Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 350, Section 97: A Lone Boat on an Icy Sea

Tonight, beneath Kyoto, soldiers who have fought for hours suddenly realize that the moon can be so bright and so beautiful.

It's absolutely mesmerizing.

In the period before and after the dark clouds were dispelled, most of the demons' movements became increasingly slow. The fervent crimson light in their eyes flickered a few times before dimming and extinguishing, and they collapsed to the ground with faces full of resentment.

Immediately afterwards, bubbles began to rise from their edges, and they melted silently, turning into pools of black slime that flowed into the already blackened water at their feet and disappeared without a trace.

The remaining few demons held out until the moonlight shone down, and they rushed into the defensive lines. But they were met with extremely dense firepower. Most of the soldiers were still firing mechanically, and they were instantly riddled with bullets.

Even those grotesque skeletal tanks were no exception. Suddenly losing their support, their skeletons collapsed with a crash, their massive cannons plunging askew into the mud, and their entire bodies crumbled like sandcastles, turning into black liquid that seeped into the earth.

One second it was a hellish scene, the next it was a deathly silence, and a battlefield in ruins, with smoke rising and black water mixed with blood flowing freely.

The tinnitus caused by the loud noise was still ringing, and many people's ears were not used to this sudden silence.

"Is it over?" someone murmured, their voice completely hoarse, as if in a dream.

No one answered.

Thump, thump.
More and more soldiers, as if all the bones in their bodies had been removed, collapsed to the ground.

Some lay on their backs in the mud, gazing at the moon, making a sound that was hard to tell whether it was crying or laughing; others hugged their knees, burying their faces in their arms, their shoulders trembling violently; and many more simply stared blankly ahead, their pupils unfocused, as if their souls had melted away with the demons.

Fortunately? Perhaps.

But more than anything, it was the exhaustion from surviving the ordeal and the uncertainty about the future.

Without a doubt, most of the soldiers who experienced this battle will suffer psychological trauma that will be difficult to heal for the rest of their lives.

Those who can survive are perhaps the true veterans of the fight against demons.

"Medic, medic"

I want to go home.

"Fuck you demons, we're the winners! This is our... uh, it doesn't really seem like our country."

The Japanese staff officer staggered up to a relatively intact high point.

He paid no attention to the condition of the surviving soldiers, but instead scanned the entire battlefield with a fearful gaze.

He silently counted the remaining figures in Self-Defense Force uniforms he could see, estimating their organizational structure, and combining this with the casualty reports from each unit before the communication was cut off.
A moment later, a number slowly surfaced in his mind.

Of the 30,000 troops, probably less than 20,000 have survived.

Ten thousand died in battle.

This is an extremely alarming number.

It wasn't that he was compassionate or loved his soldiers like his own children. Although he was a staff officer, he was actually the highest-ranking officer in charge of the Self-Defense Forces here, and naturally, he should be held responsible for the casualties.

Moreover, this was only a battle that lasted for several hours.

What's even more terrifying is how long this war against hellish demons will last.
One month? One year? How many more 10,000 people does Japan have left to sacrifice?

The size of the Japan Self-Defense Forces was already shrinking, and in order to deal with the extraordinary chaos, it has recently begun to expand, but it is difficult to exceed 300,000, including many naval and air force personnel.

Despair overwhelmed him; the muscles in his face contorted, forcing out a sorrowful smile that was more painful than crying.

He drew his sidearm from his waist very slowly.

He slowly aimed at his temples, then looked up at the silver moon one last time.

"The moonlight is so beautiful."

boom.

Not far away, the US commander-in-chief had a clear view of everything.

His expression was complicated, and his lips moved, but in the end, he made no sound or any attempt to stop them.

He understood this despair. The Self-Defense Forces had lost 10,000 men, and his U.S. military had also paid the price with hundreds more.

This was a complete disaster!
Under the cover of dark rain and clouds, even firearms dare not use overly complex structures, let alone various drones and mechanical dogs.

If it weren't for the president's irresistible promises of benefits and assurances that no combat losses would be pursued, he would never have taken on this hot potato.

But since I've taken the assignment, I have to do my best.

He took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and began to calmly consider his next step.

We must take advantage of this rare period of rest to demand more supplies, equipment, and personnel. Ammunition, medicine, engineering equipment—everything.

Of course, more importantly
His gaze swept once more over the soldiers on the battlefield, some numb, some broken.

Effective psychological counseling and disciplinary measures must begin immediately! Otherwise, under such extreme pressure, a large-scale mutiny is not out of the question.

Unless this is humanity's last city, it's unlikely to have any "fight to the death" buff.

In the direction of the main gate of the position, in a huge shell crater, black water had submerged Muramasa Taki's thighs.

The grime on her body slid down and flowed into the puddles.

She stood quietly in the black water, slowly wiping the filth off the Broken Fire Blade.

The movements are steady and focused. If the scene were different, such as a kendo dojo, it would be quite pleasing to the eye, with a beauty reminiscent of a lotus rising from the mud, untainted by its surroundings.

While wiping the knife, she also calmed her breathing slightly. The blade was clean, and her strength had recovered considerably. After putting the knife into her system inventory, she stepped out of the puddle.

Looking up, she saw a figure on higher ground seemingly watching her direction.

That's Hirosue Eri.

She leaned against a broken concrete wall, her face as pale as paper, her chest heaving violently. Clearly, the previous exertion far exceeded her capacity, and she hadn't been able to catch her breath for a while.

Seeing Takii approach, Eri suddenly asked, "Do you players have any special methods to quickly restore your stamina?"

She rarely interacted with Takii; the closest they came was probably at a meeting of the Extraordinary Countermeasures Department.

Taki didn't answer directly, but simply nodded slightly.

Instead of explaining her exceptional stamina, which was unusual even among players, she took out a small bottle from her system inventory. With a casual toss, the bottle flew in an arc towards Eri.

Eri looked surprised, and instinctively, the vines on her arm shot out instantly, wrapping around the bottle in time.

She wasn't asking this question to ask for anything, but she pursed her lips, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally whispered, "Thank you."

But she didn't drink it immediately; instead, she carefully put the bottle away.

She had seen players use this during the Battle of Mount Fuji; Hayato had given her a bottle, and she had also used it on plants, so she knew its amazing effects. There was no need to waste it now that the battle was over.

Just then, Taki suddenly raised her eyes, looked calmly at Eri, and said something seemingly out of the blue:
Be careful of the source of your power.

Having said that, she said no more and turned to walk towards the center of the position. Taki had already noticed that Eri's power was somewhat strange, and now that their powers were completely fused together, she didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

She simply didn't want Hirosue Eri to one day be possessed by this power, giving humanity another enemy capable of turning the entire forest into a battlefield and transforming into a giant tree-man.

He sounds like a big boss.

Eri stood there, stunned. She didn't feel offended because Taki's words had hit a nerve with a long-standing worry in her heart.

But what can she do? She is now completely integrated with the power of the other shore. If she leaves this power, she will die.

Conversely, the Divine Flower only needs to be re-bound to an agent, without any cost.

Even now, she still doesn't understand whether the Divine Flower's purpose was truly out of compassion and pity for humanity, which is why she was chosen from among the candidates.

Or is he harboring some unknown motive?
Not far away, Hayato's motorcycle roared in, splashing large amounts of black water to both sides, before slowing down just before reaching Eri.

"Miss Hirosue, it's been a long time!"

Hayato greeted everyone with his signature loud voice, louder than the engine.

Hirosue Eri nodded to Hayato and Nobi behind him: "We met in London just a few days ago."

"Uh, I just said it offhand." Hayato wasn't embarrassed.

Eri disliked formalities. After confirming that they were alright, she took her leave and found a place with plenty of black water to continue researching methods of self-control.

"President, are we going to stay here from now on?" Hayato asked, somewhat annoyed, but still couldn't bring himself to speak—he wanted to race Eri again.

He lost to Eri once before when they competed to see who could reach Mount Fuji first, and he wanted to win back.

His desire to win is extremely strong.

"We don't need it for now; other places might need us more." Nobita shook his head.

Takii had already told him about her deal with Youki.

The dissipation of the dark clouds indicates that the demonic mist's power is sufficient to handle this situation, and may even be able to suppress the dark clouds.

Since the deal included ensuring that Youki completed the forging of the giant's remains, even though the two sides had different camps and values, it must be admitted that Youki was no different from them in terms of the spirit of the contract.

At least not now, all agreements will be honored.

Faced with the contract, both parties were able to temporarily set aside their previous conflicts.

Then you can rest assured to leave this place to them.

In this way, he and Hayato can go and help other cities that have little defense and are facing the threat of black rain.

However, it's not a long-term solution to keep acting as a flood relief captain all over Japan. So the key is to investigate Mount Fuji and figure out how to repair the seal.

Even determining the cause of the incident had to be postponed.

They didn't really suspect that it was the work of players; it would be too detrimental to both sides. They were more inclined to believe that the patrolling soldiers were manipulated by some leaked negative energy, leading to the disaster. Therefore, investigating the cause was not very meaningful.

The important thing is how to remedy the situation.

If that unknown Taoist priest who once replenished Dao Manxiaoche's seal were here, he would probably have a solution.

Nobi originally planned to go to South Korea to see if he could stop Park Min-woo's gender war.

Now, however, I am completely unable to free myself from the situation.

From a public perspective, Japan is now facing an even more severe disaster; every drop of black rain will inevitably bring casualties.

Personally, Japan is Nobita's motherland. Even though he is disappointed in it, he would never want to see his compatriots struggling on the brink of life and death every day.

He knew very well that he was not a savior, but a special mortal who possessed some power beyond that of ordinary people.

Park Min-woo kills one or two opinion leaders a day in the South, not many more. He seems to enjoy the process of making his opponents despair little by little.

Indeed, such behavior has caused considerable panic among certain groups.

If a blogger with a certain following wants to generate buzz, then Park Min-woo wouldn't mind killing a few more people every day.

Delete records?
It was no use; with Ethan's help, most of the information was basically transparent to him.

Some people have already suffered a mental breakdown, and what started as Yu Yu syndrome has actually developed into depression. They update their confessions on social media every day.

Even amidst the insults from her former sisters, she dared not stop.

Park Min-woo isn't some kind of devil when it comes to people like that; he'll keep a close eye on them.

The Southern Dynasties government organized several encirclement and suppression campaigns, but each time they found only separatists; killing one would only result in another emerging.

There's no way to kill them all.

The entire South Korean government was in a state of chaos, but Ami was focused on recruiting Park Min-woo, so she had no intention of supporting the South Korean government.

The same goes for the chaebols. On the surface, they agree to help the authorities crack down on them, but if they find Park Min-woo, whether it's the real Park Min-woo or his clone, they will do everything they can to inform him that he has been exposed.

It can be said that only the Southern Dynasty officials and certain individuals suffered losses in this world.

Slowly recovering, Taki began to clean up the center of the battlefield. After exchanging a few words with the commander, she returned to her room, took a shower, and checked the time. It was almost midnight, just one minute away.

A system message suddenly appeared.

The new game "Lone Boat on the Ice Sea" is coming soon. Log in to the player lobby for more details.

"A new game?" Taki, who was about to go to the giant's skeleton to collect ashes, paused.

It's now May 5th, and twenty days have passed since Anatomy of Britain was released.

This does not conform to the previous pattern of playing one game every two weeks, nor does it conform to the pattern of two games being separated by a month.

However, the game system has never stated that game refreshes will always follow any rules; these are just their guesses.

Even if the guess is wrong, it won't actually cause any loss.

[Hao: The agreement will stand as scheduled]

Iwasaki sent her a private message, indicating that their transaction was unaffected by the sudden opening of the game.

Taki replied "okay," then sealed off his room before sitting cross-legged and entering the player lobby.

In the round table hall, players appeared one after another. Because the advance notice for this round of the game was only one minute, most players rushed to find a safe place to log in after seeing the message.

Players who were already online began to focus on reading the rules of the game.

"Phew, finally a normal game."

After quickly glancing over it, Oshima breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)