora',”

The girl unabashedly rolled up her sleeves, revealing her arms, which were also covered with dense writing.

?

"As you can see, the divine artifact with a 'plural' name is 'Nora'."

"Homeless?"

Kafka Lu Jiang seemed to be deep in thought.
In Japanese, "Nora" means wandering or having no fixed abode.

A divine artifact that should have belonged to a certain deity has been given numerous false names—such an existence—

"why?"

Shouldn't the gods cherish their divine artifacts?
In response to Kafka's question, the girl smiled sweetly and answered.

Even the most radiant 'gods' have private matters that cannot be brought to light.

At this time, they will use 'Nora' to fight; they will discard it after use, because of the characteristics of 'Nora', there is no need to worry about being 'stabbed' by the divine weapon.

simply put,
They are 'mercenaries' in the world of gods.

And that is why each name represents:

"I know a lot about the fighting methods and secrets of the 'gods'."

The girl, who called herself "Nora," spoke eloquently to a group of Tiger-level superhumans and two Ghost-level experts.

"Let us unite and together attack the 'Heaven' located in 'Takamagahara'."

? !
Is there really such a good thing?

Many army officers and special police officers had their eyes gleaming.

Knowing the methods and weaknesses of those 'gods' allows one to make targeted arrangements.

The importance of intelligence is invaluable in any era; it is even more so in extraordinary times!

"So, what do you want?"

Kafka Lu will remain unmoved and get straight to the heart of the matter.

The other party ran to the battlefield between Yura and the 'gods', risking great danger to be brought out by Yura, and delivered valuable information to everyone—if they asked for nothing in return, it would be an insult!

"Of course: the future of humanity."

The girl shrugged and gave a slightly mocking reply.

Are you all satisfied with this answer?

lie!

Even Yu Luo, who was still in middle school, could tell that the other party was being perfunctory.

But—what does it matter?

At least for now, they have a common 'enemy'.

The 'gods' who rule that demiplane!

that's enough.

Meanwhile, in the demiplane.

"Has the 'Chi' already made contact with those outsiders?"

In a modern city school, a boy with delicate features, who looks like a third-year high school student, slung a backpack over his shoulder and looks up at the sky.

"What's wrong, Haoren?"

The classmate next to him turned to look at the boy who was muttering to himself.

"nothing."

The handsome young man answered casually, then immediately brought up a new topic:
"If the world were to end, what would you want to do?"

"what?"

"What kind of apocalypse?"

The classmate looked surprised; everyone subconsciously overlooks the many 'inconsistencies' in this world.

But the perception of certain things remains exactly the same: rather, someone was lazy and directly used a large number of 'modern souls' to create a demiplane, which is no different from the real world.

and so:
"Zombie crisis? Alien invasion? Extreme cold storm?"

"Well, who knows~~"

The handsome high school student, nicknamed "Hiroto" by his classmates, strode forward. Behind him, at a level unseen by ordinary people—

A dense swarm of 'demons' followed closely behind, including humanoids, wild beasts, peacocks, and dragons, all with sharp fangs and fierce expressions. The only thing they had in common was that they all wore eyeball masks on their heads!
"Perhaps it is the fall of a god, returning to the underworld?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Tokyo, Third School District.

In the underground laboratory, one after another, 'Poison Island' organisms emerged from their culture chambers. After being programmed with 'memories' by Inspector Kiyama, they began to move to various areas in response to prompts. "This is fantastic!"

A doctor in a white coat typed on a keyboard while expressing his admiration.

"With so many experimental materials, even using the 'exhaustive search method' can create miracles."

But they are human beings.

The doctor in the white coat who had just been transferred over looked at the convulsing image on the screen with a pained expression.

"No, no, no, they can't be considered human."

The person in the white coat who was ranked first immediately retorted.

"They are clones, their bodies emerging from incubation chambers, their minds filled with fabricated memories—essentially lab rats."

This statement is not meant to be derogatory; it is simply stating a fact: once the 'shackles' of morality are removed, what difference is there between what science can do and 'magic' or 'extraordinary' things from hundreds of years ago?
Whether clones are considered human is a question that many science fiction works like to explore.

But for the researchers conducting this experiment, they were just lab rats.

How can such a being be considered human?
"But--"

Turning his head away from the struggling scene on the screen, the second person in the white coat couldn't be so 'rational' and felt a little regretful.

Unfortunately, once he stepped into this laboratory, he had no way out.

A government conscription order is not something an ordinary person can refuse.

"Let me tell you something funny,"

The first person in the white coat spun around in his office chair and chatted with his colleagues.

“There was an unlucky guy in Group 3 who applied to withdraw because he couldn’t handle the pressure.”

While casually jotting down experimental data, the person in the white coat continued speaking.

"According to the procedures—"

"Erase his memory and let him go."

"As a result, he was brought back to work by the government the next day because he had no memory of it."

Ah this
Hearing the government act so shamelessly,
The second person in the white coat was completely numb.

Under the dual control of government power and extraordinary authority, these people found it difficult not only to resist but even to resign. Each of them, outside the government, would be an elite with published papers; here, they were merely ordinary researchers.

"Don't overthink it,"

The person in the white coat who was first comforting the other person might also be comforting themselves.

"What can ordinary people like us change?"

"I just hope this experiment will produce results soon, so that this part of my memory can be erased, and I can move to the vicinity of the Sacred Tree District with a generous reward."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at the screen.

"No vital signs?"

He pressed the communication button familiarly and leaned forward in front of the microphone.

"Poison Island No. 04562 failed to advance to the Extraordinary Realm. Please have the logistics personnel handle this."

When all the 'Poison Island' was first created, they were just ordinary people.

However, they were originally cells from Poison Island, a former "Tiger" level superhuman, and were born with the potential to become superhumans.

So the island nation's government took a different approach: first, it extracted the diluted "superhuman serum" from a large number of clones, turning several "poison islands" into superhumans; then, it extracted the serum from these superhuman poison island clones and injected it into newly "produced" poison island clones, making them superhuman as well.
This "first extraordinary, then extraordinary" approach...

Although the success rate of using the 'Poison Island Legion', which has been passed down through generations, is only 30%, the island nation's government is already quite satisfied.

After all, they are just 'clones'. Being able to mass-produce superhumans is already a terrifying achievement!

Even if these 'poison islands' are just weak dogs.

"Even if someone is born with extraordinary abilities, the power of technology should not be underestimated."

On the screen, several logistics staff were cleaning up the failed products; upon hearing the white-coated staff member's lament, another colleague couldn't help but shake his head.

"For them, coming into this world is by no means lucky."

As is widely known, spiritual power is composed of the power of the body and the mind.

These 'poison island' clones are in good physical condition; with various medications, reaching the required standard is not a problem.

But what kind of spiritual power can a clone, whose memories are all false, possibly possess after just leaving the incubation chamber?

This is why the losses are so high: since the price has already been driven down, we can go straight to large-scale production. It doesn't matter if the probability is low; we can make up for it with sufficient quantity.

These Poison Island clones, who become superhumans, spend their days undergoing extreme training, squeezing out every last bit of potential to transform into even stronger spiritual power. Finally—as the source of the bloodline fusion potion—their power is contributed to Experiment 00001, to help them attempt to break through to the Eye of God!

just,

Can the 'eye of God' created in this way really be used by the government?

"What a powerful evil spirit!"

In a modern city, on a street engulfed in flames, a "Poison Island" man, wielding a long sword, is on high alert, wary of the enemy before him.

Her opponent was an Onmyoji who floated in the air, was less than 1.4 meters tall, had his face covered by a white cloth, and had the character 'three' written on it.

Bloodstained Hakama!
As this 'Onmyoji' raised his hand and pointed,
The surging flames coalesced into the shape of a dragon, roaring and baring its fangs as it descended.

Dodge to the left—

Faced with this attack, 'Bukushima', wielding a long sword, immediately darted to the side to dodge; however, as the 'Onmyoji' in the sky flicked his fingers, two more fiery dragons roared out and pounced down from both sides at the same time.

boom! ! !
The explosion submerged the 'poison island'.

"The trial is over."

With a deep, resonant sound, the flames vanished, the streets disappeared, and even the 'blood-stained hakama' in the sky disappeared as if a picture had been erased by an eraser.

"I have suffered a defeat in the battle, and I beg the master for punishment."

'Bukushima' knelt on one knee and bowed to 'Master Hyakuchi', who was wearing a straw hat.

"It's alright, Ninja Disciple."

"This beast is called 'Blood Hakama,' and it is one of the tails of the Nine-Tailed Fox 'Tamamo-no-Mae.'"

"With your current strength, you are not yet capable of dealing with such a powerful demon."

This is a dream.
The person who created the dream is quite obvious: Inspector Kiyama.

She not only played the role of 'Master Hyakuchi', guiding 'Bukushima 00001' to withstand experiments that constantly tested the limits; she also used her dream abilities to secretly give 'Bukushima 00001' special training.

"Remember, this is the 'testing ground,' do not let your mind limit your limits."

"My mind is Zen, and all things merge in harmony; only then can I achieve supreme forbearance!"

This is not nonsense. The ninjas of the island nation are deeply influenced by Buddhism, and the nine-syllable mantra they believe in is the same as that of the esoteric sect: Lin, Bing, Dou, Zhe, Jie, Zhen, Lie, Qian, Xing.

"Yes, Master Momochi!"

Poison Island 00001 nodded in acceptance and then reported:

“Every time I leave the ‘Trial Grounds,’ I feel my spiritual energy is abundant. Even evil spirits like ‘Blood Hakama’ will one day be slain!”

"That's good,"

Master Hyakuchi, wearing a straw hat, nodded slightly.
The essence of spiritual power is the combination of physical and mental strength. After each fierce battle in her dream world, Poison Island 00001's mental power is stimulated and grows. This mental power then transforms into spiritual power, continuously enhancing her strength.

but:

"Remember not to reveal your strength."

"Disguise and stealth are also essential skills for ninjas."

If the rate at which Dokdo 00001 becomes stronger exceeds the researchers' expectations, then they will definitely increase the intensity of the experiment!
This is not what Master Hyakuchi wants to see. With Hina Hongo around, any resistance by force is doomed to fail.

"Be patient, wait, until a turning point appears—"

"Yes, Master!"

Even so, even Master Hyakuchi himself didn't know whether the so-called "turning point" actually existed.

(End of this chapter)