Tokyo Detective

Chapter 307 The Guy Who Wanted to Wait for the Cicada to Catch the Bird Later

It is important to know that insects are the most susceptible organisms to fungal infections in the world, and the fungi that can infect these organisms generally belong to the Nematodeaceae, Cordyceps, and Cordyceps serpentina families under the phylum Ascomycota/class Coccidioides/order Hypocreales.

There are approximately 600 types of fungi that can parasitize insects and control their bodies; Cordyceps sinensis is one of them.

If we have to name a fungus among insects that is comparable to a zombie virus, it would be Cordyceps militaris, which is also the prototype of the fungus in The Last Survivor's fiction.

Cordyceps militaris mainly parasitizes carpenter ants. After attaching to the ant's body surface, the spores invade the body and gradually control its nervous system.

Infected ants will leave the colony and climb to a high place on the plant (such as the back of a leaf), where they will use their mandibles to bite the leaf veins to secure their bodies, forming a "death bite." At this point, the fungus begins to digest the host's tissues.

The fungus eventually grows slender fruiting bodies (sporangia) from the ant's head, releasing spores to continue infecting other hosts.

Moreover, the fungus does not control the brain, meaning that the insect watches its body die uncontrollably, and its consciousness remains clear until it dies.

The reason why Naoki Hanyu has a creepy feeling is because this type of fungus can generally only infect one kind of organism, a specific parasite that can only infect one organism at a time.

Fungi need a long time to break through an organism's immune system, which is very difficult, let alone mammals.

Another challenge that fungi must overcome in mammals is body temperature. High body temperature prevents most fungi from growing in the human body.

But the corpse in front of me was parasitized by fungi and could control its movements. This means that the fungus has broken through the human immune system and can produce the kind of terrifying infectivity seen in movies and TV shows.
Of course, it is also possible that fungi can only parasitize corpses, and this remains unknown until the investigation is completed.

Moreover, Naoki Hanyu's understanding of fungi is not very clear, and he cannot know the more detailed differences among them.

Naoki Hanyu looked at Ryoko Yakushiji. Just in case, he still wanted her to leave so that he could act without any worries.

"Ryoko, drive my car down the mountain now."

Ryoko Yakushiji shook her head.

"You've already been scared by the old man's words before we've even figured things out. I'm not going to be a deserter."

At this point, Toriyama Juzo spoke up to alleviate Hanyu Naoki's concerns.

“Young man, I know what you’re worried about. Don’t worry, the infection from the sacred tree isn’t as scary as you think. Come with me.”

The old man didn't say anything more, but led the two puzzled people to the house where the screams had come from. They saw an old man being pinned down by a fungal corpse not far from the door, his body covered with bite wounds.

What's most frightening is that when the fungal corpse opens its mouth, a long fruiting body extends out from it, and the bulging part is where the spores are located.

The spores swell up until the spore powder is sprinkled on the elderly person's facial features, entering the body through the mouth, eyes, nose, and other areas.

The old man said in a deep voice.

"Only mature spores can infect humans, so even if you are scratched or bitten, at most the wound will become severely inflamed."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the old man approached the corpse with incredible speed, and then, with a flash of his blade, the corpse's head was severed.

Naoki Hanyu commented on this scene.

"Good physique, exceptional swordsmanship."

Soon after, three infected corpses were placed inside Toriyama Juzo's house. The old man who had ingested the mature spore powder was also bound and looked terrified. The surrounding area was filled with other old men who had come after hearing the commotion. They needed an explanation.

"Grandpa, what exactly happened to these corpses?"

Toriyama Juzo closed his eyes and remained silent until everyone was present before opening them and speaking in a deep voice.

"Since you want answers, I will tell you a story about the history of our people."

"A clan? What clan?"

The vast majority of elderly people were completely bewildered. They had always thought that Niaoshan Village was an ordinary, remote village, yet it had a secret history.

"Legend has it that more than two thousand years ago, a black divine tree grew deep in the mountains. Anyone who ate the divine fruit born from the tree would undergo a trial. Those who could not withstand it would become servants of the divine tree, while those who passed would become divine tree warriors who surpassed humankind."

The Trials of the Divine Tree are death for outsiders; perhaps only one in a thousand can pass. Only we, the Toriyama—no, the Ooyama clan—can produce a divine warrior on average for every 20 members, at the cost of the other 19 dying.

As the old man recounted his story, Naoki and Hanyu learned about the history of this place, which is known as the sacred mountain in China. He further concluded that the so-called divine warriors were a kind of parasitic, acquired monster.

For 2000 years, the mountain region has provided the rulers with sacred tree warriors, a relationship that lasted until 300 years ago.

For some reason, the Tokugawa Shogunate massacred the entire village, leaving only the remnants of Toriyama's ancestors, the Oyama clan, alive.

The Toriyama clan originally wanted to take revenge on the Tokugawa Shogunate, but population limitations restricted the number of their divine warriors.

On average, only one god-warrior is born for every 20 deaths. Even if all the able-bodied men in the village died, there might not be two. Therefore, the village put aside their hatred and only wanted to give birth to a god-warrior to protect the tribe, while also isolating the god tree from infection.

Therefore, whenever an old warrior was about to die or was killed, the Toriyama clan would conduct a divine trial, which would be held every 50 years or so, until the divine trial a hundred years ago.

Toriyama Juzo said with a sigh.

“Back then, the clan chief led all 29 able-bodied men from our village to the sacred tree to undergo trials. Only I passed; the others all died. Later, advanced medicine taught me that the fruit of the sacred tree was actually just a fungus, a fungus that was only useful to humans. So I concealed the existence of the sacred tree.”

All the elderly people were moved, and one of them questioned them.

"Grandpa, why are you hiding this? This is our clan's mission. We might be able to restore our clan's glory."

"If I didn't hide it, would you really be willing to send your son and grandson, who work in Osaka, to their deaths, Ryosuke? Only one out of 30 will survive. Are you really willing to gamble?"

The old man was speechless. He was reluctant to part with it; in this peaceful era, probably not many people would be willing to do so.

Toriyama Juzo looked at the two outsiders.

"Officer Yuzuru, let's have a chat."

Inside the old man's room, Naoki Hanyu smelled a strange fragrance.

Toriyama Jūzō saw this and asked with a smile.

"Isn't it strange that the old man's room doesn't have that rotten smell? Actually, I don't know if I can still be considered a person, or just a mushroom."

The old man lifted his clothes, revealing a part of his skin that looked like a plant.

“I don’t know what happened in the mountains or why the dead were infected. But I’m old and can’t even swing my knife a few times anymore. There are only some elderly people left in the village. I’ll have to ask the police to handle this. You’ve seen the infection of the sacred tree.”

Naoki Hanyu couldn't discern the truthfulness of the old man's words, but since the matter was out in the open, he might as well ask about the Black Stakes.

"Grandpa, do you know anything about a ghost dressed in a kimono, with completely black eyes and a string of Buddhist prayer beads on its hand? From what I understand, it should be related to you or the sacred tree?"

The 13th major earthquake in Toriyama.

How do you know about it?

Naoki Hanyu knew something was up from the old man's expression, so he told him the whole story.

Toriyama Juzo gave a wry smile after hearing this.

"It's truly a cruel twist of fate. What you're describing is indeed related to us. The Great Mountain Clan was almost wiped out because of it. More than 300 years ago, a woman in the Great Mountain Clan had an illegitimate daughter with someone unknown. Because of her identity and ugly appearance, the illegitimate daughter was despised by the clan. Later, during a trial of the sacred tree, she stole a fruit and passed the trial. How do you think the Great Mountain Clan will treat this illegitimate daughter?"

Naoki Hanyu frowned; there were many possibilities for how things could develop.

"Did it take revenge on the mountain tribe?"

"Yes and no. In those days, the tribe believed that women were impure, and that making women into warriors of the sacred tree was even more blasphemous. So they broke its limbs and sacrificed it to the sacred tree. Later, it became a spirit of hatred and took revenge on the mountain tribe. Everyone who knew of its existence had to die."

After the three Divine Tree warriors were killed by it, the tribespeople foolishly begged the Shogunate for help. Given that all the Divine Tree warriors were wiped out and almost the entire tribe knew of its existence, what do you think the Shogunate would do?

"Slaughter the village."

Toriyama Juzo nodded.

"It's just about massacring the village; as long as nobody knows it exists or has a name, that's fine."

After a moment of silence, Naoki Hanyu offered an idea.

"To avoid any unforeseen complications, I plan to go into the mountains tonight or early tomorrow morning. Grandpa, could you lead the way?"

"You actually want to go in? It's very dangerous inside the Divine Tree."

Naoki Hanyu didn't respond, but instead activated his skill and threw a punch in front of the old man. The punch was delivered at extremely high speed, creating a sound similar to a sonic boom, and the force of the punch knocked over a teacup.

"Grandpa, you don't know this, but I think I know a little bit about martial arts. I could easily kill a few monsters or martial arts masters, and I also have a strong immunity to fungi and bacteria."

Toriyama Juzo was speechless.

"You are the monster."

The speed and power of that punch were something Toriyama Juzo had never seen before.

"Alright, let me lead the way for you. The moon is so full tonight, you can walk at night without any problem."

"please."

The only way out of the mountains is through Dashan Town. Police officers who were preparing to rest received a call and were dispatched. Cars drove back onto the mountain road in the night.

The curtains in the hotel room were drawn back, and a man was watching everything unfold.

"The police are actually out at night. Could they have discovered the sacred tree? No, I need to notify my superiors."
.
In a luxury mansion in Roppongi, Minato Ward, Tokyo, a middle-aged man listened to his subordinate's report with a gloomy expression.

"I understand. Continue to closely monitor police movements."

After hanging up the phone, the middle-aged man dialed another number and received a reply from his superior.

"We must obtain it at all costs. The Divine Tree belongs to our group and represents the future of humanity."

"Yes."

The middle-aged man looked troubled; he didn't want to offend the police department if he could.

However, the group had spent several years finally confirming what they were looking for, and now that they had just finished preparing, the police intercepted it. This was an outcome that the Longgao Group could not accept.

"Don't blame me, you've crossed the line."

(End of this chapter)