Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

“I’ll be discharged in a couple of days,” Iwasaki suddenly said, looking at Tokura who had turned around in a daze. “You can come to my house; maybe I can help you in some way.”

Shicang's eyes regained some of their light, and he asked nervously, "Is it okay?"

"Okay, Goto, leave your phone number so we can let Miss Tokura know."

"Yes!"

The Iwasaki family home was definitely searched by the police, but the surveillance footage was deleted after Iwasaki confirmed there was no cloud backup. The computer was taken somewhere by Iwasaki and his family, and the electronic suicide note was also hidden. There are basically no clues left.

The reason for saying this is twofold: firstly, it aligns with human nature, as people sympathize with each other in similar circumstances.

Secondly, he saw despair in the other person's eyes, and if left unattended, the other person might do something drastic.

It's laughable that a ruthless killer like him would worry about the life or death of a woman he didn't even know before today.

But speaking of which, my younger sister is really popular with women.

He received more love letters from women than from men.

After seeing Tokura off, Goto returned to Iwasaki's side, and his mood seemed to be affected by hers, becoming depressed as well.

Iwasaki didn't say much, and just like usual, he ate, exercised, and took a slow walk on the lawn.

It wasn't until nightfall that he transformed into black mist and came to the outside world.

Today was the agreed-upon time to pick up the weapons. Muramasa Taki placed the items in a shopping mall. All he needed to do was ensure the place was safe and retrieve the weapons he had commissioned to be made.

He only completed the normal ending in this game, and the reward was a "color-changing factor" that could change the color of his black mist, even making it transparent.

However, during this period, you cannot use your abilities to touch living things or switch to a physical form; otherwise, it will become ineffective and you will have to re-enter the cooling phase.

Upon arriving at the agreed-upon shopping mall, Iwasaki walked around but didn't find anything amiss.

He also conducted his first test on the color-changing factor. Soon, he turned into transparent smoke and found the double-sided needle weapon.

Although it's called a needle, it's actually about the size of a chopstick and quite heavy. The metal it's made from was something he collected by chance, and it's the hardest metal he could find.

He left with the new weapon, found a safe spot, and spent a considerable amount of time assimilating the six needles.

"The stench of sin"

He put away the flying needle; it was something he had prepared to use against supernatural beings or high-end official war weapons. For ordinary people, a mage's hand would suffice.

Iwasaki rushed toward the scent of evil he had caught; it was an old office building.

"Guidance, worship, death is not destruction, but rebirth!"

It was a fairly large conference room, but there were no conference tables and chairs, only people kneeling on the ground. The object of their worship was the scene in front of them, decorated in a solemn red, with red carpets, red cloth, and red candles. Surrounding it was only a delicate flower, a spider lily.

"The red spider lily descends upon the world, bringing destruction, but also guidance! The dead dwell in paradise, while the living toil and struggle—where is the human world, and where is hell! Wake up, we have all been deceived! This is hell, and the underworld is paradise!"

"The dead you see are beings from another world. They have come to guide us, but we need to hold on until this world is destroyed in order to enter Paradise as survivors."

"This amulet is made from the stamen of a divine flower and will provide protection to believers. It is also a pass to paradise."

"But cultivating the divine flower requires a lot of resources. We need to work together to make the divine flower grow and help more people!"

It's a cult, obviously.

There are only three evil souls inside; the other dozen or so are ordinary people.

In such cases, he usually wouldn't take everything with him.

Only when there are seven villains and three normal people would one say, "I'm too lazy to tell the difference, so I'll just kill them all."

But their fervor was somewhat unusual.

Iwasaki casually crushed the head of the person giving the passionate speech.

Large splatter of blood landed on the faces of the believers below. They were stunned for a moment, but then felt overwhelming joy.

"The leader has ascended! The leader has ascended!"

"He's been chosen! Waaah, take me with you! Please take me with you!"

This is very abnormal. One or two people would be understandable, but more than ten people like this, could they all have been found in a mental hospital?

He casually killed the other two evildoers, and the others, covered in blood, showed no fear, talking to themselves and acting erratically.

Iwasaki drifted to the red spider lily, and just as he was about to examine it closely to see what was different about it, his vision suddenly blurred.

The sunlight was blinding, and the chirping of insects was irritating. He sat in a chair, holding an ice pop in his hand.

"Brother, brother? What are you spacing out for?"

He snapped out of his reverie and saw Iwasaki Miyabi sitting opposite him. She was biting on an ice pop stick and waving her hands curiously in front of Iwasaki's eyes.

His face was a little bruised, as if he had just been in a fight.

"It's a deal, I'll treat you to an ice cream, but you can't tell Mom and Dad about the fight."

"."

Iwasaki remembered; it was around the time when Aya was still a high school student.

"Okay, I promise you."

He closed his eyes, then opened them again. Iwasaki had broken free from the illusion and returned to reality.

This flower has a big problem.

Iwasaki turned around, glanced around at the frenzied crowd, and then tried to take the flower with him.

"Guardian Flower! He's a demon!"

"No one may take the divine flower away!"

The crowd suddenly became agitated and charged towards Iwasaki while shouting.

Can this flower actually sense information that is detrimental to it?

Iwasaki casually blocked those people and picked up the spider lily along with its pot.

He wanted to experiment and see how these people would change after they left the flower.

Will things return to normal, or will they descend into even more complete madness?

However, before that, he sacrificed the three corpses.

"The fact that the energy has not decreased significantly indicates that this flower is not absorbing souls."

Iwasaki knew that this thing was definitely related to the disaster that had occurred in Yamagata Prefecture, but why was it appearing in Tokyo?

"Did the authorities or the knights bring something related here?"

Carrying the whole pot of flowers, Iwasaki left and then hid at a distance to observe.

Chapter 173: Seeking a tiger's skin?

Iwasaki observed from a distance through a deliberately open window for half an hour before those people gradually regained their senses.

Once they regained their senses, they were no longer the fearless and devout people they had been before. Terrified by the bloody scene, they stumbled and screamed as they left the office building.

Some people were so exhausted and weak that they could no longer walk downstairs and dialed the police.

Before long, the area was surrounded by police cars and vehicles from the Extraordinary Measures Unit.

They seemed to have made targeted preparations, with a large group of people surrounding the entire building. Then, they arranged for a robot to enter the conference room where the incident occurred and conduct a search. Only after confirming that the spider lily was not there did they enter the scene to investigate.

Perhaps related to the demonic mist offering pattern at the scene, some staff members also brought a batch of unidentified equipment and set it up around the area.

As the lights came on, the room became unusually bright, and even the shadows were extremely faint and blurry.

This set of tools is clearly designed to defend against the demonic fog.

Judging from their actions, the authorities are clearly aware of this situation, and this is certainly not the first time they have encountered something like this.

After noting this down, Iwasaki didn't linger. He flew towards the place where he had hidden the flower, intending to take it out and study it carefully to see if there was anything he could use it for.

Inside the room, Heisei Ryu walked to the window and glanced around outside.

"Nakajima, investigate the two trees and the rooftops of the two buildings that can be seen from the south-facing window of the conference room."

"Yes."

After assigning tasks and drawing the curtains, Heisei Ryu turned around and walked to the spot where the spider lilies had been placed. Kurosaki Chimei was there, biting a pen, seemingly lost in thought.

"Is this the seventh case?" Kurosaki asked as he saw Heisei Ryu approaching.

"No, the eighth case. Ten minutes ago, the seventh investigation team discovered another case of spider lily fanaticism in the central district."

"Are there any traces of demonic mist there?"

"No."

"That's true. This shouldn't have much to do with the demonic mist. He probably just stumbled upon this situation by chance and took the spider lilies with him to study. It seems the illusions created by these flowers have very limited effect on the extraordinary."

"Ordinary people can get rid of hallucinations as long as they have a strong will, so it's not surprising that they have no effect on the extraordinary."

Kurosaki pressed further: "That makes sense, but I'm more concerned about what crucial information the investigation headquarters is hiding. If they don't tell us, we won't be able to find anything at all, and we'll only be able to come up with perfunctory answers like 'it's related to the Yamagata Prefecture disaster.'"

“We can still find out part of it.” Ping Shenglong looked at him. “Isn’t this your forte? Treat this as an urban legend.”

"Okay, using the supernatural logic, no one has died directly from these spider lilies yet, which means that this supernatural tale is not cruel and does not aim to harm people. Most of these supernatural tales can actually communicate and possess considerable wisdom. But in fact, this kind is more terrifying."

Kurosaki paced back and forth in front of Heisei Ryu.

"All those affected saw their deceased relatives in their hallucinations and developed an inexplicable adoration for the red spider lily. After distancing themselves, they regained some of their rationality, though they were extremely exhausted. However, the adoration in their hearts was still very obvious. This red spider lily is said to be drawing on people's spirit and willpower."

"Since it's about taking in, it means there's a need and growth."

"The two most terrifying speculations are that these flowers draw nutrients from each other, then multiply and spread, eventually taking over the world."

"Or perhaps it is the nutrients that the mother absorbs, waiting for the mother to be born to trigger a great catastrophe."

"I can only think of the worst in such a bizarre situation. But there is a good side, of course. That is, this flower can actually coexist with humans and needs humans as an energy source. Have you seen The Matrix? In the end, it was used as a biological battery."

Ping Shenglong listened calmly and nodded gently.

"Then we only have two options: stop the spread or destroy the mother. But what if the mother is in our hands?"

Kurosaki's mouth gaped open, his eyes looking strange: "Do I need to explain the principle of 'dealing with a tiger for its skin'?"

"The investigation headquarters will be holding a meeting tomorrow. Each investigation team can send two people. I mentioned your name, and I think they will probably touch on the information you want to know." Taira no Ryu did not answer Kurosaki's question.

“I’ve discovered that it’s not just you, it’s all of you. Your gambling instincts are extraordinary, or to put it bluntly, you’re greedy.” Kurosaki looked helplessly at the divine eye in the sacrificial ritual pattern. “You dare to bet everything on a gamble where one step might not lead to heaven, but one step could definitely lead to hell. You’re completely irresponsible towards the lives of your people.”

Ping Shenglong did not respond to this.

The next day.

The two were taken to an underground base where the commanders of the investigation team or the combat department were gathered.

"Another confidentiality agreement? Is it really necessary?" Kurosaki muttered as he signed the document.

"It's more of a reminder of the importance of this matter." Ping Shenglong quickly scanned the contents. "Concentrate later, and don't get caught up in it."

"You mean no, right?" Kurosaki understood his implied meaning and frowned as he counted the heads.

There are at least dozens of people here, all of whom are the main force of the official team targeting the extraordinary and mysterious. If something happens to these people, it would be a significant loss even for the country's power. Are they really that heartless and insane?

"Is that woman Gen Himeko from the Seventh Investigation Team? She's really tall, probably 1.8 meters." As he looked around, Kurosaki's attention was actually drawn to a woman. It wasn't that he was lecherous, but rather that her aura was so striking that it was hard not to notice her.

“178, less than 1.8 meters,” Ping Shenglong said.

"Oh, I see. How do you know that so well?"

"classmate."

"Hmm, she looks to be at most thirty years old, while you're forty, right? What classmate? Your son is her classmate?"

I am unmarried.

"I know, the point is you, never mind."

Kurosaki was too lazy to say anything more. When he looked at the woman again, he found that she was also looking in his direction and had walked over.

"It seems your classmate is coming to catch up with you."

"Ah."

Ping Shenglong's expression remained unchanged.

"Moriya Ryu, it's been a long time." Gen Himeko walked up to Taira Moriya Ryu, nodded to Kurosaki, and then looked at Taira Moriya Ryu.

"It has been quite a long time." Heisei Ryu said with a straight face.