Anime Crossover: Post-Apocalyptic Survival, My Stand is the World

"That woman is so cool..."

In Xiao Bai's red pupils, there flickered recognition of the strong and a little envy.

"really."

Kong nodded in deep agreement, feeling his heart, that of a top-tier gamer, being ignited.

"This combination of a 'taunt tank' and 'maximum DPS' is simply a textbook example of a perfect raid setup. It's just too unfair."

Yukino and Utaha watched as the two stood side by side on the ruins.

At this moment, both hearts, filled with pride, were simultaneously ignited with a fierce competitive spirit.

'We can't lose to them!' (Exit)

Chapter 153 Three Military Advisors

"The energy node has been destroyed."

"Advance team, return to base."

When Saeko Busujima's calm report came through the communicator.

A suppressed yet uncontrollable cheer erupted from the Skynet command center on the top floor of the SEGA building.

"Good job!"

Kong excitedly slammed his hand on the table, causing the instant noodle bucket on the table to jump up and spill the remaining soup inside.

But he didn't care at all; for the first time, his usually cynical face showed genuine admiration for Su Chen's team.

"I knew it, I knew it! Beautiful girls plus fighting is the most classic and timeless combination in the world."

However, it was quite different from his usual nerdy excitement.

Inside the temporary base, the other three true masterminds—Yukino Yukinoshita, Utaha Kasumigaoka, and Mai Sakurajima—did not show any ease on their faces; instead, their expressions became even more solemn.

"313" because they knew very well that the victory just now was nothing more than a meaningless appetizer, or even a deliberate act by the enemy to lull them into a false sense of security.

The final battle that will truly determine everyone's fate has only just begun.

……

Late at night.

The night before the decisive battle.

The entire temporary base was enveloped in a strange atmosphere of outward relaxation but inward tension.

The ordinary survivors drifted off to sleep early to the gentle lullabies played and sung by Mai Sakurajima on her guitar.

Their faces held a long-lost serenity, as if the gloom of the apocalypse had been dispelled.

Meanwhile, the combatants responsible for carrying out the assault mission were resting and recuperating, adjusting themselves to their best condition.

Saeko Busujima was quietly polishing her beloved sword, while Michiru Hyodo was tuning her guitar, preparing to deliver the wildest battle song for tomorrow's fight.

Only the top-floor command room, named the Student Council's tactical meeting room, remained brightly lit.

Yukino, Shiyu, Mai.

These three girls, representing the highest intelligence of the entire team, conducted a final, all-night tactical simulation.

The room was filled with the rich aroma of coffee. A huge holographic electronic map slowly rotated in the center of the room, with countless red and blue lines of light, deduced by Yukino, flashing on it, representing different attack routes.

……

"First, let's look at the basic situation of both sides."

The speaker is Yukino Yukinoshita.

She stood before a huge electronic map, presenting the battle plan:

"The enemy is Kurumi Tokisaki. Individual strength: S-rank. She possesses a variety of unreasonable abilities such as 'future vision,' 'time acceleration,' 'time reversal,' and 'clone army.' Her only known weakness is that her abilities require a constant replenishment of 'time' energy to activate."

"Our side has Su Chen. His individual strength is also an incalculable S-rank, possessing abilities such as 'time stop,' 'time deletion,' 'future prediction,' and 'life creation,' which are equally unreasonable. His weaknesses are currently unknown."

She paused, then placed several more photos representing other team members in key positions on the map, like placing the most important pieces on a chessboard.

"Our support forces: Saeko Busujima, an A+ rank melee expert, the sharpest blade on the front lines. Michiru Hyodo, with unspecified sonic interference capabilities, a strategic-level control unit. Megumi Kato, an SSS rank stealth and assassination expert, a 'ghost' capable of silently reaching any location."

"as well as,"

She pointed to herself, Shiyu, and Mai, "The three of us are support staff."

This is a war of ace against ace, centered around Su Chen, the absolute core player.

They can do very little, but it is of paramount importance.

“Based on the above,” she laid out the backup plans that she had already rehearsed hundreds of times in her mind, as if displaying works of art.

"Plan A, codenamed 'Decapitation'. Su Chen will launch a frontal assault, while we will provide support from the side, striking at the heart of the enemy with our strongest force."

"Plan B, codenamed 'Luring the Tiger Away from the Mountain.' Saeko and Michi will stay on the front lines to create chaos and draw the attention of the enemy's main force clones, while Su Chen and Hui will form the strongest assassination squad to infiltrate from the flank and strike straight at the heart of the enemy's base..."

"Option C..."

A series of ingenious tactical plans kept pouring out of her mouth.

……

"Your plan is perfect, Yukinoshita."

However, just as she finished explaining her rational solution, D, a voice filled with languor and disdain interrupted her.

It's Kasumigaoka Utaha.

She leaned back in her chair, toying with the tarot card in her hand, a card imbued with an air of mysticism, and spoke softly, in a tone that seemed to see right through people, a tone brimming with the insight of a playwright:

"But you seem to have forgotten the most important thing."

"All your plans are based on rationality. You are using the mindset of a 'chess player' to deduce a 'war'."

"But our enemy, Kurumi Tokisaki..." A mocking smile curled at the corner of her lips, as if she already knew the ending of the story, "...she's not a 'player' who plays by the rules..."

"She's a madwoman."

"A complete madman who would stop at nothing to achieve his lofty and tragic ambition."

"For a madman, the chessboard and the rules are things that can be overturned at any time."

"So..." Her gaze sharpened, like the sharpest pen tip, drawing a blood-red X filled with malice and reality on Yukino's perfect plan.

"I boldly predict that tomorrow, in the final moments of the decisive battle, when that woman realizes she can't win no matter what, she will definitely use herself, or some innocent person we don't expect, as a hostage."

"Use the most despicable, yet most effective, psychological trap to force Su Chen to submit."

"..."

"..."

Her prediction, filled with malicious speculation yet highly likely to become reality, was like a bucket of ice water poured over Yukino's brain, which was slightly feverish from logical deduction, sending chills down the spines of everyone present.

Yes, their opponents are not law-abiding citizens.

……

"OK OK."

In the end, it was Mai Sakurajima, the magnanimous woman with the aura of a principal wife, who stepped in to smooth things over.

She smiled and placed a freshly brewed cup of warm black tea, exuding a calming aroma, in front of the two genius girls who were about to argue because of their differing ideologies.

"Yukino's logic is not wrong; war requires the most meticulous planning."

"Shiyu's psychological prediction is also very likely, and we must take into account the enemy's most despicable possibility."

"Then, wouldn't it be fine if we just combined the two?"

She walked up to the map and, in her gentle, approachable voice befitting a national idol, perfectly blended Yukino's rationality and Utaha's sensibility, like a master weaver, filling in the gaps and subtly influencing the reader.

"Therefore, my suggestion is that we add a reserve team composed of ourselves that has been hidden in the shadows, based on Yukino's 'Plan B'."

"Our mission is not to fight, but to 'protect'."

"If the hostage situation that Shiyu is worried about actually happens, then the few of us will be responsible for the rescue."

“In that case,” she turned around and smiled at the two equally thoughtful genius girls, her face full of convincing adult composure and confidence.

"Does that mean everything is foolproof?"

Chapter 154 A Girl Named Tokisaki Kurumi

Chapter 154 A Girl Named Tokisaki Kurumi

With the concerted efforts of the three strategists, the final battle plan was finally finalized.

All that's left is to wait.

Waiting for tomorrow's dawn to decide everything.

A brief, yet extremely rare, silence fell over the operations room.

The tense atmosphere that had been building up due to the heated discussion finally began to ease.

Outside the window, a blood-red waning moon hung high, like the single eye of a demon god, coldly gazing upon this desolate land slumbering in the shadows.

Inside, the finest Assam black tea, brewed by Mai Sakurajima herself, was releasing a warm and mellow aroma from an exquisite bone china cup.

The rising steam, under the cold light, created a bizarre yet wondrous contrast with the apocalyptic scene outside the window, filled with despair and madness.

It was as if this small conference room was the last inextinguishable light that civilized world had lit on these ruins.

I don't know who started it.

Perhaps it was this rare period of peace that gave them a moment to catch their breath and think about things outside of the battle.

The three of them inevitably talked about the enemy they were about to challenge with everything they had to risk.

That time witch, shrouded in mystery and madness.

Tokisaki Kurumi.

"What a pathetic woman."

The first to speak was Kasumigaoka Utaha.

She lazily shifted her position, crossing her long legs and gently leaning back in the chair.

A rare hint of pity for the characters in the play surfaced in those wine-red eyes that were always full of mockery and wisdom.

She seemed no longer to be a participant, but a playwright standing outside the story, observing the fates of all the characters.

"For a past that can no longer be undone, they gambled away their entire present and future."

"Even at the cost of bearing the infamy of being the 'worst elf,' they still wanted to fulfill that vague and tragic wish."

"This kind of 'beautiful, strong, and tragic' character setting is full of tragic elements..." She shook her head, picked up her teacup, gently touched her lips with the rim, and sighed softly in a tone as if evaluating a character she had created.

"If it were written as a light novel, it would probably be a huge hit. Its sales would be at least ten times that of an artist like 'Eriri'."

"I cannot condone her methods."

Yukino Yukinoshita's voice remained as cold and aloof as ever.

"No matter how noble her purpose may be, her act of wantonly robbing others of their time and trampling on their lives is an unforgivable sin."

"A most thorough trampling of 'order'."

"Therefore, I will stop her, at all costs."

She paused, and a complex emotion flickered in her usually calm, icy blue eyes.

Looking at the clear, amber-like color of the black tea in her cup, she seemed to see a familiar shadow in it, one filled with the same obsession and loneliness.

"But... I might be able to understand."

"Understand?" Shi Yu looked at her with some surprise.

In her opinion, Yukino Yukinoshita should be the person who is least able to tolerate the chaotic existence of Kurumi.

"Ah."

Yukino nodded, gazing at the blood-red waning moon outside the window, and whispered, her voice so soft it seemed she wasn't speaking to anyone else, but rather to herself: