Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

Hirosue Eri released the dandelion seeds from her hand, letting them fall onto the gravel plowed out by wild boars on the street, her body swaying slightly as she lost her balance.

She had already killed several groups of wild boars. The group that the Talos team had just dealt with was her next target, but she was too late, and even the remaining wild boars had all fled.

That's good, she's really close to her limit.

At this moment, her casual clothes, blonde hair, and even her originally fair skin were stained with blood and dust. Coupled with her sweat-drenched head, apart from her unique temperament and appearance, she was really no different from other survivors.

She calmly arrived at the outer perimeter of the temporary defensive line established by the Talos squad.

The dark green armor gleamed under the neon lights as the squad members carried out cleaning and reinforcement work.

Scattered on the ground were numerous shell casings and wild boar fragments. Not far away, in the core area guarded by the troops, three giant mutated wild boars, bound by layers of special alloy chains and powerful restraint nets and injected with potent sedatives, lay prone on the ground.

Their heavy bodies rose and fell with their breath, and blood gushed from their wounds, staining the concrete beneath them red.

A tremendous noise came from above, from the propellers and the creaking of the winches turning.

As the helicopter slowly descended, the largest wild boar was securely tethered by the Talos team's rapid operation.

The monstrous wild boar, under the influence of a powerful tranquilizer, drooped its head, trapped in the net bag, suspended in mid-air, giving it an unreal appearance.

The helmet visors of the outer squad members scanned the suddenly appearing Yingli, and the information was quickly compared.

"Captain, it's Ms. Hirosue Eri from the Extraordinary Measures Department. She's here."

The captain glanced at the footage sent by his teammates and briefly confirmed it with Leon at the rear base.

"Identity confirmed, no need to stop."

He raised his hand and made a simple gesture, and the surrounding team members tacitly moved their guns away, but their vigilance remained undiminished.

Eri paid no attention to these high-ranking soldiers; she had seen many in the lab, except that the armor paint on this group was a little different.

At this moment, all her attention was focused on the two remaining wild boars on the ground, which were being reinforced with chains by the Talos team.

The wild boar had its eyes half-closed and its tongue sticking out, looking much like a cat that had been anesthetized during a neutering procedure.

"To ensure the anesthetic effect, the dosage for each wild boar is enough to incapacitate ten elephants. But for these monsters, it only has a slight effect, as they are also very resistant to anesthesia."

Considering Hirosue Eri's special status, the captain deliberately took two steps closer and explained.

Eri nodded slightly, her gaze shifting from the wild boar's wound to its head.

at this time.

The wild boar, which was bound tightly with chains, suddenly opened its eyes, which had been half-open and listless due to the effects of the drugs, without warning, and rolled its eyeballs upward.

The scarlet eyeballs disappeared, leaving only pure white.

Immediately afterwards, a chilling aura, like poison gas, spread outwards, and her wrist glowed with a bright green light, making her feel extremely uneasy.

"Be careful!!"

Without any hesitation, the moment Eri cried out, her body reacted even faster than her voice, lunging towards the wall of a dilapidated building beside her.

The wisteria hanging down from the third-floor balcony, forming a natural green curtain, seemed to come alive instantly. The thick vines trembled violently, then curled and coiled. In the instant she lunged forward, dozens of tough vines twisted together with lightning speed, forming a thick, semi-circular vine shield beside her.

When she called out, the Talos team was not surprised or hesitant, and immediately activated the emergency plan.

boom!boom!

The team members' armored jet propulsion helped them rush towards the nearest sturdy cover at top speed, a reaction that was textbook perfect!

But the time was too short.

Just the next second.

Those enormous wild boars with their eyes rolled back, their skin, which was wrapped in layers of restraint nets and metal chains and was strong enough to withstand small-caliber bullets, suddenly swelled up like balloons, expanding to the limit that everyone could feel in the blink of an eye.

Everyone understands the consequences of a balloon being inflated to its maximum.

Boom!

The ground shook violently.

A muffled, deafening roar exploded in the middle of the street. The chaotic tissues inside the wild boar's body shot out violently in all directions like a fountain from hell. The alloy chains that bound and restrained it snapped under the immense force. The powerful shockwave, carrying scalding blood, foul odor, and a stench, filled every direction.

That wasn't the shockwave of ordinary explosives, but more like an evil force being detonated in an instant.

The scene looks a bit like a whale explosion, but it's much more intense.

Centered on the explosion point, a large cloud of blood mist instantly covered a radius of 100 meters, painting everything red and shrouding it in crimson.

Almost at the same time.

The heavy transport helicopter, which had just completed hoisting and was preparing to lift the wild boar to a safe altitude, suddenly shuddered as the boar exploded.

boom--!

A blazing orange-red fireball erupted beneath its belly, causing the entire aircraft to lose its balance, billowing black smoke as it spun desperately and hurtled towards another intact commercial building not far away!

tom!

A deafening crash followed by a second explosion, and towering flames once again illuminated the ravaged streets.

The air was thick with a fog of blood, the smell of burnt metal, and the stench of burning gasoline.

The streets were even more of a mess.

The ground was blasted into an irregular crater, and the bottom of the crater and the affected bunkers were covered with a thick layer of sticky blood mud and fragments of tissue.

"Ho ho."

Before Hirosue Eri, the huge wisteria vine shield creaked and slowly drooped.

The surface of the vines was covered with splattered blood and flesh, making it slippery and disgusting.

She emerged slowly, panting, her pale face tinged with an unnatural dark red from the blood mist. Her gaze swept over the devastated scene.

Several shattered, dark green figures lay scattered across the area ravaged by the shockwave. These were members of the Talos team, who were closer to the explosion's epicenter and had been struck by the broken chains.

In front of the ruins, some surviving Talos members struggled to their feet, while others leaned against the broken walls to quickly check their own equipment and the condition of their comrades.

Those in better condition staggered toward their fallen comrades, a rapid, hoarse voice coming from under their helmets to connect with the other person's vital signs and request medical assistance.

Although they were generally in a sorry state, most of them were still able to move around, thanks to the armor representing the pinnacle of technology and years of training.

Not far away, the crashed helicopter transformed into a giant burning torch, blazing fiercely on the nearby building ruins and illuminating the night sky.

She sniffed, and in addition to the stench of blood, she also detected a strange smell that made her uneasy, yet she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

She pressed the communication device.

"Connect me to Minister Leon."

"Zzz. Right. Holding."

The blood mist seemed to be affecting communications. Hirosue Eri looked around, quickly chose another wisteria vine, and used it to quickly reach the top of the apartment building.

Although they were still within the blood mist's reach, at least communication was much smoother.

"Can I hear from Miss Eri? This is Leon."

"Sure, do you know the situation on the ground?"

"According to the last footage, the captured wild boar spontaneously combusted."

Hirosue Eri interrupted, "That's not the point. The smell of this blood mist is very strange and may affect civilians. We need to immediately impose a strict lockdown on this area. Anyone entering must be quarantined according to the highest standards."

Leon on the other end of the line was silent for a few seconds, as if he had just put down the phone and was talking to someone.

“I understand, thank you for the intelligence. We are temporarily unable to contact Talos-S team. I have sent you the command key, and you can direct them to complete a simple deployment. Support forces will arrive as soon as possible.”

"They suffered significant losses."

“I understand, but that doesn’t stop them from carrying out their mission.”

Just as Eri was about to say something more, her expression suddenly changed, and she abruptly clutched her heart.

An overwhelming wave of grief surged through her mind, overwhelming her spirit and rendering her unable to utter a sound.

She seemed to have felt this way before.

It seems that when she was a child, she had a rather magical experience during the days she was lost in the forest. Unfortunately, after leaving the forest, she seemed to have forgotten some key details. She only remembered that the forest invited her and guided her back to the outside world three days later.

However, the difference is that the feeling back then wasn't as exaggerated or intense as it is now.

That was the lament of the forest, a silent wailing.

She stroked the lines on her wrist, slowly raising her head. Her gaze seemed to pierce through the blood mist and smoke that filled the city, across the ravaged streets, and fall heavily on the massive silhouette standing against the deep night sky on the southern horizon—

Mount Fuji.

Pitch black, silent, like a colossal beast lurking in the shadows.

Was this some kind of instruction from the forest?

The culprit that caused all of this is related to Mount Fuji, or rather, to the existence of something somewhere on Mount Fuji.

"Miss Hirosue?! Miss Hirosue?!"

The communication device transmitted Leon's repeated calls.

".I am here."

"What just happened?"

Hirosue Eri continued to gaze at the outline of Mount Fuji, without hiding anything.

"I feel like I sensed something; what happened today is related to Mount Fuji."

“Hmm,” Leon paused, “Just now, several people in the foothills around Fujiyoshida City reported to the police that a giant bear had attacked them.”

“I naturally believe your feeling. It seems that Mount Fuji has indeed undergone some unknown changes that require our attention.”

"Perhaps this is the warning that the divine flower is giving to you and me."

Thank you to "A Little Butterfly Candy" for the donation.

Chapter 221: The Closed-Door Plan

At four o'clock in the morning, in the underground command center of the Extraordinary Countermeasures Department, staff members moved around quickly with serious expressions.

Most people choose to whisper when they talk, deliberately controlling their volume.

Cups of coffee were already prepared in the main conference room. Before leaving, the staff slowed down and bowed to close the door.

On a giant semi-circular screen, images of the disaster scenes in Kofu City and Fujiyoshida City were displayed side-by-side.

Ruined streets, burning building ruins, huge beast carcasses, and the chilling, contaminated area from above, resembling a red eyeball, caused by a self-destructing wild boar.

The meeting room was filled with a somber silence, broken only by the low hum of the air conditioning and the rustling of paper documents being turned over.

Leon sat at the head of the long table, his hands crossed and chin resting on his chin, silently watching the tablet playing a synchronized video on the table.

On either side were, in order, Genji Himeko, Taira no Ryu, Muramasa Taki, Hirosue Eri, and several other important personnel with serious expressions, responsible for logistics and intelligence analysis.

"The casualty statistics won't be available anytime soon, and the economic losses are even more difficult to estimate. Let's all share our thoughts. We need to know at least what caused this attack."

Leon put down his hand, picked up his coffee and took a sip. His eyes swept over the crowd and finally landed on the new executive director, Genji.

Meeting Leon's gaze, Gen Himeko nodded and sent the image she had created to the main computer. The circular screen instantly transformed into three maps with simple markings.

"The above is a diagram of these two attacks that occurred almost simultaneously. After analysis by Tianjin AI, the monster's route is basically clear."

"It can be seen that although the locations of the attacks were different, one was in the city center and the other was a remote hotel."

"But they are highly similar in pattern, both being sudden outbreaks, premeditated, and rapid retreats after encountering obstacles."

"This shows that it's not like a monster out of control, but more like a test."

Her gaze seemed to fall on Muramasa Taki: "Perhaps it's some supernatural force that we haven't yet grasped, testing our reaction mechanism? Or is it some newly born supernatural being announcing its existence?"

Muramasa Taki met her gaze without saying a word.

The notebook in front of Ping Shenglong was filled with timelines and preliminary clues, and he would speak as soon as he paused.

"Minister Yuan's suggestion of probing makes sense, and the current clues all match this. But what if we look at events that occurred even further back?"

"The Hibiya Incident, the Higan Disaster, the Demon Sword Calamity, the Kyoto Incident. You can see that these events are basically spaced about half a month apart."

He knew them all like the back of his hand, paused, and pointed to his wristwatch.

"Today is the 19th, so it's about time."

"Moreover, there is one point that I believe everyone will agree on, which is that the events I mentioned earlier all involve historical issues, and we can find clues in the buried history."