Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

The Amis, dressed in uniform, simple clothing, entered this space with excitement.

The moment they stepped inside, their expressions changed, ranging from joy and sorrow to fear.

Only a very few people were able to quickly recover from the hallucination and, following the researchers' guidance, arrive before the divine flower.

If one cannot even break free from illusions, one will only become a puppet of the divine flower, according to the official view.

"Now, focus all your attention and try to communicate with the divine flower in front of you."

The official name of the Divine Flower has not been spread, and instead, the random distribution of the Spider Lily is used to more controllably enhance the power of wishes.

They were well aware that once the Divine Flower was officially revealed, countless sects would emerge around it, and no one knew what the consequences would be.

Therefore, most ordinary people believe that the vine giant that appeared in Kyoto is an undisclosed supernatural ability.

Only a few ordinary people have made various guesses based on the spider lilies that once bloomed among the vines.

As for those who can clearly understand the reasons, they are even fewer.

Those who were chosen all knew beforehand that they would receive an unprecedented opportunity—the chance to become extraordinary.

Half of them are children or even directors of chaebol families who have been placed in these positions.

He arrived in a wheelchair and on crutches, his expression filled with a longing for life and strength.

But half of them are Eagles Youngsters selected by Aramco with impeccable credentials!

These people are the true core candidates of the government; the others are just people who couldn't refuse due to personal relationships. Besides, the president made a fortune just by selling the quotas to those people.

He himself didn't come; perhaps he was convinced that he lacked a natural heart and was therefore unsuitable.

The first person was a young man, his fists clenched and his legs trembling nervously. He listened to the researcher, nodding repeatedly, then quickly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The researchers carefully observed the condition of the divine flower.

No response.

"next."

In less than a minute, the young man's extraordinary dream was shattered.

"No, no! I haven't used my full strength yet, I'm still building up my emotions—please, give me one more minute, no, even thirty seconds!" The young man was anxious; the opportunity to become someone of high status was right in front of him, and he really didn't want to give it up so easily.

He was the first among this group to break free from the hallucinations; he must be special.

This extraordinary opportunity was prepared just for him!

The researcher remained unmoved; over the past three days, he had seen far too many cases like the one before him.

He then gave a wink to the Talos member who was standing beside him, acting as a guard.

“Please follow the rules.”

The guard stepped forward, and his fully armored body, over two meters tall, immediately brought the young man to his senses. He became as docile as a lamb, as if all his strength had been drained from his body.

"next."

Take this person away.

The team continued.

The second was a hesitant blonde woman who followed the researcher's instructions and concentrated.

Still no response.

"next."

Having learned from past mistakes, the blonde beauty didn't dare to cause any trouble and left dejectedly.

The third was a silent man. He walked silently to the divine flower, spent a few seconds admiring it carefully, then closed his eyes and placed one hand on his chest.

The divine flower twitched slightly, not by much, but it did move.

The researcher perked up and quickly took notes.

"Hello, Mr. Damon, please proceed to the waiting area, where someone will arrange the next steps of your itinerary." The researcher's attitude had changed.

"Thank you." The man nodded gently, bowed deeply to the divine flower before him, and walked towards another exit amidst the envious gazes of the crowd.

In their eyes, even if this person doesn't become extraordinary in the end, they will definitely receive special treatment from the authorities because they are recognized by the divine flower, and thus embark on a completely different life.

This batch of people finished quickly, and the results were promptly delivered to Leon.

Leon then distributed the data to the investigators, asking them to analyze the commonalities among those who could cause the divine flower to react abnormally.

Over these three days of analysis, a common theme has emerged.

That is, "psychics" are more likely to make the divine flower react.

This so-called spiritual communication refers to the mystical notion of being able to sense nature and animals.

What investigators need to do now is to find more similar commonalities within and outside this overall framework.

Does it count if we both like drinking coffee?

"This is probably a common trait among the Amis."

"Aren't there any Buddhists here? I feel that Buddhists would be suitable as well."

"According to your logic, many religious sects emphasize living in harmony with nature or even nature worship. Wouldn't nature worshippers or environmentalists be more suitable?"

During the discussion, Leon received a phone call from the President himself.

“Leon, we can now arrange for the first batch of contacts from Japan, but the principle remains the same: prioritize Amis and vetted Japanese citizens.”

"I will faithfully carry out your instructions."

"Don't forget to rest, or your father will have a problem with me."

"Completing your task is an honor for me. I feel no fatigue, only excitement and even more excitement."

"Haha, I love hearing that."

Leon hung up the phone with a forced smile.

He was originally a person who valued his personal time a lot. Even after becoming the executive director of the Extraordinary Countermeasures Department, a busy and important department, he always went to get off work and left work on time and never worked overtime.

Until the Kyoto Giant Incident occurred.

He actually started taking Kang Sheng pills like those investigators to concentrate.

I really wish I had a high-quality ox or horse that could share 90% of the workload.

Thinking this, his gaze drifted to Heisei Ryu and Kurosaki Chimei.

These two were the cattle and horses he was looking for.

To be precise, only Pyeongsang Dragon is one.

However, we still need to observe him more, because Pyeongsei Ryu is, after all, someone who came from the Japanese official system.

One of the key reasons Leon was placed in this position was to keep an eye on these people and ensure that Amer's interests were prioritized, that they were informed, and that they had command authority.

But then again, delegating authority can sometimes be a form of wisdom.

Focusing on what you should focus on can help you avoid overworking yourself and increase your efficiency.

"The Minister of Defense has already personally sent the person over?" That's incredibly fast. Leon even suspected that the other party had timed their arrival perfectly.

It's clear that Japan really wants to seize this opportunity, and I wonder how much benefit it has conceded under pressure from the President.

"Let them in."

Leon instructed the researchers to begin preparations to welcome the new batch of candidates.

Chapter 199: Hirosue Eri

"Please follow the rules and proceed along the passage."

The researcher led the way for a new group of experimenters brought by the Japanese government, his eyes looking somewhat strange.

The gender ratio in this group is severely imbalanced, with women making up the vast majority, and they are all quite young; the youngest looks like a primary school student.

Most of them were dressed as shrine maidens, perhaps believing that this would make it easier to communicate with the gods and gain more attention from the divine flowers.

I just don't know how much of this is genuine and how much is just for show.

In the passageway, almost everyone had a solemn expression, remained silent, and nervously stared ahead, even their walking had a bit of the awkwardness of beginners.

Except someone.

She had blonde pigtails, a Western face, was a young girl, and was still wearing a school uniform.

His posture was casual, as if he were on a picnic, his gaze not entirely open, but subtly scanning his surroundings. The more he looked, the more dissatisfied he became.

When her aquamarine eyes fell upon a Japanese bellflower, her discontent reached its peak, which she suppressed entirely with reason.

"Don't you have any water?" she suddenly asked.

The researcher paused, stopped in his tracks, and turned to look at her.

This is the first time someone has made such a request.

Even if people were thirsty at this time, they wouldn't make any requests.

The others looked at this girl, who seemed out of place among them, with even more curiosity.

Out of basic courtesy, the researcher did not give a cold, dismissive reply.

"I apologize, this was my oversight. Bottled water will be provided once you enter the preparation room." The researcher nodded and continued to lead the way.

The girl secretly pursed her lips: "With such strict security here, why do you still need to plant so much greenery?"

The researcher's eyes flickered slightly: "I'm sorry, I have no comment."

He naturally knew this, and in fact, he handled many of the orders himself, because these were the orders given by Dr. Mila after she established communication with the other shore flower.

A large experimental area centered around the spider lily was filled with a batch of green plants.

The idea was to cultivate a love of nature among everyone, and they were even planning to designate an area to create an indoor forest. However, before the design drawings were completed, Dr. Millai passed away.

The girl didn't say anything more, her arms crossed over her chest, which was not rising and falling much, her twin ponytails swaying behind her with each step.

The group entered the preparation room one by one. This room was mainly for changing clothes. They were required to wear uniform clothing, which seemed to have some kind of device on the spine, probably to monitor the body's reactions.

"Can I not change? I want to wear the shrine maiden outfit for the rest of the trip?" someone asked timidly.

The researcher was adamant: "Only after changing clothes will we be qualified to proceed to the next step."

Seeing the researcher's firm stance, everyone had no choice but to comply.

The blonde girl changed her clothes without a care in the world and was the first to come out.

"Here's the water you wanted." The researcher handed her a glass jar of water with only a simple HO label.

"Oh, thank you."

The blonde girl took the water and looked at the table next to her, where there was another box of the same water.

After everyone had changed their clothes, the researchers led them through a safety valve and finally into the open space where the divine flower was located.

The blinding light instantly obscured their vision, plunging them into their own hallucinations.

The girl froze for a second, then her eyes quickly regained their clarity.

After scanning the surroundings, I saw that everyone was struggling with hallucinations, their expressions varied.

Instead of immediately following the signs to queue up at the sacred flower, she walked over to a bonsai ficus, bent down and stared at the leaves and soil for several seconds before opening the bottle of water she had gotten in the preparation room and pouring it into the bonsai.

The researcher leading the way stood in a corner, his eyes wide with shock. It was the first time he had ever seen such a scene among the test subjects, and he felt as if his brain had short-circuited.

You really don't take this extraordinary opportunity seriously!

A guard from the Talos squad stood next to the potted plant. Upon seeing this, he stepped forward and said, "Please do not damage the environmental decorations."

Upon hearing this, the blonde girl seemed to get agitated, her brows furrowed as she looked up at the steel guard who was almost twice her height.

"Huh? You think I'm causing trouble? This is to help you maintain the environment! A bunch of idiots who don't even know how to care for plants! You just leave them here and then ignore them. What's the difference between that and starting something and then abandoning it!"

?

The guard listened in a daze, tilted his head, and slowly typed a question mark through his tactical mask.

Is there something wrong with his translation system? Is this still Japanese? He seems unable to understand it.

The researcher arrived promptly, holding the girl's file. He coughed twice loudly: "The person responsible for tending the plants passed away a few days ago, and we are already arranging for a replacement. Don't waste any time. Now, please continue with the next step. Ms. Hirosue Eri."