I said you are all war criminals

and so.

"...I can sacrifice myself to revive the lamp."

Li Xi said this after hesitating.

Bai Ye withdrew his hand from Li Xi's forehead and rubbed his knuckles, making a crackling sound.

"Tsk, what a great love. You're willing to sacrifice your life for your treasure. So touching, so heartfelt."

His tone was frivolous, as if he was just joking.

Li Xi was irritated by his sarcastic tone, but she was powerless to refute him. She took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. "You...you don't understand at all!"

"I don't understand?"

Bai Ye raised an eyebrow, "It doesn't matter whether I understand or not, what matters is, do you understand?"

He suddenly approached Lixi, his pupils almost touching her eyelashes, "Have you really thought it through? For the sake of the lamp, you want to abandon everything you have? Your parents, your sister, your band members..."

Li Xi's pupils dilated slightly. Bai Ye's question was like a heavy hammer, hitting her heart hard. She subconsciously looked away, her eyes flickering, her lips trembling, but she couldn't say anything.

Bai Ye didn't let her go and continued to ask: "What will happen to them? Have you thought about it? If you die, they will be sad, upset, and devastated... You will become a shadow in their lives. Is this worth it?"

"I……"

Li Xi's voice trembled like a wounded little animal. "Compared to the lamp, these, these are..."

She bit her lower lip, almost biting it to bleed. She wanted to say "None of this matters", but the words were on the tip of her tongue and she couldn't say them.

Bai Ye pulled back, then raised his thumb and pointed to his chest, "But I'm different."

"To revive the lamp, I can sacrifice ten thousand, one million, or even a hundred million people—as long as I don't know them, I can kill them all without any psychological burden."

Hearing this, Li Xi clenched his fists again.

"Deng...Deng wouldn't want to kill so many people..."

"I'm not Takamatsu Deng."

Hakuno continued, "You're not Takamatsu Touma either, Shiina Ritsuki."

6

Chapter 6: Rumors of the Secret Art of Resurrection.

The train was running through the city center, and the scenery was rapidly receding outside the window. Kita and Kanesada sat side by side in their seats, chatting casually.

The conversation hopped from recent performances to new musical instruments, flowing easily and casually, like the scenery outside the window. For a moment, Kita thought he saw the shadows of Hakuno and Tomo in the cars passing by, but a closer look revealed that it was probably an illusion.

then.

Once again, Kita talked about that dream.

"Kanesada... I dreamed of the future."

Kita's tone was vague and his eyes were dazed, as if he had not yet completely emerged from the dream.

"That dream again?"

Kanesada looked at Kita's profile.

"Um……"

Kita hesitated for a moment and talked about the dream scene again, "I dreamed... Goto Ichiri, she became the king of the earth."

Kanesada listened quietly to Kita's words.

"Yili...she brought a perfect future to everyone. I'm not just saying good things about Yili. The world Yili created is truly, truly wonderful..."

"But Kita-sama, you don't like that world, do you?"

Kanesada said bluntly.

Kita said with a hint of disgust in her voice, "...Ahh, I hate this. I can't like the me in that world."

…Kita hated that dream.

Yes, that can only be a dream.

That simulator that showed the existence of Shinigami and Quincies, what else could it be but a dream?

There can't be Shinigami in this world, there can't be Quincy, and of course there can't be...

“There can be no peace in this world.”

The first Kanesada spoke on behalf of his master, saying, "In Kita... no, in the master's memory, there should be such a deep memory."

Kita is not human.

Although she is also a daughter born by her parents, Kita Ikuyo's essence is the Golden God - that is, the descendant of aliens.

The flesh, nerves, bones, and tendons were all made of metal, not flesh.

This also means that, unlike humans who are made of flesh and blood, her body retains the memories of the corpse of the "Golden God".

——Those memories of war.

The history of mankind is the history of war.

The only sounds in the carriage were the low hum of the tram and the hum of the air conditioner.

Kita stared at the rapidly receding scenery outside the window. The tall buildings, street shops, and hurried pedestrians all seemed to be covered by a layer of gray filter in her eyes, appearing blurry and distant.

To her, the passersby were nothing more than a herd of beasts cloaked in civilization. Their suits and ties, their cheerful conversation, could not conceal their inherent greed and brutality. Human history, she saw it, was a history written in blood and violence. From primitive humans who ate raw meat and drank blood to modern humans armed with nuclear weapons, humanity has never ceased to slaughter one another.

Stones, the earliest weapons, symbolize human violence. Crude and primitive, they were powerful enough to crush skulls and take lives. Then came swords, their cold blades gleaming in the sun, symbolizing both the advancement of civilization and the escalation of slaughter. Spears extended the reach of slaughter, making war even more brutal. Guns and cannons, the roar of gunpowder, heralded the arrival of the age of firearms and the onslaught of even greater slaughter. Missiles, crossing mountains and seas, brought death to every corner of the world. The nuclear bomb, the ultimate weapon, was powerful enough to annihilate all of human civilization.

No one can take war away from humanity.

——History is the evidence.

"How could Ichiri take the war away from humans? That's simply impossible. This is even more impossible than the Shinigami and the Quincy."

Kita chewed and suddenly smiled again, "After all, where do ghosts come from in this world?"

Kita doesn't believe that there are gods of death in the world.

After all, in the Golden God's memory, he had never seen a ghost.

——Although in his future memories, Kita also drank Iri's blood first and became a Quincy, which allowed him to see "ghosts." However, it's unreasonable for the Golden God to be completely unaware of the God of Death.

"Then, Master... no, Kita,"

Kanesada changed his attitude and asked gently, "If there is no soul, why are we looking for the secret of resurrection today?"

"Of course, it's to prove that there are no ghosts in the 'world'."

Kita said as a matter of course.

The tram slowly stopped at the platform, the doors opened, and the crowd surged.

Kita Ikuyo, carrying her guitar bag, got off the train with the Shodai Kanesada.

The setting sun slowly sank into the horizon, and the world was shrouded in darkness. The sky looked like an overturned paint palette, and a rich orange-red color spread out, like the last ray of fire before the end of the world. The thick clouds were dyed golden red, rolling like burning flames. The setting sun cast its last rays of light on the earth, casting long shadows on the ground. The gate of Hanasakigawa Girls' College, bathed in this solemn warm color, seemed even more solemn. The school gate, forged of steel, reflected the cold light in the afterglow of the setting sun, appearing particularly indestructible. It was like an insurmountable barrier, isolating the college from the outside world. The cold texture of the steel contrasted sharply with the warm colors of the setting sun, adding to the solemnity and majesty of the school gate.

As the daylight fades and night falls, the world is shrouded in chaos between light and darkness. This is the so-called "moment of the devil."

In Japan, this is the so-called "most likely time to see ghosts" - Kita didn't choose to come to Hanasakigawa just because he had to go to school.

"Is this the birthplace of the legendary 'Secret Art of Resurrection'?"

Kita looked the school up and down. "It doesn't look like anything special."

"According to data, schools are the places where rumors are most likely to spread."

Kanesada stated his findings, "About 70% of urban legends are fabricated by schools. Eighty-three percent of schools nationwide have the 'Seven Wonders,' and only two percent have no urban legends at all."

"Where did you get this data from?"

Kita asked.

“Wikipedia.”

Kanesada replied.

“…This is really reassuring.”

Kita entered Hanasakigawa Girls' Academy first, followed closely by Kanesada.

The campus was empty and silent, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind... There might be some school workers still staying in the school, but Kita couldn't see anyone with his naked eyes.

"Want me to hack into the surveillance system?"

Kanesada quickly followed Kita's footsteps.

"That's not necessary. It's better to take a relaxed approach when investigating supernatural events like this."

Kita waved his hand.

It's certainly possible to use the surveillance system to investigate the entire school, as Kanesada said... but that would be too boring.

...Well, it's true that Kita's goal this time is to "prove that there are no ghosts in the world," but that doesn't mean she's going to investigate with a vengeance. She plans to approach the investigation with a relaxed attitude, like a paranormal blogger.

Anyway, there are no ghosts in this world.

"Anyway, let's go to where the body was found... I remember the deceased died?"

As Kita began to recall, Kanesada immediately answered.

"It's in the school courtyard."

As the school road twisted and turned, Kita Ikuyo felt like she was playing a horror game - of course, if she didn't have a guitar bag in her hand, the sense of immersion would be stronger.

"This way."

Kanesada, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped and pointed ahead, "It's here, the courtyard."

The school's atrium is larger than expected. The fountain in the center glows a faint white light in the night, and the sound of flowing water is particularly clear in the silent campus. The ground around the fountain is wet, reflecting the dim light of the street lamps, making it look particularly gloomy.

"It's here,"

Kanesada's voice was very calm, "That girl drowned in this fountain."

"Drown? This fountain doesn't look very deep..."

Kita walked to the fountain and looked down. The water was so clear that she could even see the pebbles at the bottom of the pool. The water was only up to her knees.

"That's what the information says."

Kanesada continued, "The deceased's name was Yamada Hanako, a second-year student at Hanasakigawa Girls' Academy. The cause of death was drowning, and her body was found floating in this fountain."

"Drowning..."

Kita took another look at the shallow fountain, feeling something was amiss. How could a high school student drown in such a shallow fountain? Unless she...

"She's hydrophobic?"

Kita asked tentatively.

"No, quite the contrary."

Kanesada shook his head. "Yamada Hanako is the ace of the school's swimming club and once won the gold medal in the national high school swimming competition."

This confused Xiduo even more. A swimming champion, drowning in a fountain less than knee-deep? This was so strange no matter how you thought about it.

"Could it be suicide?"

Kita suggested another possibility.

"At least neither the school nor the family found a suicide note,"

Kanesada continued, "According to other students' testimony, Yamada Hanako lived a happy life and wasn't involved in any bullying or anything like that...either on the bully's side or the side being bullied."

"Could it be homicide?"

Kita asked, tilting her head as she clutched her guitar bag. While she claimed to be taking the investigation lightly, she was a serious person at heart, and when faced with something like this, she naturally couldn't help but analyze it.

"Even if it was murder, how did the murderer manage to let her drown in this shallow pool?"

Kanesada pointed to the fountain, "And it left no trace."

"If it were me, I could just press her neck and drown her—well, an ordinary person probably wouldn't be able to do that."

Kita touched his neck, "...Could it be that a fighter attacked? Like Jina did."

Kita was talking about Hongo Kina, a fighting girl Kita met recently... A fighter like Kina could also control a person to drown in a fountain like this.