I planted a sacred tree in Tokyo.

Chapter 538 Desecrating the Stone Tablet
"I really am Luigi Nicolas Mange."

Outside the building, the refined young man with black curly hair reiterated his point, which, combined with the eerie shadows baring their fangs and claws beside him, and several handguns twisted into scrap metal, made him particularly 'convincing'.

"Yes, sir."

"I have always firmly believed that you are Luigi—"

The prisoners, standing at attention, nodded politely in response: God is our witness, even if the other party claimed to be Luigi, or even if he claimed to be a chosen saint, none of the prisoners would utter a word of objection.

"you."

Luigi is a true academic genius.

Moreover, they often volunteer at charitable nursing homes, so how can you not see how perfunctory the prisoners are?
However, the question of how to prove 'I am who I am' has baffled many great philosophers throughout history; for the time being, he could not convince these prisoners.

"Okay, let's leave here first."

Since there's no way to explain it, then let's just not explain it at all.

Luigi planned to send these prisoners out first. Although they had all committed crimes, sending them here as cannon fodder had absolutely nothing to do with 'justice'.

“I want you to promise that you will not do evil after you leave here; think about why we were able to get out of here, it was because we helped each other.”

?

Can I leave?!

Upon hearing this, the prisoners' eyes lit up; they didn't want to stay in this godforsaken place for even a second longer.

With their limited resources, it was impossible for them to safely leave this crisis-ridden city; if this 'Luigi' were willing to offer help, that would be another matter entirely.

The young man before them, who seemed perfectly normal, was able to control shadow monsters and possessed the power to easily tear steel apart.
Having him as a bodyguard would be ideal.

"no problem!"

“Of course, Mr. Luigi!”

The prisoners were overjoyed. This 'strange' Luigi, although no longer 'human,' seemed to retain his original senses.

This made the prisoners happy, but they couldn't help but exclaim: Luigi is a man of great character.

Sadly, such a good person turned into a monster.
Yawei is blind!
"Let's go,"

Luigi found the 'compassion' on the prisoner's face somewhat amusing, but in truth, he also understood that he was no longer purely 'human'.

Led by Luigi, the group continued their journey, but this time, they headed outwards, not inwards.

They're leaving the city!

Anyway, Luigi has already destroyed the remote control chip of the 'Explorer IV' power armor, so they can be considered 'free' now. The only problem now is to leave the city quietly and hopefully avoid too many accidents.

Unfortunately, in this city, such expectations are destined to be dashed.

They hadn't gone far when, at a corner, the team unexpectedly encountered a group of enemies.

Approaching us was a group of lead-green monsters; they walked upright, had human limbs, but their fingers and toes were webbed, and their bodies were covered with dense scales. The most striking feature was their enormous fish heads.

With its protruding eyes and sharp teeth, it's clearly a carnivorous creature.

"Mura ga ga?"

"Oh wow wow hehe oh?!"

The prisoners, who had suddenly encountered monsters around the corner, were taken aback. Even the fish-headed monsters let out a human-like gasp of surprise.

"It's a Deep One!"

One of the prisoners instinctively shouted out, "What else could this fish-headed monster that has appeared in the city be but a 'Deep Diver'?"
The next second, the tallest and most muscular Deep One, presumably the 'leader,' raised his hand and pointed.

“Mulola glola hoga halo!”

Clearly, these monsters not only possess 'intelligence', but also have their own 'language'.

As soon as the 'leader' gave the order, several 'Deep Divers' rushed over.

Agile, with sharp teeth and claws, and covered in scales, these charging deep-sea creatures have completely surpassed the limits of ordinary creatures: the strength of a bear, the speed of a leopard, the hearing of a wolf, and the eyesight of an eagle.
"Taylor, to the left!"

Seeing the enemy charging menacingly towards him, Luigi's expression turned serious. He commanded the shadowy figure born from 'Taylor's' corpse to rush towards the Deep One on the left.

Luigi, on the other hand, faced the Deep One on his right.

Bang! !

Slide forward,

A kick aimed at the Deep One's knee caused him to stumble.

While simultaneously bracing his arms and dodging the opponent's claws, Luigi unleashed a flurry of punches: left and right hooks followed one after another, slamming into the Deep One's large eyeballs.

The leg techniques are based on the street fighting style of 'sawat', the punches are based on classical 'English boxing', and the combined fighting techniques are:
It's called 'Barton Technique'!
As a third-generation rich kid, Luigi learned this kind of 'gentleman's fighting style'.

If he hadn't been missing his cane, he would have already grabbed his weapon and smashed the other man's head—no, his fish head.

On the other side, the shadowy 'Taylor' was much more direct. He withstood the attacks from the opponent's henchmen and raised his hand to deliver a 'Black Tiger Heart Strike'!
As the tentacles were withdrawn, the Deep One, whose scales were completely undamaged and which had been fiercely tearing at the shadow 'Taylor', paused, as if—no, as if its heart had been stolen—and collapsed powerlessly: its still-beating heart was wrapped up by the tentacles of the shadow 'Taylor'.

Just like those prisoners who encountered the 'Shadow Man'.

"Dagon!!"

Witnessing their 'kind' being instantly killed,

The burly 'leader' roared, his body suddenly swelled up a bit more, and he pounced forward like a heavy tank.

Shouting the name of his tribe's 'Father God,' the 'leader' swung his head-sized fist at the shadowy 'Taylor.'

Pfft!

Where the fist passed, the shadow shattered.

Like the shadowy figure who was shot and killed by Luigi while he was praying.

? !
Luigi on the other side suddenly turned around.
As the creator of the shadow 'Taylor', he was well aware of the advantages and disadvantages of this 'shadow echo'.

This entity, known as 'Shadow Echo,' is a remnant of a corrupted and distorted soul; it is immune to physical damage and even, to some extent, immune to attacks from supernatural beings. However—

It will suffer enormous damage from 'devout prayer'!

Moreover, regardless of who the prayer is directed at, if it is sincere enough, it will cause terrible damage to the 'Shadow Echo'!

This is also why Luigi was able to kill a 'Shadow Man' with a single shot before.

Compared to ordinary 'Shadow People',
The shadow 'Taylor' was clearly a bit special, after all, it was the echo left behind after the prisoner 'meeted' the Father statue; but its essence was still the same, so when faced with the fist of this 'leader' who shouted for the Father God, half of its body was instantly smashed off.

"Monster, your opponent is me!"

Regardless of whether the other party understood or not, Luigi had already turned and charged towards them.

The other prisoners didn't even have 'small pistols' anymore, so expecting them to fight was impossible.

If the shadow 'Taylor' falls, Luigi alone won't be able to protect so many people. Therefore—

The fist that whistled through the air behind his head caused the Deep One's 'leader' to abandon his pursuit of 'Shadow Echo' and instead engage Luigi in a fierce battle.

"Damn Deep Ones, I'll fight you to the death!"

"Kill them—"

"Fake!!"

Seeing that Luigi had held off the enemy leader,
Instead of escaping, the prisoners roared and charged forward, swinging their fists to hold off the other Deep Ones.

Their 'Explorer IV' power armor was neither a combat model nor made with various inferior materials; but it was, after all, equipment developed in the extraordinary era, and was far more powerful than flesh and blood. For a time, together with the injured Shadow 'Taylor', they were evenly matched with the other Deep Ones.

“Make weak hands strong, and trembling knees firm; say to those who are distressed—” During his fierce battle with the leader, Luigi parried and kicked while reciting scripture:
“Behold! The Lord has come to punish and bring about retribution; the Lord has come to save you!”

This was not self-deception, nor was it simply a morale booster; with his prayers, the prisoners were greatly invigorated, as if injected with a large amount of stimulants, which in turn suppressed the remaining 'Deep Divers'.

? !
"Woo-la-la-la—"

Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, the 'leader' who was fighting with Luigi shouted a command.

The next second, these 'Deep Divers' turned around and scattered and fled, so decisively that even Luigi was taken aback.

"Is this the end?"

The battlefield, which had just been filled with roars and howls, steel and flesh, fists and scales clashing, suddenly fell silent.

"Hahaha~~ So these monsters are afraid too!"

"What deep-sea divers? They're just a school of fish!"

"Hey, I chased the monster away with my bare hands—"

"Yes, there's one more crucial point I haven't mentioned: Luigi also owes a debt to 'Taylor'."

The enemy had vanished without a trace, and several prisoners immediately began to boast, venting their joy at surviving their ordeal. However, just a few seconds later, a figure slowly slumped down.

"Dude, what's wrong?"

The prisoner next to him had just instinctively greeted him when he shut his mouth.

A fist-sized hole was clearly visible in the waist of the prisoner who had fallen to the ground.

His power armor was already tattered from the battle, especially with a large chunk missing from his waist, clearly torn off by claws: along with a piece of flesh.

Previously, it was Luigi's 'prayer' that sustained him in the battle, but once the battle ended, all the pain and exhaustion erupted; even the other prisoners became unsteady.

Luigi's power ultimately comes from the 'Father of the Sea'.

The prayer, whose real name is 'Potential Burst,' only exploits the prisoners' physical and mental strength, rather than giving them power out of thin air.

"Hey, Audero, hang in there."

"You'll definitely be saved~~ Shit!"

They were companions who had walked side by side all the way here. The prisoner, who had knelt down to comfort the other, turned into impotent rage and pounding the ground.

A prisoner named 'Audero' has a fist-sized hole in his waist, and one of his kidneys has been knocked out. How could he possibly survive?

"You're really unlucky."

Another prisoner sighed, thinking that with Luigi's help, they might be able to leave this place.

However, it was at this moment that he collapsed here.

What bad luck!

"Shit. Just death."

The prisoner 'Audero' lying on the ground tried to say something tough, but his breathing became weaker and weaker.

Seeing the low spirits among the group, Luigi, who had just walked over, crouched down with a glint in his eye.

"Audero, listen to me."

Facing the prisoner, whose face was growing increasingly pale, Luigi continued speaking solemnly.

"Can you dedicate the rest of your life to protecting the lives and property of ordinary people, protecting the innocent from injustice, protecting the weak from oppression, combating violence, and maintaining a peaceful social order?"

? ? ? ?
These words left the prisoners, who were still immersed in grief, completely bewildered.

Please, they're serious criminals!

In this extraordinary era, while he may not be considered a heinous criminal, he is certainly not a good person either.

Luigi's words sounded like a police officer taking an oath of office!
"I"

The prisoner who had fallen to the ground
He moved his lips with all his might.

"willing!"

Perhaps it was the instinct for survival, or perhaps it was the exceptional clarity of mind before death, but the prisoner named 'Audero' grasped the key point in Luigi's words:
The rest of my life!

He didn't want to die; he wanted to live.

"Okay, please remember your vow."

Luigi stood up and closed his eyes.

In his mind, in a pitch-black fog, there was a stone slab.

On the stone slab, 'writing' seemed to be writhing. But it wasn't really writing; it was more of his personal understanding: more accurately, a kind of knowledge, knowledge that transcended the technology of this planet!
Next-

His gaze fell on the corpse of the 'Deep Diver' beside him.

He walked over, squatted down, and traced lines around the corpse with his fingers.

Originally, it should have been decorated with tin, symbolizing water, and candles representing spirituality, along with bells, crystal balls, silver cups, incense, and other items. However, since we don't have those resources, let's keep it simple.

Using ritual props can increase the success rate of the next step;

However, Luigi had a gut feeling that, relying on the 'slate' in his mind, he could guarantee success without any additional means.

Indeed, that is true.

As a distorted and eerie magic circle was completed, a ghostly blue light suddenly rose.

? !
Witnessing this scene,

The other prisoners' pupils contracted, and they dared not make a sound.

The few short words spoken by Luigi were not in any language of this planet; but when they reached the ears of the prisoners, they made the world in their eyes suddenly appear as if it were an abstract masterpiece, with colors merging into twisted stripes, making them dizzy, nauseous and wanting to vomit.

"Convergence, integration, and cohesion—"

Oblivious to the unusual behavior of the prisoners, Luigi continued reading the text on the stone tablet.

"Transform into the essence of power."

The eerie blue light converged towards the center, sweeping across the corpse of the 'Deep One'.

Where the light swept, the scales of the Deep One's corpse instantly turned gray and its claws decayed, as if it had endured the baptism of a hundred years.

Correspondingly, the azure light grew stronger and stronger, eventually becoming so dense that it condensed into a 'solid' and floated above the 'Deep Diver's' corpse.

That's one.
Fish bladder?

Yes, it looks exactly like a dark blue fish bladder; however, how could it possibly be an ordinary fish bladder?

Picking up the 'swim bladder', Luigi walked toward Odero, who was on the verge of death.

"Eat it."

This 'swim bladder' contains the power of the 'Deep Diver'.

The 'father in the sea' did not bestow upon him much power; instead, he received 'knowledge' that would revolutionize the era.

To strip away the power of extraordinary beings and create something that becomes a source of power:

Desecrating the stone slab!

---

P.S.: Happy New Year! ^ω^
(End of this chapter)